Silverleaf

Joined

• started 9 topics
• posted 303 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Silverleaf

• 
  38

  Halloween after leaving the JW's

  by TresHappy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i was a kid, we did halloween every year.

  no big deal, just costumes and trick or treating, but that was the 70's.

  when i was 11 we stopped celebrating everything, and several years ago i left the jw's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  Mizpah:

  Bible criticism is fairly recent. It had to be.

  Maybe criticism of the 'entire' Bible - since the Bible as it stands in its current form is fairly recent, but criticism of individual books of the Bible, including some that were never allowed to be published as part of the Bible is not new at all - I don't know where you get your facts. Also criticism of the Bible today isn't punishable by death. Perhaps you think it still should be?

  Anyway, yeah, right, whatever you say since you obviously know a lot more about Paganism and Christianity and ancient history and the Church than anyone else here.

  I know you directed the question to Sirona, but if Christianity is based on ancient Pagan myths, you asked, why would she or anyone else not embrace it? I ask why embrace the copy when you can embrace the original?

  Silverleaf
• 
  38

  Halloween after leaving the JW's

  by TresHappy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i was a kid, we did halloween every year.

  no big deal, just costumes and trick or treating, but that was the 70's.

  when i was 11 we stopped celebrating everything, and several years ago i left the jw's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  There have been a plethora of anti-Christian books in the last few years. They seem to come and go on a regular basis. The more outrageous the claim the quicker they seem to disappear. The one book that remains is the Bible. I don't think there is any danger of it disappearing anytime soon.

  Mizpah,

  Listings of verifiable historical facts are not 'outrageous claims.' There have likewise been anti-Christian writings for more than just the last few years, in fact Christians themselves have been arguing amongst themselves since the first century as to what the 'proper' way to worship should be. You would think the 'one true religion' would exist in a single form and be accepted by all of its followers in the same way. Likewise the Bible may remain, but it has not existed in the same form throughout all time, it has been changed, re-written and retranslated countless times until much of the original intent was lost. It is not the eternal word of God most people wish it was - even a Christian historian can tell you that the Bible has undergone changes over the years. Many early anti-Christian writings no longer exist because they were destroyed by the Church, the authors were persecuted, killed or otherwise silenced. You wouldn't think the 'one true religion' would be so worried about squelching any dissident views, would you?

  Silverleaf
• 
  38

  Halloween after leaving the JW's

  by TresHappy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i was a kid, we did halloween every year.

  no big deal, just costumes and trick or treating, but that was the 70's.

  when i was 11 we stopped celebrating everything, and several years ago i left the jw's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  Oxnard is my favorite Hamster, btw -

  I just read "The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God. It blows the lid off of the history of Christianity and debunks the belief that the story of Jesus is in any way unique. It discusses how the Christian belief system was copied and reformulated from Greek, Egyptian and other ancient Pagan mystery religions. A fascinating book.

  Silverleaf
• 
  38

  Halloween after leaving the JW's

  by TresHappy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i was a kid, we did halloween every year.

  no big deal, just costumes and trick or treating, but that was the 70's.

  when i was 11 we stopped celebrating everything, and several years ago i left the jw's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  Sirona said it better so I won't repeat but in response to this:

  Regardless of how hard followers of Wicca try to project a different image today, the origins are based in the occult.

  ... and Christianity is entirely based on Pagan myth, I guess that makes It occult also.

  Silverleaf
• 
  8

  Paging All Illuminati!!!

  by czarofmischief in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  young, eager writer happy to help dupe masses and promote satanic new world order.

  in return, seeks compensation in the form of carnal satisfaction, narcotics, and a concealed carry permit with a license to kill.

  also, a pony, magical, red, with gold mane and hooves, named brush, for riding and ribbon-plaiting purposes.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  If you haven't read "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown [author of The DaVinci Code] you should. It's all about the Illuminati - and even tells you how to find their sacred altars in Rome. Great read!

  Silverleaf
• 
  44

  Why does God create abominations?

  by CPiolo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many religious folks, including fundamentalists, moderates and liberals, from a multitude of faiths, including jehovah?s witnesses, claim that homosexuals, bisexuals and trans-gendered individuals are abominations in the eyes of god.

  they believe these people are sinners of the worst sort, that their behavior is a perversion, is evil, dangerous and a threat to society, the family and/or ?family values.?

  these poor souls are going to be punished in some way by god for their choices and behavior ?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  But how can this be? Why would God create such deviant creatures? Why would God create people that are to be the object of God?s own wrath, to be the object of the bigotry, hate and abuse of ?good? and ?moral? people who have God?s good grace? Can someone please explain this to me? I certainly don?t understand it.

  
  God would not create abominations. This is a tactic used by religion to separate people - to promote the us vs. them mentality and to give people a supposedly "moral" excuse to revile that which they do not understand. No loving, logical God would create an abomination and then blame that abomination for being an abomination. Dogmatic religions like the ones that promote this type of mindset are 'made up' religions stolen from ancient myth and bastardized as a means to control the masses. They have no basis in fact and have provided no benefit to mankind whatsoever.

  JMHO,

  Silverleaf
• 
  17

  What was the purpose of Creation?

  by ClassAvenger in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was talking to some jehovah witness in a bible study, and we got into a conversation of heaven.

  i told him that we would all be in heaven and live there, and he told me, "what would be the point of god creating the whole earth and putting us here then destroying it?

  wouldn't it just be easier to repair the earth and place us here again?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  I would ask him what the point is to allow 6 billion people to live on Earth and then destroy 99.9% of them. What was the point of flooding the Earth to destroy wicked people when God could have waved his hand and made them disappear or fixed their problems? What was the point of destroying the animals - except those that were lucky enough to make it on the ark, were they wicked too? What's the point of having a visible organization - if God were visible himself he wouldn't need an organization to carry out his work. What is the point of entrusting such "important" work to imperfect men?

  Silverleaf
• 
  11

  Kids, reading, and TV

  by Phantom Stranger in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  recently there was a thread (i have searched and searched and failed to locate it) which discussed if jw kids were smarter, better readers, more likely to graduate hs, etc., than the population.

  there was a great deal of discussion about reading.

  the story below seems to have some bearing on that discussion - my apologies for not including the link.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  I read this article this morning, and like every other new "study" that comes out, you have to take it with a grain of salt. Like Luna, I watched a lot of TV as a kid and so did my DH. We're both avid readers and have a number of creative interests, including writing. It depends on the rest of the environment a child lives in. My daughter is 8 1/2 and has been toting books with her wherever she goes for the past year - she even reads in front of the TV - {so do I}. I think TV is blamed for a lot of things, but if you want your kids to be readers, let them see you with a book, read to them, take them to the book store etc. They can like TV, but eventually they will chose reading over watching if they have the right motivation.

  Silverleaf
• 
  30

  Unitarian Universalists

  by SpunkyChick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just visited a unitarian universalist church today for the first time.

  i enjoyed it!

  the reverend was a female and she gave a sermon about mystics.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  MY DH and I went to a UU Church several years ago and we enjoyed it. They had some interesting topics for discussion, everyone was welcome and they seemed like genuinely nice people. We stopped going because it seemed more of a social exercise than a spiritual one [not that that's necessarily bad] but I still felt I was missing something. If I ever felt the need to go back to a church setting I would go back there.

  Silverleaf
• 
  17

  To the Household of God...

  by AGuest in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  that is israel... and all those who go with... may you have peace!.

  once again, my lord has appeared to me and said to me, "go, and speak to this people israel.

  all that i say to you, you are to say to them... whether they hear... or they refrain.".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Silverleaf

  Why would God ask "Why?"

  Silverleaf