the book of revelation is unlike any other book in the bible.
so many visions leaving many to wonder what do they mean?
supposedly, it holds the key to the future of mankind.. john had been through so many trials and tribulations.
I like the acid trip theory myself, seeing as how LSD is can be formed by the action of a common fungus on ordinary grain. During the Middle Ages, there were stories of entire villages going "mad" when the local grain supply at the mill became contaminated.
...or maybe John enjoyed really earthy 'shrooms?
"I wish to see, and I mean this most sincerely, I wish to see the last King strangled with the guts of the last Priest." - Voltaire
it's common to see "we're all imperfect humans" or the like.
my question is who says?
aside from the bible and religious teachings, that statement is untrue.
In the context of Pat's original question, the term "imperfect" is used in the sense of being "sinful", and Pat draws the correct conclusion; that we are NOT imperfect. Pefection/imperfection are a dichotomy created by metaphysicians for the execise of control. It is appropriate to reject such guilt mechanisms.
It is enough that we simply are; don't play the WTB&TS' "perfection game." Eternal perfect life is an imaginary carrot dangling from a very real stick. You'll get the stick, never the carrot.
The objective, demonstrable truth is that man, by the use of his brain and his labor, has continually improved his condition. we're doing quite well without the "benevolence" of a priest-ocratic totalitarian global "paradise".
"I wish to see, and I mean this most sincerely, I wish to see the last King strangled with the guts of the last Priest." - Voltaire
warning: though this is very long if you read as much as you can it may lead to some interesting conversation.. seriously, in my battle with good and evil in my life i have come to the conclusion that i am not meant to "know god" and that i was possessed sometime in my early life(ok not exorcist possessed but just possessed meaning "i'm not meant to get it/cut off from god")examples (yes, i realize these are only fictional portrayls but they show what i mean):.
1) there is an older movie called the rapture.
it stars david duchovny(pre x-files days)& mimi rogers(an occasional x-file charachter) anyhow she's the main character and it's about this:.
Perhaps you are feeling that "you are not meant to know god" because a part of your mind knows that there is no god to "know".
Please don't base your self-image on "teachings" taken from Hollywood movies or self-annointed metaphysicians.
If you are not meant to know god, and you know it, you are in a far better position than the majority of people who insist on living their lives to obtain the approval of an imaginary creature.
I wish you success and happiness and the fulfilling of your potentials and desires.
"I wish to see, and I mean this most sincerely, I wish to see the last King strangled with the guts of the last Priest." - Voltaire
in the late 1960s, when i was studying with the jws, i worked in a very unique and mixed environment.
the two brothers who owned the company were lutheran and baptist.
the drafting supervisor was a jw and a co-wroker was mormon.
HALLELUzip!
"I wish to see, and I mean this most sincerely, I wish to see the last King strangled with the guts of the last Priest." - Voltaire
http://www.cnn.com/2001/world/asiapcf/south/09/04/mother.theresa.exorcism/index.html .
apparently mother theresa believed that she was being attacked by the devil.
this article really shows just how superstitious the catholic church is...something that comes into the jw organization with their large number of catholic converts.. most of the supposedly annointed jw's i know were formerly catholic.
You're not suggesting that JWs are NOT superstitious, are you?
I think they are MORE superstitious than most of christendom!
Hear them talk about exploding Ouija Boards, Exploding Chickens, and angelic protection of pioneer sisters! They're rife with metaphysical urban legends!
"I don't believe in the Trooth Fairy anymore."
archbishop: mother teresa underwent exorcism .
september 5, 2001 posted: 10:05 am edt (1405 gmt).
by satinder bindra.
Yeah, she was under attack by the demon Infarctus and his henchman, Stupido.
"I don't believe in the Trooth Fairy anymore."
thank you stacey and individual's wife!
i appreciate your comments and encouragement.
the ex-witnesses i am in communication with are family and they are very hateful towards the witnesses.
Hi Angst,
How long ago did you get the boot from Bethel? I'm just curious. (oops! nevermind - I just read your other thread on "psot WTBTS life".)
Did they ever put their lie (about the satanic ritual) in print? Do your folks know the reality of what happened, or do they believe the lie?
You received shabby treatment from them - as have most (actually, I'll bet *all*, though some may not realize it yet) here.
Welcome, Brother Angst! You're among friends.
"I don't believe in the Trooth Fairy anymore."
i wrote this about 4-5 years ago as i was pulling myself out of the jw's.
it's not great but it has it's moments and it makes me smile.
enjoy :).
Nicely done, Father Naeblis. Can "Cardinal" Naeblis be far away? Or "Capo Del Tutti Capo" Naeblis?
(oops! I'm in Sopranos withdrawal!)
I've often wondered if at it's heart the WTB&TS is a "hundredth monkey" organization. What if, at their heart, they believe that once their organization reaches a certain "critical mass" the combined mental energies of those believers would, in itself, bring about the end of the world that they are predicting? There are occult teachings about the power of combined thoughts... a million minds, all thinking , "Armagedon... Armageddon..."
...or was that just an "Outer Limits" program I heard while sleeping in front of the TV?
i had a very positive experience today which maybe not-so-coincidentally coincided with my recent comments on matthew 25.. it was only my second personal experience with babylon the grape in my entire life.
my first was when one of my daughters got married in a catholic church over three years ago.
i actually sat inside the catholic chapel and watched her priest perform the ceremony.
Hi Farkel,
Your message touched me much more than I would have expected it to. I puzzled over what it was that "got to me" so. Then I realized: this is what *I* could have been; this is what *we all* could have been; people taught to truly love our fellow man rather than "publishers" taught to tally up our hours and (as has already been stated) think of how much better than everyone else we were.
When I began to "fall away" nearly a quarter century ago, part of what led to it was my realization, as a young man entering the workforce, that there were some darned good people out there and that they didn't deserve the kind of summary execution the watchtower illustrators used to portray for us. remember the Armageddon calendar in the early 60's? I was just a kid, and I learned to harden my heart toward people who were in the world.
I keep to myself. I think my heart is still hard and scarred and calloused, but not so much that reading your experience didn't make me very sad: for I see what sort of person I could have been.
i went to the homepage for ray franz' commentary press, and i found an article there promoting the idea that genesis teaches a local flood.
the author believes the genesis flood actually happened, as a local event, and that an ark actually were floating on top of local flood waters in the mesopotamia area some thousand years ago.
i recognized many arguments from a talk carl olof jonsson gave at a "christian freedom" seminar in sweden in, i think, 1996, so i guess that this article, too, is written by coj.
Francois, boy you brought back some memories!!
...you couldn't drive a sewing needle up your asshole with a sledgehammer.
Back at Bethel, on Saturday nights, usually, a bunch of us would get together with some homemade Bethel Beer - we had two kinds - Bethel Light and Bethel New Light - and we'd get out the sewing needles and sledgehammers and get to partying!
GOD, did that HURT!
But it was good clean fun and it built CHARACTER!
...I have to pause now to wipe a little tear from my eye...
