trevor

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Posts by trevor

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  40

  Anathema of Science and Religion

  by LittleToe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just a short "starter for ten" question:.

  have you noticed how so many exjws are polarised as to their views of particularly science and religion?

  some seem to take the time to get informed, and others are content to hold onto previous [mis]conceptions (most likely coloured by the wts) about science and religion being evil and/or corrupt.

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  trevor

  People who have been long time Jehovah’s Witnesses, then left do often continue their distrust of science and religion and spend too much energy maintaining a hatred of the Watchtower Society. All very understandable but not conducive to development and awareness.

  I too was guilty of this for many years but am now able to see the need that religion fulfils in peoples live and how it has offered a social and cultural structure to society. But prayer has not delivered the answers and in the longer term I think it is science that must provide solutions to the problems that humanity faces.

  The human race is far more aware of its origins and its blindness. Religion came into being as an explanation to phenomena that people could not understand. Now that science has explained many of life’s mysteries and helped us to become more enlightened, we realise that we are collectively responsible for the world we live in.
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  11

  The Birth of Christ

  by JamesThomas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  posting this under friends, as it is not about beliefs and religions.

  the birth of christ.

  there is that which is not a separate deity too small and limited to be present, but rather that which is presence itself.. there is that which is not a distant savior whose love is conditional and restricted to faith, but rather is the very presence of unconditional love itself.. there is that which is not a creatural spirit who offers peace for acts of faith, but rather that which is peace itself.. there is that which is not a god gleamed from a book believed by some to be alive and true, but rather than which is all-embracing life and truth itself.. there is that which is not a spiritual-being who some day may arrive, but rather that which is the living present-moment of beingness itself.. there is that which is not a separate lord who is holy and pristine, but rather that which is purity itself.

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  trevor

  Well worth repeating. I don't post much now but but am stirred by the sound of absolute truth free of all religious division and separation from reality.

  Have a great Christmas James.
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  20

  Society unsure about Adam's Sexual Orientation

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yes, folks, the all-wise, all-knowing, all-seeing watchtower society peers into and explores all possibilities of thought and logic.

  yes, right back to our beginnings they look at how adam needed to determine who would serve as his companion ... and where did he search?.

  "before god created anything new, a woman, god left the man free to determine whether there was a suitable companion for him among all the lower animals.

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  trevor

  It’s amazing that God allegedly invited Adam to have sex with an animal but condemned him and the whole human race to death for eating a God dammed apple!
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  21

  Do elders 'frighten' you?

  by gypsytart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i put 'frighten' in quote marks because i'm not sure that's exactly the word i'm looking for.

  i've been away from the borg for 10 years now, and it doesn't bother me these days when i'm called on by jws - most of whom i know as i'm living in the same area still.

  i can quite happily stand up for myself to them - although i have to be a little careful what i say as i was a fader and never df'd.

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  trevor

  When I was a boy, and I was, I got scared by the ghost train at the seaside. Having seen through the whole set up I decided to get even. Armed with large pebbles from the beach I returned and each time a pathetic apology for a ghost jumped out, I would knock it into the next world. I got to enjoy this too much and was eventually barred from the building.

  Elders are just as flaky and just as much fun to expose as fake. They are only frightening if you believe in them.
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  16

  Deepak Chopra.What happens after we die?

  by Blueblades in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just finished reading,"life after death the burden of prove" author deepak chopa.

  what happens after we die?

  is this one question we were not meant to answer, a riddle that the universe keeps to itself?.

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  trevor

  Last year I clashed with Terry over Deepak Chopra. I supported him Terry didn’t. We all grow and change and I am on the move. I have been entertained by several of his books which are still in my library. But now I am coming round to Terry’s no nonsense, logical - if it doesn’t bark it is not a dog - way of thinking.

  I see many of Deepak Chopra‘s. achievements in cancer remission and others as explainable without resorting to mysticism. In my lifetime I have seen too many people living an imaginary world glued together by nothing more than belief and faith. They wait patiently for an invisible friend to help them when the answer is often sitting on their bookshelf an arms length away.

  The mind is a very powerful tool and can make changes in the body but that alone doesn’t offer proof that there is life after death as an individual continuation of our lives. Deepak Chopra is a nice guy who has inspired thousands of people but that doesn’t mean that his claims have any substance in reality

  trevor
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  48

  Does Anyone Really Believe They Can Knock Out The Watchtower???

