a good place to start would be at your library. find books on ancient pre-christian mythology. Egyptian, Assyro-Babylonian, and Hebrew. You will find many examples of transparent modifications of these myths used in the bible. such as the garden of eden, flood, and virgin birth etc etc. In the hebrew information you will also find that the god of the ancient hebrews also had a feminine counterpart, which of course was later written out. Informational books on the hebrews is Man and Temple and The Hebrew Goddess by Dr Raphael Patai.
Red Witch
JoinedPosts by Red Witch
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73
if you still believe in the bible ... please tell me why
by frenchbabyface inwhy i can't anymore : sorry for my poor english, but i've tried hard !!
since the beginning of the time, till the 19th century and more, most of stories and songs for kids, was made to scary them with a moral at the end.
to me, the bible is one of kind of that type of book (for children we are inside).
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73
if you still believe in the bible ... please tell me why
by frenchbabyface inwhy i can't anymore : sorry for my poor english, but i've tried hard !!
since the beginning of the time, till the 19th century and more, most of stories and songs for kids, was made to scary them with a moral at the end.
to me, the bible is one of kind of that type of book (for children we are inside).
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Red Witch
hmmm, you should all take the time to do a little research on the bible stories. you will be shocked to find out that many of them were simply taken from ancient egyptian and other stories of their gods. nothing original here. then they were manipulated into politics and a society of patirarchs. surely jesus did exist and had many good teachings for us, as did others, but unfortunately, his were manipulated into something else. one part of that something else, is what many of us have come to the sad realization of as being false. too bad, after we had aligned our lives to it only to find out it didn't float.
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Christianity promotes a helpless victim mentality...
by logansrun ini'm going to be a man of few words here.
christianity, in it's truest, fundamentalist form, promotes an unhealthy and non-productive victim mentality.
the christian feels helpless on his own -- condemned by sin and absolutely unworthy.
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Red Witch
Cheers to you Bradley! Your comments are very well received here. More should look into the origins of Christianity. they just might find out that it really has very little to do with the teachings of Jesus. The Bible as we know it has so many stories taken from ancient Egypt and elswhere in the ancient world. Many writtings deleted or rewritten for political, patriarchal (sp) dominance. It goes on and on as more information is unearthed and analyzed.
Blessings!
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Are you comfortable with voting now?
by Brummie ini admit i have never voted (shame), the last couple of years i have decided to vote but when the time comes i back out.
i like having the freedom to choose whether to vote or not but i never know who to vote on the day that counts and then i feel uncomfortable at the last minute.. how about you?
brummie
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Red Witch
not comfortable with it at all. after trying a few times, it only causes me an anxiety attack. therefore, i don't. playing old tapes i suppose.
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What did you think of "Simplification" ???
by Swan ini know now what was behind many of the simplification procedures that were adopted at the assemblies over the years.
the books and food were given away to avoid tax problems.
but what did you think about it when you were a jw?.
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Red Witch
Uniformed in benign smiles
So true! How about the blank eyes? SCARY! The stuff of nightmares.........
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20
What did you lose or give up to break free of the Borg?
by shotgun infor all of you who made a conscious decision to leave the organization.. what was the price you had to pay or what was you willing to give up in order to be true to yourself.
( wife, children, extended family, friends, jobs...etc).
and how have you coped?
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Red Witch
I should probably add that changing my name, taking my 2 children, moving far away-no notice or forwarding address, and shunning, if you will, everyone I knew for over 2 yrs gave me a great headstart with a clean book to write in. Difficult? yes! But I can't express fully how worth it it all was! Also, years later, 2 of my childhood friends are now better friends than before and also one of my sisters (all ex jw who chose to leave on their own) - people I can now count on as real, loving friends. Plus a long list of others who have never been associated whom we all consider each other as family and living lifes we choose with no judging or self-righteousness involved.
Allowing the "Borg" to force me out and take away from me just was not on my agenda list. That new self created blank book was just what my sanity required.
Not knowing what your special circumstances are...I hope this has been of some help and encouragement.
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What did you lose or give up to break free of the Borg?
by shotgun infor all of you who made a conscious decision to leave the organization.. what was the price you had to pay or what was you willing to give up in order to be true to yourself.
( wife, children, extended family, friends, jobs...etc).
and how have you coped?
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Red Witch
For me, the coping was while in the org. Leaving brought me much happiness, and a "life". My family who are involved (and there are quite a few) were never very loving anyway, they were and are robots of the wt. Actually, I am so much more of a person now with peace of heart and mind, that I find it much more enjoyable when I do talk or visit with them. The hardest thing is to see them living their robot lives and talking their robot talk... and knowing there are real people under it all - they are just so totally convinced and indoctrinated out of their desire to be right and win the prize dangled in front of them.
The organization has denied them much in life as it did in mine, till I de-programed my mind with the simple chant of "I will not feel quilty". But I must admit that the feelings of, not belonging anywhere, being a misfit, along with the guilt stuff can haunt me, if I let them, and only if I let them. There are times when those feelings will catch me off-guard, those are probably the most difficult times to deal with. Sometimes the family tries to "push buttons" even if unwittingly - that's when strength is needed on my part to take a step back and think before I automatically react.
I left along time ago and it took time to learn to listen to and accept my gut feelings (which has always been right) instead of letting the old programing in my head control me.
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Anyone else from N.California here yet?
by jelly ini was starting to worry.
i dont post much but i usually check the site daily.
oh well, its nice to be here.. terry
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Red Witch
Beautiful downtown San Jose.
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We are NOT a CULT!
by UnDisfellowshipped inthe watchtower, september 15, 2002 issue, pages 16-18: .
the watchtower, january 1, 1942 issue, page 5: .
the watchtower, may 1, 1957 issue, page 274: .
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Red Witch
Definitely a CULT
Any group that does not allow one the freedom of thinking and deciding for themselves and convinces them of their inability to do so is utilizing a form of mindcontrol - therefore creating a CULT
Hey, I sat in the kh as a child and recognized that we were all being controlled by the almighty "Overseers and their Servants" (titles their own and should give everyone a hint about what goes on in their Organization!) But I was too afraid to do anything about it until many years later, why? Because I was controlled by their imposed reasoning!!
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I am going to try hanging out with you people
by CruithneLaLuna inhello, new member here.. i registered a couple of years ago, but my initial experiences here were not of the warm/fuzzy variety, which must have been what i needed at the time; so, i left.
recenty, a friend gently suggested that i might want to give interacting here a second try.. so's i don't have to type it twice, i offer here a hyperlink to my member profile.. although one might reasonably be named "cruithne" - especially if one is irish or scottish - it is not my real name.
well, of course it is my real name, in that i choose to be known by it.
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Red Witch
Hello CruithneLaLuna!
I am fairly new here as well. Looked around a couple of years ago and just did not feel comfortable with it all. Gave me an anxiety attack. Now I am in a better space and find that reading the posts often make me smile and walk away in a lighter mood, instead of just bringing back all the bad memories of being involved with the org. I hope it works for you as well. I think it helps alot having a place to talk with others who have had many of the same experiences and feelings myself.
Welcome, and Blessed Be