Posts by Sirona

for many of us dealing with overlapping complex issues, please visit this website belonging to the open university in the uk, a truly excellent resource.. the open university is one of the leading universities in the uk with daily learning tuition upon the bbc2 channel, learning zone, broadcast throught each night.. another thing, i happen to think that a lot more physical exercise would be good for us in assisting in overcoming overwhelming feelings of anxiety, anyone suggestions that they have found most effective?

in further generation of beneficial positive, mind, body, action, results?.

peace.

Sirona

Celtic,

I would love to do my degree with OU, but they're just too expensive. I work full time, so I would have to pay full fees, which are about £1000 per annum. The degree Im doing now is with our local Uni, and I pay just over £300 per annum for that, and attend 2 evenings per week.

For relaxation and general wellbeing, I do yoga. It is excellent as a stressbuster and teaches you breathing a relaxation techniques. There are lots of beginners videos out there and its not that difficult.

Sirona

** http://www.religioustolerance.org **

68

Any athiest tried a Ouji Board?

by Marilyn in

jw
friends

i've been told the glass moves around spelling stuff out.

my brother, before he became a dumbdub said it happened to him - but he was pretty young and probably p'd.

movies and tv play along with it.

Sirona

I spent a lot of my life thinking I knew everything... now-a-days I don't mind saying, "I don't know"; "Maybe I'm wrong";

Thanks Teejay. I am open to the possibility that my beliefs about spirits are wrong, maybe its something I believe just through unexplainable experiences of my own. I think I have a right to believe it though, and people like Funky Derek really annoy me - not because he disagrees, but because he cannot respect choice of beliefs.

Sirona

68

Any athiest tried a Ouji Board?

by Marilyn in

jw
friends

i've been told the glass moves around spelling stuff out.

my brother, before he became a dumbdub said it happened to him - but he was pretty young and probably p'd.

movies and tv play along with it.

Sirona

Ok FunkyD we could go on forever, however I feel I must say:

Do you have evidence that you are right, that there is no God and no spirit world? No

DO I have evidence that there is a God and a spirit world? No

I dont understand, therefore, how you can be so arrogant and say that you are right, and speak about other peoples beliefs in a condescending way. It seems to me that you expect everyone else to prove their beliefs, but your beliefs are based on lack of any evidence too.

You seem to be very arrogant to be honest. I was having a debate about things, but you have consistently said things which I consider to be insulting. Funkyd is right, everyone else is wrong.

Ever heard of respecting other peoples views? Ever heard of religious tolerance?

Sirona

26

70 Hour Pio's & 15 Min Pubs

by metatron in

jw
friends

let's see here - according to the latest rumor.

you can be a regular publisher by putting in 15 minutes.

a month.. you can be a regular pioneer by putting in 70 hours.

Sirona

I can just see it now! "oh brothers, there are so many more publishers now!" (skipping over the bit where half the hours have been done...)

Sirona

** http://www.religioustolerance.org **

23

Demonized? Evil? Mentally Ill?

by teenyuck in

recently i received an e-mail from someone very close to me.

the e-mail was so vile, i stopped reading and called a good friend who is a jw.

the jw knows the writer very well.

Sirona

Hi Puffsrule,

This is an interesting subject. I believe in spirit entities and God, and I also study psychology.

On mental illness: of course some conditions involve the person hearing voices or hallucinating. Also in the case of your email, they can be so delusional that their negative world is all they know. Drugs help with these symptoms which to me proves that it isnt any sort of "demon" influence.

On demons: I suppose it depends what we mean when we use the word "demons". I think that there are entities who would perhaps cause someone some problems. Mostly these so called entities are simply energy created by the person or someone close to them, IMO. Therefore I think that actual possession by an entity is unlikely if not impossible, someone would have to clearly invite this into their life over a period of time, and even then its debatable if its the person themselves who is simply allowing descructive thought patterns to govern their thinking.

