may you all have peace!
a dear one asked me some questions recently, including why god isn't... doing "anything"... and what is he doing.
for reasons of confidentiality, i will not name the person, but i am going to post some parts of our discussion, because i think it may put some things into "perspective" for some who truly wish to know:
I am sorry to sound negative, but this reminds me of the same old "leave it in god's hands" spill, they give to all the victims of the Watchtower society. But you presented it well.
Funny how man chooses when and where god will intervene. Good things happen, and god did it... bad things happen and you just didn't leave things properly in God's hands....
a guy goes on vacation to the holy-land with his wife and mother-in-law.
the mother-in-law dies.
they go to an undertaker who explains that they can ship the body home but it will cost a whopping $5000.00, whereas they can bury her in the holy-land for a mere $150.00
A guy goes on vacation to the Holy-Land with his wife and Mother-in-law. The Mother-in-law dies. They go to an undertaker who explains that they can ship the body home but it will cost a whopping $5000.00, whereas they can bury her in the Holy-land for a mere $150.00 The guy says "We'll ship her home" The under-taker asks "Are you sure? That's an awfully big expense, and we can do a lovely burial here." The guy says, "Look! 2000 years ago they buried a guy here, and three days later he rose from the dead.... I just can't take that chance"
does this make all of us worse that satan ??????.
when replying to a thread started by black man i said something like ........ " after armageddon is over we will all be dead, but satan will still be kicking, and then let loose again after christ's 1000 year reign, so satan already has his get out of armageddon card, he's already thru.
" sounds fair, don't you think ?????????
Heathen, Point taken.. however if you notice all the quotation marks in my post... I sorta just dont believe all that. It was called elsewhere a "jw myth".... I call it a JW scare tactic.
as far as being "obsessed with sex" I think the difference between American culture and places like India that you mention... is that "we" americans place a certain amount of shame on sex, our "obsession" with it is because we are not even allowed to talk about it until well into our teens... long after some of those cultures you mention are well into marriage AND sex. The middle eastern culture views "sex" and it's pleasure as divine... something to be shared openly.
But after making that post, I asked myself this : 1. if sex is only for the continuation of the species and 2. there is no death and 3. pleasurable sex is un-natural..... then 1. Would man have testicles? (to create the little buggers) and 2. would women have ovaries? and 3. would intimacy and its meaning change? answers welcome. I kinda prefer the thought that I would continue in a much different form than a physical body anyway... not "heaven" but just different. energy? You know... "energy never dies" blah blah blah
And as far as the rock-n-roll thing goes.... I was kidding to begin with. I am too old man.. rock-n-roll aint what it used to be. These kids have metal spikes growing outa their eye-brows and I hope that is a custom that will soon vanish. BUT as you said... to each their own.
can people be single and happy?
the older i get the more i believe that being single is the way to go.there are so many advantages.just to name a few;.
you can finish that college degree, go to the neighborhood bar anytime, do charity work, join a night class, stay out all night, flirt with anybody you please.
I was happy when I was single. I am happy being married. I don't do alot of the things I did as a single person, but not because I am "not allowed", and I don't think of it as "I cant do that anymore"
I see it more like, "I have someone to share the things I did before WITH" . I don't go out anymore to dance.... WE go out to dance.
I love my baby and wouldn't trade her for anything. She is a precious part of my life that I couldn't imagine being without.
does this make all of us worse that satan ??????.
when replying to a thread started by black man i said something like ........ " after armageddon is over we will all be dead, but satan will still be kicking, and then let loose again after christ's 1000 year reign, so satan already has his get out of armageddon card, he's already thru.
" sounds fair, don't you think ?????????
"Satan" would be the lucky one I think... he only would have to put up with it for another thousand years after "armageddon", while the "good ones" who survive it get to spend eternity being vegitarians and walking around going "..I don't know what do you want to do? We aint allowed to have sex and rock-n-roll is DEFINITELY out".
i feel the need to express how i feel and felt about my life as a gay man.
i was brought up from birth as a jehovahs witness.
this has played a major part in my life and it has been a real struggle to get past.
