as human beings we are capable of experiencing around 750 emotions.
parents use fear, guilt and shame to control their children to behave and do as they wish.
the jw's are masters at using the same 3 emotions to keep their members in check.
The brain is an organ of the body. Like any other organ, its purpose is to keep the body alive. One way it does this is it constantly goes over painful events of the past and it causes anxiety over the future. It does this to force us to analyze these things to prevent future pain. The problem is that we neither live in the past of the future. We only live in the present.
By living in the present we come to the reality that there is real happiness, joy, and peace to be had right now.
editor's note: found this on reddit...thought the meat of the post would be a good post for discussion here as well.. consider the three choices god forced upon david for taking a census.
these three choices were forced on king david, not for murdering people, not for raping women, not for lying, stealing, or any crime we can think of in our modern world that is repugnant, but simply for taking a census or in other words, counting people.. for counting people, jehovah forced a decision on david that involved the lives of thousands upon thousands of innocent people.. the choices all dealt with the “way” jehovah would kill thousands of unsuspecting loyal worshipers.. 1 chronicles 21.
“these are the choices the lord has given you.
Just throwing something out there under this scenario -
1. This never happened. There was no "king David". There is no YHWH. Therefor, YHWH never made David play the ultimate game of "Would you rather...?"
2. This did happen. There is a YHWH. Insert implications including "who are we as mere mortals to tell the Almighty what is good and what is bad?"
3. Neither 1 or 2.
and do you think he has a chance to win it all?
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Pete Buttigieg and Michael Bloomberg are the only hope the DNC has to take the White House. If either of those 2 get the official spot on the November ballot I would vote for either. If neither get the nod from the DNC, I will vote third party again.
myself being a born in and completely out for more than 30 years i see more of the damage of what this religious cult causes people .. part of myself leaving had to do with the psychological harm it was causing people back in the 1970's, one guy my age at the time hung himself out anxiety and depression.. the numerous suicides that have occurred in numbers is shocking to say the least.. then there is the many families breaking up.. marriages breaking apart because one member decides to leave the jws.. the deaths of members or their children from refusing a blood transfusion.. this hit me personally when my mother refused a bt when she was ill in the hospital and died.. over the years and observing all of these things reminds me how glad and fortunate i left when i did but i do find it responsible to others to expose this religious cult to what can happen to people who get involved with it and that's what i've been doing on this forum and elsewhere.
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Shortly after the change in the generation doctrine back in the 1990s, there was a local newspaper article about a woman who would protest in our town. She would wear a mask, stand by the side of a busy road, and hold up a sign that read "Watchtower breaks up families." The article relayed how after the doctrine change the woman left the Watchtower and as a result her family shunned her.
I am not really sure how I felt. In retrospect I can empathize with the woman. I left about 10 years ago. It was about a year before that when I stopped being active, but that was due to my work schedule. When I stopped being active I learned fast who my friends are. Recently I told my father I was never going to come back. I haven't heard from him since.
I think I do have a responsibility to educate people on the true nature of the Watchtower. I understand the idea of "get on with your life and stop obsessing about this cult." I don't obsess. I have move forward with my life. I'm no Lloyd Evans, but I do try to stay up to date with what is going on and share when I have something to add to the conversation.
recently black lives matter representatives have encouraged people to spit in law enforcement officials foods.
some people are going into police stations and trying to kill innocent officers.
federal officials are marked for death because they try to administer the law.. what is your opinion of this type of lawlessness?.
LoveUniHateExams:
I know the London Metropolitan Police Department has an Auxiliaries program. In the US we call them Reserve Police Officers. These are unpaid police volunteers that have police powers. Often they have training equal to their duties.
recently black lives matter representatives have encouraged people to spit in law enforcement officials foods.
some people are going into police stations and trying to kill innocent officers.
federal officials are marked for death because they try to administer the law.. what is your opinion of this type of lawlessness?.
As a 20+ year law enforcement veteran I know I may be biased on this one, but not as much as one might think.
There are several problems in the United States dealing with law enforcement. One of the main ones is that we have forgotten why we have civilian law enforcement and how civilian law enforcement is supposed to work.
In a free society, military forces are not to be used to enforce the law. The first civilian police force is the Metropolitan Police Department in London. Sir Robert Edmond Peel created it. Peel came up with the 9 Peelian Principles of Policing. One of which is -
To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
In short - there is no "thin blue line". We are all the police. We all have a civic duty to police our communities.
