even if they aren't running, who would you like to see as the next president?
?
From among the candidates that are running I hope Hillary. I don't agree with her on every issue, but I think she leans more toward moderation but also sees the need to think outside the box regarding issues that keep getting worse by doing things the same old way.
If it's broke and can't be fixed get a new one.
I wish Arlen Specter wasn't too old to consider running. He's one of the few republicans that understands most of the people he represents aren't extremists.
Lea
many elevate the scriptures (new world translation, etc.
) and the accurate knowledge of as greater then the word of god.
subsequently, putting their faith in the men that interpret the bible for them.
I believe the Word of God is the expression of God's Being..."I AM"...God's "Name" if you will.
I don't see how God could have expressed in a "word" anything other than His own Being...what else exists (ed) to speak of?
That's how Christ is the "exact representation of His very Being" and how "he existed in God's form".
I tend to get a bit turned off when I hear Christians insist that the Bible is "the Word of God" all the while not realizing that it can't be the Word of God that Christ is said to be.
Did everything get created for and by the Bible?
I don't think so.
Lea
here is an excerpt from a book called "fresh wisdom-breakthrough to enlightenment" that really hits the point:
the con of religion
we have never met a christian who has given up everything and followed christ.
I think there's a big difference between religion and spirituality.
From what I've seen, people who are super religious tend to be less spiritual because religion tries to build a container for something that by it's very nature cannot be contained in a man-made vessel.
I was having a discussion with a religious friend who was saying that kids have problems today because the atheists fought to take prayer out of school and won.
I told her that I'm glad there isn't prayer in school and that I tell my daughter that she can pray anytime she wants...before a test or challenge, when she's having difficulty dealing with a situation, or just because. I don't want her being religiously programmed by a government institution.
My friend said that prayers aren't programming. I laughed and told her that she should go to a meeting at a Kingdom Hall sometimes. I felt that their public prayers were just another way of spouting the WTS' propaganda. Because of that, I'm a bit more cynical when it comes to public prayer offerings.
I also pointed out to her that it isn't the atheists she has to fear. I told her that in the Bible it says that there will come a time that everyone who kills you will believe they're doing it for God. That pretty much discounts the atheists, huh? :p (I love pointing that out to religious Christians who are on an anti-atheist kick)
I admitted that when I first came into contact with hardcore atheists on this site I was a bit put off. I felt they were too angry or too much like fundamentalist Christians in "it's my way or you suck" mentality. Some are, but most atheists are more willing to consider both sides of an issue and it basically comes down to their belief that if it can't be logically digested it's probably bunk. I told her that I can't blame them for that. They think more logically than I do, so how can I judge it when I don't live it?
On the other hand, many of the atheist that I've read here or there are very spiritual, displaying many of the qualities that some religious zealots lack.
Anyway, I think there's a big difference.
Lea
it's been a while since this topic has been brought up.
use it as a chance to see if there is someone you might know from years past.
1973-1976 --- lakeside, ca??
Pottstown West
Pottstown East
both in PA
Lea
my oldest daughter is a handful.
she has a mouth that just doesn't seem to stop and today we got into it .....again.. well, after a bunch of crap coming out of her mouth, i smacked her on the arm and told her to quit the talking to me that way.. then, it got worse when she kicked me.
geez, how would you have dealt with this kind of thing.. i told her i'm going to send her to a camp this summer where they put her on a giant kite (parasailing) and make her fly off a cliff.
If my daughter ever kicks me I'll spank her ass and ground her for good measure.
She'll be ten soon and I've never had to spank or ground her, so hopefully the trend will continue.
I hope that if she ever has the urge to kick or hit me she'll have the presence of mind to realize that I'm not the one - before she acts on it.
Lea
i talked with my father in law yesterday... he is very much a simple minded man, deeply fanatical about the religion.. he said to me "you do have to realize that it's the truth, you see the truth never changes like other religions".
i wanted to vomit in my mouth, but i just remained silent, no need to draw undue attention to myself, or about my true feelings.
as far as anyones concerned i'm just inactive.. but i was on the tip of talking about many things that change, and if they change they say the light is getting brighter.
