by jgnat 31 Replies latest watchtower bible
bonnie_clyde said: Hey Mary - Did you see the post awhile ago where a woman lost her children to her ex-husband because she told him that if Armageddon wasn't here by 1975, he could have the children. She was so certain that it would be here by 1975 that she was willing to gamble her own children. Yikes!
Holy crap! No I never saw that!! Can you direct me to that post as I'd love to see it........unbelievable!
JGNAT: I am equally annoyed at Christendom's armageddon-beleivers. I would dearly love to wipe the smug look off their face. It seems to me their vision of that dreamed-of future disaster fails to allow them to see in to the hearts of the people around them.
I steer clear of them too.
I was so stupid as to tell my ex that I wouldn't be surprised if Armageddy didn't come before the year 2000. I was completely convinced that it would happen. Of course, I still hedged my bets in fine WTS-style by not making a pronouncement that it definitely would happen before 2000, only that I wouldn't be surprised. Still, even with my careful wording, all he heard was that I expected the end of the earth by 2000 and any time I talked to him afterward he threw that in my face. Nothing like being humbled by your jackass of an ex-husband. Good thing I don't talk to him any more.
It's kind of like the mentality of trying to put up with a dreary job and counting the days till retirement. Some I've worked with are so focused on that date, they have literally worked themselves to death, and forgot to enjoy each day of life along the way! They died before it ever came.
Jgnat, believing in the imminence of Armaggeddon equates with how much faith you are showing in Crooklyn God.One way to prove how strong you are, is to display ( or at least talk about it) your certainty it's coming any second, and Jehoopla will take care of you. They have little barometers they judge each other by, and blathering on about Armageddon a lot is one of them.
you'd be staring the poor prophet down when you are wobbly, grey, and snaggle-toothed. I can see us in my mind's eye, two red-eyed seniors, nose to nose in our rockers, daring the other to go for their potty-break first.
Thats about it - and I bet that she will still fervently believe that Armageddon is just around the corner.
Since WTS oes not teach hellfire, the rapture etc., The big A is their scare tactic. I never was worried, wts teaches that their good news must be preached over the entire earth. Look at population to publisher ratios for many countries and see they are nowhere close (esp. non-Christian countries).
Mary - I'm not good at finding posts once they are a few days old. I did try but couldn't find it.
If they cant scare people with the Big A, they have no power over them.
So that is the main scare and reason so many people spend years and tears in the Borg-----to avoid death at Armageddon.
Old St. John used the tactic and it has worked for over 2 thousand years to enslave billions.
Anewme
So I figure, the Armageddon-believer steps every day closer to foolishness, without ever fully arriving.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Jesus couldn't say it enough, be ready, be on the watch, stay on the narrow and cramped road and so on. Jesus wants us to have that in mind. Why do you think the book of revelations was written? Jesus gave that info to John for a purpose. So that we are aware and can be ready. What you said is really backwards. It should read......The Armageddon disbelievers step every closer to follishness! Just remember this warning....
"For YOU know this first, that in the last days there will come ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires and saying: "Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep [in death], all things are continuing exactly as from creation’s beginning."
" Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought YOU to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah,Read it in full, that is a warning to keep the day in mind, the exact opposite of your thinking! 2 Peter 3:1-11
So I figure, the Armageddon-believer steps every day closer to foolishness, without ever fully arriving.
Janet: your post hit a raw nerve with me. When I was still a firm believer in Jehovah and the WTS, I had a close brush with death, to the point where I willingly refused that which would have saved me (ahem) and chose death. I mentally chose death and accepted it - its hard to explain, but once you've made that mental decision, nothing else is ever the same. It's as if I did die - spiritually I gave myself up and I have nothing else to give anymore. I gave my life once, how can I give it again, constantly? I'm not sure if you understand me... but its something I've only realized since I've been seeing a psychologist these past few months.
Anyway, to get back to your words above, I realized I had never really lived before that day because everything was wrapped up in something that may never come. My faith was more in the results of the promises I had been given, rather than in the present. I'm not so sure Christ has much to offer to those living in the present. Take out all the grandiose miracle-laden promised futures and you haven't got much left.