Instead, we have strayed from this. We say "Not my job. I pay taxes. Its too dangerous. You do it." Then we separate ourselves from the police as if police officers aren't even human. We make it an us against them mentality when in reality we are all on the same boat called "Earth."
People scream for police reform, but offer no real solutions and certainly excuse themselves from being part of the solution.
Things that would help -
Realize that the police don't make laws, they enforce them. Every law made implies that police will use force, possibly even deadly force, to enforce the law. Hold lawmakers accountable for bad laws. We do not want a police department that gets to decide what laws will be enforced and those won't.
Volunteer your time with your local police department. If your local police department has a ride-a-long program go out on patrol a few times to see what it is like. Get educated so you can be vocal to your local police chief and city elected officials as to what you would like from your police department.
Be part of the solution.
i know there is a huge college/university lobby here in the us that lives off of students paying, in some cases, enormous amounts of money just to attend.. putting politics aside, if that is possible, (and i am not a bernie sanders guy by any means), but how can we pay for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, elementary school, junior high, high school, and then throw a huge debt to someone who wants to continue learning?
can't the us (public and state universities) afford four more years for young people to get on a career path without having to, in some cases, take out a mortgage/loan more than the cost of some homes?
then, (and nothing against immigrants, i am married to one), but then the us has to "import" students from other countries to fill the needs that we should be supplying here.
The answer to the OP question has been posted at least twice - once the US government guaranteed repayment of students loans colleges increased their fees. This is the same reason healthcare costs are so high in the US.
As far as the discussion of whether or not college education has value or not, or whether education is right or privilege I suppose I have my own opinion. I earned 2 degrees. I think I learned more in college than in high school. College is basically sitting in a classroom for an hour listening to a lecture based on one or more books. students are then required to read the rest of the books on their own time as well as write papers with citations on those same books. Exams are administered to see if the student recalls facts and has a basic understanding of those text books.
Lecturing isn't teaching.
Not to oversimplify, but college is - 1) reading books, 2) passing examines on those books, 3) getting a piece of paper from an accredited college stating that you read all the books and passed all the tests. You pay for the diploma. Not for the education.
In my field of work some college may be required to apply, but a 6 month vocational school is required to obtain your state issued license. My job pays more to start than the attorneys in my office and the probation officers who have to have a Master's Degree that office in the same building.
I am all for education. I learned a lot in college. I continue to learn a lot by constantly having books to read.
i was musing on how many small churches there are.
a single congregation made of moderate income people.
often the pastor has a job on the side.
Someone once made the observation that the more you hate a particular person or group the more you model yourself after said person or group. The Watchtower used to revel in attacking the Catholic church. The Watchtower would point a finger at Catholic cathedrals and the Vatican.
Now, in order to "Worship Jehovah" you have to go to a Kingdom Hall. Meeting in private homes is forbidden. Where once the Watchtower was based in the largest city in the US and welcomed all visitors, now you must get permission to enter the gates of Wallkill like you would the Vatican Guard.
i was watching a news report last night on the homeless people in chicago, who were living outdoors in extreme cold and snow.
the homeless were seen living under bridges and street tunnels.. a missionary church called ''the night ministry'' was driving around helping the homeless with water, food , blankets and free rides to a local hospital if they were in need of medical care.
talk about following the words of jesus!.
This is a prime reason why the Watchtower needs it's religious tax exemption yanked. I am thinking about contacting my US House Rep and requesting federal legislation that would mandate a minimum percentage of donations to religious organizations must be used to feed the hungry and house the poor, regardless of the recipients' religious denomination, to receive the tax exemption. I would ask other join in doing the same.
a jobo i know has cancer.
her son goes and cleans her house and generally cares for her.
so does another non-jobo relative.. the congregation, interestingly, has shown very little support apart from the odd one rabbiting on about 'bible promises this and that'.. so, the co visited and said, 'but your son is an apostate(tm).
“A man was going down from London to Salisbury and fell victim to robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went off, leaving him half-dead. Now by coincidence a Circuit Overseer was going down on that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise, an Elder, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. But a certain apostate traveling the road came upon him, and at seeing him, he was moved with pity. So he approached him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he mounted him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two quid, gave them to the innkeeper, and said: ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend besides this, I will repay you when I return.’ Who of these three seems to you to have made himself neighbor to the man who fell victim to the robbers?” He said: “The one who acted mercifully toward him.” Jesus then said to him: “Silly Rabbi, disfellowshipping if for those who associate with apostates.”
