waysider

Yes, you have a good point. Man is constantly conflicted with choosing good over evil. But, choose he must.

Wierwille on his deathbed: "Pour me one more before last call."

No, it doesn't say He created Satan as His antithesis. But, isn't that what he became? For thousands and thousands of years, man has struggled with the concept of good versus evil. That displays the essence of antitheses. (I'm not sure where you got the robotic reference.)

Ham said: "Maslow's hierarchy of needs might explain that.."

Questions like this demonstrate why it might be more beneficial to accept it as a myth and learn what we can from the symbolism rather than try to make it "literally" fit like a hand in a glove.

How does committing original sin (whatever it was) transfer ownership of the Earth to Satan? This was covered in a collateral called "Jesus Christ The Last Adam" by Patricia T. Talley. It has to do with Adam having dominion over the earth, the threefold nature of man and Adam relinquishing his connection to God. The collateral was, at one time, part of the set of little pamphlets that came with the class and was also sold in the bookstore. If I can find my copy, I'll try to post some of it. Tied into that is: then is eating from the tree of life a physical act too? This one was covered in the Christian Family and Sex class. The long and short of the answer to this, according to Wierwille, was "yes". I think the class I took must have been one of the very early versions because I have yet to encounter anyone else who remembers the rather graphic explanation that Wierwille gave. He said the "tree" reference was figurative (phallic) and the "eating" reference was literal. Perhaps that part was quickly edited out for future classes. When he presented this, Wierwille said, "I can't show it to you from the scriptures. You'll just have to trust me on this one." That should have thrown up a giant size red flag for me but I was too wayfer brained to see it. For a guy who claimed to abhor private interpretation, VPW sure seemed to spout an abundance of it himself.

Change a couple words, omit a certain name, and that could be me, describing my FLO experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukbbPJirTaE

Well, my boss would frown on my showing up hung over, which I would surely be if I played that game.

"Oh baby give me one more chance" I can "hear" a young Michael Jackson singing that line but I don't know the title of the tune.

Oh, you do that, too?

I have to work in the morning!

I don't know. It seems as if we like to think the ancients had some sort of collectively profound thoughts. Now, here we are, thousands of years later. What sort of collectively profound thoughts do WE have to offer? I think we just assign a lot more importance to this stuff than it really deserves.

Well, I'm just glad constellations don't always look like their namesakes.

Nah. The Greater Wanker and The Lesser Wanker are constellations. Did you mean to post this on the Witness of the Stars thread?

That's the kind of thing I had hoped for. Something academic, not homiletic. Instead, we got lessons in the proper soaking of wheat berries and a scream-fest every Wednesday (or was it Thursday?) evening at fellow laborer night. Constant reminders of how totally worthless and incompetent we were. Yeah, that helped a lot. One of the things we were taught was that you can have "joy" regardless of your circumstances. Now,that's not a totally bad thing. It is bad, though, when you use it to rationalize a situation you should be trying to correct, not forebear. If you convince yourself you're happy, no matter what the circumstances, what initiative will you ever have to seek improvements? One day they teach you.... Good, Better, Best Never let it rest Until your good is better And your better best The next day they teach you.... You should find joy in a job shoveling horse poop. :wacko:

Yes, there was one such LC that I recall. (For us peons, there was no alcohol, either.)

I know what you mean. Take, for example, the picture of Ursa Major that I posted. It looks nothing like a bear. I think they should have named it Squirrel-ious Huge-ious.

---ma laka see tay, y'all

Fellow Laborers of Ohio was supposed to be focused on doing a two year, in-depth study of Acts and then returning to our hometowns as better equipped leaders. Instead, we lived in, what was, essentially, a commune..... not the flower power, free drugs and sex kind you see in movies and the like. (In fact, drugs and sex outside of marriage were forbidden) There was very little academic study at all. We spent most of our time tending the garden, repairing the grounds and buildings, maintaining the food co-op and keeping our living quarters clean and organized. The blatant lack of any real academic pursuit was, by far, the most disappointing aspect of the program. And, yet, I see people on-line, gushing about the great "spiritual truths" they learned by pulling weeds and such. Were there any valuable lessons to be learned from the experience? Sure, you can learn at least "something" from virtually any experience in life. But, was there any academic value in the teachings? I would have to answer with a resounding "NO".

It's really no one's business why you stayed. What he did was wrong . It would still be wrong, even if you had left immediately. Focusing on how much longer you stayed is simply a way of trying to take the guilt off VPW and put it on you. You see this kind of thinking in rape cases......."It's your fault for wearing that red dress, it's your fault for walking down that particular street. it's your fault for appearing vulnerable..........." That's a load of crap. It's VPW's fault that he did what he did, not yours. Period. Can you imagine a guy getting arrested for robbing a bank and trying to use this kind of reasoning to defend his actions?...."Yes, your honor, I robbed the bank, but, it was really their fault, not mine, because they had a substandard security system."

Absolutely!