by jayhawk1 41 Replies latest jw friends
The JW's set up so many catch 22 situations in your mind that ANYTHING that happens in the world or NOTHING is seen as a sign of the end. Something happens? Time of the end. Nothing? Gee, it MUST be getting close.
Wow, it must be nice to be able to scare the crap outta people that easily.
Jhawk1.....Things have looked bad in the news lately.I feel really sorry about the havoc and deaths that Katrina has caused and it does tend to create uncertainty in peoples minds.Your Father had an idea that 2005 would be the "time of the end" based on a thirty year cycle. I am sure he took comfort in that idea even though not endorsed by the WTBTS. Most witnesses need a timeframe to keep them serving full speed ahead. Look at this post I made only a few days ago regarding forty years.
The other night I watched as my wife did her usual pre-study for the study. I became increasingly puzzled as a flurry of activity ensued. The Revelation book was hauled out along with the Insight books and a few WT volumes. A calculator was produced and used extensively. I saw a number of notes being made on a piece of paper. Thinking that maybe this wasn't a real study but mabe a calculation of how much alimony she could get if she dumped me for a good upstanding JW elder I took a peek when she was out of the room and found this...........
Forty
Flood 40 days 40 nights
Isaac 40 years old when married Rebekah
Esau 40 years old when married Judith
Israelites wandered 40 years
Moses in mountain 40 days and nights
Spied out the promised land 40 days
Joshua 40 years old when he spied out the land
Othniel judge of Israel – peace on the land for 40 years
Israel given into the hands of the Philistines 40 years
Goliath took his position before Israel for 40 days
David reigned for 40 years
Solomon reigned for 40 years
Elijah sustained for 40 days 40 nights
Jehoash reigned 40 years
Ezekiah carried error of Judah 40 days and nights (day for a year)
Land of Egypt desolated 40 years
Jonah preached that Ninevah would be overthrown in 40 days
Jesus fasted 40 days and nights in wilderness
Jesus seen for 40 days after resurrection
Moses in Midian for 40 years (before thornbush)
Saul ruled for 40 years
Jehovah gave man 120 years to flood from warning ( 3 x 40)
2,520 years (63 x 40)
1914 & 40 & 40 & 20 (3 ½ times) = 2014
1975 & 40 – 2015
In spite of the obvious error on line 24 my wife in her frantic scribblings had also come up with a date of 2014/2015 for the start of Armageddon (october no less)
OMG.....WTF.
Please all you good little POZTATE™ boys and girls get out your calculators and confirm this NEW LIGHT that has come out. It might not be too late for us to sneak back into the Borg before the end comes. LOL
THE REALITY...When main stream rank and file dubs like my wife (a lifer) are looking into garbage like this it shows something lacking with the "spiritual food" being provided by the FDS and GB.
They are not happy with the resurrection hope and the idea of "no regrets" brought out at the last DA. They need a GOOD APOCALYPSE and they need it NOW.
They are beginning to slow down on the hamster wheel of life that they are on and are not a happy bunch. I am sure it will continue to go downhill from here.
Anybody know where Forty started from...A good JW site no doubt.
POZ.
I no longer believe in the"time of the end" as expressed by JW's or any other religion.
Knowledge is power, Jay. Educate yourself about the Bible. It's not the all-knowing tome that it's played up to be. It's likely that the guys writing it didn't intend it to be taken that way. Notice how the Watchtower (and other groups) like to point to the "Greater fulfillment" of this or that prophecy? Where in the Bible do you get left with the impression that prophecies have a "greater" fulfillment, being fulfilled twice or more times? They wrote about their immediate time frames, all their "prophecies" have long since lost any meaning.
As was said earlier, our planet has always been disaster prone. They aren't really disasters as far as the planet's concerned. It loves forest fires, it likes the odd flood now and again, and it doesn't seem to mind tornados and the like. It always bounces right back. These things are only disasters for us because we happen to have built houses right where the earth intends to host a disaster.
What would this have been like without modern meteorology, without the warnings that it was coming? One day everybody's fat and happy, and the next day 500,000 people are dead. And without modern communication, we'd've never even known about it. Man's efforts cut the death toll to 1 or 2% of what it could have been.
No, this isn't the end. Even a major catastrophe like a comet or asteroid striking the earth would have a slim chance of actually eliminating mankind. Truth is, there is no "end". Life is here, now. Enjoy it, share it, help others, accept help when you need it. Whether God is actually there or not, he is clearly not doing anything for you. (By way of feeding/housing/protecting you, I don't mean to suggest he doesn't provide you with comfort.) He isn't going to act against you, either.
I'm truly sorry that life is stressful for you. I feel it; it is for me too. But we live in a great time, enjoy what of it you can, and don't let the fear the Watchtower implanted in you have a hold on you anymore. Reject it for what it is, the words of some deluded, self-important men.
