zack

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Posts by zack

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  88

  Biblical morals.

  by Anti-Christ in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just a few questions.

  if some of you base your moral standards on the bible, how do you know what is right and wrong?

  i ask because the morals in the bible change a lot.

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  zack

  BA:
  
  You said different time/different place. I agree. So that makes culture and time two important contructs to morals. That is why Biblical morals cannot be universal and eternally enforced because times, cultures, and people change. And if God "allowed" it, then He must have accepted it because He was pretty quick to get rid of anything that he didn't like.

  Viewed within the context of a middle eastern rural-agrarian society, I would say the set up of multiple wives and brother-in-law marriage, etc... provided a social safety net. This was not something God allowed but were clearly institutions he brought about through legislation. If God was lawgiver, judge, and king and all his activity is perfect, then the laws he gave Israel--- including laws governing slavery, war, concubinage, the spoils of war, genocide---- also are HOLY LAWS because they came directly from Him. To say that God simply permitted these things suggest that we find these things not so holy, not so moral, not so pure within our modern paradigm and have to give God some kind of excuse to let him off the hook ( a hook created by our own human sensibilities.) It is almost as if you are embarrassed by God's actions much like when people make excuses for the bad behavior of others: He didn't mean it he is just having a bad day/She only acts like this when she's sick, etc....

  If there is a God and He created all things, then he needs no excuses, no defenders. He can do what He wants, when He wants, how He wants. I just don't have like it.
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  22

  Special Bethel Talk Last Week

  by BBOARD in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  as you know i still attend all meetings with my still-in family.

  last sunday a bethel speaker came to our hall (crenshaw congregation) and gave two talks.

  one on "avoiding satan's snares" and the other on "showing patience towards jehovah and his organization.

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  zack

  OK, so what does this guy do at Bethel? If he was in Vietnam, he has got to be pushing 60. And if he got married prior to Bethel then he must have gone

  much later than the seventies because Bethel didn't take married couples until Knorr himself married Audrey.

  So, how did he come to be there? Was this discussed? Or is he a cummuter Bethelite? My old CO was a commuter Bethelite. Perhaps he is one of these?
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  9

  Closer to perfection

  by LtCmd.Lore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower uses this concept a lot.

  the idea that humans are somehow becoming more and more imperfect as the decades go by.. they use this to justify the fact that ged required incest of adam and eve's children, and noahs children.

  because, i quote: "with that information, from where would you say that cain got his wife?

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  zack

  I hear your frustration. Just in case you haven't caught on, most things the WTS writes are BS.
• 
  88

  Biblical morals.

  by Anti-Christ in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just a few questions.

  if some of you base your moral standards on the bible, how do you know what is right and wrong?

  i ask because the morals in the bible change a lot.

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• 

  zack

  War. Genocide. Arranged marraige. Assuming high political office. And, yes, SEX. And please spare me the WTS line of apology regarding the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, etc..... Why does God need defending? The Bible is plain about what people did and didn't do. I am tired of hearing "God allowed it."

  Well, if He allowed it, who are we to now condemn it? Either He is constant and unchangeable or He isn't it.
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  11

  Holiday Field Service

  by WTWizard in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  well, with winter and the holidays almost here, field service is about to pose a whole new set of challenges.

  it is going to get colder.

  in parts of the world, it is already getting there (in the southern hemisphere, summer is approaching and it will be getting hotter instead).. what now?

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  zack

  I never did it. Hated it for others that did do it.. The few times the Service Overseer assigned me to "lead the group" I would have him

  reschedule me.

  The WTS sucks.
• 
  22

  Special Bethel Talk Last Week

  by BBOARD in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  as you know i still attend all meetings with my still-in family.

  last sunday a bethel speaker came to our hall (crenshaw congregation) and gave two talks.

  one on "avoiding satan's snares" and the other on "showing patience towards jehovah and his organization.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  zack

  How is this guy at Bethel? Does he have a special skill set?
• 
  16

  How do you spot a doubter ?

  by confused and lost in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi all,i would like to know how to spot any doubters in my cong.the problem,as you are all well aware,is that everyone is to damn scared to openly say anything critical about the wts.so how can i ferret out any "would be doubters".any hints?

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  zack

  Next time you give a talk, just ask for a show of hands for anyone who no longer buys the BS.
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  8

  Wings of Desire

  by monophonic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  someone just spoke of angels in another discussion and it reminded me of the film "wings of desire" by wim wenders..

  i remember when i came out in the late 80's and how people were saying what a horrible film it was b/c it was about angels wanting to be human and then they'd quote, what, was it noah's day.

  (the former things are passing away from my mind, yay!

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  zack

  Did you say you "came out" in the 80's? Did I read that right?
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  40

  Avoiding an Elder

  by R.F. in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm almost six months past walking away from the religion, and one of the elders has risen and thrown a monkey wrench into my entire plan.

  things have been great actually.

  since i've managed to shed myself of congregation responsiblities, the elders have gotten off my back quite a bit.

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  zack

  Don't talk to them about anything and , as Farkel said, especially over the phone. You have to answer NOTHING. Not only are you a grown and independent human being,

  but no man is the master over your faith.

  Tell them nothing. If you speak to them at all, ask that he quit harrassing you. Tell him you feel stalked and might have report it to the police.
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  21

  But WHY don't they disfellowship bloodtakers ?

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  any jw knows that one of the very bad things that a christian must not do is accepting a blood transfusion.

  respect for the sanctity of blood ranks highest, in jw theology, on the scale of christian standards, along with not being a murderer, an adulterer, a robber, etc.

  in fact, it is the identifying feature of jws for the onlooker.

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  zack

  It's all legalistic double speak aimed at avoiding po$$ible losses, whether of property or legal recognition. It is the same kind of legal double speak they

  would condemn their own members for. It betrays the nature of their motivations and their lack of any spirituality. It shows they lack courage, conviction, honesty,

  and the blessing from god that they claim exclusivity on.