Posts by Silverleaf

17

Do you have to be part of organized religion?

by trumind in

jw
friends

ok. this is my first thread and i am very interested to see the kinds of responses i get.

my question to you all is do you beleive you have to be a member of some type of organized religion in order to have god's approval?

i was raised in jw household, never baptized.

Silverleaf

Welcome to the board, trumind! You pose an interesting question.

My response may not be exactly what you're looking for, but here it is anyway:

You wrote:
>>My question to you all is do you beleive you have to be a member of some type of organized religion in order to have God's approval?<<

My response is: Absolutely not. In fact my personal belief is just the opposite. Of course, I'm Pagan, and while Pagans can and do worship in groups and belong to organizations at times, the general idea is that one's relationship with God/Goddess or however you see the divine is not a group project, it's a one on one relationship that does not know the boundaries of church walls or pre-written rules. We each forge our own relationship with our creator on individual terms and that relationship cannot be designed for us by someone else any more that our relationship with our human parents can or should be dictated by a third party.

You also asked: >>do I have to be a part of an organization to have Jehovah's love?<<

And in response I can only ask,[hypothetically] if you have siblings, do your parents only love you as a group or do they love you as individuals? [If you don't have siblings a better example might be, do you think your creator can find an individual tree in the forest? Can he see an individual soul among billions? If so, then the answer to your question has to be no.

Just my humble opinions, blessed be and good to meet you, trumind!

Silverleaf

11

Why did you have children (or not)?

by JustAThought in

jw
friends

ok, after reading some of the responses in the mental health and depression forum ... and of the mormons' urging of their followers to have large families, ... and participating in the discussion on the costs associated with having and raising children, ... the question comes up ... .

for those of you with children or not, or those contemplating having children or not, ... what factors did/do you consider in making your decision (or, was there any decision-making involved)?.

do you think children, largely, are just a by-product of sexual activity between fertile men and women, ... or are there other, deeper issues involved?.

Silverleaf

I have two children, ages 6 and 3, who were planned. My husband and I felt we would just be more complete with children - we wanted to be a family, not just a couple.

I think there are a lot of reasons why people have children, the big one being that there is a genetic, instinctual drive to procreate. A species that had no desire to create more of its own would die out and whether we were created or we evolved, it would not make sense for us not to have a desire to continue the species. I don't feel, however, that procreation is a necessity for everyone or that those who chose not to do it are in any way selfish.

I have great respect for people who can say they chose not to have children for whatever reason. Anyone who can recognize that they are not interested in parenting and can back that up by not becoming a parent, is counted as wise in my book. It's the people who don't want to be parents and can't seem to figure out how NOT TO that need a good swift kick.

I think there are lots of wrong reasons to have kids - like, because your family insists on it ["When are we getting grandchildren?"] or because you want an excuse not to work or not to educate yourself or not to think about anything other than changing diapers, or because you think God wants you to whether you want to or not or because you have everything else and you don't want anyone to have an experience that you haven't had [no offense but those high powered corporate moms who have the nanny picked out before they even conceive the child get on my nerves]. I think the best reasons to have children are, because you have the love and the energy and the desire to pass on some of yourself to another human being. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you are cognizant of the sacrafices and challenges you're going to face.

JMO

Silverleaf

36

Oz, perhaps?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

freedom allows all opinions and facts to be uncovered.

letting people air everything helps us understand what the issues truly are.

sure some are more unprofessional than others but a person willing to understand what is going on will not worry about the "ad hominem" attack or swearing.

Silverleaf

Hi Shelby,

the neverending circle....

You wrote:

>>and may I ask you at what time in HISTORY was ANY of those 'sent'... received by the majority?<<

I'm just saying, you'd think [at least I would think] that the Lord would know exactly what to say and how to say it in order to BE received by the majority. IMHO

And considering, as you say, that His messengers have never been well received by the majority, you would have to wonder why He continues to send messengers to the majority - you'd think He'd have found a better way by now.

Silverleaf

38

Another loss...we love you Mulan

by Princess in

jw
friends

my mom's cousin sharon passed away at 1:30pm thursday september 6, 2001. she was a lovely person and was always more like a sister than a cousin.

mulan held her hand every step of the way through a battle with breast cancer and she was with her when she died.. mom's birthday is tomorrow.

now she will celebrate sharon's life along with her own every year at this time.. i wish there was some way to ease your pain mom.

Silverleaf

Dear Mulan and Princess,

I don't think we've ever actually conversed here, but I read your threads often and you both seem like such kind souls. My condolences on your loss.

Silverleaf

36

Oz, perhaps?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

freedom allows all opinions and facts to be uncovered.

letting people air everything helps us understand what the issues truly are.

sure some are more unprofessional than others but a person willing to understand what is going on will not worry about the "ad hominem" attack or swearing.

Silverleaf

Hello Shelby,

I almost hate to jump into this, but I've been skimming through all the stuff that's been going on here, and I think there are two main problems here - one being that there is a tendency for people to get nasty when they really don't need to to make their points, and two, you seem not to listen to the people who are trying to say something to you without being insulting about it.

