Posts by DJS

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

DJS

Brother Jeramy,

“I don't mean that I am an advocate of the Watchtower Society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings. . . .And so in a similar way I have chosen to remain with my brothers and sisters, in spite of the poison of the "religious leaders" (i.e., the Watchtower Society and the many elders who bow to it) . . . . the "poison" of hypocrisy and falsehood that has harmed the Family . . “

Aren’t you being hypocritical by referring to us as “those immersed in bitterness and negativity … “. That is exactly how the Dark Lords and the elders would describe you and your followers based on your statements.

Some of us thought as you do – that the Dark Tower was the ‘truth’ that happened to be operating as a cult, and that it was in some manner ‘reform-able.’ We were wrong. It is a cult – a very dangerous hate filled cult. It cannot be reformed.

If you shared your thoughts with anyone on the inside you would be immediately identified as an apostate and DFed. You have developed enough ‘followers’ blowing smoke up your ass that it has affected your brain. You are delusional. The Dark Tower cannot be reformed, and the Dark Lords will never change. And you aren’t the answer to their hopes, dreams and wishes.

This isn’t Hoth where you can seek refuge from the Dark Lords while you re-group, Luke; you won’t find any secret plans to destroy the Death Star here, Leah. And your “Family” (with a capital “F” no less) will turn against you as soon as they feel the Dark Lords' flames, Mr. Koresh.

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

DJS

Alright DJS, you are violating one of your prime directives. STAY OUT of theist discussions. Oh well,

Introvert 2: " . . the Kingdom hope read as the main theme of the Bible. It's there from Gen to Rev. for everyone humble enough too see it. He has been an encouragement to some of us and I would hate to see him go on account of him being treated poorly here. Everyone benefits from hearing out all the options . . "

Let's see: You've been on the site for 11 days and Bro. Jeramy for 8 days. And yet you are finding soooo much encouragement from him. I see. After only a few posts. Damn, I need to get me some of that Brother Jeramy.

And you don't want us to be mean to him? I see. Now that's fair enough.

But you insult me and those like me by telling me I'm just not humble enough to see the light. Why thank you Uriah Heep. Then you insult me and those like me again by inferring that I/we haven't heard all the options.

You two are a team; you arrived to preach. After 8 or 11 days on this site I didn't know where the figurative bathroom was or how to get to the second floor break room. LisaRose and Rebel8 found me wandering the hallways, on several occasions, looking for the upload button. But you guys hit the ground running.

Now I will leave this OP for those who don't have prime directives about engaging in theist discussions.

33

I wonder if you can be spiritual and religious at the same time??

by Deltawave in

ok again i would like to apologise as i did come across preachy.

i am not going to debate whether or not i am a bk as you have your opinions either way.

what i was trying to write though was my thoughts and feelings which i hope don't offend anyone on this forum.

DJS

Xanthippe: "So we agree, well apart from the girl parts thing."

Darn, almost the perfect girl.

33

I wonder if you can be spiritual and religious at the same time??

by Deltawave in

ok again i would like to apologise as i did come across preachy.

i am not going to debate whether or not i am a bk as you have your opinions either way.

what i was trying to write though was my thoughts and feelings which i hope don't offend anyone on this forum.

DJS

Xanthippe: " . . many people are moved by their emotions to help others. However I was talking about enjoying art with all of our emotions. I hope you think that is compatible with rational living?"

Well stated. Of course. I agree completely with what you are saying. Art (and ex-girfriends) are the only things I collect. And wonderful memories. Nature, art, close friends and relationships, popcorn, coffee, wine and girl parts all make me feel strongly. Injustice and poverty cause the same. I just don't attribute any of these things to some personage or unseen thing-ey.

33

I wonder if you can be spiritual and religious at the same time??

by Deltawave in

ok again i would like to apologise as i did come across preachy.

i am not going to debate whether or not i am a bk as you have your opinions either way.

what i was trying to write though was my thoughts and feelings which i hope don't offend anyone on this forum.

DJS

Viviane,

I love it when you talk dirty.

33

I wonder if you can be spiritual and religious at the same time??

by Deltawave in

ok again i would like to apologise as i did come across preachy.

i am not going to debate whether or not i am a bk as you have your opinions either way.

what i was trying to write though was my thoughts and feelings which i hope don't offend anyone on this forum.

DJS

Xanthippe: "DJS sounds as though you may be frightened of 'self induced emotions'."

I'm human like everyone else. I'm not afraid of my emotions because I learned a long time ago to control them -not perfectly but they don't control or rule me. I especially don't allow others to control my emotions, whether it is a preacher, a sports team, a co-worker or a girlfriend.