Basically, I think that other beings exist in the spiritual realm, but 99.9% of problems with hearing voices are psychological. There are distinguishing features from what I've read. In mental illness, mostly (but not always) the voice is there on a regular basis, providing "instruction" to the person about what to do...like a running commentary even on trivial things like "go shopping now". The person simply doesnt realise its their own thoughts. If they're feeling negative the voice will be nasty. A bipolar sufferer I know who has auditory hallucinations told me that some days his voices are nice, some days they are horrible...like an angel and a devil in his head.

From reading about and speaking to people about spirit communication, and through my own experiences, its generally thought that it doesnt take place unless you are open to it, it doesnt happen on a regular basis (unless you are a spirit medium of course but then you are asking for communication on a regular basis), it almost always is positive or neutral in content, it doesnt tell you what to do - rather just imparts some message. It could be argued that these "communications" are also mental illness, however there are stories which seem to be supported by other information such as things that the individual could not have known themselves.

In the case of your emailer, I suspect its mental illness and you have nothing to be afraid of. Simple prayer can protect you from anything unwanted anyway. It amazes me that Thomas Poole can talk about demons in such a fearful way....he speaks as though they have sooo much power and they're soooo clever, yet if he was a man of faith would know that simple prayer is all you need.

Sirona

Does any1 know Carl Burton from NW England?

by Sirona in

sorry in advance for bugging people, but:.

just wondered if anyone knows carl burton, he used to attend northwest england congregations.

i think hes out, and he doesnt know im out, and i'd love to meet up with him again.

Sirona

Hi

Sorry in advance for bugging people, but:

Just wondered if anyone knows Carl Burton, he used to attend Northwest England congregations. I think hes out, and he doesnt know Im out, and I'd love to meet up with him again.

Mail me if you know anything.

Thanks
Sirona

** http://www.religioustolerance.org **

8

Merry Christmas substitute

by cornish in

jw
friends

when i was a witness we would tell the public that although we didnt keep xmas or birthdays etc,we made up for it the rest of the year and even have special occasions for giving at other times.. well,the reality,for me as a kid,and my other brothers and sister was that we didnt cellebrate cristmas and didnt celebrate anything else so we went without,there were practically no times for giving or recieving .

how was it for you?

Sirona

The same. I went without...and I said to people how nice it is to give when you are not under pressure, but in actuality I cant remember ever having a present from anyone at the hall.

So much for generosity. People in my family wondered why the JWs seemed to have a lot of money, well lets face it, no xmas or birthdays saves a lot of money!

Sirona

** http://www.religioustolerance.org **

68

Any athiest tried a Ouji Board?

by Marilyn in

jw
friends

i've been told the glass moves around spelling stuff out.

my brother, before he became a dumbdub said it happened to him - but he was pretty young and probably p'd.

movies and tv play along with it.

Sirona

Funkyd,

Stop saying things that insinuate my beliefs are false! You simply cant prove that they are false, if we're talking about testables.

I do care who's right or wrong. I hate the idea of someone spending their life devoted to a belief that's demonstrably untrue. That's one of the reasons so many people visit this site. Human subjectivity is not always reliable which is why people believe ridiculous things, why people are willing to die and to kill for beliefs that cannot possibly be true.

I care if someones belief hurts them, or someone else. However, I think everyone is entitled to spend their life believing anything they want to, whether others agree or not. I do not belong to a church. Being pagan, I would not let my life be lost if someone didnt agree with my beliefs, neither would I kill. The problem you describe is not that peoples beliefs may be false, just how they act on those beliefs.

Im also amazed that you liken anyones beliefs to the JWs....lets face it, there are sects and cults, in religion there is control, but that doesnt make any belief invalid.

You use the words "demonstrably untrue" and "cannot possibly be true". Well I would not say that of YOUR beliefs (namely that things like the Ouija are NOT contacting supernatural forces). You CANNOT say that of mine - e.g. apply your own rules. prove to me my beliefs "cannot possibly be true".

There may be reasons that you are unaware of that make the existence of spirits unverifyable. You just dont know.

I think you should be tolerant and respectful towards other's beliefs. Personally I dont believe the same thing as Christians, but I dont go around telling them that they are superstitious and gullible, I dont talk to them in a condescending manner. I accept that there is a chance that they are right and I am wrong, possibly. Or we are both right in our own way. Have you ever heard of phenomenological reality?

Sirona