Just my opinion ... I think the whole "privacy" issue has blown to pieces here. It is not as if Monk3y posted Ng's home address and bra-size. As he stated, he started this post to share something, and in return he was sent a message that was based on harmful, judgemental beliefs.
I personally don't see where any trust was broken. Had he invited a personal message specifically from someone and then posted THAT on the board, I could almost see the problem. If someone shares a secret with you, and you post that, I can see the problem. If an elder had come on here and sent any one of us a warning that we should not be on this site, and that this was for apostates only, any one would have posted that message on the board.
I myself have risked sharing private information with other's via "in-box" and should they wish to bring me harm I suppose they would be within their rights to do so.
Monk3y: as I said before, you are fortunate for having survived this. I admire the strength it takes to get through it and be able to talk about it with such passion.
i was in a book store today and there were a couple of books entitled somthing like "the bible code" .
the idea goes that the bible is written a certain code that when decoded reveals prophcies about things like the twin towers and that kind of thing.
heres a few links to explain more.
Interesting that they never find the prophecy until after something like that happens, and the 'things to come" prophecies are always like five or ten years away.. . after you BUY the book and forget about the whole thing.
I mean, you never read something that says "according to this code the world will end in the next 48 hours, sell all your stocks". They made a bloody fortune selling the Prophecies of Nostradamus and you spend all this time reading about prophecies that were fulfilled a hundred years ago. They said he predicted the twin towers too, based on one little quatrain... but if this is the case, why wasnt some guy running around on Sept. 10th, saying "clear the building"??I mean a population of how many million? Somebody shoulda read the book right?
Question: How many elders quit their jobs on the year the end was to come? If your so sure about the end... why bother hitting the time clock?
I know, I know, nobody asked me... I'm going away now.
as a born and raised jw, i was taught that not only did we have the truth but we also had the keys to understanding of bible prophecy.
i was able to explain the gentile times timetable, the reason for 1914,etc.
but there came a time when i really came to appreciate that i had no real foundation for these "truths".
As far as the prophecies and teachings I dont think so... I remember being a very gud reeder at eight years old, and everytime they talked about 144,000 or birthdays, or just about anything... I would think "but that it IS NOT what it says!!! You just added up three scriptures from two ends of the bible and MADE it say that". Plus the elders gave me the creeps... I dont go for the "aura mumbo jumbo"... but something about that look in their eye.. dont know, just "sensed" it.
About the only thing that got me was the fear tactics. I have been out for fifteen years, and up until about three or four years ago, I would lie in the darkness and ... worry? The continuous gloom and doom. I think the imagery got me more than the prophecies. The whole fire from the sky thing... shook me up. ooh dat was creepy.
.....has been changed for the third (!!!!!
) time to friday 11th july.
apparently, there were no elders available on the previous days so i just have to fit in.. wish me luck!.
http://www.douknow.net/jw_manual1.htm
You may or may not have read this. I don't see any reference to it in the other replies. It contains the guidlines under wich you will be judged.
I am not sure the outcome you hope for, but good fortune in either case.
i feel the need to express how i feel and felt about my life as a gay man.
i was brought up from birth as a jehovahs witness.
this has played a major part in my life and it has been a real struggle to get past.
Monk3y.... I am not one to put labels on anyone. But I will say that you are a MAN for having survived it and having had the courage to tell that story. I haven't read all the replies, and frankly the troll is hardly worth mentioning... She has her own problems.
I admire your strength. I admire the fact that you realize that you "made it".
I know you dont know me, and my opinion is not important. The only thing I can say, is don't wish any such thing about having not been through it, to get where you are today. You seem like a compassionate person, and hopefully your post will help a lurker who may not be sure where he or she fits into this whole thing.... it may come naturally for you... but surely your experience has "fed" your compassion.
Perhaps one day, all people will share in the happiness that you have seemingly found.... but until then, you are a fortunate person for having survived it.
