Posts by ivanatahan

i have a legitimate concern that being out of the closet too much will hurt my career or neighborly relations--i know for a fact it probably would.. i'm really cautious about who i tell.. how about you?

ivanatahan

I agree with Terry 100%. I'm neither an atheist nor a theist, I don't believe in evolution nor creationism. I believe that I simply can't believe in any specific idea because any idea could be true. I simply don't know.

14

Has Anyone See The Giver, and If so, Do you Relate It to the Watch Tower?

by jamiebowers in

jw
friends

i just watched it on dvd, and holy cow, i can see so many similarities to the watch tower!

i don't want to give anythng away for those who would like to see it, but i really wish the way it ended was a possibility in watch tower world..

ivanatahan

I agree with Mum, any high control groups suh as Big Brother, the Giver society, Mazerunner (in a way, but I feel it isn't really high control in the same way), and others simulate the Watchtower Society with striking accuracy.

14

Finally Gave My First Anti-Witness After 11 Years

by new light in

jw
friends

hello one and all.. the local jws had a booth set up at my university today and something just came over me.

i went to a computer, found a list of failed prophecies, printed and stapled it, and walked over to the middle aged woman and the 10-ish years old girl.

the woman said "if you are interested in anything, take it for free.

ivanatahan

I applaud you for your move. You did an excellent and wise thing. :D

40

8 Year Old Getting Baptized!

by Atlantis in

eight year old getting baptized!

(from a jw site.

this 8 year old sister was the youngest of the 31 who were baptized at a regional convention in bogo city, cebu, philippines on the weekend.

ivanatahan

An extremely sad thing to have a young child dedicate herself to Jewhore's Wittynesses. I think it's sad in general that many people getting baptized don't know what they're getting themselves into.

10

Will the Image Meaning Change?

by Theredeemer in

jw
friends

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/official-america-now-no-2-150936444.html.

how will the dubs spin this?.

.

ivanatahan

They will find a new light showing that the last empire wasn't the american one, but the chinese one....

It shouldn't be too hard to find in the Bible "someone rising from the East"

We were also always at war with East Asia! :D

2

China Is Number One

by metatron in

jw
friends

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-america-is-now-no-2-2014-12-04.

so says the imf.

do we declare another wts prediction as false prophecy yet?

ivanatahan

But, but, but...There can't be another world power...

Entirely false. The United Kingdom co-rules as world power along with the Unites States!

On a more serious note, I'm glad the United States' hegemony over the world is challenged.

10

My views.

by ivanatahan in

jw
friends

this is more of an introductory post discussing my views and background than anything else, really.. i was, unfortunately, born into this religion.

my mom was, and still is, a pioneer (or as some call it: "piousneer"), and my father is an elder.

admittedly, up until a few months up to a year back, i was indeed a zealous "servant of jehovah".

ivanatahan

"You have done a lot of reading already ... it's always good to be open minded.

I don't believe the WTS was started to make money. I think like many other groups around the time it was founded they all were probably quite earnest (many came from the same root teachings / millerism).

But eventually once any organization grows big enough it creates structure and control and people want position and authority and before you know it you have a high control religion even though it's possible that no one planned it as such.

An organization takes on a life of it's own and is determined to grow and survive, sometimes acting counter to the opinions of many within it. There was a UK MP who wrote a great article on the subject which I'll try and find." - Simon

Yep, I've read nearly every thread on the last 25 pages of this subforum. It's quite interesting and I love feasting on knowledge that's new to me.

"I once felt the same way. However think about this. These men are treated like the Pharaohs of old. They are living gods among millions of devoted JWs. At the very least they are treated as rock stars. Even their "helpers" they send to the conventions are given special attention. I've been out a long time but when I was active the GB members were not as prominent as they are now. These GB get to be TV evangelists and can now spread their non-sense at a push of a button. These Princes of Christ use the donations to enrich their lives. Do they get to drive in porsches? Perhaps not yet but don't be fooled that they don't use the money to travel where they please, eat what they want, and wear whatever suits they choose. And there has been no focus on these men's wifes. I wonder what they own in their bethel homes and what their wife's own in jewellery." - adjusted knowledge

That makes sense to me.

