Posts by OneEyedJoe

23

New June Awake with Misleading Statements about Evidence for god

by ttdtt in

the article (faith) is all about why you should have solid evidence based reasons for belief in god.

it's not good enough to believe in god just because you were raised to believe in god.. (from the article).

but god wants those who worship him to have genuine confidence in his existence and in his love.. then it goes on to tell us how we can get that genuine confidence that there is a god.

OneEyedJoe

And kodos for you OneEyedJoe! Guess you had a CO visit recently?

Nah, it just always stuck out as stupid that they would cite how pleasing variety is as proof of god (or his love, as the case may be) when variety is also direct evidence that the biblical flood account is inaccurate.

That and a lot of species of apples are really grainy and not very good. The variety is equal proof of a loving god as it is proof of an asshole god that tries to trick us by making some of the apples good and some of them gross.

38

Proof of any Dragons

by pleaseresearch in

does anybody have any proof of the existence of dragons?.

we read in revelation about satan being the dragon, but aren't dragons mythological creatures?.

OneEyedJoe

There are books that talk about dragons. Isn't that proof enough that dragons exist?

23

New June Awake with Misleading Statements about Evidence for god

by ttdtt in

the article (faith) is all about why you should have solid evidence based reasons for belief in god.

it's not good enough to believe in god just because you were raised to believe in god.. (from the article).

but god wants those who worship him to have genuine confidence in his existence and in his love.. then it goes on to tell us how we can get that genuine confidence that there is a god.

OneEyedJoe

Good catch about the bait and switch. It's crazy what they get away with.
Also, I did get the apple reference :)

42

Today's Daily Text - Being Uneducated And Ordinary... WTF!!!

by Divergent in

jw
friends

thursday, march 3. they were uneducated and ordinary men.—acts 4:13.. in recent years, the spiritual instruction provided by jehovah’s organization has reflected an increased emphasis on simplicity and clarity.

consider three examples.

first, there is the simplified edition of the watchtower.

OneEyedJoe

Wow this is really something

In recent years, the spiritual instruction provided by Jehovah’s organization has reflected an increased emphasis on simplicity and clarity.

This statement really reminds me of moses taking credit for producing water from a rock - the act that got him barred from entering the promised land. They're giving credit to "Jehovah's organization" for the spiritual instruction, not to jehovah himself. Which brings me to:

Third, there are the recent refinements in our understanding, such as the clarified understanding of “the faithful and discreet slave.

They started out by taking credit for everything, and giving none to god. So are they implicitly admitting that the "recent refinements" in doctrine are from men and not from god? Are they saying that they've changed doctrine so that people can understand it better? Who would consider this a good thing? This is like a physics professor teaching his students laws of physics that are not accurate but easier to understand - they may be able to learn them more easily, maybe more people will get physics degrees but the knowledge will be completely useless! If they're claiming that the doctrinal changes were intended to make things simpler, then they're admitting that they're teaching false doctrine.

The doctrine is from men, and they know it's not even true - it's just convenient for them because it makes it easier to indoctrinate people into their cult.

53

How did you feel when they eliminated the Con. Book Study?

by Freeandclear in

jw
friends

years ago when i was "in" i loved the book study.

it was my favorite meeting by far.

mainly because it was a small group.

OneEyedJoe

I was really conflicted when they announced this. In my case it was compounded by being at a convention when they did the announcement - so you're in expectation of more "spiritual food" when they make announcements but they were telling us there'd be less.

On the one hand I was relieved to have less meetings to deal with and a free night at home, but at the same time one of my first thoughts was "do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together as some have the custom, but encouraging one another all the more so as you behold the day drawing near." So while it was one of those things that I didn't want to argue with because it was actually beneficial to me, it went in my mental file for reasons this might not actually be "the truth."

32

Every Know Anyone Too "Weak" To Wake Up?

by freemindfade in

a jw that is probably irregular, they don't really attend meetings, they are not up on anything going on, they may even seem like they are faded but they are not, they are just slackers.

a jw that is impervious to the f.o.g.

(ok maybe it bums them, but they are too lazy and self serving to do otherwise).

OneEyedJoe

I would recommend speaking with your spouses more secular way, not in ways that directly relate to JW doctrine, but just day to day stuff. Watching tv, philosophies on life, the world. See if they can start entertaining ideas that will open their mind.

Either my flair for subtlety is severely lacking or my wife is exceptionally sensitive (probably both) because this doesn't work either. Sometimes I'll be innocently trying to talk to her about something I find interesting and it just so happens to go counter to JW doctrine (sometimes not even then, but it touches on a topic that she thinks might go against JW doctrine) and she'll flat out leave the room and not talk to me for a couple hours. But that's getting a bit far off topic, I think...

16

Conversation with JW mom on this years memorial date and Nissan 14 discrepancy.

by Question_Mans_interpretation in

i'm having an ongoing texting conversation with my mom right now on the march 23rd memorial date.

she completely goes into cult mode.. me: why is the memorial on march 23rd this year and not april 22nd/23rd when the corresponding nissan 14 commences?

since when did the organization stop following the jewish calendar for passover?.

OneEyedJoe

If this organization is not being used by Jehovah, it will fail. Will it not?

My response to this would be "That's true. And would you rather wait for the organization to fail before you leave it behind, or would you prefer to know now so that you can take heed of Rev. 18:4 knowing that if you wait for it to fail, it might be too late?"

32

Every Know Anyone Too "Weak" To Wake Up?

by freemindfade in

a jw that is probably irregular, they don't really attend meetings, they are not up on anything going on, they may even seem like they are faded but they are not, they are just slackers.

a jw that is impervious to the f.o.g.

(ok maybe it bums them, but they are too lazy and self serving to do otherwise).

OneEyedJoe

I agree. That's sorta how my wife is. They don't really know doctrine, and so have no attachment to it so if someone shows them the doctrine then proves that it's wrong they're right where they started and they feel no emotional distress over it. I think if my wife had seen the cult from a male's perspective (i.e. more push to do more, reach out, etc.) I might be able to get somewhere with her, but she's always just floated along. She doesn't give talks, she's barely regular in recruiting. She goes to most of the meetings, but I suspect only because it's her only social outlet. She doesn't know any of the "deep things" of the cult, she just knows the rules and regulations (i.e. no smoking, no beards, no friends of the opposite sex, no voting, etc) enough that she wants to stop me from living/exploring a normal life.

49

I have a question.

by DATA-DOG in

according to jwism, god didn't cause suffering, he just allowed it.

wow, that's really, really, dumb.

to help humans out, jeehoobidoob provided the ransom.

OneEyedJoe

Even if you're going to give the JW reasoning a pass, couldn't he have said enough is enough by now? How many generations of people do we need to see come and go before we establish a pattern? More to the point, how many billions need to suffer and die? Couldn't we have wrapped this up after WWI? Or perhaps after the hundred years' war? Or hell, pretending that the flood happened, why not wrap up this failed experiment after that? He could've made one family perfect, it would've even been less work for him! Just pop Jesus down and hit him with a lightning bold and make Noah and family perfect and call it a day.

49

I have a question.

by DATA-DOG in

according to jwism, god didn't cause suffering, he just allowed it.

wow, that's really, really, dumb.

to help humans out, jeehoobidoob provided the ransom.

OneEyedJoe

The only explanation is that he's an asshole that puts a greater value on proving a point than he does on human lives and suffering.