Teejay,
Don't you care whether or not my toenail polish matched? HUH????? I swear, some people are so.... uncaring! And another thing. Oh, forget it. ( {{tj}}} ----> hadda sneak that in)
lauralisa
JoinedPosts by lauralisa
-
21
Religion Explained
by JanH inthis is about the most ambitious book title i can remember.
religious studies have been able to collect and present millions of facts about the world's religions, and made a lot of fascinating general theories about belief, myth and rituals, but it would be stretching the truth a lot to say that any general theory of religions stand out as totally convincing.. so far, nobody has even been able to produce a totally convincing defintion of the word "religion".. but if anyone can produce a book actually explaining religion in a credible way, it must be pascal boyer.
i read his book the naturalness of religious ideas: a cognitive theory of religion for my master's exam, and it was really an eye opener in many ways.
-
-
-
21
Religion Explained
by JanH inthis is about the most ambitious book title i can remember.
religious studies have been able to collect and present millions of facts about the world's religions, and made a lot of fascinating general theories about belief, myth and rituals, but it would be stretching the truth a lot to say that any general theory of religions stand out as totally convincing.. so far, nobody has even been able to produce a totally convincing defintion of the word "religion".. but if anyone can produce a book actually explaining religion in a credible way, it must be pascal boyer.
i read his book the naturalness of religious ideas: a cognitive theory of religion for my master's exam, and it was really an eye opener in many ways.
-
-
lauralisa
well one time my toe-nail polish didn't match my panties. It was more than I could take. I went back to that damn salon, and made them get it right. It took like four hours!!! But, it was worth it.
-
15
things to do before you die
by teejay inmy mom and sister came for a visit this past weekend.
it was a good weekend.. at one point, i asked sis about the new tattoos i noticed that she now has.
"what prompted you to do it?
-
-
lauralisa
Hey teejay,
I'm glad you had a cool weekend with your mom and sister.
You don't know how many times I have wondered, when listening to a true believer such as your mom: "how can this be happening"? WHAT HAPPENED to cause this person to acquire such an efficient trigger-response, the likes of which do not exist except within seriously dysfunctional social systems, which sends them immediately to "default key mode"?
I truly wanted to have that much "faith" at one time. I yearned for it. I wanted it to be true SO MUCH
But... there is a point at which one has to stop and question whether an investment they've made is a sound one. It is a healthy, normal and advisable thing to check out the credibility, legitimacy, etc. of any major investment, whether it's a financial one, emotional one, etc... The WTBTS does NOT hold up under scrutiny - even if one employs the most lenient, clouded credibility checks imaginable. And while I would say your mother is admirably strong in many ways, I wonder, I mean really, about whether she can really be 'happy'...
Maybe there is such a thing as being "blissfully unaware". Hey, maybe they're ON to something here! Wow. Let's see... my brain, in exchange for a life-term of repeating the same old lame apologetic - like on a totally daily basis -!- except I will be 'happy" - if I wait long enough - do all things better - wait long enough...
hmmmm... that's tempting........Well, teejay you know where I stand on this thing, I guess? But is it not totally awesome that you got to spend some good time with people you love, and (I presume here), I think that YOU get to be the happy one in this story! And I'm truly glad about that.
lauralisa
-
21
Religion Explained
by JanH inthis is about the most ambitious book title i can remember.
religious studies have been able to collect and present millions of facts about the world's religions, and made a lot of fascinating general theories about belief, myth and rituals, but it would be stretching the truth a lot to say that any general theory of religions stand out as totally convincing.. so far, nobody has even been able to produce a totally convincing defintion of the word "religion".. but if anyone can produce a book actually explaining religion in a credible way, it must be pascal boyer.
i read his book the naturalness of religious ideas: a cognitive theory of religion for my master's exam, and it was really an eye opener in many ways.
-
-
lauralisa
Jan,
One night last week, I had a great discussion with my S.O. about religion. The book you have referenced here looks fascinating, and I'm gonna get it asap.