10

My views.

by ivanatahan in

jw
friends

this is more of an introductory post discussing my views and background than anything else, really.. i was, unfortunately, born into this religion.

my mom was, and still is, a pioneer (or as some call it: "piousneer"), and my father is an elder.

admittedly, up until a few months up to a year back, i was indeed a zealous "servant of jehovah".

ivanatahan

This is more of an introductory post discussing my views and background than anything else, really.

I was, unfortunately, born into this religion. My mom was, and still is, a pioneer (or as some call it: "piousneer"), and my father is an elder. Admittedly, up until a few months up to a year back, I was indeed a zealous "servant of Jehovah". I always had my doubts and problems, but I still believed this was "the Truth". I gradually came to the point of realizing that this religion is a sham and is full of lies, and this is thanks to me realizing all the illogical contradictions found in the Watchtowers and general beliefs in this religion.

One that spoke out to me was what Jehovah's Witnesses used as "evidence" against evolution and "evidence" that supported creation. They claimed that since the chances of someone rearranging lettered blocks into the alphabet while blindfolded is extremely unlikely. They used this comparison in relations to the chances that the Universe blindly organized itself into the form it is today. They use this as reason to prove that evolution didn't happen. What? How could you use the slim chances of something happening as reason for claiming it didn't happen? People get struck by lightning, people die in airplane accidents, but the chances of these events happening are slim. Does that mean that these things couldn't possibly have happened because the chances are slim? No. Unless you use the same logic as Jehovah's Witnesses use. This untied me from the chains as described in Socrates' (or Plato's) "Allegory of the Cave". As I found more and more contradictions and illogical reasoning, I eventually have gotten free of the chains and found the true source of "truth" and that this religion isn't the "truth". I believe I am still in the cave itself, but coming out into the outside, since I generally have come free by myself with generally no one else's intervention, and am rather lost in terms of where to go and what to do.

I was baptized at a young age because I fancied a girl who was baptized shortly before I decided to get baptized. Sure, I did believe this was true. I was zealous. But I wasn't zealous so much in my mind as I was in my actions. I would always help out at the meetings, be it carry microphones or pass around Our Kingdom Ministries and generally made myself look like an exemplary young Witness, but I never actually enjoyed going to the meetings or conventions. My mother was strict, as many JWs are, and so my social abilities were not well developed, and it is one of the things that I truly hate and am ungrateful for. I can make friends, yes, but I always do something I didn't realize and lose them. I can barely talk to girls because I was held back by my parents because of the stupid rules against dating imposed by the organization. Because of this, my hold onto the "world" isn't firm, so I can't just leave the organization now. I need to be able to still have a life after I leave, because I know my family and friends will abandon me. I'm still young and haven't quite finished school, so I have hope that I can soon develope those abilities.

My online research about Jehovah's Witnesses started last Thursday, I believe, as it may as well have been Friday, and it led me to this and many other websites. My view on the organization deteriorated a lot more than it was before. I hadn't looked online about JWs before because JWs were essentially said to refrain from doing so, and made it sound as if there would be radical claims about JW such as perhaps making JWs look like cannibals. I was mistaken.

Through the months thinking about Jehovah's Witnesses, I've generally come to this conclusions.

The organization WAS NOT made to be an organization for making money. This was evident as it doesn't quite seem as though the Governing Body actually used the money donated to them for themselves, otherwise Anthony Morris III would fix his ridiculous haircut, as seen during his contrevorsial "tight pants" talk. Has anyone seen the hair behind his head? It's horrifying.
The purpose of the organization is otherwise unknown to me. It doesn't make sense that a group of people would go through all the trouble of printing out all these magazines and literature in hundreds of languages around the world for personal reasons. There are better ways to do that. So I do think that the Governing Body actually believes what they are preaching.
I don't think the Bible is "inspired". This is because JWs claim that since the Bible has links to accepted and proven history and science, and since it has practical solutions to problems that work, then it HAS to be true and HAS to have been inspired by God. Charlotte's Web also has things that resemble the real world, besides the talking animals, but it certainly doesn't mean it's true. Another thing that shows to me that the Bible isn't "inspired" is Noah's Flood. I'll just let you all reflect on the fact that the Bible claims there was once a flood that completely covered the Earth's surface.
Jehovah's Witnesses who genuinely believe in the "truth" have at least slight mental disorders. Just go to a meeting and observe those who attend, ignore those who appear to be not "into it".
Many more I can't think of right now.

Please tell me about your thoughts and feelings, I'm a very open minded guy and reflect on criticisms.