Heaven

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Posts by Heaven

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  14

  Why doesn't Jesus appear to you ?

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the new testament tells us stories about miracles, people speaking in different languages by the holy spirit, jesus appearing to many of his disciples.

  but, why this was only a first century phenomenom???.

  here some reasoning: http://godisimaginary.com/i15.htm.

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  Heaven

  The Biblical stories are embellished, some are outright fabrications. When presented with stories that defy the Laws of Nature, one must ask the following: What is more likely? That the laws of nature are suspended or that a dead man can come back to life after being dead for 3 days.

  Embellishing or fabricating stories is a way to further enhance and validate a belief system so that potential converts or recruits are convinced 'This is IT! Sign me up.'

  As time has progressed, it seems God has become more and more silent and far less involved.
  
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  96

  Ray Franz was an Idiot

  by vinman in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  ray franz who gave us insight into the gb due to a crisis of conscience was an absolute moron, with absolutely no critical thinking skills whatsoever like all of us have.

  i mean, to have a conscience based on some magic man in the sky.. how stupid can you be?

  in search of christian freedom?

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  Heaven

  vinman, just as a suggestion for next time... if you are going to post something sarcastic you may want to identify that up front, maybe use html-like tags such as the follow:

  <sarcasm> whatever text you wish to state sarcastically </sarcasm>

  Ray confirmed for me a lot of my suspicions about the JW religion with his book "Crisis of Conscience" and he taught me some new stuff I did not know (since I've never been to Bethel or on the GB).

  Some people who leave one cult tend to sign up for a different one. My grandfather did this. Believers don't always develop critical thinking skills. There is a certain amount of wishing something to be true without looking further that happens.
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  21

  I was unkind & I am deeply sorry

  by Dolosus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  early this morning, i was stopped at a service station dealing with a mechanical issue with my motorcycle.

  i was approached by 2 young men who pro-offered some of your reading material.

  i deeply regret that i was very unkind; in actual fact, i was quite mean in my response to them.

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  Heaven

  Hi Dolosus... thanks for signing up and posting.

  I'm sure a lot of JWs are used to being treated badly. I can understand being unkind to them if you don't like their religion. Many are ignorant of the absurdity and damaging nature of their beliefs

  If you don't want to engage with them next time just tell them you are a disfellowshipped apostate and watch them run.
  
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  28

  What Convinced you to Leave?

  by LaurenM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been posting here a lot, but these last few weeks have been very difficult for me.

  anyways, lately, i've been thinking about confessing everything i've done to the elders and going back, but deep down, i don't really think it's the truth...so my question is, what convinced you it wasn't the truth and that leaving wasn't a horrible decision that everyone in the truth makes it out to be?

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  Heaven

  Overall, I wasn't able to lie to myself. I think if you've been a JW for a number of years, you know something isn't right. One comes to a point where one has to make the choice to be intellectually dishonest with oneself and remain or be intellectually honest with oneself and ultimately leave.

  A brief summary includes....

  1) Misogyny (eg a wife living in subjection of her husband)

  2) The no blood policy

  3) The flip-flop in Evolution (that happened when I was around 15-16)

  4) The math not adding up (it is impossible for them to be preaching to all the inhabited Earth)

  5) My increasing disagreement with Watchtower's interpretation of scripture

  6) Their going beyond scriptures

  7) The Ethiopian famine (this was the beginning of me questioning the existence of God - the problem of theodicy)

  These are some of the top hitters that led me to conclude that religion, God, and JWs were not for me.
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  39

  Gettin' my garden on - looking for inspiration! !

  by Mary J Blige in

  1. social
  2. physical

  gardening is my physical activity thing.

  i like to have a productive garden but dot it with a bit of pretty.

  the front lawn is around 40m2 and i am converting it to potager this year.

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  Heaven

  Xanthippe, those are lovely pics. You may be correct about the iPad. I think others have formatting issues too on this site when they use their phones or iPads.
  

  LisaRose, I love your chair idea!

