Posts by JamesThomas

22

UNDERSTANDING how RELIGION and RITUAL and SUPERSTITION works

by Terry in

jw
friends

(let's say "tails").

because, the number of tails you get is statistically how many times the ritual you just performed really works!.

45 tails is 45%, etc.

JamesThomas

make up a really silly ritual such as rubbing an egg on your crotch and belching three times while saying aloud: TAILS, TAILS, TAILS.....

If i didn't know better, I would be extremely concerned that you have been looking through my window. You forgot to mention that this very special ritual must be performed nude....except for the douche-bag tied around your head. A Foster farms, chicken droppings colored bag is best...which can be acquired on Terry's website. Sadly, he over charges. The pink ones are cheep though, but they don't conjure up the same exquisite results when wishing for tails. Pink may be good for other things though. I haven't investigated too deeply as this is all pretty new to me. I'm hoping to find a website devoted only to douche-bag color experimentation. Perhaps I should start one.

j

douchebagresearch.com

55

Can God see the future?

by Adolfius in

jw
friends

i've been out a while, but i remember thinking about this as a teenager and being confused, (my mother told me i must be posessed by demons to think such things and so never offered me an explanation).

what do the jws say about it.

if jehovah can see into the future, he would've known what a mess he was going to make of creation so he would've decided against it before he even thought of it.. based on the theory that he went ahead and created everything anyway, that must mean he can't see into the future.. i also seem to remember that god doesn't interfere with man, because we have free will, so all our actions are down to us and in no way "steered" or "influenced" by god.. so how can he make predictions about the future, i.e.

JamesThomas

Questions regarding characters we have chiseled within the dark corners of the mind, can be interesting and gobble up great gobs of attention. A more pertinent question than "Can God see the future?", may be: Can we see the present?

I apologize, Adolfius, if i went off your topic, or seemed to discount your question. Your question is interesting.

j

15

"Religions tell us we have to give up this life for another ...

by serenitynow in

jw
friends

give up our desire, passions, pleasures ... what type of comfort is that?

'die while you are alive so you can be alive when you are dead?'".

this was a thought-provoking quote i read on the weekend from a french philosopher michael onfray, particularly when we know how much one gives up for life as a dub.

JamesThomas

Yes, sadly, this is often the case.

There is no reality, no genuine significance outside the present moment. Religion compels it's followers to mentally reach past the authentic richness of reality, out towards a lifeless imagined fantasy in some other place and time. When absent and numb to Reality, we are as the walking dead. (I would add that I don't feel that this is how religion was originally meant to be; perhaps the very opposite)

However, religion is not the only door to such a death-walk. Often we unquestionably accept the beliefs and interpretations of the mind -- religious or not -- for genuine reality; and so die, never knowing what it is to really live.

There is a beautiful and endlessly vast Reality of which we are truly so wonderfully connected as to be it! Realization of our true identity and unity requires a radical looking past everything we have so far believed "self" and "other" (or universe) to be.

j

55

Nothing.

by Narkissos in

jw
friends

perhaps this paradoxical "topic" is one with which we here have dealt a little more, or a little more consciously, than the average population.. we used to have our heads full of beliefs (which we called "truth") in every direction: on theology, on cosmology, on paleontology, on past history, on so-called prophetic future, on heaven above, on earth, on she'ol beneath.

on many things -- current events, traditions, other peoples' beliefs and behaviours -- we had strong opinions which were directly or indirectly (the famous "conscience" matters) part of the same deal.

and of course our life was filled with activities and relationships, a community of "friends," people to "help" or "teach," etc.. then, gradually or suddenly, we came to suspect, often with a measure of terror, that all of this was not what we had thought and might sooner or later turn into... nothing.. this "nothing" is perhaps one of the most scary thoughts to people contemplating leaving the org one way or another.

JamesThomas

30

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TRINITY and the DUAL NATURES OF CHRIST :-)

by FireNBandits in

i'm not a trinitarian, but i understand the doctrine...oh...as well as such a mysterious doctrine can be understood.

same with chalcedonian orthodoxy, the dual natures of christ.

so, i will herein give you my way of explaining the trinity, etc.. .

JamesThomas

I would not be too indifferent to others as to so easily label them as having "sub-par intellects". Certainly most here could mop the floor with me in a test of who had the higher IQ (Then I would have to change my icon name to: JamesTheMop).

Perhaps it is not a lack of intelligence so much as simply not having an inquisitive enough nature to investigate into ones own imagined identity. If we are comfortable with our "life story" it may likely feel safer not to look outside our warm and secure little box. You can't blame folks for that.

