Posts by THE GLADIATOR

20

1 Thessalonians 5:2,3 - General Statement or Powerful Prophecy?

by lepermessiah in

jw
friends

after reading the posts regarding the "special" .

i remember growing up as a kid in the reagan 80's waiting for the ussr to nuke the usa, or vice-versa.

then, with glasnost and perestroika, so many jw's thought the long awaited cry of "peace and security" was imminent!

THE GLADIATOR

"1 BUT AS to the suitable times and the precise seasons and dates, brethren, you have no necessity for anything being written to you."

Paul was speaking to the brethren there and then. He expected Christ to return any day in his life time. They are all dead now and have been for around 2000 years.

He was as deluded as the brethren who more recently declared to the world that, 'millions now living will never die.' They are dead too!

This is what people do with their lives when they base their expectations on nothing more than hearsay, and false hope.

33

Medicinal Mushrooms

by BurnTheShips in

jw
friends

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/science/12psychedelics.html?partner=rss&emc=rss.

hallucinogens have doctors tuning in againby john tierneyas a retired clinical psychologist, clark martin was well acquainted with traditional treatments for depression, but his own case seemed untreatable as he struggled through chemotherapy and other grueling regimens for kidney cancer.

counseling seemed futile to him.

THE GLADIATOR

Picturesque Amsterdam in Holland, with its canals, lanes and shops, is a great place for a long weekend, if you live in Europe. It houses a Van Gough art gallery and has a superb canal boat ride.

In addition to naughty ladies in shop windows in the north of the town there are cafes that legally provide joints made out of some kind of leaf. Little shops sell dried hallucinogenic mushrooms, tolerated rather than legal, to make your trip complete. I have been there many times - only for the beer - of course.

42

No I don't believe anyone here has been permanently warped by the Borg any more than your parents could do the same to you.

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

you are who you are so much more due to your own peculiar genetic inheritance, and this is what eventually prevails.. there was a longitudinal study i read a number of years ago that tested the idea that we all have inborn "happiness setpoints".

these people in the study were followed through 20-25 years and periodically examined as regards their self-reported measures of happiness.

the finding was that no matter what happened either positively or negatively in their lives, within 8-12 weeks they were universally back to their baseline.. this means a couple of things:.

THE GLADIATOR

Finding fulfillment and happiness after leaving the tower depends on how great the sacrifices were that were made due to the faith. These range from career choices to loss of family, friends, and spouses.

Humans have a tendency to regret poor choices. Regret if not reconciled leads to depression, unhappiness and even in recovery, anger. Everything we live through will leave a mark of some kind, for better or for worse.

34

Moral apologists for the creator will explain away evil by submitting that the potential for evil is a necessary consequence of free will. Wrong!

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

free will could have existed quite nicely with a myriad of options available for these free-will entities to freely choose from, with all of these being equally good..

THE GLADIATOR

This thread is based on the assumption that each of us is an 'I.' This is an illusion. We are each just a collection of atoms that are recycled throughout the universe. We truly were once star dust and will be again.

Free will means that everything that is possible on earth will be tried. Both great pleasure and terrible suffering. There is nothing that can be done that has not tried. Ultimately, it is not possible to limit the consequences of out exercise of free will to ourselves, we are all in this together and we have no choice - no 'I' to separate from that which is.

Life on earth has fulfilled itself and will continue to until this planet is spent. Then it will repeat on another planet. It may be doing this on many planets right now. Perhaps that is its purpose - if it has a purpose at all. It is the illusionary 'I' that seeks to preserve itself and mould the universe to make sense of its existence. It never will because it is an illusion.

34

Moral apologists for the creator will explain away evil by submitting that the potential for evil is a necessary consequence of free will. Wrong!

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

free will could have existed quite nicely with a myriad of options available for these free-will entities to freely choose from, with all of these being equally good..

THE GLADIATOR

sir82: Once again, why not design a better world from the start?

Design needs a designer, who in turn was designed by a designer and so on. Another explanation is called for.

Our world came out of the universe and we came out of our world. The universe was not designed or put there nor was our earth. The universe is the result of cause and effect billions of times over billions of years. Its beginning and end cannot be known and there may be no beginning or end.

The universe is what it is. It is possible that what we call the universe is one of many universes. From out minuscule ant like perspective we are incapable of full grasping the process at work that we are a part of.

It is enough to be conscious of the fact that we are a part of something wonderful, if only for a few yeras.

34

Moral apologists for the creator will explain away evil by submitting that the potential for evil is a necessary consequence of free will. Wrong!

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

free will could have existed quite nicely with a myriad of options available for these free-will entities to freely choose from, with all of these being equally good..

THE GLADIATOR

Evil is just a word. As is good, bad, God, righteous... Evil is a subjective reaction to events on our little planet that we find inconvenient or hurtful.

The universe has free will. Stars come into being and stars die. Galaxies appear and expand. Meteorites crash into planets and sometimes destroy them. Reality happens. Life on earth is part of the same pattern. It is neither good, bad or evil it just is.

31

IDENTIFY who is speaking in this RIDDLE:

by Terry in

"i am the mother, and i am the daughter.

i am the wife and i am the whore.

".

THE GLADIATOR

I have now read the whole poem. It ends with these words.

"For I am the one who alone exists,
and I have no one who will judge me.
For many are the pleasant forms which exist in numerous sins,
and incontinencies,
and disgraceful passions,
and fleeting pleasures,
which (men) embrace until they become sober
and go up to their resting place.
And they will find me there,
and they will live,
and they will not die again."

It has been translated into English, so there is bound to be a degree of poets license. It would appear to be that which believers claim is in all living things and returns to its source at death. In other words a gnostics definition of God. Or as Terry said The I AM.

Are you becoming a believer Terry?

20

God Created Man Through Evolution

by maputo95 in

i tend to believe that the book of genesis is allegorical and not historic.

the first part including the flood is a creation story similar to many others, although the jewish one has distinct insights into man's relationship with god.

another literary device employed is anthropomorphism or personification as in the talking snake,aka satan.

THE GLADIATOR

Burning the ships is one thing but burning the book of Genesis is unholy!

31

IDENTIFY who is speaking in this RIDDLE:

by Terry in

"i am the mother, and i am the daughter.

i am the wife and i am the whore.

".