How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening. (page 13)

paranoia agent

Cofty: yes she did, all christians do.

Have a great day.

If you imagine that all christians are homophobic you know nothing about christians. You would do well to spend more time asking questions and listening and less time making personal attacks against people you don't understand.

AndDontCallMeShirley

paranoia agent: cofty: It's implied [homophobia]....all christians do.

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PA is not only projecting, but making sweeping generalizations based on Strawman arguments.

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how about addressing what was actually said? that would be interesting.

donny

It was the Old Testament, a.k.a. Hebrew Scriptures that really started my questioning. Besides the other tons of bad behavior of Jehovah, it was a talk an elder gave on Job that did not set well with me. He spoke about how great integrity was shown by Job in handling all of the adversity that Satan was putting upon him. At the conclusion of his talk he stated that Jehovah rewarded him by "replacing" his 7 sons and 3 daughters that Satan was given the clearance to kill.

That statement always bothered me. If Jehovah had allowed my three kids to be killed, there is nothing that he could do to replace them or justify it in any way that I would find acceptable. I did not see how being a pawn in Jehovahs and Satans chess game was a good thing.

After that I began to look at other horrors in the OT and eventually I exited the Watchtower and eventually religion itself.

designs

donny- If you don't believe in unicorns just read your OT, its all there in the good book :D

KateWild

To answer the OP, as a JW I saw all the positive things of the OT and blanked out all the negative as you do when your mind is being controlled. One scripture that was particularly profound was Isa 55.7 Where we read Jehovah will forgive in a large way. So as JW I truly believed in Jehovah and I truly believed he was merciful and forgiving.

After experiencing harshness and non-merciful behaviour from God's appointed men guided by holy spirit, the merciless God of the OT came out of the shadows, the one that killed millions in the flood, and millions at Sodom and Gommorah. This God was certainly not merciful. In proverbs 3.5,6 we are told to trust in Jehovah, so everything I read I just put on the shelf, after experiencing first hand merciless treatment, it all promptly came off the shelf.

The God of the OT is merciless, harsh and unforgiving in many parts, but then in many passagess says that he forgives and examples of forgiveness exist such as in the case of Menassah.

So to conclude I would say the OT cannot be trusted to formulate a personality for God. It was written by men to control women and the vulnerable, I don't believe at all it's from God the creator.

Kate xx

AndDontCallMeShirley

donny: he stated that Jehovah rewarded him by "replacing" his 7 sons and 3 daughters that Satan was given the clearance to kill.

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WT justifies this by saying that Job will get his dead children back in "the resurrection", so he really didn't lose anything. What a twisted view of human life ! What's interesting about that account is apparently god sees more value in material possessions than life, because he doubled all of Job's material assets but did not see fit to give him back his family. Satan:1, God: 0.

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the god of the OT is despicable.

suavojr

adcms said:

What's interesting about that account is apparently god sees more value in material possessions than life, because he doubled all of Job's material assets but did not see fit to give him back his family. Satan:1, God: 0.

He was able to enjoy fresh new skin, a new wife, new children and lots of possessions... I wonder why he continued to serve this God?

Satan:2,God:0

nonjwspouse

Paranoia Agent, your screenname fits you quite well 'nuff said.

Thanks ADCMS, cofty, and Kate.

I too think the god depicted in the OT is one of a cruel god. In my own beliefs it is men who interpret bad things happening as direction from god, and resulting from god. Though the stories are meant to give lessons, I do not believe they are literal as they are written. A mixture of real and enhancement. If there is evil exsisting in this world , and I do believe it exhists, then I believe it is Gods desire for the good to overpower the evil. Evil does win many times. So does good many times.

It is real that in ancient days many people lived in a barbaric way. Their worship included barbaric ways. I do feel men used the word of god in the OT to control others. I do not believe it was gods desire for people to worship Him in this way, but it was man's belief that it was.

In the gospel, I feel it was then when God used his Son placed on earth in the form of man to bring forth the real desires of God for his people. It was being prophecied hundreds of years prior. Again, time frames to me are not understandable. Maybe it took that much experience of misery and iron fist rule of religious men in the name of God for people to fully accept Christ for what he is, what he represents, what he brought to the world.

The original ten commandments Moses brought to the world are still applicable in healthy and good moral code.

I find it horrible the way the JW worship the OT God and glorify the horrible things done by man in the name of God. The way they use pharasitic rules to hold with an iron fist those who are in the organization. In my mind it is the exact opposite of what Jesus brought to us from God.

These are musings from my mind, without using quotes from scriptures. Just trying to reconcile myself with the entire Bible and the meanings of the evil vs the good. If we were all to apply the ten comandments, all apply what Jesus brought to us, then evil would die and good would prevail.

If evil and destruction prevails, then eventually everyone would be killing off everyone else. No one would ultimatly survive.

AndDontCallMeShirley

It boils down to this: gods are an invention of humans and reflect nothing more than the psychology of the inventor.

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If triangles thought up their own version of god, there's no doubt it would have three sides.

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nJWs: The original ten commandments Moses brought to the world are still applicable in healthy and good moral code.

Why? The first four commandments focus solely on worshipping the narcissictic, conceited, short-tempered, self-aggrandizing god that went on to perpetrate unspeakable acts of violence against his own people and everyone else who failed to feed his massive ego.

And, while god burned up 40% of his ten commandments demanding more ego-boosting worship for himself, he had no room left to denounce truly important things like pedophilia and human slavery. Besides, "pagan" nations already thought up similar law codes---the ten commandments were certainly not unique.

How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening.

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