Posts by JamesThomas

45

Any 'Humanists' here?

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

care to share your particular weltanschauung ?.

how do you approach life in general?

how do you convey to others your opines on life, love and laughter?.

I personally find that being a mean old bastard takes too much energy and causes stress. Why go there. It seems healthier to just be kind and do unto others as we would like the rest of the bastards to do unto us (you can quote me if you like). They often times don't feel the same, but then the bastards are not my teacher, and they don't need any more sore-grapes in their life than their own god-forsaken presence. So I try and be kind to them too......because like was already said, to counter meanness with meanness takes more energy than I care to expend. Lazy people are kind people....that's my motto.

Have to save my strength to lift the next glass of Bourbon.

31

For Shelby, Tec and others who believe in Christ but not necessarily the bible...

by elderelite in

i read with great interest that some believe in christ but notnecessarily the authenticity of the bible... could you please elaborate on that?

i have to admit i am very interested in where people have ended up after leaving the wt.

i am on that road and enjoy seeing where people have followed it.

JamesThomas

Tammy,

It's wise seeing that your deity is more significant than the words that "pointed to" him. Your god was quoted as alsopointing to something within you. Perhaps you don't need a book or a deity.

19

Why Paradise Would Drive JWs Insane

by metatron in

jw
friends

what would qualify as the most paradise-like spot on earth?

i'd say somewhere in the pacific islands.. tropical breezes, lying in the warm sun on beautiful beaches ..... and so on.. but funny isn't it that these places often have high rates of suicide!?.

http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/country/pimhnet/en/index.html.

JamesThomas

Metatron, I don't quite agree that paradise would drive Witnesses insane, for the simple reason that they are already insane. I do agree that paradise could make things worse for most Witnesses and so exacerbate a preexisting pathology. Here's why:

As a Witness, there is little if any resting in the reality of the present moment. Rather, they are continually reaching past the actuality of here and now, out into a distant fantasy of paradise in some other time. This is a form of mental escapism that can be so deeply ingrained that people can live their entire lives mentally moving back and forth between abstract memories of the past and fantasies of the future without ever really experiencing the reality and depths of the present moment.

A Witness doesnt even know they're presently lost in delusional patterns of insanity -- nor do most other people -- so if they did happen to step into paradise it would not be long before a deep unease set in. Their entire identity before was based on focus of a time and place unreal, and a paradise real does not support or give comfort to an identity based on fantasy. So paradise could come to seem like a valley of death threatening my life and wellbeing. Never satisfied with what IS, we reach into make-believe and set up home.

For most people the moment is only something to get past. Real paradise is not about reaching or getting past, but rather meeting with the bottomless richness and depths of nature and beingness in this moment. Paradise is not so much a place, as it is simply being acutely aware of life here and now.

j

36

I did it for two hours last night....

by AK - Jeff in

attended another church service.

i enjoyed the modern music at the beginning of it.

the 'sermon' or message was a discussion of leviticus chapter 3. i found it interesting, but not particularly inspiring.

JamesThomas

Jeff, have you ever attended a Unity Church? They may have the non-dogma/cult atmosphere that you are looking for.

j

12

For those who still have a tinge of spirituality left:

by PinTail in

jw
friends

"blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.".

matthew 5:5.. .

"the century dictionary defines meek as 'self controlled and gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; forbearing under injury or annoyance.

JamesThomas

For those who still have a tinge of spirituality

You pretentious little twit. You wouldn't know spirituality if it bit you hard on the nipple.

This is the cost of believing in little gods, there is only so much "spirituality" to go around, and of course it just happens to be with those who mirror your beliefs.

Perhaps true Spirituality, or better said what that word points to, is not so insignificant as to include only a few egomaniacs, but rather is that which unconditionally unites us all.

j

26

Do You Still Want To Know The Truth

by The-Borg in

jw
friends

something is very very wrong with our world.

or am i imagining it and things really aren't that bad?.

personally i think there are issues being played out about which we know nothing, we can only guess at ( i don't think it's the issue of universal sovereignty).

JamesThomas

What am I trying to say? Well I do think there is a battle going on between good and evil, somehow, somewhere and the evil seems to be winning at the moment. Or is that a bleak viewpoint and you think humanity has a rosy future.
I would love to know the truth. What is your take on things now?

It can certainly seem that something is not right with things. Perhaps it's not so much about a battle between "good and evil", as unnecessary lost and confused hostilities towards ourselves and others.

Psychologically speaking, we have come to identify our "self" with things and objects observed: thoughts, emotions, beliefs, situations, etc.. We desire peace and stability, however, it is the nature of phenomena, of objective things, to continually change and flow, so there is no stability, no peace to be had -- except for brief moments. This keeps us on edge as we tenaciously attempt to protect our tiny and fragile sense of "self" which is continually pushed about by a huge and dangerous world of "other".

