I love Asimov's Foundation. Also Bicenntenial Man. I reread Second Foundation last year. What a treat.
I've been reading the Shetland detective books by Ann Cleeves recently.
I would recommend Solar, Saturday and Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan.
Xanthippe
JoinedPosts by Xanthippe
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What novels have you been reading recently? Recommend any?
by LoveUniHateExams ini've always been a bit of a reader - but only reading about topics i find interesting, e.g.
natural history, dinosaurs, etc.. recently i've started to select, buy and read novels.. this year i've bought and read frankenstein (mary shelly), dracula (bram stoker), the hound of the baskervilles (a. conan doyle), 'salem's lot (stephen king), jurassic park (michael crichton) and the firm (john grisham).. i have an inclination towards horrors and thrillers.. what fiction have you been reading?.
could you recommend anything?.
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What do you think would have happened to you if...
by LevelThePlayingField inyou found out about ttatt way back in the 70's or maybe the 80's (basically before the internet) and you thought that you were all alone in this knowledge?
what do you think would have happened to you?
no jehovahs-witness.com, no john cedars, no arc, no jwfacts.com and no crisis of conscience to fall back on.
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Xanthippe
I left in 1989. My husband and I found CoC in the local library. We disassociated and all of our friends and my family shunned us. My husband's parents didn't shun us because his father was starting to realise it was all false and had got hold of a copy of CoC too.
It was very hard and very lonely. We got degrees and jobs eventually. After eight years we had saved enough to put a deposit on a small house where I still live with my daughter who has just graduated and is about to do her masters. She has many friends, I have two good friends and I get on well with my work colleagues.
My family still shun me but I'm used to it. Until four years ago when I came on this forum I hadn't spoken to exJWs or discussed the beliefs of the cult since leaving. We needed to move on.
Life is good, we travel around Europe, go to the theatre and enjoy life. There are birthday parties at home and at work, we can join in whatever we like. Christmastime, we have a big tree and meet up with friends in restaurants for meals. We never give the JWs a thought or their opinion of us.
Those that have exJW friends and have this forum when they leave are very lucky.
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Origin of Life
by cofty inin recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.
there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.
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Xanthippe
Xanthippe : " Ah yes JWs separate spirit and soul"
The Rebel: The O.P is " Origin of Life" but the question is raised on a ex JWs site, and I think comparatively few exiting JWs, have thought any deeper on the " Origin of Life" than watchtower literature. My point is for many, you leave the organisation on reasons of concience,then you scrabble to maintain your family connections, and then you get bewildered by the " Origin of Life."The Rebel, I'm trying to get a grip on what theists think now about the origin of life to be able to speculate how they would react to scientist finding how it originated in this planet. I think cofty is saying the big problem for creationists is they can't accept evolution without having the Origin of Life explained.
So is this life force that comes from God passed on from Adam and Eve or what? If that can be replicated by scientists (Or shown to have developed without need for God) then he's redundant.
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Origin of Life
by cofty inin recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.
there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.
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Xanthippe
Spirit pneuma is impersonal life-force. Soul nephesh is the living being.
Ah yes JWs separate soul and spirit. I remember now. They need to prove the Bible isn't talking about immortality but eternal life on Earth so they separate the two words, soul is the whole person and spirit is the life-force. I may be wrong but I don't think any other Christian religion does that.
I suppose this affects how theists would answer the op because if they're not JWs they probably see the spirit/ soul being the part that survives death and goes to heaven rather than being the life force that God put into cells and cannot be replicated by scientists.But then do they believe the life force, the élan vital, the 'ghost in the machine' is passed on from parent to child and originated with God putting it into Adam and Eve? I don't know not having attended a church after leaving the JWs.
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405
Origin of Life
by cofty inin recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.
there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.
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Xanthippe
What is the "spirit" the returns to god at death according to the Watchtower?
I thought JWs said this refers to the belief that the only hope for a resurrection of an individual lies with Jehovah. That he keeps in his memory the personality and memories of the individual so that he can bring him back to life. I remember they were very keen to ensure that nobody interpret this as a belief in a spirit or soul being immortal and going to heaven but the person is 'asleep' awaiting the resurrection.
I do remember they said God created Adam and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life which refers to some kind of animating force that only comes from God. Perhaps this is what cofty is remembering. They used Ancient Greek pneuma, breath of life, I remember. Which is confusing because Judaism and Christianity use this word to describe the soul or spirit but JWs are adamant it doesn't mean that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneuma
How to untangle what they believe when their ideas are so confused!
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If anyone claimed that god speaks to them personally.....
by jambon1 inthey'd be viewed as completely mentally ill and laughed at.. so, how do the governing body get away with it?.
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Xanthippe
They get away with it by never admitting it happens yet dancing around the question of how big J guides their teachings. They are not inspired, the Watchtower is not inspired and yet if you deviate from their teachings one iota you can be disfellowshipped.
They really need someone to pin them down and say are you speaking for God or not? So how does god tell you what to say? But they'd be thrown out like Franz if they did that.
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Undecided
by Disassociated Lady 2 ini have recently been disfellowshipped (after being reinstated in march).
i saw a group of jws gathered in the town car park yesterday.
they seemed startled when they recognised my car and talked amongst themselves giving one another a satisfied grin!
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Xanthippe
It's up to you but I wouldn't give them the time of day. This tiny little cult is really beneath your notice so I would advise get out in the world, make friends, join a college course, volunteer, go on Meetup.com. Try and forget these ridiculous people. Show them they have no power over you by having a great life and leaving them behind. Believe me you will still be talked about .......... I saw her at the college, hotel, travel agent, wow she looked great and so happy ............. All the best to you.
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Happy Birthday Son
by azor inmy son turns 9 on monday however we are having his 2nd birthday party today.
he is so excited.
it brings a huge smile to his mom and dads faces.. every day is a blessing.
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Xanthippe
Happy Birthday Adin
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405
Origin of Life
by cofty inin recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.
there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.
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Xanthippe
As a former christian I would have believed that it can't happen because I viewed life as something that only emanated from god. Some believers in this thread seem less sure of that.
Perhaps born again evangelical Christians see things differently to mainstream Christians. I found them to be different to the mainstream on FS, a bit OTT actually. One got on his knees begging me to be born again. Time for a sharp exit.
There are many Christian viewpoints about the origin of life I would think.
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Why is it so hurtful to be shunned? Why object to it?
by stuckinarut2 init seems like many feel hurt or saddened by the practice of shunning by witnesses.. yes, when ones who we were close to, perhaps family or ones we thought were close friends choose to follow the warped directions of the society, it may seem hurtful.. but really, our reaction is up to us.
the fact is, these ones have shown that in reality, their love for us was never real or genuine.
no, those relationships were superficial and lacking in substance.
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Xanthippe
Stuck I don't think we want to return to an abusive situation but we are not reptiles we are mammals. We are raised in families, be they small or large and we feel a need for this natural setting that we are born into.
On special occasions like the birth of a child or a graduation we want to share it with our families but if they're in a cult and don't care about us it's a sadness. When you've been out as long as I have it's not devastating but it's just subtracts something from our lives that would be there but for the influence of a stupid cult.