  I will likely incorporate some vertical planting as my space is limited. I would love to put a small patio in the backyard with a pergola or some kind of apparatus for shading and possibly growing vines on. It will help to shade the house in summer. My backyard faces the West so it gets quite warm back there.

  I saw this neat idea a few years back on the Interwebz - "Garden on Barn Wall":

  
  
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  39

  Gettin' my garden on - looking for inspiration! !

  by Mary J Blige in

  1. social
  2. physical

  gardening is my physical activity thing.

  i like to have a productive garden but dot it with a bit of pretty.

  the front lawn is around 40m2 and i am converting it to potager this year.

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  Heaven

  Xanthippe, you no longer need to use a hosting site for uploading pics. You can do it directly from your hard drive (or other media).

  I, too, love gardening. Thank you guys for sharing your pics.

  This year I did not plant a thing due to a very busy schedule. I am in Ontario, Canada and we are approaching the end of summer and beginning of autumn. I believe I am in plant hardiness zone 5a.
  

  I have 3 tomato plants from last year's plant, numerous lettuce plants, some sunflowers, and borage. These all planted out from last year's plants as I had let them go to seed. The sunflowers are a combo of seeds from last year and squirrels and chipmunks planting seeds this year.
  

  I have also had excellent success planting container carrots. I did not plant them this year as they need quite a lot of attention, aka watering, when they are first getting established and I did not have the time. I want to try container potatoes (similar to the sacks), and corn, perhaps next year.

  I like to plant perennial flowers and herbs. I have some bee balm, columbine, and echinacea. I'd love to have more space for an herb garden (I have sage next to my bee balm) but my lot is rather small. I'd like a raised, container bed for herbs. I'd love to design a garden for my front lawn that is both esthetically pleasing as well as a source of food { ie making a lawnch - lawns into lunch ;0) }. This would also cut down on the amount of mowing I have to do.

  Here are a couple of pics of my container carrots from last year:

  
  
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  32

  Please, help me to show the USA that a public inquiry into child abuse...

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  .. in institutions is needed.

  it needs to be done as soon as possible.. and i need you to help me.. i need someone, maybe more than one person, to draft a template, for a letter to the white house.. it has to clearly state that the usa is falling way behind many other countries, in terms of protecting children in institutions nationwide.. it has to make this clear: .

  both australia and the uk (independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in england and wales, see here: www.csa-inquiry.independent.gov.uk/about-the-inquiry ) are currently investing large amounts of time and financial resources to research the best possible policies to protect children, across all institutions, religious and nonreligious.. they are working to expose the failures of various institutions, that have not reported child abuse, or have even covered it up... why are the united states of america not doing the same?!!.

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  Heaven

  Would it not be a good idea to look at what led to the ARC being commissioned to do this investigation and who was key in doing this? Does anyone know or know how to find out? Perhaps email the ARC directly?
  
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  35

  why did the sacrafice have to be so BRUTAL

  by Tater-T in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  why did the sacrifice have to be so brutal... i mean what value does that add to the equation of justice.couldn't he jesus have came down and just been slaughtered like a regular sacrifice without the brutal torture.why is justice served by brutalityanyone anyone bueller... lolnow you know i don't like to type for hours but this is always bothered me

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  Heaven

  Christianity's history is quite brutal. Brutality is a key control mechanism. It is also a validation mechanism. It eases the right Christian's feel they have to hate Jews.
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  34

  Hebrew Was The First Language

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  according to the newest watchtower:.

  jehovah communicated with adam in the garden of eden, using human language.

  god likely did so in an ancient form of hebrew.

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  Heaven

  lol @ AFRIKANMAN.
  
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  14

  Uh-oh, the elders want to pay us a visit!!

  by BeautifulMind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so, hubby gets contacted today by one of the elders saying 2 of them want to pay us a visit and asks him when we are available.

  we both had the heart drop feeling for a few minutes lol.

  but he promptly, and politely, informed them that we are very busy but he will let them know when we are free.

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  Heaven

  I would ask them specifically why they want to meet with you. Do not let them obfuscate this. And I agree with Smiddy. If you ever do meet with them ensure it is recorded and your lawyer is present.