We were - uh, under the influence (not alcohol, but at least it was organic) - and we had also just watched "A Beautiful Mind" for the first time.
We were talking about polarities that exist in human culture; when one perceives one is on an EXTREME end of a curve, how much of a struggle it can be to accommodate or reconcile differences with others who exist on the OTHER end, type of thing. 'If those butt-heads were more aware of blah blah, there wouldn't be so much crap' for example. We are both freak libertarians, and I frequently get myself all twisted into a state over how much power is abused, misused, over used, etc. at the expense of the "individual." He listens to me calmly, and frequently helps me get back to a balanced state by just letting me rant on.
Anyway. We decided that we were just TOO evolved for our own good, and were going to have to learn to wait patiently and not get so frustrated with "how things are." We talked about what types of social constraints exist which keep people from thinking, and when are people gonna get with it and start accessing the whatever percentage of their brains that lie dormant; what would help (rationally) narrow the current chasm that exists between physics and "metaphysics" (I hate that word) so that dialogues could actually take place and the human animal could make some very much needed leaps, here, etc. (No, I'm not currently under any influences right now, but it sure sounds like it huh? LOL)
I went on another "religion sux" spiel, lamenting over the fact that while it does sometimes argue successfully that it provides some "moral" compass for humankind, it actually serves as a "brake" on thought development because, obviously, each religious belief system imposes its OWN peculiar constraints on thought... insisting that its adherents stay within its own "belief box"...
Then I had an epiphany (!!!LMAO!!!): Perhaps if humans evolved (intellectually) too quickly, they would eradicate themselves (or significant portions of the human race; of course dependent upon which curve-extreme representatives had the biggest 'toys') in order to maintain status quo.
Therefore, religion DOES have SOME redeemable qualities: it may keep the pace of evolution at a "safe" level.
If you have any feedback - I'd like to hear from you (or anyone else)
lauralisa
-
14
Harmony
by rolling rock intomarow my good friend harmony is moving.
i met her over this fourm and she just so happended to live 4 block's away.
so i wanted to say good by to her over it.
-
-
lauralisa
{{{{{MONY}}}}}
Wow your timing was GOOD... Saturday night was intense - you missed it!
The cities and south were all under severe tornado warnings. I was out grabbin a pizza at 6:30 pm; the sky was greeny-purple and the sirens started wailin and Evan called me on my cell to tell me to get my butt home asap! It was go to the basement time!!!
Crop circles formed in the fields, witches were smushed by flying farmhouses, dragons were flying around in the lightning..
I think Minnesota was pissed off that you left..... whaddaya think?
Glad to hear you are there safe and sound. Hugs,
laura
-
6
Went to see YES Friday night...
by pomegranate in.
rick wakeman was back with them...quite a grand exibition of splendid musicianship.. i highly recommend listening to them and seeing them if you get the opportunity..
-
-
lauralisa
YES TOTALLY MAKES LIFE ENDURABLE
Wow, Pomegranate, I am a total Yes freak. I am your definitive source for Yes trivia and can recite the complete discography - everything they've done including stuff from when they were pre-verbal!! I have everything they've ever released on vinyl, tape, CD, 8-track, reel-to-reel, (not) and have an amazing collection of bootlegged stuff... all of Steve Howe's solos, Trevor Rabin, Trevor Horn, the symphonic muzak crap, etc.
They opened for Emerson Lake & Palmer at the Philadelphia Spectrum theater in 1970 or 71. It was my first concert ($5.00) and my life has never been the same. At my brother's funeral in 1991, I paid the goofy-church -lady organist a hundred bucks to sneak in among the usual smarmy church funeral music: "And You and I" and "To be Over". I'm sure my bro was laughing his ass off somewhere, somehow
I still listen to "Tales" at least once a month..... *sigh*
I'd buy a CD of anything YES does, even if it's just an hour of them making burping sounds. Now I'm gonna check their tour dates... thanks for the news-flash!
