okay i was thinking about it.
and it is a transhumanist argument and nothing new, i do realise that before anyone points it out.
but it struck me afresh today that the resurrection must happen.. firstly, to state the obvious, a rational materialist conception of reality seems to exclude resurrection.
You might want to look into Friedrich Nietzsche's doctrine of eternal recurrence. Though both mathematicians and consmologists have attempted to poke holes in it over the years, I maintain that the idea, properly understood, still holds water.
One of these days I intend to write a refutation of all known refutations of the doctrine of eternal recurrence
a relative of mine was telling me, that in his, and a few neighboring congregations, there is a little confusion amongst some of the jw's about this "issue".
some families are having a hard time about whether certain relatives will be attending certain family functions, because some family members that are no longer in the "truth", might be invited to these functions.
mind you, these persons were never disfellowshipped.
it is an often asked question i know, but it perplexes me.. if witnesses are so convinced that they have "the truth", why is the act of researching information from external sources so taboo?
didn't the bible itself tell people to "use their powers of reason" and also praised ones like the boreans for researching things they were told??.
seriously, if there is no doubt about the organization being "god's channel" on earth, and it alone having the "truth", surely researching would only enhance such 'facts'?.
Because Satan is such a cunning adversary that he can fool even the most meticulous and skeptical researchers into swollowing his BS.
For starters, we know for a fact that he has had digital copies of WT publications altered in such a way as to embarrass the organization. Then he got his servant, apostate Bill Bowen, to get together with other bitter apostates and fabricate a slew of false sex abuse accusations against Jehovah's servants. As you can see, there is no slimy abyss to which Satan will not stoop to decieve God's people!
To be succinct about it: what would be the point of conducting research if all the 'evidence' is either phony or altered?
eurgh!
more patronizing and uninformed reasoning from the "experts" at bethel.
this time tackling the sensitive subject of those attracted the the same sex.
The fact is, millions of heterosexuals who wish to conform to the Bible’s standards employ self-control despite any temptations they might face. Those with homosexual inclinations can do the same if they truly want to please God
I agree.
Gays should exercise self-control like everyone else and wait until they get married.
i keep hearing stories of rank and file publishers involved in gross wrongdoing but because they fear of the possibility of being shunned they only tell those who will not report them to elders .
and they continue to go out on service and conduct bible studies and stay in good standing with cong even going to many social gatherings..
It became obvious to me over the years that the shunning policy did not make better Christians, only better liars and hypocrites.
in the time since i've left the borg behind i've had a few things hit me as to how words were used.
i'm wondering if anyone else has some similar examples, but here are some things that have made me think:.
watchtower - my whole life i saw this as a thing of protection from outside evil forces, and then when i left someone pointed out "isn't that what they used to keep people in prison".
schnell 3 hours ago
@Rainbow_Troll, just show them Ezekiel 1:10 and 15-20, and then a picture of the zodiac
LOL
Not to mention the numerous veiled (or not so veiled if you know astrology) astrological themes in the gospels as well as the Book of Revelation. I once met a woman who called Christianity "astro-theology". She even wrote a book about it called 'Suns of God' which I haven't yet gotten around to reading, but it would be a great place to start for anyone still hung up on Christianity.
The early history of the Watchtower is itself rife with occultism. C.T. Russell believed in astrology and even once used it to make a prediction in a 1903 Watchtower. C.J. Woodworth, who wrote a portion of The Finished Mystery, openly admitted on several occassions to being demon possessed. Then there is the barely hidden occult iconography and symbolism that sometimes shows up in Watchtower publications.
in the time since i've left the borg behind i've had a few things hit me as to how words were used.
i'm wondering if anyone else has some similar examples, but here are some things that have made me think:.
watchtower - my whole life i saw this as a thing of protection from outside evil forces, and then when i left someone pointed out "isn't that what they used to keep people in prison".
Diogenesister15 hours ago
Rainbow_troll correct me if I'm wrong but isn't what you looked into what people would call spiritualism which isn't a word dubs use, but if you were to use it they would become extremely confused!! After all usually anything with spiritual in has to be good, doesn't it??!!
