Posts by JamesThomas

Religion= the minds feeble attempts of understanding what it can not understand, an thus it makes up a story which it subtracts from and adds to over the course of thousands of years.

So similarities are to be expected when you know what your dealing with....an evolutionary comic book reality.

So the nest step is: why fuck with stories when reality is here right now staring you in the face??????????????????

This isn't rocket science.

42

Jesus or Jehovah?

by Seven in

i ran across this on truthsearcher.

i would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this.. __________.

who is the "alpha and omega" and the first and last"-jesus or jehovah?.

JamesThomas

Archaic verse can be discussed endlessly. Or one can actually ponder on what "Alpha and Omega" points to. It points to That which has no "outside", That which encompasses all.

Would it be wise to believe that an anthropomorphic, tribal, patriarchal deity can and does encompass all existence?

I apologies for going outside the box of this discussion. I just wanted to point out that we can begin with the same basic words and actually use them to come to deep and significant understandings about the reality in which we live.....or not.

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?.

JamesThomas

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