Posts by sowhatnow

31

Who has made an unforgivable sin against the holy spirit?

by atomant in

we all sin and some sins are worse than others but blasphemy against the holy spirit is said to be unforgivable.what is considered to be an unforgivable sin?

sowhatnow

ask Mr Owl....

36

Coming to terms with the Watchtower experience

by Lee Elder in

it is a challenge coming to terms with your experience as a jehovah's witness.

if you were born and raised as a jw, and your parents were true believers, the impact on your life is profound, lasting, and largely negative.

in some cases quite abusive emotionally, spiritually, financially, educationally and yes, even sexually.. i recently watched "trumbo", and was quite moved by dalton trumbo's speech to the screen writers guild in 1970. here is an excerpt that i think is quite relevant to this topic:.

sowhatnow

So, can we single out the Wt as THE cause for so many pointless and damaged lives? yes .

if not for the damaging brain altering doctrines, guiding us to our stagnant pointless lives, how many of us would be in a much better place right now?

i for one, would not be in the predicament I am today.

there may be those rare cases where a person was on the road to addiction and poverty, and a kind jw person to take on the assignment, and was encouraged to 'clean themselves up'. yes, simply another 'project', but maybe slightly good TEMPORARILY, for that particular case. but Im sure other faiths have done the same. so they trade one problem for another one.

its like anything, once its been burned into your brain, its never gone, the scars are always there screwing up your life and thinking somehow.

like any cancer, you never can kill it all of, it'll lay dormant until something sets it off.

and like any addiction, you cant just stop thinking like you've always been trained to think. at some point we all default for a reason to the christian way of thinking. for me its the guilt and feeling of being sleazy and naive I feel when Im on a date. really is hard to get past those silly feelings of inadequacy. or the feeling that its my own fault, and Im being punished for finally leaving my husband.

even if you know the bible to be a man made silly history book or sorts. its still a mental prison.

13

How many fence sitters are really out there?

by atomant in

l think the real figure would be a real nail in the coffin for jw believers.lf the elders knew what l knew they would have a field day.many many jdubs live a double life.lovey dovey at the hall and totally different people at home and work.my guess is many dubs are schizophrenic and in need of help.with all the brain washing lm not surprised.what have others observed.

?

sowhatnow

everyone in my opinion lives a double life.

they'd be liars to say they have not thought something was not right.

we all know what goes on behind the scene of the sterilized kingdum hall scene.

my mom thinks shes the best jw, but in reality shes made some huge missteps in her life.

and she still breaks the speed limit.... lol

30

My mother has nervous breakdown because we missed the memorial.

by cookiemaster in

my parents insisted that i'd take them to the memorial.

my cousin said he'd come too and another brother who doesn't have a car begged to join.

i was dreading having to go through exactly the same thing again.

sowhatnow

what god does she worship who would be angry for missing a gathering in such dangerous weather possibly getting killed, when she could have listened in on a phone tie in someplace else if she wanted to?

does she know what it means to be forgiving and yielding and compassionate? would she expect her family to condemn someone for missing her funeral if there was an ice storm?

i dont think so, so that would make her better than god.

there is not one scripture in that book that says people have to go to a church on a certain day.

it does say

as often as you drink it......... no time or limit.

there is no scriptures that say anyone other than the 11 apostles had to do that.

not a one that can find.

15

My jw friend keeps preaching to me in e-mails

by Queenme in

jw
friends

dear friends this is my first time posting.

i am not a jw and have never been one but i have a friend who married a jw and converted.

in spite of the bunk barometer going off in my brain over the years and never responding to her efforts to convert me, she just cannot stop preaching.

sowhatnow

tell her the bible says not to

cast pearls before a swine, lol

i do believe that years ago the counsel at meetings was to not continue to preach to persons who are not responding to that message, for it is a waste of time . then of course it changed.

my own mom cant stop dragging me into a conversation every time i see her.[ though i was a jw slave for 30 years...... but she knows by now im a lost cause but she will not give up because in her mind im as good as dead if i dont turn around...]

and so your friend now is using the advice later given, keep trying.

that if they keep dropping little tidbits of info, that some day, something might spark your interest... and then all the work will have been worth it. because you cant give up on people.

only people who don't agree after they do agree.... change their minds... whatever.

lol contradictory? um yea..

8

I am a bit screwed ... need some advice - non-JW issue

by StarTrekAngel in

so i am having a bit of an issue at work and has been bothering me for a while.

first, you may need to know a bit about the organizational structure that i am dealing with.

there is our coo (chief op officer).

sowhatnow

good gravy. what people have to put up with for a freaking paycheck.

no matter what your probably going to take the blame for something in the end.

your damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[call a meeting with all involved and blast them all?]

short of looking for a less stressful job...

can you be reassigned away from that whole bunch of drama?

its like high school all over again. lol

22

My New Thoughts on Adam and Eve (don't laugh)

by xjwsrock in

warning for those that are still believers... this train of thought will not be faith strengthening.... i have come a long way since first stumbling on crumbs of ttatt in 2012.

(i have not come nearly as far with the wife unfortunately, but such is life.

) my critical thinking ability, thankfully, is in another stratosphere since figuring out i was a jw lab rat.

sowhatnow

short answer,

its a pretty chopped up story by ancient people trying to explain how we got here and why things went so 'wrong'

my guess

they were among some aliens that were dropped off or crash landed here. so were aliens, we dont belong here and we've ruined so much of the earth.

long answer.

Adam was made in gods image. so as an 'adult' he was like all the other angelic spirit creatures that were created by jesus.[1 colossians 1 16]

[yes, by jesus, since the bible says all things were made through him and by him. he was the first of all creation. so he had to be here before anything else.]

he had to have known[been pre- programed] everything adult as to survive on a new planet he knew nothing about.

Adam and eve had not been along in the garden. they often heard god walking about. and there must have been others among them,

why i think Adam and eve were not alone, and had children in the garden. [why put man in a garden like a prisoner?]

ask yourself,

how did Eve know what it would be like to have increased birth pains, is she never experienced any in the first place?

how would they know what death was if they never saw it to fear it?

why would they fear death unless they has experienced something dying.

how did they know what bad was if there was no bad created ?

lol god had to have created bad to have it to be done.

I could never get past genesis. two separate stories , lots of weird questions.

really doesn't matter to us , wont change a darn thing for anyone.

35

Memorial mixed emotions...

by Tornintwo in

jw
friends

does anyone else feel 'pulled back in' at this time of year?.

i still consider myself to a believer, believe in god and jesus christ, on the whole i think he taught tolerance, love, acceptance and i think we can benefit from following his example.

i love ray franzs book in search of christian freedom.

sowhatnow

all i feel is stress, and condemnation. nothing positive.

my mom decided to rope me into a heated discussion again, she has nothing else to talk about after all shes 73.she starts reading the article to me from her tablet, and i asked her where a print article was, she got it and i proceeded to underline and ask her how any of the scriptures prove anything that is mentioned in the paragraphs.

i said you know if you look in the yearbook, the number of partakers is going up not down, and years ago they claimed that when all those remaining 8000 or so were dead Armageddon must be here.

so gee how many people are mentally unstable? lol is this their only explanation of why the number is going up?

i asked my mom all the time, show me the scripture to support the idea that people who think they are anointed but are not, would mistake that, since the holy spirit is supposed to make sure they do not doubt. and who judges those ones as to whether they are mistaken? lol.

and where do you get the idea that god can take away your gift he gave you of being anointed. you don't give a gift freely then make it conditional. were all imperfect people, and that's a wrong conclusion. nothing should be conditional based on imperfection.

that means then, the holy spirit or god of jesus, doesn't make himself clear. they would be telling a lie or holding back important information.

and what extra 'special' attributes do those who feel they are anointed have, from so many people other loyal good people on earth, that these particular people are chosen to be kings over everyone else?

so they have special exp in being a judge?

and where, oh where , does it say that women were ever anointed or are of the 144000? where does it say 144000 are even anointed? does it?

how can you take half a scripture and say its symbolic and claim the other half is real?

she cannot show me.

then i see in that magazine that stupid picture of flames over peoples heads, which is something that sets me off.

so i said, mom , lets read the whole account in Acts.

so i read it to her verse by verse, and asked her how the society came to the conclusion, other than wild imagination and speculation as assumption, that the approximately 120 men who were casting lots, [no holy spirit involved there, lol] who were to come together for the sole purpose of choosing a replacement for Judas, [so for some reason that number12 was maintained], has anything to do with the scene at the Pentecost, which is clearly identifying the persons involved as only the apostles, and only men, who received the holy spirits help, as they were told in acts chapter one verse 8. he wasn't talking to anyone else, no one else was there.

she simply refuses to see the obvious. three separate events, not one. she knows it she just doesn't know what to d about it.

she always always somehow brings up holidays and how everyone celebrates pagan holidays and that is how she knows she has the truth.

wow.

for her its all about attacking holidays.

I said, now why, if the society can change their mind about something, and I knew years ago that what they were thinking was wrong, why are they ok to be wrong but not me? why am I criticized but not them? why am i called names, but not them? why dd the holy spirit allow them to make such mistakes? if they are always learning and having new light, then why is ot not ok for me to have my own thoughts?

because by defending them, you in fact are worshiping those ones who print that info up, and preach it, and believe their ideas as infallible,

and I do not.

boy that pisses her off. lol

she hates it when I tell her she worships the governing body and their media empire.

somehow someway i have to keep myself sane.

4

Prescription Drugs and the Fruitage of the Spirit?

by Luther bertrand in

does anyone have a meaningful response to the following question/points: the fruitage of the spirit found at gal.

5:22: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, mildness, kindness.

goodness, faith and self-control, in many way for many people can be increased through the use of anti-anxiety, anti-depressants, and a host of other pharma's.

sowhatnow

Id assume that when those passages were written no one was aware of any outside influences that would persuade a person to behave in a way against their normal will. [other than drunk on alcohol, which obviously keeps one from doing anything useful, lol]

prescription drugs are enhancers, they manipulate the body,to influence a change. be it for mental or physical benefit [or not] ,.

the fruits of the spirit , [who ever they mean by the spirit in this case] , cannot be acted out by a person against their will [since when does someone who is drunk or high, or on cocaine, being helpful and kind to someone lol.] you have to be of a sound mind to practice these, its a choice to be loving of kind of faithful, to someone else, for the benefit of the good.

Galatians here is , in my opinion, recommending that people be decent human beings towards each other.

however reading that Galatians 5 , raised and interesting question in my mind.... so Ill post a question about that myself..

33

How was your day/ week thread?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

this thread is for when you have to say something to get it out of the system, whether it is happy or sad.

my reason for stating the thread is that on occasion some threads do tend to get a little heated here, and maybe this thread will enable us to reflect on the important fact, we are real people and not just dots on a computer screen.. i would love to start the thread with a bang, but nothing of particular interest has happened, only i do hope the weather improves as the climate i live in has been sadly chilly for the time of year, (if you get the deeper meaning).

the rebel..

sowhatnow

ill bite.

my week was frustrating.

my job of housecleaning leaves me exhausted. and in pain. Im sick of it but cant ever find a job that makes that much . what i make in 4 hours id have to work three 8 hour days to make. i like my time to be available.[no weekends no evenings.]

i learned my son got unexpectedly laid off and is now looking at a job in another state to relocate.

he was very very upset, that was a good paying job.

and he just planned a wedding and reserved the church and reception hall. and....

I cosigned his auto loan... guess who had to pay that .now I'm broke.

cant just ruin my credit and leave him without a car for work.

oh i regret that now, [the price of the car not the Co- signing]

my sofa needs replaced , i need a new shock in my car.

well,with a car loan now,how could I get any of those now.

I might be breaking it off with the guy i am seeing, he reminds me too much of my x, always in his garage working on stuff.

and still has his adult kids living at home with a grand kid, who he seems to watch a lot,

and they have no car so he lets them use his and gee Im finding myself picking him up more and more.

all weekend he was working on his projects, and I had to go pick him up to see him for a lousy three hours then had to take him home. this man has a good job, but his kids manipulate his time .

and oh gee surprise, i find he likes motorcycles. which is why hes always at his shop.....

i told myself im not dating men with a bike, that's their priority . and i find that it is.

no time for me or a relationship, well, been there done that.

32 years of competing with alcohol, a motorcycle, and lack of time spent together ruined my marriage.

its so hard breaking it off with men, the last one was quite devastated, and this one might be too. but I hope not. hes very nice, but I cant handle that lifestyle again. I don't want to repeat the last 20 years of my life.

I guess Im a heart breaker, but im not going to be competing for a few hours of mans time again , with other people and his garage projects. Im not looking for an occasional boy friend. I want a commitment.

by the time your 50 you should be past the constant working on house and cars and having kids living at home.

the fact that there is no one around my area that has any knowledge of anything other than beer and bikes and guns. makes it nearly impossible for me.

I swear I'm living in the wrong place. god dont men read? dont they have any interesting conversations ? Im by no means a brainiac, but god, Im not going to sit and watch tv all the time. stand in a garage and watch someone get dirty with oil, or walk and talk about nothing.

these guys are like, 'if it doesn't affect me why worry about it, dont care, i cant change things so why worry about it.'

wow, well gee , um, there's science, history religion, politics, medical, subjects to talk about, and if you read a magazine [or gasp, a book] once in a while, and not a repair manual, you might learn something interesting and fun.

no culture!

well gee thanks for letting me rant. lol,

now Im off to work.