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think it will be around for years to come.

  i do think that we can put the word out about this cult and help people get out or not join them in the first place.

  but we'll never obliterate them, in my opinion.

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  trevor

  Yes, his name is Jesus.

  Oh dear! I think your worse fears have been realized Minimus. If Jesus is the only threat then the Watchtower Society are home and away. An organisation this size can change and adapt. The smaller it becomes the more it can play on the specialness of being a surviving member with 'the love of the greater number cooling off, a clear sign that the end is just around the corner. There will always be needy people who cling to any cult that offers a chance to someone to be more than they really are as long as they have enough faith.
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  90

  The Science of Belief

  by LittleToe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  time and again the refrain is heard that belief and science are mutually exclusive, that belief somehow corrupts good science, that belief is not empirical.

  i'd like to throw another slant on that, if i may.. belief is an inherent part of the human psyche.

  the desire to know more about our environment and how it all works is also an inherent part of our psyche.

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  trevor

  This is an interesting thread Little Toe. I have just read through it as my web connection has been down for two weeks due to moving house.

  Terry has once again shown that he, ‘ can with logic absolute, the two and seventy jarring sects confute.’ (Omar Khayya`m)

  While watching children I used to wonder why they would adopt an old rag doll or teddy and then carry it everywhere with them. They become inseparable from this most loved friend.

  Children often have pets and people they can love and cuddle but the rag doll is better. Why? My theory is that they can project anything they want onto the lifeless doll. They can tell it off, throw it across the room in a fit of temper or hug it. Blame it for everything they themselves have done wrong or praise it. It accepts all this without complaint and becomes exactly what the child wants it to be.

  No real person can fulfil this need. Children are weaned away from their beloved friend when they find another friend that will be whatever they want, accept praise and blame and never answer back.

  Their local church will provide an invisible friend to replace the doll.
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  15

  Personal Relationship?

  by Carmel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't mean to be trite or argumentative, but i keep hearing all the time about having a "personal relationship with jesus" as the solution to leaving the witlesses.

  for the life of me, i really don't know what this term means.

  i can only compare it to its literal counterpart, i.e.

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  trevor

  I think that the whole Jesus thing is a decoy, designed to distract us from the Truth.

  Father Christmas is the promised one, the real hero. He brings children presents and is kind to his reindeer animals. The clues are in the Bible, ‘All good things come from the Father.’ ‘Only the Father knows how to give good gifts.’

  He is The One that was Sent Forth. The opposite to The Thief in the Night. ‘The light that shines in the darkness.’ ‘The voice crying out in the wilderness.‘ Christmas is even named after him - for Christ’s sake!

  All this talk about Christ’s second coming. Second! Old Santa has been coming every year for thousands of years and we can actually see him - in all good stores.

  By the way - I have a personal relationship with Father Christmas. I have invited him into my life and talk to him every day. I pity all you sad people who are unable to let yourselves believe as I do. You see he is real to me - as real as I choose to make him.
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  19

  Elders with STRONG personalities....

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is an elder in my congregation that has a very strong personality.

  he drove volkswagens and many bought the same make as he did.

  we had another elder back then that drove a dodge aries and another elder who had a peugeot garage and he sold so many second hand peugeots to members of the congregation.

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  trevor

  There is an elder in my congregation that has a very strong personality.

  Sorry but I just don't buy into this strong personality myth. This label is usually attached to Noisy, bossy, domineering, selfish, Bast***s.

  It is often quiet people who have far more real strength in their personalities.
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  40

  Every Religion is False!

  by rezrez in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  trevor

  rezrez - assuming you are not here to have a laugh, which I am undecided about...

  Religion has been referred to as the ‘opium of the people.’ Choosing a religion is like choosing which drug to become addicted to. Many people have no need for drugs and see them as harmful and so avoid them.

  Those that feel a need for a drug to help them through life will find the one that suits them best.

  My point is, that there is no such thing as a true of false religion any more than there is a true or false drug. They all do much the same but some are more addictive and dangerous than others. If you apply this principle to religion you will then be in a position to make a choice.

  Of course before choosing a religion it is best to define what we mean by God. That is a whole different subject.