i have noticed alot friends here lately posing the question of things being good and bad etc.
so here is my question.
is there such a thing as absolute good, absolute evil, absolute anything?.
Spice
It is natural for human beings to categorise things. We do it in our brains - sort of like a tree . e.g.
Food -> Fruit -> Apple
So we also categorise certain words into "bad" and "good". Its a way of organising things in our minds. Under the term "bad" might be words like sin, kill, devil.
Anyway, I like to see the "dark" or negative as being necessary. How would we know positive if not for negative?
Sirona
indulgence instead of abstinence.
vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams.
undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit.
OK, I dont agree with most of those statements.
The trouble with Satanism is that it gives the followers a ticket to harming other people.
kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates
or "I can be kind to who I want and if I decide someone is an ingrate I can treat them badly"
vengeance instead of turning the other cheek
man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his divine spiritual and intellectual development, has become the most vicious animal of all
those two statements can almost be said to condone many acts of violence or even murder since "after all man is just an animal".
all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification
I presume this is saying the so called sins are not wrong. Again we have a ticket to murder, thieve, hurt others, and hurt ourselves.
If someone chooses to be a Satanist, then thats fine for them....as long as they don't use their "principles" to justify wrongdoing and crime. On the plus side of Satanism, at least they allow freedom of thought and expression.
Sirona
i am a "newbie" that has been "lurking" and commenting on a couple of posts over the last six months.
i was somewhat intimidated by some of the comments on the board so i didn't feel comfortable in introducing myself.
since simon seems to be dealing with some of the more "aggressive" posters i felt the time had come to introduce myself.
Hi Patricia
Welcome to the board.
I went through some very similar feelings for a little while. "Is Jehovah listening?" "am I worthy to pray?" The only way I found that helped was to investigate all faiths with my new eyes outside of the organisation. What I saw what lots of beauty. The people of other faiths have lots of love in their hearts for God and their fellow man. Yes, there are problems with any religious group, but looking at the fundamentals I began to realise that there is so much love that I could not imagine God rejecting these people. They were not calling him Jehovah, but they were being faithful, and praying and preaching.
This realisation helped me to feel that as long as I was living the best life I could, God would listen to me.
My studies of other faiths opened up a lot of questions for me and I ended up changing my entire belief structure. Nevertheless, I think that when I pray, I am heard.
I hope it helps to hear how I dealt with it.
Sirona
i love this forum.
at the moment, there are lots of people saying bad things about it.
i want to set the record straight.
thanks sirona ... I definitely owe you a drink
now that sounds good... mines a pint of stella
Sirona
i love this forum.
at the moment, there are lots of people saying bad things about it.
i want to set the record straight.
bttt
wholewheat:.
jehovah is nothing more than the very primitive concept of who and what god is that was held by a primitive, savage, illiterate group of nomads inhabiting the middle eastern lavant five thousand years ago.. jehovah is on a par with other middle eastern gods of the time; no more no less.
and we now discover through archaeology that jehovah had a wife.
Ok I accept the 1 Peter thing.
It really bugs me though how you fail to answer any of the other points I raised. I wanted YOUR opinion, not the society's
Sirona
dear friends,.
i am 25, married (his name is james), and i have a 6-month old son.
i am looking for an online friend.
i love this forum.
at the moment, there are lots of people saying bad things about it.
i want to set the record straight.
Hey all,
Shameful admission, I usually log onto this site when I'm at work. After such a good day here today, I decided to just log in for a few moments tonight. (blush)
I'm really glad that there have been more posts in appreciation of the forum. Recently I'd become a little despondent about the tone of some peoples post....and I wanted this thread to remind us all of what we *do* have being able to come here and talk.
Sirona
wholewheat:.
jehovah is nothing more than the very primitive concept of who and what god is that was held by a primitive, savage, illiterate group of nomads inhabiting the middle eastern lavant five thousand years ago.. jehovah is on a par with other middle eastern gods of the time; no more no less.
and we now discover through archaeology that jehovah had a wife.
You may also be interested in the points raised in my letter to the society at
http://www.geocities.com/lovelight75/socletter.htm
In which I point out some problems with the JW new world translation.
I would be really very interested to see if you have comments about these links. I have posted them to give you the opportunity to consider something other than the watchtower magazine.
Actually, if you can answer the questions I raised in my letter to the society, and you give me good answers, I am certainly able to accept I was wrong...
Sirona
in reading the gospels about jesus ministry i cannot help but be moved by his message and manner and i know i am not alone in feeling like this.
i marvel, smile, and slowly shake my head as i read about the miracles that he performed and have, at one time or other, wished that i could have been there to witness those marvels and to hear his voice.
perhaps like many others i have also wondered at those people who heard him and yet walked away.
Excellent post.
Strangely enough, I think that if I was living then, I'd have followed Jesus because of his liberating, loving message. I really believe that Paul subsequently went too far with his own version of Christianity and that if he hadn't intervened then Jesus's message would have gotten through much better!
The version of Christianity we see today is (IMO) nothing like Jesus's real teachings.
The Watchtower needs to consider if they, like the pharisees are being too "stuck in their ways" to admit that they need to change.
Sirona