You wrote:

>>As a daugther of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, that which you heard is being fulfilled. Thus, may I now ask you... and everyone else here who may be 'interested'... how is it, TRULY... that you even THINK I have any 'authority'... or 'control'... in this matter? At all? Perhaps I do not have holy spirit, and perhaps I have not been 'sent'. Yet, if I DID have such spirit and if I WERE 'sent'... in truth, would it be ME that speaks?<<

I gather you're saying that you are not in control of what you say here, the Lord is, and you are only saying what you are told to say. Am I correct? I wonder then, why your words seem to incite so many people to anger? Somehow I think if the Lord were truly speaking through you, He would know the exact right approach that would reach people through their pain, their mistrust, their suspicions and very justified uncertainties. He would not use language that would inflame them. His words would heal - and apparently, as seems to be evidenced by the tone of many of the threads here that you are involved in, your words are not healing or helping. Therefore, I would submit that by definition, they can only be the words of a mortal and not the inspired words of the Lord.

Sorry if this offends you, but that's just how I see it.

Silverleaf

5

For star trek fans: They finally invented phasers

by bboyneko in

jw
friends

developing a non-lethal weapon that uses ultraviolet.

laser beams to harmlessly immobilize people and.

animals at a distance.

Silverleaf

Hi Dan!

This is GREAT news! I'm so excited. Can we order one on line? And when do the transporters come out?

Quote:

2)Is tetanizing painful?

3)Can you make it painful?

ROTFLMAO!

Sorry, [wipes tears from eyes] I'm just in that kind of mood. Loved this!

Silverleaf

22

Question for you RE: Holidays

by peacepipe in

jw
friends

gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.

here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.

i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.

Silverleaf

Hi Mommie,

You mentioned

Saint Agnes' Festival of Renewal of Agony,

around here they call that one "The First Day of School."

To B. - Yes, I've been to exjwpagans.org and have corresponded with Arachnia, the host of that site. I was very impressed.

Silverleaf

22

Question for you RE: Holidays

by peacepipe in

jw
friends

gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.

here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.

i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.

Silverleaf

Hi Bridgette and Peacepipe!

Bridgette: you wrote:

>>Does one wear a wedding ring? An ancient celtic symbol with heavy religius connotations. The circle denoting eternal love--as in two immortal souls. Also, the circle was often used to represent the woman's reproductive tract.<<

This I did not know. Very cool. I learn something new every day!

>>I could go on. Don't even get me started on candles!<<

Oh, come on, start on candles!! [Long wistful sigh] I looooove candles!

>>PAGAN HOLIDAYS DO NOT INVOLVE SACRIFICES, OR DEVIL WORSHIP. Pagans do not recognize this entity nor do they believe in pure evil. Satan is a purely Judeo Christian creation<<

I'm just repeating this part because it bears repeating.

Peacepipe: you wrote:

So the conclusion I made from the show I watched on the discovery channel was that the religious leaders compromised their faith and if you compromise your faith is it really faith?

I'm guessing you mean the Christians who changed their practices to incorporate pagan beliefs as a means to entice Pagans into Christianity? If so - I see what you mean, but I don't think they necessarily compromised their faith so much as they realized they were fighting a losing battle on some fronts so they made some allowances and then convinced themselves those things were there all along. It made it a little easier for everyone at the time and probably saved some people from being killed.

>>. . . . ."how very special are we, for just a moment to be, part of lifes eternal rhyme. . . . . . . .how very special are we, to have on our family tree, mother earth, and father time" as sung by Charlotte the spider<<

This is a great quote, I have to go back and read Charlotte's Web.

Silverleaf

22

Question for you RE: Holidays

by peacepipe in

jw
friends

gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.

here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.

i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.

Silverleaf

Hi Peacepipe!

First off, I'm not a JW and never have been - almost was - but changed my mind - anyway - you wrote:

>>I've also watched a really good show on the discovery channel that researched the roots of the Christmas Holiday & it verifies that there is truth to what the WT says about it having pagan roots & the exact date not being even in the month of December.<<

Absolutely Christmas has Pagan roots, so does Easter. I believe it's been mentioned here before that Christ was not born in December - but that is when the sun [which often represents the male pagan dieties] is reborn each year - on Yule or December 21st or 22nd at the winter solstice. There are lots of other Pagan holidays that are tons of fun to celebrate that honor life, love, birth, death, growth, harvest, etc - in case you're worried, they do not honor the devil or Satan or any such evil construct at all and they never have. [Even Halloween has nothing to do with the devil.] If you're happy and you enjoy your life, why not celebrate as often as you can?

If you don't like any of the existing holidays, why not create your own family traditions on days that are special to you?

Silverleaf
one of the resident Pagans here

27

Clarify this for me if you can.

by Bob Knowing in

jw
friends

i being a non jw would like some clairity.

i have been reading the book of revelation and have found that god and jesus are refered to in the same way.

"i am the alpha and the omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.

Silverleaf

Dear Bob,

Your wrote: read Rev: 1:17-18 This is Jesus talking.

Thanks for clarifying. I get it now. Off to church with me!! Ta!

[8>]