JamesThomas

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Posts by JamesThomas

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  29

  Necco Opened

  by Necco in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am new to the website and i am witness.. i am astonishingly happy to be here and i wont be going anywhere else.

  it's about time i found a forum with jehovahs witnesses!!

  i'm almost doing cartwheels.

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  JamesThomas

  Welcome, Necco.

  Perhaps it may be helpful to ask yourself a question, and ponder on it until you are certain of your answer, and then act accordingly.

  The question is: Do you want to know the truth the best you can? Do you want to get a deeper sense of what is real, and what is not?

  If you desire truth, then, like a CSI team, thorough investigation is required. Everything must be questioned, and nothing taken for granted or accepted too quickly as fact. Truth, demands that we perform honest and painstaking analyses and inquiry. It is the nature of truth that the deeper we look and discover what is false, the clearer truth becomes.

  This requires courage and the willingness to let go of preconceived and cherished notions and beliefs that prove themselves to be incorrect.

  Perhaps such personal effort is not your thing, and you would rather be fed what to believe with the stipulation that you do not question (however, since truth is authenticated via questioning and analysis, this may be a dangerous place to tread). It's your call to take such a path or not.

  On the other hand, if you want truth, and you have the courage to investigate, this may be the place for you; because we welcome pretty much anything and everything to be questioned and discussed on this forum.

  Welcome again. So glad you joined us.

  j
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  15

  Are JWDers helpful to each other?

  by AuldSoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i used to think that this place was a good spot to recommend for exiting jws.

  in some wasy, it still is.

  but if they want to test the waters of doctrinal evaluation i believe it is nearly impossible.

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  JamesThomas

  My sense is that Terry is acutely aware and sensitive to the fact that much human suffering ensues from the division of mankind into the saved and the damned which Christianity emphasizes and institutes. Such empathy can cause us, at times, to do or say things which may seem on the surface as unkind.

  One need only read our dear Chris' (Big Tex) post in the Grace vs. Forgiveness thread to see how Christian beliefs shove a stick in an already bleeding wound.

  Of course this does not authorise us nonbelievers to crash Christian threads (as I too have done many times in the past). It just means that it may not be our meanness and insensitivities that are the cause, but rather, perhaps, just the opposite.

  j
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  20

  Post your Simpsonized self potrait here.

  by 5go in

  1. social
  2. humour

  it really kind of does look like me.

  though i look yellower in real life because of a vodka related insisdent.

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  JamesThomas

  Where I am a spinal-column kinda guy using neither my right, or left brain, this gal uses both.

  j
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  20

  Post your Simpsonized self potrait here.

  by 5go in

  1. social
  2. humour

  it really kind of does look like me.

  though i look yellower in real life because of a vodka related insisdent.

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  JamesThomas

  

  j
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  28

  Online Buisness - Does Anyone Have One?

  by gumby in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went to a free internet opportunity meeting yesterday and of course they were there to sell you something, but you got a free daily planner book and a free lunch.

  i went since i've always believed money can be made by using the internet if you approach it properly.

  i didn't buy anything since i know there are cheaper ways to start an online buisness.. anyway, just wondering if any of you have tried it or are currently doing it.

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  JamesThomas

  Hey Gumboat, I'm in the process of presenting some new products to the world, which will be marketed via the Internet and brick and mortar stores.

  Here, will be the corporate website which will link to others specifically geared to the products.

  j
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  77

  Spirituality without Faith- Is It Possible?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  spirituality without faith.

  what would it mean to naturalize spirituality?

  how can naturalism inspire spiritual experience and provide us with a satisfying cognitive context within which to address our ultimate concerns?

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  JamesThomas

  RAF, thank you; you're very sweet; and like I told you before, you keep this up and I'm taking the next train to France.

  Open Mind, actually, far more than not, I am in agreement with what Terry says. He eloquently shows us how much BS our belief structures can be. Perhaps, I just take it one step further, is all.

  It almost sounded like we need to "respect God" only you used the word "infinite".

  Probably what I was trying to say was something along these lines:

  Generally there is an identity with the phenominal level of thoughts, emotions, sensations and experiences; and in this unquestioned identification there is seemingly a very real and concrete confinement to a pod: a separate and individual sense of "me" somehow cut off from all the rest of existence. Yet, during all this, there is the endless-ness, a boundless vastness, an INFINITY of being/existence in and around the sense of small "self". What appear to be walls and boundaries which separate the little "self" from infinity -- are they real, or illusion? Certainly there appears to be identifiable separate forms walking around, but is this really the beginning and end of what the genuine "I" is?

  What if there are no walls, no valid separation from: anything and everything? Perhaps seeing that the walls are unreal, reveals our true nature, our true Self, which is one in the same for all existence. Without definable walls how can you be defined and individualized? You can't, really. You are everything, but no particular thing. Which does not mean that the phenominal level of endless forms is less beautiful and interesting...for without definable walls, you are this too.

  All I have ever really said is that we investigate openly, honestly and thoroughly into the ideas and concepts of "self", and then look into that which is looking, that which is undeniably real and true. That which is most close.

  So, it's not about some image or concept called "God". But rather about that which is seeing these words.

  What is true? I can't say. It doesn't matter what I see. Find out for yourself. Observe, examine and investigate into the most intimate beliefs and senses of "self", and see if there is a you that can be found as a real and valid isolated thing. Are you really the shard of existence that is believed to be?

  j
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  77

  Spirituality without Faith- Is It Possible?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  spirituality without faith.

  what would it mean to naturalize spirituality?

  how can naturalism inspire spiritual experience and provide us with a satisfying cognitive context within which to address our ultimate concerns?

  1. 
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  JamesThomas
• 
  77

  Spirituality without Faith- Is It Possible?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  spirituality without faith.

  what would it mean to naturalize spirituality?

  how can naturalism inspire spiritual experience and provide us with a satisfying cognitive context within which to address our ultimate concerns?

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  JamesThomas

  Open Mind:

  I'm still clinging (just a little) to my spirituality doll.

  I hope Terry and Narkissos, cut your little doll to pieces.

  Rather than give you some more conceptual baggage to carry around, I suggest simply letting go of your doll. Let go of everything which can be let go of...and see what remains.

  What witnesses experiences, be the they "spiritual" or other wise?

  What beholds all the concepts and opinions in this and every other thread?

  What quietly sees all the products of the mind, emotions and senses?

  When the individual "me" that desires its cherished beliefs, judgments and appraisals to be heard and valued by others -- is seen as only a house of cards built of the beloved concepts, what sees that?

  What is closer than all words, emotions, thoughts and experiences?

  What am "I", genuinely, authentically and truly?

  What is REAL?

  j
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  23

  Underground Lurker....Coming up for air.....

  by Bourne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been a lurker for the last year...finally got the courage to post.

  i guess you could say that i have successfully completed a "fade", although that was not my initial intent.

  due to my being in an "unscriptural" separation for a number of months, (that, combined with my paranoia, hence, the alias) i have been forced to go underground.

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  JamesThomas

  Welcome, Bourne.

  You have a kind and gentle way about you.

  Rather than see the world as a frightening or evil place, see it as a hurting child that needs your understanding and compassion.

  Glad you are here.

  j
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  30

  Bush to Have Colonoscopy at Camp David

  by JamesThomas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  requiring a temporary head removal, i imagine.. j.

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  JamesThomas

  Requiring a temporary head removal, I imagine.

  j