Posts by THE GLADIATOR

418

Why do people pretend good things about Jesus ?

by mP in

ive had a few discussions both here and in real life and often find people excuse the ot with all its vile, violence and only concentrate on jesus because he was good.

i try and assk them to show me an example and they of course they quickly tell us about the miracles, and thats fine.

however when you ask them about slavery, violence, women and so on they make excuses.

THE GLADIATOR

This is a curious thread. I thought it had been established that modern Christians are allowed to fashion Jesus into whatever person or being they want to. The Bible story is just a guide and not even written by Jesus. If a Christina wants Jesus to be good, then he is good.

If a Bible bashing Christian wants Jesus to be a warrior on a white horse with a long sword protruding from his mouth, to smite his enemies with, as per John’s revelation, then that’s what Jesus becomes.

‘Christ like’ is a very elastic term. This is an improvement on old fashioned Christianity where everything was nailed down, no pun intended. Jesus is not just for Christmas so flexibility is required. Personally I want Jesus to be the nice guy in sandals giving out free wine, bread and fish. The more freedom I have to model him in the way I want, the better. Perhaps he will hand out some free beer when he returns?

Remember gods are there to serve us and not the other way around.

36

Rescuing a God who is blind to Evil

by Terry in

have you ever gone shopping in a department store for shoes or clothes?.

do you just walk over to the rack or shelf and select what you want without trying anything on to see if it fits?.

no.. what good would that do?

THE GLADIATOR

"God does not comprehend this. It makes Him angry. It makes him lash out. It makes Him bargain. It makes Him inconsistent."

As you know Terry - These are the actions of a creature. A supreme being would not be subject to negative emotions or disappointments.

The god described in the opening post is a god made in the image of man. Is there any other kind?

27

Who Like Me, Feel That The Olympics Are About As Exciting To Watch As A Dog Turd Turning White?

by Low-Key Lysmith in

discuss..

THE GLADIATOR

As it happens - I told my wife that my refusal to accept the herd mentality of the Watchtower Society probably had something to do with my lack of interest in the Olympics. I also resent the 9.4 billion pounds sterling the event is costing our bankrupt UK . Then an article in this Sundays Daily Mail newspaper echoed my feelings.

“Join the smiley Cult of the Five Circles? Sorry, but I have a democratic right to be bored (and I'm exercising it while I still can)

Enthusiasm is compulsory only in totalitarian dictatorships. Anywhere else, we are free to be keen if we want to, and bored if we want to.

So I wish people would stop telling me that I should enjoy the Olympics, or be proud of them, or think that they will in some way benefit this country.

But they won’t stop telling me. Hardly a day goes by without another previously independent mind surrendering to this pseudo-religion of obligatory smiles.

And that makes me suspicious. What is this strange cult? In the end, the Olympics is nothing more than a large athletics meeting.

Before Hitler and Dr Goebbels made it into a torch-lit and grandiose spectacle, you could be in the same city as the Games and barely notice.

Are we really that interested? And if we are, are we interested for good reasons? Personally, I find it very odd that large crowds have turned out in the street to see a glorified pilot light carried about in a large cheese-grater.”

By PETER HITCHENS

PUBLISHED: 22:52 , 28 July 2012

418

Why do people pretend good things about Jesus ?

by mP in

ive had a few discussions both here and in real life and often find people excuse the ot with all its vile, violence and only concentrate on jesus because he was good.

i try and assk them to show me an example and they of course they quickly tell us about the miracles, and thats fine.

however when you ask them about slavery, violence, women and so on they make excuses.

THE GLADIATOR

Re: "Why do people pretend good things about Jesus?"

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO - LYRICS

Where have all the good men gone And where are all the gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

Late at night I toss
And I turn
And I dream of what I need.
I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night.
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight.

I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light.
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life!

49

Would You Listen To A Prayer From A JW And Say Amen If They Said A Prayer In Your Presence?

by minimus in

jw
friends

my mom has had visits from various jws and they have asked her if they could say a prayer before they left.

i respectfully listened to the prayers while i was visiting and might silently say amen if i felt the prayer was appropriate for my mom.. i'm just curious, how would you handle this type of situation?.

THE GLADIATOR

There was a time, I would have wrestled the prayer giver to the ground, bound him in my net and fed him to the lions for Caesar’s pleasure. Nowadays I just remain silent.