I can only encourage folks who may be inclined to sincerely and earnestly investigate thoroughly into ones entire beliefs-system of "self" and "other". Take heed of that which observes the investigation. It can be seen that our minds are like a particle machine which reduces the conscious wave form of Source energy into recognizable and practical day to day "objects". It can also be seen that the Wave always IS; and is the foundational reality of all existence. The Wave is always pristine and pure, untouched by any and all expression of particle thingness, no matter how lovely or tragic the drama may be.

Far more than who and what we believe ourselves to be, we are the Wave; that which has no beginning and no end; that which is beyond all words and descriptions. It is what the word G-O-D points to; and you are IT.

Don't just believe this. Investigate. Inquire. Everything you need, you have.

j

30

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TRINITY and the DUAL NATURES OF CHRIST :-)

by FireNBandits in

i'm not a trinitarian, but i understand the doctrine...oh...as well as such a mysterious doctrine can be understood.

same with chalcedonian orthodoxy, the dual natures of christ.

so, i will herein give you my way of explaining the trinity, etc.. .

JamesThomas

Perhaps then, the next step is to realize that the attributes of the oneness with the Godhead which you attribute to Jesus, is no less your own; or that of all existence.

j

37

Any hobby machinists or blacksmiths?

by BrentR in

i was curious if there are any hobby blacksmiths or machinists on jwd?

for me it's a hobby and part time business and would like to find out if anyone enjoys it as much as i do.

JamesThomas

BrentR:

This weekend I will be making a shot glass from some 160 year old wrought iron from a pre-Cival War tall ship anchor chain. Iron back then had alot of silica that was not refined out and when you etch it in acid it has a very unique grain.

Fascinating! I hope you post some pics of your project for us.

j

10

This Is My Current Stage

by R.F. in

i'm currently in the stage of mixed feelings.

i feel torn at times because of this.

i've built up courage to come to this website, and recently i've built up enough to take part in it.

JamesThomas

R.F.:

i'm torn over the fact that this is the organzation that i've been around my entire life and been told that this is the one organization Jehovah is using and the only way to receive his blessing is to be a part of it. Then at the same time those doubts just can't go away in my mind. Things that I tried to make myself believe but just couldn't.

This isn't about your dear dad, it's about you. The guilt you carry in regards Jehovah, is poison. The remedy for this is simple and naturally intuitive, if you are ready to open to it.

It's important to get in touch with a genuine sense of the unimaginably vast infinity of the expression of life and universe, then it is easy, if not effortless to let go of the very small and limited tribal deity revealed within the pages of the Bible. We know not what the true Source is, but it certainly is not wise to attribute infinity to what is so grossly finite as the Bible god, or any other god that the mind's imagination creates......which is all of them we name and worship. Does it seem wise to place any limits or boundaries whatsoever on That from which all existence flows?

Let go of your little god and the guilt you carry and be at peace. It is the honorable thing to do. Allow the immediate reality of nature and life in and around you to silently teach you about what is authentically Divine. Only in our beliefs and religions is the ultimate Truth we seek so small as to be absent.

Good luck; and welcome.

j

11

Just wanted to say HELLO - NEWBIES, please read!!!

by berylblue in

jw
friends

i see many new faces here since my last visit - .

this place was instrumental in helping me see the wtbts for what it really is.. .

please - keep an open mind.

JamesThomas

(((Rosemarie!!!))), what a wonderful surprise to see you here!

Your words express some cheerful changes in you.

Glad you are back and hope you post more regularly.

j

5

18yo nephew wants to know why I left the Troof.

by FreeWilly in

jw
friends

i'd love a few ideas here.

my nephew has told my sister that he intends to ask me why i left the 'truth'.

he's a great kid and i'm hopefull he'll eventually see the light.

JamesThomas

Tell him you can no longer find it in your heart to attribute an infinite universe to a tiny desert deity; for certainly the true Source of such glorious unending grandeur must be far greater still. Tell him you do not know what God is, but you are now wise enough to know what it's not -- and so not shrink and reduce it down to the murderous, anthropomorphic, tribal-god found within the pages of the Bible; your heart simply can no longer belittle the Divine in such a foolish and gross way. The rest of the world can, but you will not.

This is along the same lines that you presented above. Hopefully you can get a genuine sense of this yourself and so then presenting it in this way may place you in a more honorable and respectful light that may help motivate your dear nephew to humbly question his own beliefs.

Good luck,

j