have you been told before, that you are a bit oversensitive???
as a jw, were you always being "stumbled"?
I can't stand to have my feet tickled. I guess they're oversensitive
But seriously folks (tugs at collar)....
I'm stubborn and will argue a point I feel strongly about...but I'm not overly sensitve about my feelings over it, unless anger counts. I don't get my feelings hurt too much, but I can show some anger once in a while.
i try to respect everyne's opinions on religion but i find myself thinking, "what's wrong with these people?
"
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
I don't have to think their belief is inferior to mine to validate myself or my belief...my thinking would be that someone who doesn't have strong enough convictions would need to use that type of mentality.
If the belief is strong enough, then it doesn't need validation, but it also doesn't agree with the opposing belief. By disagreeing with the opposing belief we automatically see it as inferior to our belief. We think it's wrong, we think ours is right, therefore our belief is superior. Not that we hate the person, their ideas, ideals or belittle them, but inside, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we think our belief is superior. We may accept their belief as a valid belief for them, but we will not accept the belief.
Maybe I'm not conveying my thoughts well. The process seems so logical to me. I accept that you don't accept my hypothesis on the belief ideal and that's fine. We can hold different ideals and beliefs and not hate each other. You'll believe that you're right and I'll believe that I'm right and we'll just either let it go or have fun with it from time to time.
i try to respect everyne's opinions on religion but i find myself thinking, "what's wrong with these people?
"
Ok you don't know me so don't presume to twist what I said or call me a liar. Got it?
Okay....I didn't twist what you said....I quoted it. I didn't call you a liar...I disagreed...
To reiterate: I think that if someone believes something strongly enough, then the other person's opposing beliefs have to be inferior. I'm not saying that they are inferior, it's the belief that the other belief is inferior. If someone elses beliefs are equal to or even better than our own, then our convictions to our beliefs aren't that strong. I believe that enough to say it again at the possible result of another reprimand from someone who doesn't like my belief. I believe I am right.
If we are talking just opinions on a subject, then yes we can view opinions equally, but beliefs and opinions differ. Beliefs are stronger than opinions. I have opinions on the presedential race, but I have no strong beliefs as to who would be better. If I believed, really believed one over the other, than I would have no choice than to view the belief that the other candidate is better as wrong.
Nothing is personal here. I'm stating what I believe and think through a logical process, trying to not let feelings interfere.
was it just me or did it seem each year when halloween rolled around, jws would always say "boy, seems like more and more people are celibrating halloween this year" and everyone in the cargroup would nod their heads in agreement.
this was soon followed by a discussion how this was sure another sign that satan was hard at work and that the end of the system was near.
just something i was thinking about earlier today as the kids and i skipped church and put some finishing touches on our scary halloween decorations.
I remember the JW friends really blasting the holiday as a devil worshipping holiday, but then they blasted all holidays as devil worshipping. At least they were consistent.
It's the other fundementalist type religions who started to make a big deal about celebrating Halloween being evil that caught my attention. They made news out of trying to get it out of the schools and other city or state run functions. They also claimed it was a devil worshipping holiday. This year was interesting because a lot of local churches tried to stop trick-or-treating on Sunday. They wanted it moved to Saturday or banned altogether. Their reason? Sunday is for church and God and not devil worshipping practices.
I find it interesting (and hypocritical) that the same people who regard one holiday combining pagan and Christian practices as a Christian worship holiday, condemn another holiday combining pagan and Christian practices as a devil-worshipping holiday.
everyone knows that the reason for the hole in Texas Stadium is that so God can watch His team....
....lose. Yea, they won yesterday, but this is not a good football team right now.
Old Staubach story: Staubach called a timeout and ran to the sideline to confer with Landry. Landry stood there, looking up through the hole in the roof thinking and finally after a few moments looked back down at his quaterback ready to give him a play, but before he could say anything, Staubach says, "I always wondered where you got those plays".
i try to respect everyne's opinions on religion but i find myself thinking, "what's wrong with these people?
