Posts by Sunchild

75

I'm afraid there are only 2 ways of being a true believin' Christian

by Zep in

the first way is to be completely ignorant.to ignore the fact that the bible is a hopelessly flawed man made document, and all other reasoned argument and evidence that points to the non existence of the christian god.

this strategy basically involves living inside mental cocoon and closing your eyes to any alternative views.

the best way to employ this tactic is to perform a whole lot repetitive and ritualistic action; a whole lot of head bowing and praying etc... etc....you know the drill!.

Sunchild

I dont really relate to the third definition of a Christian; funkydereks definition; Shelby Spongs definition. I know people have every right to use to the definition when talking about themselves, and if it feels right for them thats OK with me. I know Shelby Spong calls himself a Christian. But...I consider him to be a basic unbeliever like myself. He actually has more in common with me than a Fundamentalist. I'm just really not comfortable with the so-called third definition of a Christian.

I've read a little of Shelby Spong's work, and I'm inclined to agree with you. His ideas are interesting and even useful, but I can't relate to his definition of God, or (for the most part) of Christ. I can't recall which book of his I read; I think was "Why Christianity Must Change or Die," or something to that effect. In any case, I remember thinking, "He sounds like an atheist." But he sounds like an atheist who has a better grasp of Christ's most important teachings than most people who call themselves Christians do. After all, Christ himself ephasized love as the greatest virtue for his followers to have, not some specific doctrine.

But what Funkyderek said is a bit less radical, and I think he's right. I fit into that space somewhere: I don't take everything in the Bible literally (and I don't think that it was ever meant to be read that way, given all the trouble that literal interpretation has caused), but I do strive to be like Christ, and I do believe in something vastly greater than myself.

But why do non-fundamentlist definitions of Christianity bother you? Is there any specific reason?

~Rochelle.

75

I'm afraid there are only 2 ways of being a true believin' Christian

by Zep in

the first way is to be completely ignorant.to ignore the fact that the bible is a hopelessly flawed man made document, and all other reasoned argument and evidence that points to the non existence of the christian god.

this strategy basically involves living inside mental cocoon and closing your eyes to any alternative views.

the best way to employ this tactic is to perform a whole lot repetitive and ritualistic action; a whole lot of head bowing and praying etc... etc....you know the drill!.

Sunchild

I despise any form of religious fundamentalism. I despise George Bushs view, Pat Robertson's, the Pope's, whatever, there is a long list of fundamentists. Fundamentlism in ANY form(there are varying degrees of it) is akin to lying as far as I'm concerned. I like to be blunt and use a sledgehammer on that kind of Christianity, hence my original post.

Thank you for finally clarifying that, and I'm inclined to agree with you. Fundamentalism in any way, shape or form is dangerous, and I want no part of it. But you did start this whole thing off by essentially referring to ALL Christians as being of this type, which simply isn't true. You might want to be more careful how you phrase things in the future.

I am 32....dont know why that really matters

The truth is that, to me, you sounded much younger, like someone in their late teens going through a rebellious "I know everything" type phase. My apologies, but that's why I was curious.

In any case, if you've found happiness in what you believe (or don't believe), I won't try to convert you. *g* You actually sound a bit Gnostic to me; you might want to look that up just to get a few ideas.

~Rochelle.

104

Follow the Star All the Way to Bethlehem

by Schizm in

jw
friends

the report below serves as an excellent example of the shallow understanding that people in general have regarding the so-called "star of bethlehem".

notice that the "star" is held in awe ... some sort of an object that satan himself caused to glow in the dark in order to cause the premature death of jesus.

satan's worst nightmare is jesus, was back then, and still is.

Sunchild

This whole discussion seems kind of pointless to me since I know full well that it can only lead to nowhere, but I will answer this question for you.

I take you to mean that the idea that Satan had planned to use Herod as an agent to kill the child Jesus is not reasonable. I personally don't find such an idea to be so unbelievable. So why do you? Care to explain?

