james thomas - if you weren't already married I'd be proposin' right now!
I'm not.
j
i know we were sold a lie in believing god was only dealing with the wt and to obey them is to obey god.
what puzzels me is that in rejecting the wt so many also reject their belief in god.
surely they believed that god existed as witnesses.
james thomas - if you weren't already married I'd be proposin' right now!
I'm not.
j
are we better people when were looking for the truth, rather than when weve found it?
when i thought i knew the truth it didnt make me a better person, it didnt give me peace of mind or facilitate self discovery.
if anything it released negative qualities such as arrogance and misanthropy.
Perhaps there is a problem in that generally we come to think up truth. Truth, becomes something conceptual and believed. Truth becomes an idea or image that is some how viewed as separate and apart from what we actually are.
The truth is that nothing the mind thinks up is the authentic and genuine Truth we seek; it's only interpretive abstraction. Giving great credence and importance to the minds mirage, we lose sight of the reality, actuality and truth of our own being within the immediacy of the present moment.
As long as we shrink and narrow truth down to a specific person or group of ideas, we are toying with realities antithesis.
j
my wife has been keeping me up to date on what goes on in the forum.
i finally decided to join myself.
i am not as knowledgeable in the scriptures as my wife.
Welcome, ROC.
Harboring no beliefs or fondness for gods, deities and demons, you would probably consider me one of your lowly "atheists". I have had a few interactions with your dear wife here, and she has always been kind and open minded to the fool.
Glad you joined us.
j
i was raised as a jw from the age of 4, my father was an elder for 18 years, was a auxillary pioneer for years, been there done all that and decided to leave at age 30, i have chosen a pagan path and am very happy but sometimes i feel guilty for no reason, does anyone else ever have this problem?
if you do, how do you handle it?
Oh, and WELCOME!
i was raised as a jw from the age of 4, my father was an elder for 18 years, was a auxillary pioneer for years, been there done all that and decided to leave at age 30, i have chosen a pagan path and am very happy but sometimes i feel guilty for no reason, does anyone else ever have this problem?
if you do, how do you handle it?
Live in peace knowing that a tiny tribal war god is in no way responsible for the reality of conscious existence.
j
in mark 13:30, matt.
24:34, and matt.
23:36 the bible makes the following statement: .
Morocco,
In my opinion what you're struggling with is simply words on the pages of some archaic old book someone told you was important.
Earnestly investigating into the Divine is a journey far, far wider and deeper than this.
Good luck.
j
someone on another site was asking "what if they are right?
" which made me think about why i know that they are not and i wondered what was your epiphany or road to damascus moment or moments that just made you realise - hey i've been led up the garden path here!.
here was my response but i really think a list of reasons on one thread for easy reference for newbies would be good.
There can come a time when the wondrous and infinite nature of existence is mysteriously felt; and in that moment it is clearly seen that attributing the beauty of Infinity to a tiny tribal war god (or any deity) is grossly disrespectful, harmful, and insane.
There is no question that all gods and deities are simply flaccid creations of the mind which when believed in as real, only numb and blind us to the bottomless and vibrant reality of the present moment. They are lies which hide the truth.
I stopped believing because I chose reality.
j
i wanted to get your thoughts on the claim that pharaoh's drowned army was discovered.
the claim comes from ron wyatt.
he seems to have a cult following and some critics to his claims.
Welcome, Abishai.
Is it important to you that the Bible be proven correct?
j
i know we were sold a lie in believing god was only dealing with the wt and to obey them is to obey god.
what puzzels me is that in rejecting the wt so many also reject their belief in god.
surely they believed that god existed as witnesses.
Welcome to the forum, Bob.
What puzzels me is that in rejecting the WT so many also reject their belief in God.
What is this "God" you think others are rejecting? The murderous-anthropomorphic-tribal-war-deity found within the pages of the bible? Is this what you mean?
For some it is clearly realized that any and all deities are too limited and moronic to have anything to do with the existence of Reality. So they simply stop believing in them. Besides, beliefs are only shallow mental images, anyway. You're not letting go of anything real.
What you are interpreting as a puzzling, may actually be the sign of awakening intelligence; for certainly if there is a true God it must be far, far grander than any little deity the mind creates.
Perhaps you are heading in this direction yourself, which is why you bring up the question. Watch out, you may awaken one day to find yourself an atheist; and in my opinion you will then be open to a far vaster sense of the Divine; one too, too vast for the mind to grasp.
j
if (for the sake of argument for those who believe in god) there was no god, and no human being who ever lived had ever come up with or even had a concept of god or a higher being.
where do you think we as human beings would be today.
what do you think our history would be like, and our future?
We are, actually, walking from one error to another. The uncomfort of the present error keeps us moving on to the next error. Truth, if actually attained, would be the end of man.
Certainly we walk from one mistaken concept into another, as all concepts are innately untrue. But reality, truth, we never leave. We just don't see it because of our tenacious addition to concepts.
So, yes, in a way Truth is the end of man, or perhaps better said: the end of all man believes or conceptualizes itself to be. It's not a problem. Take away what is untrue, and truth remains.
j