"
If someone believes one thing and someone believes different, then by default, one has to view the other as holding an inferior belief set. You believe one way, I believe differently, therefore from your viewpoint my belief is inferior and from my viewpoint your belief is inferiorNot necessarily....I tend to just view them as different from mine for the most part. I don't know other people's life experiences and how they formed their beliefs well enough to make a judgement as to whether they are inferior or not...even if I wanted to make that kind of call.
Here's where political correctness rears it's ugly head. If you believe something, REALLY BELIEVE it, then you will feel that beliefs contrary to yours are inferior. For instance, if you REALLY BELIEVE in God, then the belief of athesism is inferior to your belief. To say, I "just view it as different from my belief..." means that you either don't REALLY believe what you think you believe or in a sense of political correctness you don't want to stir up the pot and be forced to take a stand on an issue.
Disagreement is not condescension, IMHO.
However declaring another to be foolish, can be.
Agreed on the first statement. On the second statement, if you're implying that I declared someone foolish, that's not true. I said "they have been fooled....". That's not calling someone a fool or someone being foolish. Being fooled can happen to the smartest, sharpest of people. Most everyone on this board is here because they were fooled at one time, by the WTS. But the vast majority here are not fools. I believe, REALLY BELIEVE, that religion continues to fool a lot of people. Agree or disagree, that's what I believe. Feel insulted by it, sorry, but that's what I believe.
But I'll still drink a beer with ya....cheers
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ok here is your thread.... so what is your standpoint on evolution and big bang?
I fixed it. I don't know what happened. My PC developed a mind of it's own all of a sudden. Hey, maybe that's evidence of evoloution, ya think? Aritficial Intelligiance and all that. LOL
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ok here is your thread.... so what is your standpoint on evolution and big bang?
I wouldn't say that you were attacked. A little sarcasm maybe, but not an attack.
i try to respect everyne's opinions on religion but i find myself thinking, "what's wrong with these people?
"
Your comments clearly indicated that you do look down on some others, because you view them as holding an inferior belief set. That is entirely your perogative.
If someone believes one thing and someone believes different, then by default, one has to view the other as holding an inferior belief set. You believe one way, I believe differently, therefore from your viewpoint my belief is inferior and from my viewpoint your belief is inferior.
But the comments do not clearly indicate that I look down on other people. Just because I think your belief in a religion is inferior does not mean that I look down on you. You may choose to see it that way, that's your perogative. I've read your posts over time, and usually enjoy them. Even when I may not agree with all that you say, I see the value in what you say and how you reached it. It won't change my mind usually, but it gives me a different viewpoint to think about. If I looked down on you, I wouldn't respect your posts and opinions.
There's no rule that says you have to be politically correct. The appeal is merely for you to see it for what it is, given what you wrote.That's good that there is no rule, because politcally correct I'm not. The appeal for me to see it for how you(and some others) see it is noted, though not intended the way you see it. I know what it is, I wrote it.
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sorry if this has already been posted.
it just infuriates me that voting is a desfellowshipping offense.. http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1099142701308870.xml.
I don't have a problem with the WTS, as a religion or organization, remaining neutral in politics. Seperation of church and state is a good thing. It would be good if all religions, as a whole, remained neutral.
The problem arises when the WTS coerces its members to not vote. It's fine and dandy that the WTS does not endorse a candidate or spout political propaganda(God knows they spout enough of their own anyway), but to basically take away the freedom and right to vote from its members is going too far.
Even though the latest WTS article lists voting as a conscience matter, the vast majority of JWs see voting as a DFing or DAing offense. The elder quoted in the news article mentioned DFing as a result if someone chooses to vote. Even if this isn't coming straight from the legal dept., it represents what the local body of elders would do it faced with the situation. I'd like to see what the ACLU would have to say if presented with this situation. An American citizen is black-listed from his church. His family is forced to dis-own him. All because he chose to share in one of the freedoms and rights granted the citizens of the USA, voting for representatives in their government. How can any group, religious or otherwise take away that right?