Simple: there were far, far easier and more sensible ways to get the job done. Satan could just as easily have entered the body of one of the shepherds in attendance and had said shepherd try to kill the infant Jesus right then and there. Heck, he could even have sent one of his Servants O' Darkness to do it if he wanted to... but he didn't. If a simple mortal creature such as myself could think of that, it seems a little weird to me that Mr. Evil himself would go with such an unnecessarily complicated scheme. I mean, c'mon, hasn't he read the Evil Overlord List?

~Rochelle, at her parents' house and in a goofy mood.

104

Follow the Star All the Way to Bethlehem

by Schizm in

jw
friends

the report below serves as an excellent example of the shallow understanding that people in general have regarding the so-called "star of bethlehem".

notice that the "star" is held in awe ... some sort of an object that satan himself caused to glow in the dark in order to cause the premature death of jesus.

satan's worst nightmare is jesus, was back then, and still is.

Sunchild

I don't think there's any "if" about it. To assume that God was responsible for the star is ridiculous. Satan being the one responsible for the star made him responsible for the death of all those kids, because they wouldn't have died had the Magi not been brought into contact with Herod.

But... isn't Herod the one who made the choice to kill those children? And how do you know that he wouldn't have done something similar anyway, with or without the star? And if you follow your own line of reasoning far back enough, wouldn't that make God responsible for all the world's evil since He created the angel who became Satan in the first place?

Personally, I think it's silly to point at everything in the world as being part of a Satanic plot, and it seems a bit far-reaching to try and link the choice some evil human made with Satan's Elaborate (and I do mean elaborate) Scheme. That kind of thinking tends to make a person paranoid, and it also removes the element of personal responsibility.

Anyway, I have to get ready to go visit my parents. Merry Everything, one and all. *g*

~Rochelle.

104

Follow the Star All the Way to Bethlehem

by Schizm in

jw
friends

the report below serves as an excellent example of the shallow understanding that people in general have regarding the so-called "star of bethlehem".

notice that the "star" is held in awe ... some sort of an object that satan himself caused to glow in the dark in order to cause the premature death of jesus.

satan's worst nightmare is jesus, was back then, and still is.

Sunchild

Having visited this board for a long time now, I already knew the answer to my question Rochelle. I did want to give people here a chance to surprise me though. *LOL*

I see. Did you get what you were hoping for?

It's been quite awhile since I've been to this message board, so I'm afraid I don't remember all the personalities. I couldn't recall what sorts of things you wrote or why you wrote them, and I'm sorry for having such a bad memory. Or were you once someone else, but you're going by a different name?

BTW, whatever happened to that website that you used to have?

Heh, I've had several, actually, but the one I have right now will likely remain constant in its content if not its appearance:

http://christianwitch.silverseraphim.net/

It's taken me awhile, but I think I've found my spiritual niche, and I'm on my way to finding my place as a human being. The site above catalogs my journey and the things I've picked up along the way.

~Rochelle.

104

Follow the Star All the Way to Bethlehem

by Schizm in

jw
friends

the report below serves as an excellent example of the shallow understanding that people in general have regarding the so-called "star of bethlehem".

notice that the "star" is held in awe ... some sort of an object that satan himself caused to glow in the dark in order to cause the premature death of jesus.

satan's worst nightmare is jesus, was back then, and still is.

Sunchild

That's the REAL truth behind the "Star of Bethlehem"!!! But does anyone care?

Erm no offense, but... are you serious?

~Rochelle.

8

How many were religious????????

by vitty in

i know you cant know whats in someones head or mind, but in a average congregation of about a 80 to 100 people how many would you say were religious!.

i can say in mine there was about 6 that i would say were genuine people.

the rest i felt believed in the "truth" i did, but they were either scared of armageddon or peer pressureot to save face .

Sunchild

Personally, I think that all active JWs are "religious." They religiously follow the Society's directives in hopes that this will lead them to Paradise, and they also follow these orders for fear of angering a tyrannical God if they don't. I think it's the spiritual ones -- those who are motivated by love and the desire to become better, more Christlike people -- that aren't quite so easy to find.

