Posts by JamesThomas

24

The desert god is a real A hole in this weeks bible reading

by _Morpheus in

so this week dubbies read that the mean bad philistines were punished by the desert god for having his ark.

the desert god punished them with (drum roll please)....... hemroids and rats.

yep.

JamesThomas

And still today billions of people unquestionably believe that this painfully brutal and infantile deity is responsible for all life and universe.

Gives me hemorrhoids just thinking about it.

46

Groanfest. Share your daftest jokes .

by jhine in

lots of serious stuff being discussed on site .

i thought!it would be nice to make each other groan/ smile for a change .please share your corniest ,punniest , or daftest joke .. i will start with this shocker , borrowed from tim vine .. vandalism in a multi story carpark ....... ...................................,............................ wrong on sooo many levels !.

come on now share yours.

JamesThomas

Two cows are standing at a pasture fence looking out over the neighboring meadow.

After some time passes, one cow says to the other: “I hear that Mad Cow disease is going around again”. To which the other replies: “What do I care – I'm a helicopter”.

21

Effect of reading here.

by New day in

jw
friends

saomebody mentioned in a recent thread here i think that the more they read here the more they feel angry at the wt.

personally, as an ex-elder (only resigned a few months ago) i feel that it is more like suddenly being on the outside looking in at a whole group of people playing parts.

the zealous pioneers answering all the time.

JamesThomas

New day, your post is a good observation; and I feel that Oubliette is correct by taking it further.

The mind is continually weaving an identity out of beliefs, concepts, fears, desires, and memories of phenomenal happenings. That's why it is very hard for most people to leave a belief-system – such as the Jehovah's Witnesses – because it has been woven into our identity, and to leave it, is in a way, to die.

Seeing this, the question then becomes: what mental generated fabric is making up my “identity” right now? Am I nothing but concepts, beliefs and ideas? Who/what am I, really? What observes the mind???

34

Pick your belief system

by Giordano in

i think we've all noticed a ton of newbe's these past months.

one part of escaping or thinking about escaping the jw's is coming to terms with what you believe now and/or what direction you are leaning towards.. here is a site that has a quick quiz that may be of some worth or just for fun.

i took it when i first signed on here and the results surprised me because it was pretty accurate.. you don't have to sign up for anything and when you finish you will get a percentage answer on 20 major belief systems.

JamesThomas

Viviane, thanks for posting the chart. Too cool.

26

Rational Buddhism?

by cappytan in

jw
friends

does a type of buddhism exist that doesn't include the metaphysical aspects of traditional buddhism?

.

JamesThomas

I'm not hoping to find anything. Someone recommended meditation to me, and said that Buddhists were non-theists. I looked into it and liked everything I saw about Buddhism, except for the supernatural rebirth stuff.

I can appreciate that.

You may like reading some Eckhart Tolle. Along these lines there is kind of a 'mindfulness meditation', which can be done all during the day.

You basically just practice on being more aware of what is going on within the present moment. No beliefs, no scripts, are involved.

You come to be more aware of physical feelings, like the multifaceted experience of breathing, etc. Also can come a clearer seeing of how thoughts, beliefs, and emotions are just passing cloud-like things, and in no way define your authenticity. In this way one can come to a deeper awareness of ones true and deeper being, by clearly seeing what we are not.

It's not a forced thing, but rather a way of kindness and patience.

Many people have found it to be life-changing.

Good luck.

57

How many of you still believe in God or are still Christians?

by JWCartPusher in

hello, i asked a new but old friend how many people are still christians after leaving the watchtower's mind control agency, for statistical purposes do you mind if i do a survey and see how many of you are believers?.

please don't post if your not a believer out of respect for this poll, we need to sharpen each other's sword and help build each other up and meet new friends over the internet with faith in god or some other force of the universe.

i asked another person how we can still manage our faith after getting burned by the high group mind control, he had a few ideas but he's not really involved with god because of how life burned him.

JamesThomas

I'm not sure as to where I fit in, if at all in your post.

I have relinquished all beliefs in any circumscribable “God” or deity; especially the brutal tribal deity I was raised to believe in. The amazing beauty of life and universe does not give witness to such menial characters in regards to its infinite wonder and presence.

So, I guess, any beliefs in a personal “God”, have been replaced by a growing appreciation and admiration for what I do not know, but can somehow sense as always more than anything I can imagine.

37

My wife is frightened about the end/ What to say without sounding Apostate?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

my wife called me at work saying she is scared after reading today's daily text.

i don't read it anymore, therefore i went online and found this.. tuesday, march 3 .

those days will be cut short.matt.

JamesThomas

As long as we foolishly and unquestionably believe that the infinitely wondrous expression of life and universe is due to a savage and brutal, tribal deity, there is going to be trouble. Deservedly so.

Go to the root of the problem, or prepare for a continual stream of shit hitting the fan.

26

Rational Buddhism?

by cappytan in

jw
friends

does a type of buddhism exist that doesn't include the metaphysical aspects of traditional buddhism?

.

JamesThomas

Cappy, what are you hoping to find under the rock of Buddhism?

18

my 10 year old son is paying attention at the meetings

by user100 in

the public talk on sunday was about evolution.. my son pointed out flaws in the speakers arguments during and after the meeting... mostly about how animals aren't able to communicate etc.

he even brought up coco the ape that is able to communicate via sign.. i told him that i heard a ton of inconsistencies but i am afraid to say anything because your mom will get angry :).

im glad he is paying attention.. and the school system must be doing something right..

JamesThomas

Language, is only a tiny facet of communication within nature, but even still words (sounds) and gesture (sign language) are certainly not limited to humans. As far as I know apes, other mammals and birds use sounds and movements to communicate.

The mind is a wondrous and powerful tool, yet its tenacity towards complexity, imagination and story-telling, often seems to place us in our own little bubble feeling as if we are cut-off from nature. Most of nature is not cursed by such a 'bubble' and is more open or one with the rest of life and so communicates in ways we know not of.

This is a great opportunity to help open your dear son's mind by investigating with him into the many ways that we are discovering how nature communicates (something that could become a life's work with the end result probably offering far more questions than answers).

An open and curious mind is not an environment in which JW BS can easily thrive.

On another note, the speakers arrogance that gives rise to him trying so hard to separate himself from the rest of nature, is in my mind not far removed form the mind-set that allowed people to slaughter the native Americans as “Godless savages”. I find it deeply repugnant. We have infinitly more in-common with each-other and nature than not. If we spent our energies discovering what unites us and universe, then there would be no wars. But then Jehovah never stood for that did he. He was a divider and destroyer, not a uniter. How I ever actually believed in such a terrible creature, is beyond me.

18

my 10 year old son is paying attention at the meetings

by user100 in

the public talk on sunday was about evolution.. my son pointed out flaws in the speakers arguments during and after the meeting... mostly about how animals aren't able to communicate etc.

he even brought up coco the ape that is able to communicate via sign.. i told him that i heard a ton of inconsistencies but i am afraid to say anything because your mom will get angry :).

im glad he is paying attention.. and the school system must be doing something right..

JamesThomas

So, you are saying that the speaker implied that animals don't communicate???

What a painfully egomaniacal and tiny-minded statement that is. All nature, all animals, insects, fungus and plants communicate in some way. Everyday science is blown-away by discovering more of the communication that occurs. Even individual cells and bacteria communicate. Atoms communicate so that molecules can function as a coherent whole. Subatomic particles somehow pass information so that the atom remain stable. Hell, it seems that the entire universe is nothing but data and the transference and communication of that.

The only void seems to be in that particular speakers brain; and fortunately your dear son caught-on.