Spiritualism is the more common term, yes, but spiritism has an identical meaning if you look it up in a dictionary (though not all dictionaries list it).
in the time since i've left the borg behind i've had a few things hit me as to how words were used.
i'm wondering if anyone else has some similar examples, but here are some things that have made me think:.
watchtower - my whole life i saw this as a thing of protection from outside evil forces, and then when i left someone pointed out "isn't that what they used to keep people in prison".
Spiritism
In my quest for the truth I investigated psychic phenomena, parapsychology, OBEs because I thought it a more scientific (and therefore reliable) approach to answering metaphysical questions than consulting the Bible. And so of course I was accussed of the heinous sin of spiritism; but when I asked my accussers to define just what they meant by 'spiritism' they could never give me a clear answer.
I looked up the word in the dictionary and found that it refers to mediumship, table-tapping, and similar chicanery. Well, that certainly didn't describe anything I was doing. Even back then, I knew that psychic mediums were con artists.
I tried to explain all this to the brothers, but their minds were closed. Reading books on the paranormal was spiritism (unless you bothered to consult a dictionary), which made me ipso facto a witch in league with Satan.
Some time after that I had my first OBE (which was totally fucking awesome, BTW) and was foolish enough to tell my mom about it. According to her, the demons were now trying to rip me out of my body so they could take possession of the vacated cadavre! I tried, in vain, to explain how silly that was and that it wasn't even consistent with her own theological beliefs; but to no avail.
Ah, religion...
as we all know, witnesses routinely share in gossiping, slandering or maligning the name and reputation of those who are "spiritually weak" or ones who "fade" or "stop associating".. they feel it is ok to speak badly of such ones who "have left jehovah's organization".. of course, some of the worst perpetrators of this are elders and their wives, who insidiously plant negative stories in the minds of all they interact with in the congregation.
they may never have actual facts, but since when do facts matter to witnesses?
however through such conduct they manage to separate people from one another, or cause rifts amongst former friends.. this sort of conduct is plainly inappropriate.. but what scriptures could be used if the opportunity arose to confront such ones about the way they have behaved?.
I'm breaking my heart night and day thinking about the loss of the loving people who now shun me!
It's a perfect example of how religion skews the internal moral compass. Granted, there are radically differing conceptions of right and wrong among various cultures and even between individuals, but regardless of that, most people still have (for lack of a better word) a hierarchy of values. For example: most people will at least give lip service to the idea that lying is wrong, yet no one would condemn those Germans who hid jews from the Nazis as a bunch of liars. In most hierarchies of value, respect for life trumps the obligation to tell the truth.
Apostasy may or may not be wrong, but to treat apostates worse than child abusers is really another way of saying that it's more important to believe the right doctrines than respect the bodily integrity of children (or adults for that matter).
"Oh, but the child abuser has repented. And if the apostate would only repent too, he would be forgiven and treated just as well as the child abuser."
So there you have it: we're not being shunned for our sins, but for our lack of repentance.
as we all know, witnesses routinely share in gossiping, slandering or maligning the name and reputation of those who are "spiritually weak" or ones who "fade" or "stop associating".. they feel it is ok to speak badly of such ones who "have left jehovah's organization".. of course, some of the worst perpetrators of this are elders and their wives, who insidiously plant negative stories in the minds of all they interact with in the congregation.
they may never have actual facts, but since when do facts matter to witnesses?
however through such conduct they manage to separate people from one another, or cause rifts amongst former friends.. this sort of conduct is plainly inappropriate.. but what scriptures could be used if the opportunity arose to confront such ones about the way they have behaved?.
It happened to me. Nowdays I am a really evil person by JW standards (and probably by Muslim, Buddhist, and secular humanist standards as well), but back in my teens I was actually a pretty good guy. The only sin I can recall committing was masturbation; other than that, I was squeaky clean.
Nevertheless, I found out later on that some pretty nasty rumors had been circulating about me which I was unaware of at the time. I have since traced them back to a close family member who was evidently attempting to slander me so she could create a rift between me and my friends (none of whom she liked). I'm ashamed to say that she lied to me as well and I believed her without ever investigating whether or not she was being truthful.
To be fair, I don't think this is unique to JWs at all. I've found that gossip and backbiting are endemic in human society no matter if it's a church, workplace, or school. People are bastards.