Thanks.
I wrote that a few years ago (tweeked it a little since then) when I was debating JW's a beliefnet.
I started thinking how simple minded they can be (as opposed to keeping their eye simple) and how being simple minded can really get complicated and contradictory to the term "simple".
Like copters fil saying the WTS has the truth. Simple minded people have no problem calling something so full of lies and contradictions "truth" because they aren't able to look at the situation and see that when something contains "untruth" (in abundance at that) - the whole can't be labeled "true".
Calling it the truth is lying...to put it simply.
i talked with my father in law yesterday... he is very much a simple minded man, deeply fanatical about the religion.. he said to me "you do have to realize that it's the truth, you see the truth never changes like other religions".
i wanted to vomit in my mouth, but i just remained silent, no need to draw undue attention to myself, or about my true feelings.
as far as anyones concerned i'm just inactive.. but i was on the tip of talking about many things that change, and if they change they say the light is getting brighter.
Simple Mind - A Contradiction
I'm tired of you...
and your simple mind
that doesn't think
and requires convoluted explanations
that defy all sense and reason...
and faith
You tire me...
with your long drawn out answers
that explain nothing
and create empty lifeless images
that defy reality and truth...
and faith
I hope you wake...
from your endless attempt
to complicate what's simple
with exhausting mental gymnastics
that defy love and life...
and faith
Lfh
Iris
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
And you bleed just to know you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
with the global village now teaching evolution as an absolute fact, and the 'creation museum' making a mockery of the bible, any bible study should begin with this question!
however, the biggest hinderence to learning truth is clinging to concepts we've accepted as 'truth' without being willing to take a closer look at other possibilities.. i ask that ridiculers have fun on other postings, so that it might be possible to enjoy comparing what we have learned, how we see things- and also share what we have found to be facts-truth!.
(and i will not "count the time", as promised; that's unimportant to me, anyhow!).
I'm hoping that one day people evolve to the point where they have the clarity of mind to realize:
"Duh...for centuries now the majority of mankind have supported and allowed people who have no problem raping the planet of resources for their own material gain. People who don't give a rat's ass about the lives of "our" offspring. They who have no problem tampering with our planets resources regardless how it impacts the lives of the majority of people who live on this planet for their own selfish gain have been allowed to control what happens on this earth. This has to stop and these "unevolved" men should be pulled from the ivory towers we've allowed them to build on the sweat and blood of the repressed for generations."
When will reasonable men stand up and stop the mauraders and murderers from taking the lead among us? When will the majority of mankind "evolve" to the point of realizing we are allowing the future of our own offspring to be detrimentally affected in allowing the selfish few to control our lives and futures?
What is it in mankind that makes them so willing to sacrifice the quality of their own lives so that some others can have more than they need? Why has the common man allowed it to get to this point?
It seems to me that rather than evolving, mankind as a whole has been regressing (at least not evolving in intelligence) by allowing "the few" to grow in their ability to dominate the many and lead them on a path of self denial that puts them in a position where they are unable to ensure that their own children will live in a society where people are equally given the opportunity to feed their kids daily and live in peace.
What is it in humans that make them think other humans know what's best and deserve to control what happens on this planet even in the face of evidence that shows the results aren't good for us?
The lunatics have been in control of the asylum throughout history and the rest of us just smile and treat them like they're the doctors. When will we evolve beyond this insanity?
Lea
one thing many jw's could do was quote jesus, although whether or not they lived up to the so-called 'christian ideal' is questioned by most of us.
conversely, many others who call themselves christians are much nicer people!
they love, they are generous, charitable and willing to give - but they are unlikely to be as familiar as we are with the details of jesus life and ministry as recorded in the bible.. i don't have a problem with that, it's what people do that matters!.
Then there are the old-time mainstream denominations like Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. who also have booted Jesus and the Word out the window in favor of whatever THEY think is more appropriate.
My family attends a Lutheran church regularly and Jesus is the center of every talk. He's also the center of the ritualistic parts of the service.
Don't know what Lutheran church you've been associated with but it doesn't sound anything like the church I have experience with.
Lea
