Posts by zack

91

The Watchtower and Creation

by AlanF in

it struck me this past year, with respect to jw teachings about the timing of genesis 1, that even in things that really have no impact on what most jws think of as "core doctrine" the watchtower society sticks to its traditions over what the bible says.

this was again brought home in the september, 2006 awake!

17 between me and the sons of israel it is a sign to time indefinite, because in six days jehovah made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and proceeded to refresh himself.

zack

AlanF:

Thanks for your post. I was almost made to recant a a remamrk i casually made during one of my talks, when i mentioned that the Earth could possibly not be 49k years old,

but was in fact many billions of years old and the creative days were long periods of time, possibly millions and billions of years in length. Well, I wasn;t going to let a couple uber elders do a Galileo on me, and challanged them to prove from Scripture that it could not have happened as I remarked. hey told me the "slave" this and the "slave that.

I tild them (this was an elders meeting mind you) that unless the two "offended" brothers could prove from scripture that what I said was wrong, they need to keep quiet and drop the matter.

And there it ended. The JW view is unsupportable not just in science but in scripture. They insisit on commenting on EVeRYTHING and yet they truly do not know ANYTHING.

I am so damn happy to be free of that cult thinking.

9

So I met an-ex JW today.....

by zack in

jw
friends

ok. so i take out to lunch this business associate of mine to solidiy our budding relationship.

a bit of shmoozing.. half way through lunch i'm asked if i didn't want any more children (i have a grown child who is married) and when i started to reply.

i stopped myself.

zack

I must agree. According to the Watchtower, this can only be Divine Providence. Perhaps there was an angel watching out for me. I may have to send this experience in for publication.

(After it's thoroughly embellished, of course.)

55

Can God see the future?

by Adolfius in

jw
friends

i've been out a while, but i remember thinking about this as a teenager and being confused, (my mother told me i must be posessed by demons to think such things and so never offered me an explanation).

what do the jws say about it.

if jehovah can see into the future, he would've known what a mess he was going to make of creation so he would've decided against it before he even thought of it.. based on the theory that he went ahead and created everything anyway, that must mean he can't see into the future.. i also seem to remember that god doesn't interfere with man, because we have free will, so all our actions are down to us and in no way "steered" or "influenced" by god.. so how can he make predictions about the future, i.e.

zack

I don't know whether God can see the future or not. I am of the mind that there is no future, no set of events that that MUST happen like gazing into a crystal ball. But events WILL happen.

I have often thought that God can "see" the future in the sense that a great chess player can "see" the board 5, 6, 7 moves down the road because he can read his opponent so well

and is able to not just ANTICIPATE his opponent's moves, but MANIPULATE his opponent's moves by his own moves.

So if God designed everything and can manipulate evreything, then in that sense he can see the future because He can CAUSE the events that make up the future.

It is much like fixing a horse race or a boxing match---- you can't really know who will win in a fair contest, but you can FIX who loses in a crooked contest and thus control the outcome.

So prior to the race or the match you "predict" who will "win" and it comes true. You repeat that hundreds of times over many years. Does that make you a prophet, a seer? Ot does

it make you a FIXER, a MANIPULATOR? If God has that power, then He can control who wins by fixing who loses. Israel did not WIN wars, it's enemies LOST them. God fixed

the fight.

24

Why does the WTS insist everyone sign up for the Ministerial School ?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

i never enjoyed giving # 2 talks.

i never enjoyed being at a podium and speaking.

i took drama in high school just to get over the fear of being in front of people and speaking.

zack

yaddayadda:

I'm not worthy.

9

So I met an-ex JW today.....

by zack in

jw
friends

ok. so i take out to lunch this business associate of mine to solidiy our budding relationship.

a bit of shmoozing.. half way through lunch i'm asked if i didn't want any more children (i have a grown child who is married) and when i started to reply.

i stopped myself.

zack

OK. So I take out to lunch this business associate of mine to solidiy our budding relationship. A bit of shmoozing.

Half way through lunch I'm asked if I didn't want any more children (I have a grown child who is married) and when I started to reply

I stopped myself. I then asked this person about their religious views. They said they were not religious now, but had grown up a JW

and in high school had decided that it was a cult and had never gone back to a Kingdom Hall!

I thought to myself, "So what are the odds of this happening?"

Needless to say, we hit it off on a much deeper level. It was great talking to someone who knew EXACTLY where I was coming from.

24

Why does the WTS insist everyone sign up for the Ministerial School ?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

i never enjoyed giving # 2 talks.

i never enjoyed being at a podium and speaking.

i took drama in high school just to get over the fear of being in front of people and speaking.

zack

It is part of the indoctrination process pure and simple. Like OTWo said, you are more likely to believe things when you say them.

18

What are some common misconceptions about JW's among ex-JW's?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

we come out of the org.

we caught them in lies.

they stole our time, our money, our families from us.

zack

Yes, lumping all JW's into one category is unfair. The LEADERSHIP is at fault. I was duped because my family was duped.

However, I believe that anyone in the religion who teaches its lies as "adjustments" or "current truths" knows he is being dishonest and prefers the lie to the truth.

That being said, it is very sad for some who have their whole lives invested in the system of the WTS to simply walk away and acknowledge that their faith has been

misplaced and their lives wasted. The men who run this corporation and justify their control over people's consciences, rationalize their myths as part of a greater good, and prefer

tradition over a change that will liberate their followers from guilt, are the ones who I hold responsible and for whom a weighty judgement awaits.

Most JW's are just like everyone else: they have problems, they have dreams, they want a better life for their children, and they--- like so many others--- have been duped.

15

"Religions tell us we have to give up this life for another ...

by serenitynow in

jw
friends

give up our desire, passions, pleasures ... what type of comfort is that?

'die while you are alive so you can be alive when you are dead?'".

this was a thought-provoking quote i read on the weekend from a french philosopher michael onfray, particularly when we know how much one gives up for life as a dub.

zack

This is something I reinforce to my friends. I am alive TODAY. I my be dead TOMORROW. The postponement of life, of dreams, of goals, of LIVING is very

detrimental to a person's emotional and mental well-being. Solomon said 'that whatever your hand finds to do , then do.... because there is NOTHING in Sheol the place where we are

going.' That sounds a lot like "Live your Life now."

Religionists want you to be under their control and use fear to keep you there. Once you lose the fear, they get very frustrated.

56

Comments you will not hear at the 5-13-07 WT Review (Loyal to GB Jesus)

by blondie in

loyal to christ and his faithful slave.

what interesting points: cross, christmas, pyramid.

q12, 13) what scriptural reasons are there for showing respect for the slave class?.

zack

As much as they quote OT examples, why can't the R&F see that even the men thar were directly assigned by God to lead the nation did not themselves

ask that nation to follow them. Joshua himself was the leader of the isrealites and what he said was: "As for me and my house, we will follow Jehovah."

And right up to the times of the first King, the book of Judges says that each one did was was right in his own eyes. They did not need a human authority.

I didn't attend this meeting but had read this article and it was all I could do to keep from barfing and screaming att the same time.

I am so glad I know the TRUTH. Thanks JWD, thanks Randy Watters, thanks RF.

23

End of life

by Phil in

jw
friends

i have recently been diagnosed with lukemia with a limited life left in the old bod.

my daughter is a jw and was lured into the institution by her then boyfriend (now husband).

my present intention is to prepare some idea of what she has got herself into.

zack

Very sorry, sir.