We have become lost in a story of a broken and isolated "self" and so we fight to protect it and gain some sense of wholeness and rightness...often at the expense of others. Man against man, tribe against tribe, country against country. We are even at war with nature. It's insanity.

It does not have to be this way, if we simply see that our genuine Self is not the things observed or experienced.

j

5

what does Jesus mean by I am the way?

by blueviceroy in

jw
friends

i'm wondering what jesus means when he says the only way to the father is through me.

does he mean believe i existed?

does he mean believe what i teach?

JamesThomas

If we relinquish our superstitions, gods and deities, we can find in the phrase "I am the way", a pointer found deep within the beginning foundations of most all religions. And that is that the "I", the most intimate and closest sense of conscious-being within you, is the I am which is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To come to a realization of this, generally requires an acute investigation that looks through all that is believed to be true regarding "self" and "other".

So, the statements attributed to Jesus, are not tragically limited to some tiny, tiny, tiny piece of the universe, but rather the words point to an endless universal Truth.

Ultimately, the true Source of all universes has no beginning and no end, so, what does that make you (just beneath the story character believed to be)?

j

27

Some Thoughts... I'm new, this is THERAPUTIC for me... read if you'd like

by bbdodger in

in a cult, the society of the cult tries everything in their power to keep one in that society, as well as keeping one ignorant of any information that would sever the guise of legitimacy.

given a version of the bible, not being able to read any other version of the bible is just one example of this kind of inflicted ignorance.

in a cult, it's impossible to get out without a fight.

JamesThomas

Welcome, bbdodger.

When I told her about the book (the name of it escapes me now), she quickly came back with a response that SHOCKED me, even to this day. Even my own mother, a smoker, a drinker, living with a man whom she was not married to, the most worldly of the disfellowshiped replied "I don't like you reading that apostate literature... don't you know you're not suppose to do that?"

If that was not so very sad as to make one want to cry until you die, it would certainly make one laugh until losing all bladder and bowel control.

There is little more sad than the tremendous fear and guilt daily felt within disfellowshipped Witnesses who still believe it to be "the truth" that leads them to such utterly unbelievable degrees of hypocrisy. It's really quite insane.

Thankfully there is a way out of the various degrees of insanity which we have. And poppers shares that simply and eloquently.

j

3

Learning to live life as a Christian

by Redwood in

thank you for such loving responses!

as i said in my original post...i no longer associate - at all.

i do believe in the bible - and get this i picked up a holy bible and read it.

JamesThomas

Welcome to the forum, Redwood.

So the urgency of my new found faith is not based on how many hours I can "get in" rather on how my life can be changed into one that is based on and in love. With my new found faith came another realization - If I do my best to live as Christ lived- as a servant-meek-humble-loving OF ALL - and forgiving (way forgiving) - would I not be a better advocate for GOD and salvation by not fearing worldly people. Christ has chosen me, therefore I need not walk in fear! Let my life be the light of your love Father God. Don't color me stupid- I'm not walking dangerous streets with a belief God will protect me, but I am allowing myself to participate in life. Go to a football game, don't get drunk, be kind and cuteous. Go to the movies and not throw trash on the floor. Return the $5.00 that the bank teller over paid me. Live kind, live honest, live true.

Congratulations, Redwood, on seeing past JW beliefs and opening to a wider sense of love. Are there vaster senses of love still, do you think? Just how far will the path take us if we allow ourselves to let go of limiting ideas and beliefs?

May I suggest that you continue opening to love and into a deeper sense of what truly unites us all -- unconditionally. Like a new blooming flower your words are showing the first colors of a new found freedom in love and acceptance. However, there are yet hues of a division in your words which cuts us all apart into the "saved" and the "worldly"; and so hides from our eyes the true beauty of love which unites us all and the universe as whole.

Keep questioning as you have been. Look past new beliefs, the same as you did the old ones. Eventually look past all beliefs of "self" and "other"; and see if there is truly any real division or fragmentation -- at all.

Glad you joined us. Keep up the good work.

j

28

Post a pic of your REAL desktop

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

someone did this thread on a different forum, and i though it might be kinda fun to do it here.

post a picture, not of your desktop on your pc, but of your pc on your desktop!.

i'll go first.... .

JamesThomas

Purps:

JT
Love your space
looks as deep as you are
purps

Yes, you're right, it is a deep space...several feet down in fact as it's in the basement of my cousins home where I took over about a third of it, built some work benches and filled it with my crap. The tipi, on the other-hand, where I sleep, is very sparse and spartan. I like your space as well, Purps. It's what I expected of your space actually: very simple yet classically elegant. It could pass for an old movie set, now with the crushed beer cans and greasy old pizza boxes removed. j