I think that a lot of JWs (my now-former self included) do start off spiritual, though. Then, as time goes on, the spirit often becomes overburdened to the point of suffocation under all those threats and rules. It's difficult to be spiritual once you spirit has been crushed. Once that's gone, all you have left is religion.

~Rochelle.

19

Depression in the congregation

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers

Sunchild

I think that if you're predisposed to depression, Witness life can make it a whole lot worse.

JWs are supposedly the "Happiest People on Earth." If you're a depressed JW, the advice given in the Awake! and Watchtower is "Do more in Jehovah's service." Thus, the subtle implication is that if you're a JW and you're depressed, it's your own fault because you're not serving God fully. And if you're not doing enough, you're not good enough for God; it's very possible that God will kill you Armageddon for your lack of faith.

Of course, knowing this can't do much but make you more depressed -- and scared. The depression you suffer will feed on the fear, and you just keep slipping further and further into the pit.

~Rochelle.

20

Do you become empty inside after leaveing the witness's?

by PinTail in

jw
friends

i find myself feeling empty inside sense drifting away after my being shuned, and my divorce from my wife who was a witness, and after my daughter had been molested by a stupid brother in the hall that my ex-wife started living with after my becoming disabled.

i am newly married now to a good women who is not a witness, but she is honest and kind to me and understands what i have been through, but still i feel a empty somewhere in side of me.

of note during this time of pain, i fell hit my head and lost a major portion of my brain which left me disabled, and very emotional at times feeling like all is lost, i just can't throw it.

Sunchild

Shane, I think you're already dealing with this in the healthiest possible way: you're acknowledging your pain right away instead of pretending it doesn't exist. I made that mistake; maybe at the time, I just wasn't strong enough to face up to what I'd lost to my JW experience or the truth of my feelings of loneliness. But I wasted a lot of time in denial that could have been spent picking up the pieces.

In time, I think it does go away -- but only after you've done exactly what you're doing right now. Get out there. Make REAL friends. Keep talking to the people here who have had similar experiences, and if necessary, get professional counseling. I can tell already that you're going to be okay.

All the best to you,

~Rochelle.

75

I'm afraid there are only 2 ways of being a true believin' Christian

by Zep in

the first way is to be completely ignorant.to ignore the fact that the bible is a hopelessly flawed man made document, and all other reasoned argument and evidence that points to the non existence of the christian god.

this strategy basically involves living inside mental cocoon and closing your eyes to any alternative views.

the best way to employ this tactic is to perform a whole lot repetitive and ritualistic action; a whole lot of head bowing and praying etc... etc....you know the drill!.

Sunchild

Yeah look, I dont really hate Christians. I dont trust them though! They p*ss me off a lot of the time. I'm just ambivalent towards them. They are a sort of curiousity to me, like cute furry animals are to a zoologist. I think we should study them more, put them in cages and run tests on them to see why they believe such BS!!!!!!!!!....maybe we can take them home as pets and play with a little, and give them as Christmas presents nand stuff?

Interesting. Just out of curiosity, how old are you? And if you really were over the whole religion thing and ambivalent towards Christians/Christianity, 1)I doubt you'd still be on this board and 2)it doesn't make sense that you would be as hostile towards the idea as you've been throughout this topic. I'm pretty much ambivalent towards Satanists (though I do disagree with their philosophy), so I don't think about them much, and I can say in honesty that I've never started an entire message board topic about why I think they're wrong. Seems like a big waste of energy on a topic I've little interest in.

In case you missed my other post, BTW, I actually AM one of those Christians you would like to cage, and most people seem to find me reasonably bright. *g* If you'd like to know why I am, then ask me, though it's a rather complicated story.

Also, I notice you said that you don't believe in the Christian God. Does that mean you believe in some other form of the Divine?

~Rochelle, Inquisitive Class.