If witnesses are discouraged from pursuing higher education -- including degrees that are relevant in business, theology, biology, medicine, and law -- and the most growth comes from witnesses being born and raised into the religion, then doesn't that mean that the organization is facing a brain drain with each passing year even as the light is said to be getting brighter?
schnell
JoinedPosts by schnell
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New Magazine Feature, "Questions from readers." ...........if only!
by Lostandfound innever will the gb allow honest questions or doubts be raised, loyalty, loyalty,loyalty is their watchword, but if it did print qenuine readers questions, what would they be?.
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Guilt-Tripping Questions In Today's Text! (And My Replies To These Questions)
by Divergent inthursday, december 8. take your stand against him, firm in the faith.—1 pet.
5:9.. to do that, we need to prepare our mind and heart, to train ourselves now to do what is right.
we do not know what our spiritual warfare may involve in the future.
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schnell
@Divergent, gotcha.
@Darkknight757, it's definitely cathartic to read and obviously to write (just looking at all the replies where folks added their own rebuttals to the fray).
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Selflessness, Pride, and Awakening
by schnell ini haven't attended a meeting in months and last attended half of a one day assembly because i couldn't take another half.
but truth be told, i have been more intrigued by buddhism since i was a teenager.
in fact, i am finally getting around to reading the dhammapada by gautama buddha himself.
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schnell
I haven't attended a meeting in months and last attended half of a one day assembly because I couldn't take another half. But truth be told, I have been more intrigued by Buddhism since I was a teenager. I still am. In fact, I am finally getting around to reading the Dhammapada by Gautama Buddha himself. And I'm reading some Thich Nhat Hanh for good measure, specifically his book Creating True Peace.
(Note: At this point, the forum software herped and my smartphone browser derped and the OP was posted before I finished writing it. This paragraph and what follows is an edit.)
My problem is that I am coming out of the JW religion, a cult that strips you of individualism or allows only a facade of such. I have expressed here how angry I am at all of this, even how tired I am of JW behavior. I even complained about a specific JW in a recent thread.
So at best, I see asceticism as a fanciful and impractical ideal that I really don't think I could achieve. I do not even want to. I have seen what happens when you allow bad things to happen to you, and I have to strike this balance between defense and peace. With a little anger, I feel that I have some dignity. I have pride, which is something I was taught all my life to avoid. I feel that I have a reason to be angry about certain things. But I also understand that I can't stay angry, and so all those things are passing anyway. Where does that leave the dignity and the pride? So I find myself on a bit of a journey here, no matter what ism is applied to it.
From the Dhammapada:
1. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
2. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him....
39. If a man’s thoughts are not dissipated, if his mind is not perplexed, if he has ceased to think of good or evil, then there is no fear for him while he is watchful.
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Scriptures which link Yahweh to the Canaanite god El.
by evilApostate intoday, i want to share some scriptures i have come across in my research which show the link between yahweh and the canaanite god el.
el and other variations such as elyon, el shaddai and elohim appear many times in the bible.
these are usually translated as god, most high, god almighty and so on.
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schnell
Here's a fun quote from Aron-Ra's Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism:
A word on the evolution of Genesis: The Akkadian cuneiform tablets of Enûma Eliš are the oldest of all creation myths, dating as far back as the early Kassite era in the eighteenth century BCE. That tale is told in seven tablets, accounting for seven generations of gods. On the sixth tablet, we read that the sixth generation created man to complete creation so that the seventh generation could rest. Sound familiar?
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Guilt-Tripping Questions In Today's Text! (And My Replies To These Questions)
by Divergent inthursday, december 8. take your stand against him, firm in the faith.—1 pet.
5:9.. to do that, we need to prepare our mind and heart, to train ourselves now to do what is right.
we do not know what our spiritual warfare may involve in the future.
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schnell
Can I ask something? I mean it with all due respect and you already know what it is and I am sure I'm not the first to ask...
Why are you still reading the Daily Text of all things?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the rebuttals... I wouldn't volunteer to do it, so I guess I'm glad someone does. But damn.
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Scriptures which link Yahweh to the Canaanite god El.
by evilApostate intoday, i want to share some scriptures i have come across in my research which show the link between yahweh and the canaanite god el.
el and other variations such as elyon, el shaddai and elohim appear many times in the bible.
these are usually translated as god, most high, god almighty and so on.
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schnell
It's a complicated story which I'm sure David_Jay could more thoroughly comment on, but based on what I've read, yes, the Israelites were a group of roaming, pastoral Canaanites. Canaan was also a vassal of Egypt for many years, which is another reason why the conquest of Canaan in the book of Joshua is rather myth.
The Exodus from Egypt is also suspect, because (for ONE thing) it's not like the escaping slaves could just walk across the sea and be out of Egypt's grasp. No, Egypt had men all around there.
And then there's also the fun bit about the first statement of monotheism being found in... Isaiah? Up till then, Yahweh was a god amongst other gods. It was not until Isaiah 44:6, which was not even written until long after Isaiah's death, that this was the ONLY god. And then you had the Shema Yisrael statement in Deuteronomy 6:4, etc. It's all very fascinating to see how this developed.
A Believer, please, please do yourself an academic favor and explore this topic.
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Scriptures which link Yahweh to the Canaanite god El.
by evilApostate intoday, i want to share some scriptures i have come across in my research which show the link between yahweh and the canaanite god el.
el and other variations such as elyon, el shaddai and elohim appear many times in the bible.
these are usually translated as god, most high, god almighty and so on.
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schnell
Oh the naivety...
No, @A Believer. You are essentially splitting hairs by saying that they just knew him as God Almighty. God Almighty is a translation of El Shaddai.
It is enough to say that there is no god after all, but the Judeo-Christian god in particular is derived from neighboring beliefs around the Middle East. The roots of the concept might go back to Amun-Ra, or even further, and also resulted in such gods as Zeus in Greek myth (and you are then to be reminded that the "Greeks" were a broad spectrum of people in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor with heavy Egyptian and Phoenician influence).
Honestly, we in Western civilization owe a lot to the Canaanites. They gave us our God and even our alphabet.
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Scriptures which link Yahweh to the Canaanite god El.
by evilApostate intoday, i want to share some scriptures i have come across in my research which show the link between yahweh and the canaanite god el.
el and other variations such as elyon, el shaddai and elohim appear many times in the bible.
these are usually translated as god, most high, god almighty and so on.
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schnell
Is there a book specifically about the evolution of Yahweh? Like from his origins in Canaanite religion and mythology to God and Jesus? That's the clear picture I get from composite reading of multiple books, but one definitive book on the subject, I am not aware of.
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Scriptures which link Yahweh to the Canaanite god El.
by evilApostate intoday, i want to share some scriptures i have come across in my research which show the link between yahweh and the canaanite god el.
el and other variations such as elyon, el shaddai and elohim appear many times in the bible.
these are usually translated as god, most high, god almighty and so on.
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schnell
This post is so fascinating that I clipped it to Evernote. Thank you!
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WBATS = THE WIZARD OF OZ
by UNCONDITIONAL LOVE ini found this amusing and ironic, but in a nutshell.
stay on the yellow brick road, do as we say and want, and we promise you courage, a heart, a brain and a ticket back home (spirtual paradise now/ physical paradise soon/ resurrection guaranteed )... .
don't ask too many questions or look behind the big curtain, just believe us or you'll fall apart and die... (research or study on your own/internet/ researching the governing body leads to weakness and disfellowshipping).
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schnell
Yep, I've long thought about that little man behind the curtain who puts on a big scary show. I've written here how I see correlations with the Emperor's New Clothes as well.