The only thing that frightens me is my ex-wife and lawyers, but that's another OP. Anyway, my point, as Viviane was stating, is that fear hasn't anything to do with it.

I'm not a robot, nor am I Spock. But, as I've pointed out before, Feelings and Emotions are all that are necessary to Believe. Spirituality is almost always associated with Believing something, and spirituality as it has been illustrated for thousands of years is almost completely associated with Emotions. The more we understand that and seek to identify WHY we feel and control HOW we feel we will be better off as a species and less like our primate cousins which lack impulse control. The more we allow our feelings and emotions to control us the longer religion and 'spirituality' will continue to imprison us and keep us from evolving as a species.

Thanks Viviane. I'm sorry for making the Terminator III analogy with you and Cofty (no I'm not -it fits and it was damned funny - you're the girl Terminator btw).

33

I wonder if you can be spiritual and religious at the same time??

by Deltawave in

ok again i would like to apologise as i did come across preachy.

i am not going to debate whether or not i am a bk as you have your opinions either way.

what i was trying to write though was my thoughts and feelings which i hope don't offend anyone on this forum.

DJS

Xanthippe:

Well stated: "The human spirit needs art, beauty, poetry, music, literature and to experience different cultures around the world. To raise us up from the everyday humdrum existence, to make us think, feel deeply and to fill us with the desire to improve this beautiful planet so that everyone can enjoy it instead of many spending their days scratching out an existence and unable to think of anything but their empty bellies."

It's just that some of us including me think that the best path to getting us all there is anything but religion and superstition; to many of us, that's what being 'spiritual' is - superstition and self induced emotions based on either what we make ourselves feel or how we are influenced by the feelings and emotions of others, aka "team spirit," "community spirit," etc.

21

Interesting Pew Stats on JWs--Alarming Trends for the Borg

by Cadellin in

someone may have linked to this already, but the this interactive page in the pew religion study is pretty interesting, especially when you look at the trends for jw between 2007 and 2014. here's what it shows:.

jws are increasingly non-white.

in fact, the percentage of white jws has decreased from 2007 to 2014 by 12%, while hispanic jws have increased by 8%.

DJS

Thanks Cadellin,

This places a rational face on the image we have expected to see. Old, poor, uneducated, female and non-white. Dark Lords, are you listening? You continue to rail against college and career while begging for $ all the more often - from poor uneducated women. How is that working out for you?

113

Are you religious or are you spiritual? Wake up to what?

by Deltawave in

there is a huge difference between been religious and been spiritual.

been religious is about been superior to others in the sight of god.

however, been spiritual is about self awareness, inner peace and unity with the natural world.

DJS

stillin,

DW may be exactly what you say he is; time will tell. Pardon me and a lot of us if we are suspicious of anyone joining the site and immediately posting a better way, an enlightened path, a clearer understanding. He's preaching even if it is nice preaching. I've stayed out of this OP other than to weigh in on my skepticism of DW's motives and to jab at Cofty and Viviane a bit. We should be nice to DW, and most of us are. But we should also be wary of anyone showing us a better way on their first OPs.

The premise of his OP sounds good on the surface, but he is essentially linking being an ethical, decent person with either religion or spirituality. So many of you are 'liking' what I consider utter BS. Being kind, decent, ethical, at peace with ones self and in harmony with nature haven't anything to do with either religion or spirituality. That's the only problem I have with the OP. Village Idiot illustrates what I'm saying with his clever pictures above (thanks VI).

And as those of us who are driven by evidence have pointed out many times, the more secular and atheistic a person, region or nation are, the more likely they are to be functional and ethical. So the premise of the OP is specious - it sounds good on the surface but it isn't backed up by reality.

Of course someone can be religious but not spiritual or spiritual but not religious. But linking either with the quality of a human and the life they live is the problem with the OP. They certainly can be linked; I suppose I would have 'liked' the OP and been less suspicious if DW had included reaching the same end result with a completely secular approach.

I am in awe of the beauty of nature. My relationships with my beautiful children and my amazing friends lift me up. Art, architecture and my girlfriend's ass inspire me (ok, her boobs too, but her ass is amazing). I live an ethical life, but I would never classify myself as either religious OR spiritual.

113

Are you religious or are you spiritual? Wake up to what?

by Deltawave in

there is a huge difference between been religious and been spiritual.

been religious is about been superior to others in the sight of god.

however, been spiritual is about self awareness, inner peace and unity with the natural world.

DJS

Cofty and Viviane: