Posts by tepidpoultry

65

Short stay

by midnight in

after much research and prayer i am returning to being a jehovah's witness i can find nothing that eliminates them from being god's directed people , in the end they will reach the end of there journey despite mistakes and errors just like the israelites entered the promised land , thanks for your input and all the best on your personal journey ☺.

midnight..

tepidpoultry

I think that good advice was given regarding taking your time,

If you were thinking of making a purchase do you think that you'll get

objective help from a high pressure salesman

No!

Witnesses are direct salesmen of religion

Right?

When you feel calmer and at peace

Think of this:

How would you help a 5 yr old figure out religion?

Wouldn't you simply talk about the various beliefs and why people

Believe the ways that they do

Maybe the child will figure their own blend of beliefs that make sense to them,

Doesn't a belief system that can change with increasing knowledge and evidence make sense?

Main point here is don't be pressured

:0)

21

Rutherford and Elevators -- All Others Use the Stairs

by VM44 in

during the olin moyle court case, some of the "jehovah's witnesses" witnesses were asked on the stand if they knew if the elevators were held at ground floor at lunchtime so that rutherford would not have to wait to use them when he returned to the building.. other people had to use the stairs; the elevators had to be kept ready for rutherford.. the jw witnesses denied knowing anything about this.

but in reading the transcript of the trial, one gets the impression that none of the jws wanted to admit anything negative about rutherford, for instance, that rutherford would give "trimmings" (verbal scolding) to individuals at lunchtime was not readily admitted by even clayton woodworth, a person who had direct experience being reprimanded by the "judge"!.

trying to get info from the witnesses appeared to be like squeezing water from a stone!

tepidpoultry

There's an interesting story as well with Walter Salter

(might be here already but missed it)

Branch Manager in Canada wrote an open scathing letter in 1937

echoing Moyle's charges against Rutherford

Got himself drummed out

There was unswerving loyalty to this man

I view him, in most ways, as the real founder of Jehovah's Witnesses

(he even coined the name)

:0)

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

tepidpoultry

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

tepidpoultry

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

tepidpoultry

Hi Cassaruby,

We really don't have much of a choice unless the people who raised us

allowed us one,

The JW religion I was raised in gave me no choice or extremely little

choise,

In the comfort of my own home as a middle aged man I was not allowed

to read an article on Anthropology

It got to the point where I said (and partially believed) that I was evil

damned by God to whatever

Didn't care anymore

I know elders that killed themselves

I survived

I m thinking of a spacecraft leaving Earth's gravity

A whole lot of effort

Then you're free

So as Cofty is saying (hopefully I'm not misquoting)

Rational analysis of the evidence

It's called Critical Thinking,

Open minded

But not so much that your brains fall out

:0)

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

tepidpoultry

17

How many JWs still have a personal conscience?

by contramundum in

jw
friends

in conversation with an old jw friend today, it struck me that most jws have replaced their personal conscience with a collective one.. instead of training their own mental powers to distinguish right from wrong, as the bible encourages, they are content to shift personal accountability away from themselves and onto the impersonal org.

whatever behaviour may prompt an ordinary person to have serious misgivings ( such as ignoring glaring misapplication of scripture or rejecting basic human decency in favour of unchristian shunning ) they prefer to have those decisions made for them.. history teaches us, however, that there is no absolution for people who behave unethically or cruelly by allowing the excuse of 'obeying orders' to override what their inner voice should scream is inherently wrong..

tepidpoultry

Watch out for those with brightly colored socks!

8

Is strong faith or belief in religion or "God" a mental disorder?

by kpop in

jw
friends

it is a most interesting study.

when one studies anthropology, one can see how the "need" for belief in a higher being evolved from early man.

and it served a purpose.

tepidpoultry

Religious rituals such as prayer have been shown to significantly increase

levels of the neurotransmitter Dopamine among other things,

This is analogous to the effects of a number of mood altering drugs

:0)

17

How many JWs still have a personal conscience?

by contramundum in

jw
friends

in conversation with an old jw friend today, it struck me that most jws have replaced their personal conscience with a collective one.. instead of training their own mental powers to distinguish right from wrong, as the bible encourages, they are content to shift personal accountability away from themselves and onto the impersonal org.

whatever behaviour may prompt an ordinary person to have serious misgivings ( such as ignoring glaring misapplication of scripture or rejecting basic human decency in favour of unchristian shunning ) they prefer to have those decisions made for them.. history teaches us, however, that there is no absolution for people who behave unethically or cruelly by allowing the excuse of 'obeying orders' to override what their inner voice should scream is inherently wrong..

tepidpoultry

I would like to expand on my previous comment,

What I wanted to say is that everyone has a capacity for conscience,

This however is maleable,

I agree in principle with the OP

From the teachings of Jesus Christ

we have the TEACHING parable of the Good Samaritan

I think that what uncorrupted minds should be getting is that we should

be compassionate toward people of other religions as the "Samaritan"

was of course a different faith than that of the Jews,

He did not let religious differences stop him from being compassionate

Now JWS are shameless in the self promotion of what they do for each other,

Now are they being Christian as they ignore everybody else even in times

of horrific circumstances

Try reasoning with a JW on this point,

This is a basic tenet, a basic teaching of Jesus Christ

They are not Christian

They should be ashamed

:0)

PS I'm ashamed to admit that I was one of them for almost 60 years

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.