Dave
Sounds like a panic attack when certain buttons (wt implanted buttons) get pushed, in this case, a natural disaster. As pointed out, these have been going on since the beginning. Perhaps shutting down the tv for a while so that you cut down on the bombardment of those images of destruction. Most people probably see them a dozen times a day. They are bound to have an affect. Watch something else like videos or something.
S
I just checked back and finished reading the latest posts! You've all given me things to think about. Now if somebody can point me to a car that gets 100 miles per gallon and I'll be set.
I don't think my problem is coming from watching the news on television. Today was the first time this week that I had it on. I listen to talk radio. But then again, I hear everything that the news was showing on the television.
Damn the Jehovah's Witnesses for teaching me that the popular music was evil. I still have no appreciation for music of any kind.
I guess I never thought that the disasters in the bible are there just to talk about the disasters of their time. Since I was always taught that those disasters have a greater fulfillment today, I guess I still somehow believe that. How do I make that go away?
I never thought about all the 40 year references. Thanks a lot! But now I will be revisiting this subject again in 10 years. (Didn't King Saul also rule for 40 years?)
I have never stressed out over the "peace and security" thing. But you've made a good point that I've never thought of. I will use it in the future.
Keep the thoughts coming! Believe me it helps.
I just checked back and finished reading the latest posts! You've all given me things to think about. Now if somebody can point me to a car that gets 100 miles per gallon and I'll be set.
If you get a diesel you can make your own gas for free-60 cents a gallon
I bet Europeans in the Middle Ages thought the end had come with th Black Death which wiped out over 1/3rd of the entire population
Jayhawk,
I know just how you feel. Although I have been away from the Witnesses for years, it has only been since April of this year when I got on this forum that I have completely stopped believing in their prophecies. But-- the beliefs come back to haunt me. During times like this I get on this forum frequently to keep from going back to them. I will say this to you, your panic attacks will lessen in time, as mine have. The more time you put between you and them, the more your own thinking will take over instead of their ideas. No, the Witnesses are not right! Never have been! They are wrong and always will be! We are going to have disasters of a natural and political kind as long as this planet is here and Jehovah is not bringing Armageddon upon it. Think about it. Even if it were true, would you want to live forever with them? I wouldn't.
of the (whistling in the dark class)
Jayhawk -
One thing to think about here - The current news is occuring in our land, right under our noses. That makes it seem more real than other news of the same or greater disasters. When you hear of monsoons in SE asia that wipe out thousands, most likely it makes a minor impression. But when it happens in your own backyard it get real, fast.
The other thing is this - 1975 was just a game. The society never brings it up any longer. It was an embarrassment. Some witnesses that want to move off that date by 30 or 40 or 70 years are really just grasping at straws. In the same way many witnesses are now looking at 2034 as possibly significant - why? 120 years since 1914 - drawing a parallel to Noah's 120 year warnings.
Those that want to play the 'We know better than God game' often resort to fear-years. It is not just witnesses who do so - many other fundy's have been caught in that game.
Could the end come in 2005? I suppose. But 30 years from the false prophecy of 1975 will have nothing to do with it.
I recommend reading Ray Franz' books - or rereading them if you have already - to cement your understanding that the Watchtower organization is not a prophet to be feared, but a false prophet.
Jeff
I guess I never thought that the disasters in the bible are there just to talk about the disasters of their time. Since I was always taught that those disasters have a greater fulfillment today, I guess I still somehow believe that. How do I make that go away?
You can make that go away by changing the way you think. I used to be deadly afraid that the big A would come in my lifetime. The End haunted me for years and years. I was only a kid in 1975, but I remember praying on my knees, begging God to hold off just a few more years. Every thunderstorm seemed to be the beginning of the end. Floodings, a long dry spell, earthquakes, vulcanic eruptions, Haleys' comet passing the earth, my cat acting strange.. I can't tell you how many times I wondered... is this IT? Assuming I will die of old age, I am about halfway through my life right now. I have spent the first half being afraid of "the End", but I'll be damned if I spend the other half in that kind of fear.
Whatever is meant to happen will happen. At least the bible was right about one thing.. "Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?" (Matthew 6:27). This is so true. There are things in life we do worry about, just because we are human beings and we do worry. However, adding "The times of the end" to our list of things to worry about is not only senseless, it is an act of cruelty toward ourselves.
I have learned this.. worry about the things you might be able to change, do not worry about anything you can't change. As a matter of fact, we CAN change something regarding the End. We can live our lives in such a way that, when The End comes, we will be able to say with that last breath.. "I have done the best I could to be a good and kind human being. In my humble opinion, we will all die some day, but the day of our death is not nearly as important as the way we have lived our lives.
