.
i'd like to get comments from people about whether and how much they were shocked, surprised, or otherwise bothered by the watchtower society's becoming an associated non-governmental organization (ngo).. note that i'd like to see these comments because they might lead to some interesting publicity, so please comment accordingly.. alanf
Alan,
I was truly angry over this issue. I was willing to die for the sake of neutrality and I gave up so much because of it - in fact no one will ever comprehend how much it changed and affected my whole life. It cost me a precious price that can never be reclaimed and over 20 years later it still haunts me and causes me pain and nightmares. But unfortunately, I cannot say any more publicly on this issue.
Donkey
HOUSE is handsdown the best show on TV now.
the one constant in life.
there is only one significant constant in life and that constant is simply: we all die.
no matter how successful we become, we will die.
Farkel you are the consumate troll!!
i have been thinking about this for a while, so here goes.
when i was in the "truth" i truly believed in god, i prayed and tried to do what was right ( wt style) then when i started reading stuff and the experiences on here it didnt take very long before i knew the "truth" wasnt true after all.. so after 20 years as an adult that i spent in, it litrually took a few hours to come out.. ive asked myself how and why did this happen?
and so quickly.. at first i felt i still believed in jehovah, but if the wt was wrong, where did that leave me.
And if you dont believe in a God anymore, how can you stop believing in something that you had a relationship with for maybe many years?
Another way of looking at it: Since believers can't prove God exists, how can they have a relationship with him? It would seem to be more of a fantasy that you keep living in your own head and the more you live it the more real it becomes, but the truth is that doesn't make it real. Religious belief is akin to schizophrenia - one communicates with the voices.... in fact its interesting that if one did hear schizophenic voices it would almost be understandable that one try and communicate in return, yet its even more flabbergasting when one cannot hear the voices yet one still tries to communicate...kinda like wishing the voices were there.
Donkey
.
does god have a true church on the earth today?yes,and i will reveal it.it is the free will baptist church,which is true in every sense.they preach jesus,they study god's word correctly and rightly divide the word of truth.they are not led by a distant leader,they are led by their local leader chosen by god.if the sign out front doesn't say free will baptist then you are in the wrong church.look for that sign,and then you've found the right church.
"TRUE CHURCH"?
Do I have to have FAITH at the TRUE CHURCH? If faith is needed then its not TRUE.....truth does not require faith. Truth is fact....faith is wishful thinking.
Donkey
jost tossing an idea about.
would anyone be willing to make regular contributions to an 'exposure fund'?.
it wouldn't be a 'fighting fund', we couldn't hope to compete against watchtower finances or its legal department in that way.
Nope...unless:
It was shown how the money was to be used AND what effect the usage would have. I would not simply contribute because we could print articles. Let's say we print articles in the media....how do we know its worth it? What are the expected results and how do we measure success? The same should be true of any other idea.
I hope I don't sound like a scrooge - it's just if I spend money I want results. If the watchtower remains unscathed or unchanged then there are no results....just noise.
Donkey
at long last i feel i have come to a great spiritual truth: the human ego stands as an impediment towards self-realization and must be obliterated, or at least diminished.
i have seen this as a running thread throughout many of the readings i have done -- from buddha and shankara to meister eckhart to arch-skeptic and atheist dr. albert ellis, the idea is to get beyond this concept of i. .
what freedom this could be!
I have reached the opposite conclusion and subscribe to the virtue of selfishness.
If we accept natural selection and survival instincts as the key drivers of man we realize that there is an issue with the way society works. All species on earth act in line with their natural instincts since this is natural selection in the works. But not humans. For some reason (probably due to religion and control) the minute a human being is born the parents immediately start conditioning the baby to supress his/her natural instincts and control their behavior in line with some societal ideal. This continues through the rest of that childs life as they are moulded to "fit in". Suppressing the ego is a great way to "fit in", but if natural selection/survival instinct is correct then it is paradoxical that we allow society and not natural instincts to control us and define what should mak us happy.
Communist Russia was a classic case in the suppression of the ego of the individual and the ideals it espoused were just that. Some might argue that the ideals were great but the implementation was corrupt, but reading Ayn Rand's (someone who rebelled against that system and started a very logical philosophy) works on selfishness and its virtues quickly surface rather strong arguments for allowing the ego to flourish rather than suppress it. Again why are we born with such strong egos, if evolution dictates that our instincts are put there for our survival?
At any rate please send me all your money as you discover the virtue of the suppressed ego because the money will just feed the ego...IM me for account details as I gladly accept bank transfers and I want to do anything I can to make sure money cannot be used as a tool to boost your ego.... Only kidding of course....but if you believe me then please send the money...
Donkey
today i read "doubtfully your's" comment on wiccans and i was shocked.
i wanted to reply immediately about tolerance and to respect another religion.
then i thought about him having a sister, smoking pot and presenting herself as pagan giving him some bad impression (prejudice?
Since religion is all based upon the belief in an imaginary friend I would say it is open game. But I would defer to the board owner to state whether it is or is not. Hopefully we don't just pick on the JWs since all religions are nutty.
japan trip a success!
to view photos of trip click here, .
http://community.webshots.com/album/285981001nvggmd .
Metatron,
I think your post is extremely accurate as to the REAL issue we are dealing with. If they ever admit they were wrong they are toast!!
Donkey
japan trip a success!
to view photos of trip click here, .
http://community.webshots.com/album/285981001nvggmd .
Does the phone number in the banner (as shown in the photos) work in Japan?
