confusedalot,
It is Luke 17:21, not 7:21.
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
confusedalot,
It is Luke 17:21, not 7:21.
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
confusedalot
There is no first step because situation is like this: You are already on a road. There is no point in finding out from where the road started because you will never find it as something always precedes something into eternity.
Now refresh your mind with what I wrote in 4th point: “In some ancient languages, worship literally means egolessness, living in the now … etc. which means worshipfully engaging in whatever you do with 100% involvement. Those who have done this do not feel time passing as though living in heaven (compare Luke 7:21)”
When I practiced this, I found it better than my life in a religious world. That means this suits me.
What suits you may be something else which obviously you need to find out.
i hope you don't mind if i share my latest blog post here: .
one of the most common ways in which people are psychologically traumatized whilst in a cult or religious high control group, is the extreme pressure to “forgive” people who have abused them.
i use the word “forgive” in quotes, because the concept often goes way beyond the biblical mandate.
Excellent thread.
1. Forgiveness is not something that God would require us to practice because He Himself does not practice it (He simply expelled first human couple from Eden + Jesus used whip against the temple thieves…etc.)
2. Forgiveness encourages the sinner to do more sins.
3. Each one should act taking into consideration all the available information and special circumstances, and what one does may not fit another. That means we cannot have a blanket principle such as anger is bad because its consequences are more grievous than the causes of it. This is a tunnel view because there are situations where you will find more grievous consequences of not getting angry, as well
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
Confusedalot,
You are asking me to prove the existence of God, but it is UNNECESSARY for the following reasons:
1) God Himself wants to remain unidentified—a fact we can discern from His refusal to rectify all the conflicted scriptures.
2) God has not told anybody to worship Him; it is in the scriptures (obviously written by mere humans) that we see things such as worship.
3) Just like scriptures contain both right and wrong answers, they have got something right with regard to God in Mathew 5:44-48. A careful and impartial reading of those verses show that God, like sun, does not receive anything, but only gives; and He neither want nor receive worship, but want us to become worship-worthy by being a giver with no expectation from others.
4) In some ancient languages, worship literally means egolessness, living in the now … etc. which means worshipfully engaging in whatever you do with 100% involvement. Those who have done this do not feel time passing as though living in heaven (compare Luke 7:21)
perhaps potential j.w.
recruits can use this example on their study conductors - and then witness the cognitive dissonance at first hand.. w98 2/1 p. 11 par.
13 – “when jehovah made his covenant, it was only with israel; those of the “vast mixed company,” although present, were not named as participants.”.
The Fall guy,
Deuteronomy 29:10-15 really undercut JW teaching.
Excellent observation.
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
Confusedalot,
You also asked: “Without scripture and hearsay, what would I base my position on God on?”
You don’t need to base your position on anything. That is how the design is—each one should formulate his own principle in view of the common good. When you find both order & disorder, lower species & humans with innovative powers, earth filled with living beings & rest of the universe with no living forms ….simultaneously existing, it silently teaches each one of us should have his own conclusions about life and principles to lead that life.
If I were God, I would have created the universe and earth exactly the same way as it is now.
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
confusedalot,
Religions under the guise of divine authorization taught certain things as good and others as bad, thus in effect labeled them as “truth.”
Those “teachings” for whatever holy they may be, cannot match the uncertainties and ever changing possibilities in Life. What is “real” cannot be relegated into a shoe box full of code of conduct, commandments and laws.
In Nature/Life, morality does not exist. In the “office
world” it exists as a façade for an ulterior purpose: Whether that is to gain
heaven, to support our belief to be “special” or “rightful” among the rest or
some other "reason."
In Nature/Life, questions do not exist. Humans prisoners of their own minds,
have twisted good old curiosity into the frenzy of asking “why?” out of
everything, as if an intellectual verbal answer is enough.
Curiosity does not ask “why.” Curiosity observes with appreciation the
uniqueness of Life. It is through that acknowledgement how everything is
answered without asking a single question; for every answer comes at the right time.
It is the knowing of learning through our own experiences.
Humans have coined the phrase: “Learn from your own
mistakes.” This is a tunnel view.
When we separate our experiences in Life between “mistakes” and what is
“right,” we forsake the opportunity to live fully in Life in exchange of some
comfortable fear, designed to live within the boundaries of the shoe box
offered by our society through our conditioned mind.
Instead, learn from your experiences. That learning only applies to your own path. However, what is to share to all, is to BE the type of person that is ever curious to discover Life, beyond the shoe box.
That type of invaluable teaching cannot be put into words or
a “master class.” That “teaching” spreads through the winds of warm human relationships.
Nothing to teach, nothing to say. Just BE.
Those winds of relationship, have the potential of turning into Hurricanes and positively affecting many, without a business plan, special funding or a proselytizing effort.
What is natural is “good.” What is “good” is what IS.
In brief: This is natural—when someone acts in such a way that makes me happy/unhappy, for me it is a lesson on how I am to act towards others (which means God doesn’t have to tell us what is right and wrong; hence no scripture is needed)
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
confusedalot,
I like His majesty—He is not even bothered to rectify all the misrepresentations about Him. This is the greatest of all teachings which he teaches without a word being uttered/written.
When I tried to copy this aspect of Him I found how much heart-break I was spared of.
what are your biggest, funniest, scariest, etc.... wait wt says there are non hahahah.
slimboyfat,
That means present-day JWs who believe that every verse of the Bible are inspired are more zealous than their founder (like subjects being more patriotic than the king)
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
You ask: "What is your pick of the two?"
My position is simple: God exists, but He doesn't want anybody's worship/validation (means all scriptures have misrepresented Him)