Rock on, lauralisa
-
27
If you could fight anybody?
by space inif you could fight anybody dead or alive who would it be?
-
-
lauralisa
I'd like to fight with Gopher over whether a word I used in a scrabble game was "legal" or not (I would win)
-
22
SURVEY *Question RE: Disfellowshipping *
by zev inhave any of you here, either by word of mouth or personal experience, heard of entire congregations being disfellowshipped, or nearly entire congregations, like say 50% or more?
thank you for your support in this all important survey .
from apostate central, ri .
-
-
lauralisa
Zev,
Yes, I have heard of such a thing, from several fairly credible sources.
The "tainted" congregation was in Virginia, about ten years ago.
All elders removed, all publishers df'd, except for three little old dyed-in-the-wool pioneers-for -centuries- females . They conducted all of the meetings by themselves. (I can't even begin to imagine such a thing, nor do I want to...)
It was a case of their not "recognizing the brothers' authority" (bethel).
I have a better 'understanding' of what such crimes consist of as of late.
Yuck, laura
-
9
Start my first college course in two weeks!
by writerpen ina few months back, i announced that i had been accepted to a local university.
well i've registered for my first two classes that begin august 6th.
the first one is a public speaking course and the second is "the religious quest part i.
-
-
lauralisa
writerpen,
Congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment. I know SO many people who are still paying off school loans decades after graduation.... ick!
OrbitingtheSun, I hope you do not mind if I share that you had the exact same experience recently - and to one of the most incredible colleges.....!
You both ROCK
lauralisa
-
45
".......... but are as angels in heaven"
by Ice Blue inone of the many teachings that troubled my conscience matthew 22:30. does this mean that after armageddon there will essentially be several different classes of people ie survivors (who may marry) and resurrected ones (who may not) and those born after armageddon (presumably who may)?
does this mean the resurrected ones will be sexless - like 'drones'?
surely then they will not be the same person that they were?
-
-
lauralisa
This issue always fascinated me!
What SC wrote is the only approach I could find that made sense back when I was still an active jw. It seemed so clear to me that Jesus was referring to the "heavenly resurrection" people when he said "they are as angels in heaven" and that they "could not die".
It was also Jesus' style of teaching (when dealing with individuals who were just trying to set him up, trick him, etc; they weren't REALLY interested in the question or answer) to speak over their heads; he gave it right back to em by answering questions they DID NOT ask. I could come up with an example if I wasn't feeling so lazy right now.
Apparently the existing polemic regarding this issue has not changed... reasons why that is lame and illogical:
-If an individual, resurrected to earth, does NOT marry (----> does not have sexual drives, desires, or ability to shoplift the booty) they will no longer be a human being. Humans have endocrine systems, are full of hormones, and these things circulate throughout the entire body, affecting virtually every biological function. Estrogen and Testosterone - to name just TWO out of, I dunno, a zillion? - affect us physiologically a lot more than just sexual function. A person with no sexuality at all will have to have completely new wiring, at least endocrinologically.
-They would have to be recreated without certain organs, ie ovaries, testicles, uteruses, and why should a man have a penis, even? Maybe a little teenie weenie little bitty thing, through which to pee, I guess.... but who needs erectile tissue or sperm or prostates or any of that stuff? HEY, maybe in the new system, being perfect, people will NO LONGER PEE !
-If the angels were so intrigued with the idea of human sexuality that they betrayed their creator, tossed everlasting live in a perfect spiritual realm, and perhaps even felt ripped off (!), how much MORE difficult would it be for those poor mere humans who had experienced death, coming back to life among the sexually active lucky Big A survivors? Just thinking about the chaos THAT would be like makes my skin go all crawly...
There are at least fifty unique rational arguments to add to the above. It's just dumb to try and force the lame WTBTS non-explanation into making sense.
The most memorable remark I got from an elder when being too "inquisitive": "Don't go beyond what is written." (by the GB, that is.)
(welcome all you newbie ones, btw!!!)
Plmkrzy, as usual, your comments are right on, imo!