whether you're a former jw, or active jw, or some other religion, or atheist, what do you say?
do you fear death and, whether yes, no, or i don't know, why?
have changed religious views changed your view of death?
Cold Steel: " Solomon, after marrying heathen wives that led him away from God, wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, one of the most gloomy philosophical works in scripture. "
Yet it's part of the Bible, a work inspired by God. Or don't Mormons believe Ecclesiates was written by God? Or do you only use the "nice" parts of the Bible?
whether you're a former jw, or active jw, or some other religion, or atheist, what do you say?
do you fear death and, whether yes, no, or i don't know, why?
have changed religious views changed your view of death?
Cold Steel: "I spent an entire semester with a professor of philosophy ..."
This kind of statement is an example of the logical fallacy of appealing to authority. You hope that we will be impressed by the thoughts of such a learned man and miss the errors in your argument.
My husband is a full professor, Ph.D. and all. I've known plenty of very well-educated people. Your constant references to professors and universities do not impress me.
whether you're a former jw, or active jw, or some other religion, or atheist, what do you say?
do you fear death and, whether yes, no, or i don't know, why?
have changed religious views changed your view of death?
Cold Steel: "Oh, come on 'keet, what possible purpose can any person have if when they're dead, they're dead?"
We will have passed on to our children and their children our traditions, values, and our love. Scientists will have passed on their knowledge of medicine and other endeavors that have made so many of our lives better. Artists will have left their music and arts.
I don't "believe" as an article of faith that when a person is dead, "they're dead." I don't know for certain, and neither does anyone else, what happens after death.
Cold Steel: "And why should it be insulting? I spent an entire semester with a professor of philosophy quoting the most prolific atheist philosophers throughout history saying that everything man does is for nothing."
The Bible says the same thing about everyone, religious or not.
in another thread on the board, someone talked about their friend being a sniper in the marines and being very angry at the gb with thoughts of revenge.
it made me wonder - what would happen to the jws if in some strange turn of events, all the gb died at the same time?
how would they carry on if their leadership was snuffed out?
SoP: " There are always enough people waiting in the wings to step in, in the event something as outrageous as what was mentioned occured. "
That's true. Even power as puny as the gb wields would still be attractive to somebody.
"Sad little king of a sad little hill."
do you know anyone who has 'awakened' that went back to 'sleep'?.
i'm not talking about concious class, but someone who somehow got suckered back into the wts little game.. (i for one could never ever ever ever ever return - but interested if you've heard of people that have).
Do you know anyone who has 'awakened' that went back to 'sleep'?
No. Once you know, you can't unknow.
Gumby went back because of his family, not because he started believing dub crap again.
in another thread on the board, someone talked about their friend being a sniper in the marines and being very angry at the gb with thoughts of revenge.
it made me wonder - what would happen to the jws if in some strange turn of events, all the gb died at the same time?
how would they carry on if their leadership was snuffed out?
They would govern from heaven, "invisibly."
if there really is no god, then man really only has himself to blame for all this mess.... .
blaming god or satan would only seem like a cop - out, and an excuse for opression.. man may not be able to stop a tsunami or a hurricane, but we can absolutely stop wars and opression, violence and hatred.. come on people!!!
why is this so difficult to accomplish when we have the capacity to do so???
The only hope for humans is to evolve fast enough to get past our desire for certainty and our capacity for spite.
this weekend i spent time with a friend that i haven't seen since high school,that would be 22 years.he grew up the same way i did being a born in.he and i both received our share of beatings related to the wt org coming to the hall without a song book not getting a comment low hours in field service etc....where we differ is the fact that his stepdad was beating him with his fist i got the belt or a stick.he would come to school with black eyes due to his infractions with the hall.after we left schoo we lost touch since he was still living at home an going to the meetings and i wasn't, kicked out at 17 so that ending my time with the org.he stayed at home until 21 still getting his fair share of beatings due to any sort of failing that had to do with the org.he left after one beating and joined the marines,he was dfed.while in the marines he told me he asked an got sniper training becoming a deadly shot,he also told me he always volunteered for the most dangerous missions.i can see that he was doing this to escape the pain of his upbringing even to his subconscious mind secrectly hoping to die on one of these missions.he tells me he has some sort of nerve disability that will progress until he cant walk,he has hearing loss due to a grenade going off by his head'he knows one day he will be in a wheelchair disabled it's only a matter of time.he hasn't spoke to his mother and his family in over 20 years they care nothing about him not even returning the calls he leaves on there answering machine,he told me he calls once a month for the past 20 years.sitting here at my house he says out of the clear blue you know i've thought a lot about going to brooklyn and with the skills i have i could do a lot of damage to those men that have ruined my life.i talked him out of it i think,i told him about this site where he could come to vent,because i think he needs to vent badly.i don't know what will happen to him when he is told his quality of life will get worse and if he will revisit the idea of lashing out at what he thinks has ruin his life,i don't know what he will do and even though i think i talked him out of doing anything,can i really say i blame him.i'm in the same boat my family is fractured broken all because of some men,men in brooklyn that hold more control over my family than i can,i wonder do thay ever think about the countless people that they affect with there shunning methods how many broken families they leave in there wake.i will say one thing there are many others out there that think the way my friend does i feel it's only a matter of time before karma comes a knocking..
The most horrible thing I ever saw done to a young child in the KH was -- when the child misbehaved (we're talking about 3-5 years old), his loving dub father would clap his hand over the kid's mouth and nose to keep him from screaming as he was carried to the back of the KH and downstairs to the bathrooms. For that minute or so, the child was not able to breathe, let alone scream. It still gives me the shivers just writing about it.
whether you're a former jw, or active jw, or some other religion, or atheist, what do you say?
do you fear death and, whether yes, no, or i don't know, why?
have changed religious views changed your view of death?
Cold Steel: " People who get burned by religion can become bitter and throw everything out with the bathwater."
I'm bitter only about the WTS, not religion as a whole. I did a lot of reading about different religions after I left the dubs and after several years came to the (not embittered) conclusion that there never was any baby in the bathwater.
Cold Steel: If one can just reject Adventism and not reject all religion, I think they'd be less bitter and find more purpose in life. "
I don't know why you would make the arrogant and unwarranted assumption that atheists have little or no purpose in life. It's insulting and it's incorrect.
BTW, love your lighthouse photos, although I'm not sure why you put them there. It reminds of the time when the uncle of one of my co-workers committed suicide by jumping off the top of the Cape May, New Jersey, lighthouse. He was a very religious man.
i had a chat with my boyfriend about this, and he said that he knows quite a few pioneers who are capable of working but prefer to pioneer with government assistance.
his thought was, "well, it's kind of bad, but at least they're doing something useful/good with their time.
" i know from reading this board that it's a pretty widespread thing.
This dub practice is done in the same spirit as fundamentalist Mormons who use government assistance to support their polygamy and the numerous children it produces. And they, too, demonize the government that makes their disgusting practice possible.