Catch me on a good day, and if I happen to agree with the sentiment expressed, and my gods have been obedient,

I may even mumble, ‘ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. ’

25

How do you work through the Anger

by jworld in

how do you deal with the anger when your parents stop talking to you?

my partner says i should continue to confront them but it builds so much anger in me and i sometimes i think i should just let it go and bring balance back to my own life.

it's sort of sureal to mourn your parents while they are still alive.

THE GLADIATOR

FlyingHighNow "I've heard it said that depression is anger turned inward. And I believe that anger can be depression and anxiety turned outwards. "

So very true. Whatever way we find to cope, it takes time, sometimes many years.

In the end you reach a point where you are able to detach yourself from what was the present but has become the past.

43

think i'm becoming an atheist

by rather be in hades in

jw
friends

i was just thinking about how often i prayed when i was going downhill.. now i subscribed wholeheartedly to the 'don't pray for bullshit requests' concept, so at first i rarely prayed.. starting around middle school, 9/10 i prayed for friends.

didn't really pray to stop the teasing, my fists did some of that and besides...racism isn't/wasn't jehovah's fault anyway and i can't pray for that to end when he allowed the witnesses to suffer in ww2.. through high school, same issue and then when i started pioneering and hanging out with some of the other witnesses, those prayers prayers for friends intensified cuz they were asses.. but they were dominated by the prayers to love god starting around 15. i didn't want to read the magazines, despite how much i love reading.

didn't want to stdy the lessons, didn't want to plan my presentations, though i did enjoy giving the talks and crafting them.

THE GLADIATOR

rather be in hades "maybe my prayers weren't answered because maybe god doesn't exist."

Your posting has been answered very thoroughly by the comments made by the people who have responded. Your comments above says it all. You are still at the ‘maybe’ stage.

I would add that you don’t believe in a God in the sense that you don’t believe he is doing his job properly, so you don’t trust or like God. You consider him a failure. You are starting to doubt whether a personal God as defined by major religions exists - that is an objective being with feelings and rules.

Next you will have to consider whether there is an impartial, invisible presence pervading the universe manifests as life? If you decide there is no such presence you will be an atheist.

You will be an atheist when all anger has gone; all questioning has ceased; when you get up in the morning and enjoy your day, forgetting to think about a bogey-man in the sky.

33

Lets pretend the JW's are right for a moment...

by puffthedragon in

don't worry, i'm not loosing my mind.

but whether you are christian, agnostic, atheist, thor-worshipper or otherwise, just pretend with me for a moment.. armageddon comes and wipes out wicked people.

there is a resurection and some kind of test and the ones that pass make it into the glorious new world.. how long would it last before a revolt?

THE GLADIATOR

If this slaughter were to take place, most Witnesses would have just lost most, if not all their relatives. Who would want to live in a world that is ruled by someone capable commanding such a slaughter? How could any survivor then enjoy life, in a world that has paid such a high price for daring to believe that the Watchtower Society was not a reliable organization in which to put faith?

The remaining Witnesses would then have to spend the rest of eternity knowing that any mistake on their part would result in their execution at the hand of the God whom they still love. They believe that if they can make it through the first thousand years, they will reach perfection, after which they are not likely to sin. The problem is that they also believe that the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were perfect but turned against God. The perfect angel who was sent to look after them also sinned and became Satan the Devil.

What makes them think it will be any easier to keep all the rules in a new world than it was in paradise? To make things even more difficult the Witnesses believe that the Devil will be released at the end of the thousand years to test them.

It doesn’t look good!

68

We KNOW who they are

by DonJuel in

folks!

we need to unite on this one.

all of us know names of elders and others inside the tower who are child molesters in different parts of the world..... now that we have some allied out there in cyberspace i would like us to make the most of it.... everyone who knows names and addresses to pedophiles inside the tower...now is the time to act!

THE GLADIATOR

DonJuel “if you as an adult accept that some non educated person could decide about things like that; well then you are so fucked up stupid so you deserve to be on that list!”

“They are going down – and they are going down hard! ”

You are one dangerous dude.

How about putting your own name on the list.

135

Why get "personal" when discussing a topic?

by Terry in

jw
friends

trading insults happens among kids all the time.. intellectual development hasn't progressed to the point where they can present contrary ideas and opinions with persuasive appeal to reasons, facts and logic.. "i know you are; but what am i?".

"your momma's so fat....".

so, they fall back on childish mocking, provocation and personal attack.. as we grow older and have more education and sophistication our minds should mature---or so you'd think!.

THE GLADIATOR

“Is "closed-minded" an adjective or a noun? ”

Closed-minded is an adjective.

Closed-mindedness is a noun