why are there so many intelligent people in the truth, if its clearly hogwash?
Your question seems to indicate that you think that JW teachings are validated because smart people believe them.
Not necessarily the case. Some of the smartest JW's I know have some of the most serious doubts/problems with JW teachings. The problem is they feel like they can't leave. Their whole identity is tied up with the idea of being a Witness . . . that is not something you can easily turn your back on, even if you don't believe it's the truth anymore.
what's everybodys' favorite songs/song lyrics??.
"boulevard of broken dreams" by greenday.
"my shadow's the only one that walks beside me.
Name that tune . . .
I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call the country of their birth
We all figure that our homes are set above
Other people than the ones we know and love
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse
Don't feed the people but we feed the machines
Can't really feel what international means
In different circles, we keep holding our ground
In different circles, we keep spinning round and round
We see so many tribes overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream of lands they've left behind
Better people...better food...and better beer...
Why move around the world when Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn't evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of the citizens along for the ride
They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled
matty and i have gotten several books lately.
right now we are both reading "30 years a watchtower slave" and "awakening of a jehovahs witness".
both we highly recommend.. anyway in the midst of it all he asked me: when did it turn into a cult?.
When I say so, dammitt!!
are there any current jehovahs witnesses here?.
what are your reasons for being here?
to find like minded people?
Sub-question:
Are there any current JW's on this board who are married? and does your spouse know about your doubts?
p.s. Is it bad form to use someone else's thread to post your own questions? If it is, sorry! I'm new at this.
are there any current jehovahs witnesses here?.
what are your reasons for being here?
to find like minded people?
Oooooh, that's a really good question. I wonder how many will honestly respond . . .
Ok, I'll bite. I'm a current JW in "good" standing, and I'm here because I have doubts. Lots of them. I had always been able to rationlize them but the question I coudn't get rid of was, "What are they (the Society) so afraid of? What information is out there that is so powerful that they have to try so hard to supress it?"
I came to realize that an organization that has such interest in supressing information and silencing dissent can't really be trusted to tell the truth about its self. I would have to go elsewhere to get a more complete picture of what this organization was really all about. So, I ended up here.
I've gotten a much different outlook on the outfit over the last few months. Not too many answers, but at least some validation that I'm not the only one with these questions. Still not sure what I'm going to do with the questions though . . .
Oh, I also ran into someone on this board that I knew in the org before they "went off the deep end", as I thought of it at the time. I had never been able to understand what happened to them before, and I gained some real insight from finally being able to hear their side of the story. Why they left, what they went through, etc. . . . It was a real eye-opener.
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do you think most people would serve him?
"But wait this just in from Brooklyn, there is no everlasting life, I repeat there is no everlasting life" Assembly hall empties quicker than a bag of cookies around a fat boy.
Holy crap, that's funny. That's going in the act . . .
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do you think most people would serve him?
Good question. I think it depends a lot on what you mean by "serving God" though. If you mean just being a kind, generous, and loving person then I'd like to think that yes, people in general would continue to be kind, generous, and loving even if God was not bankrolling the operation.
On the other hand, if you define "serving God" as going out in service for at least the national average, and to all the meetings, and giving talks, and not having unauthorized facial hair, and not celebrating holidays, etc, etc then no. If you take the reward element out of that equation, it becomes very difficult to continue to "serve God".
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committing a mortal sin,vs.committing a venial sin.if you died in venial sin you go to purgatory.. eating meat on friday.missing mass on sunday.. not making an act of contrition,confession,before you die,if you are guilty of mortal sins.. any you know of ?.
blueblades
Wearing white before Memorial Day, or brown shoes with a black bag. Wait, are fashion faux pas' venial or mortal?
maybe teejays thread inspired me.
(in the family section) maybe because the church service this morning was especially inspiring.
there are so many beautiful songs.
Damn. I really hate to be a copycat, but I would have written Pachelbel's Canon too.
That or Louie Louie.
1.elijah resurrected a widow's son.. 2.elisha resurrected a child.. 3.a man who touched elisha's bones came to life.. persons resurrected by jesus:.
1.widow of nain's son.. 2.jairus' daughter.
jesus himself was resurrected.. others who were resurrected.
Wouldn't their testimony about what happens at death be strong evidence that when your dead ,you are actually dead and not somewhere else?
Yes, it would have been strong testimony . . . unless the condition of the dead wasn't in any dispute.
Maybe nothing is recorded because they didn't have a whole lot to say? If I went to sleep, and didn't remember any dreams, then there wouldn't be much to tell when I woke up.
On the other hand, can you really consider any account that hasn't been independently verified as being "certain proof" of anything?
