Where is the garden of Eden?
It never existed.
where is the garden of eden?.
i don't mean where in the world, i mean where in history.
adam and eve get booted out of this place.
Where is the garden of Eden?
It never existed.
when i truly believed the jws had the truth, i usually reverted back to 'what's the point?
i'm going to die anyway' as a way to justify for doing so-called bad things or not doing so-called good things in jw land.. i shouldn't be watching this r-rated movie.
(why stop?
But...My guilt is also what led me to explore the truth about The Truth (You might as well do some research. You're going to die anyway).
That's not exactly how it went in my case. I just couldn't care less; I just had no interest in any of their nonsense, plus I wasn't treated in a way that enticed me to give them a chance.
Also, I wanted to point that guilt may be one thing, but maybe subconsciously you knew that the whole thing was nonsense, or maybe you knew that it's not for you.
- the earth explodes.
one, two, three, more explosions, and then the earth opened beneath my feet, as a loud mouthed angry elder, screamied at me " i told you so".
i am still alive, but deep inside the earth.
If there's any consolation, you're no longer doing that. There are so many who are still wasting their lives in that nonsense.
i am a man and i have roughly 10 months to prepare for my wedding (including raising the funds etc... my fiance is caught up in her affairs associated with the wedding.
now i do have a pretty good sense of fashion when it comes to 'dress to impress' when required.
however, i'm not familiar with specific clothing lines.
My suggestion, and I hope my gay license doesn't get revoked for this, look at fashion websites and magazines. Look for styles and looks where you see yourself. You will make the right choice if you trust your taste and common sense (yes, people, common sense exists).
Also, you can still look sloppy in the best outfit if you don't take care of the details. Make sure it fits well, it's clean, neat, ironed and new (or newish). Everything in its place. No too long/short sleeves, not too wide for you pants, hem at the right length. The outfit itself is only one part of the equation. I don't think I have to tell you to shave and shower properly too, but I just did.
Of course, consider that it's your wedding, that you want to look sharp, and that most of the beauty will be focused on the bride.
Good luck.
i got up today to listen to the shocking news that russia’s ambassador to turkey was assassinated at an ankara art exhibit, and assassin was acting in the name of god.. it seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists and vice versa.
while religionists take delight in killing fellow humans in the name of god, there were many atheists who followed very elevated morality.
the french existentialists and writers jean-paul sartre and albert camus were some of them.
It seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists...
That's making the pompous assumption that religionists always make about them being the only ones right and righteous and that non-believers are supposed to be amoral and careless.
IMO, there's no difference of how things have been all along, except for the fact that religionists cannot continue hiding all their hypocrisy. It's all now in the open.
okay team,.
some family friends who are engaged are getting some flack around the particulars of their wedding ceremony (surprise!
"strain out the gnat, gulp down the camel", and all that).
is anyone aware of any rules (written or otherwise) when it comes to having a baptized JW who is not an elder or MS give the wedding talk at a non-KH venue when members of the wedding party are not JWs?
In my experience, when it comes to that, elders pretty much do whatever comes out of their behinds. I saw elders who decided to cancel a wedding altogether because the JW couple filled the paperwork a week before to qualify for a housing program. They were not allowed to get married.
Another elder decided not to preside the wedding because the non-JW sister of the groom, who wasn't attending got pregnant out of her marriage. And so on, they are full of nonsense.
There doesn't have to be a rule for them to decide to do whatever comes out of their behinds. It's just like that.
who today claims to be god's prophets?
if the governing body of jehovah's witnesses deny this, or state before onlookers that it would be presumptuous to believe they are the only prophets or only spokesperson that god is using - such as geoffrey jackson's statement at the arc (when taken in the context of the question) - then who does the scriptural statement default to?
christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses:.
...it would be presumptuous to believe they are the only prophets or only spokesperson that god is using...
Ans your point is... they claim to be the one and only organization that worships the one and only true god, in the one and only true way. Why isn't that presumptuous enough?
as im sure almost all of us on here are ex-jw, we all know first hand how well the watchtower used the power of guilt to manipulate our thoughts and actions for the entire time we were active witnesses.
guilty for not going on the ministry enough.. guilty for not trying harder while on the ministry.. guilty for not turning up for hall cleaning that time.. guilty for saying a swearword.. guilty for looking at a porno mag.. guilty for masturbating through my teens (i thought i was the only one who did!).
guilty for thinking the gb is wrong on a certain thing.. guilty for touching my girlfriend there... even though we've been dating for 3 freakin years and not had sex (thats not natural imo).. guilty for not following along in the watchtower magazine on sunday.. guilty for not studying.. guilty for nodding off during the 8 hour convention.. guilty for my mind wandering during the talks.. guilty for thinking of sister so-and-so.. the list goes on.
It's only since leaving that I've felt real happiness and relief. Not having to lie about who i talk to, where im going, what i watch, if i smoke, if i try this, if i do that. In fact, i can honestly say, it took leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses to make me an honest man! On the rare occasions that Witnesses from my old KH speak to me i refuse to lie to them about what i like and what i dont like. I will mention without a trace of guilt that i was in Amsterdam a few weeks ago and smoked marijuana. That i collect Hindu idols to decorate my home and that my friends are a mix of atheists and one or two pagans.
Being able to speak so openly about myself is so liberating and i truely value "the [real] world" for allowing me to be myself.
Yet, what a lot of JWs and ex-JWs still try to waste their time on is discussing doctrine, teachings and seeing everything through the light of the Bible, as if that's what's going to bring them happiness.
Thank you for addressing this topic. Love hearing about freedom from guilt and shame, liberation and freedom to choose whatever you choose to do/be/believe (BTW, Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities of all time, I don't do the marijuana thing, but it's good to know that I can if I want to).
first draft of a letter to the congregations found crumpled up in tomo’s waste bin:.
"resurrection is the hope".
dear brothers and sisters,.
... just put your money where your faith is
The only valuable line. That is, depending on where your faith actually is.
jesus taught a surviving generation, a group inhering everlasting life, an escape route to avoid a global disaster worse than the flood, a generation that "will not pass away--" an infinite generation.
wt teaches a generation that dies, ends, passes away, at the first sign of real trouble, the great tribulation.. what do you believe about this wt assertion?
(apart from that there is no talking snake, it is all irrelevant).
what do you believe about this wt assertion?
That it's all bullshit. The WT keeps coming up with more and more nonsense and for some reason JWs keep believing and byuing into it.
BTW, there's no talking snake.