"Are Jehovah's Witnesses Happy?"
Only if they're sociopathic.
i know of the local congregation's issues, per an elder i know quite well.
he has said that nearly everyone in the congregation is suffering emotionally and mentally.
he said he has never seen so many witnesses with so many problems.
"Are Jehovah's Witnesses Happy?"
Only if they're sociopathic.
so tomorrow is going to be my last encounter with a jw friend of mine for various reasons on her side.
(long story).
i have spent a lot of time discussing various concerns about the jw teachings, but havent been able to make any progress in helping her to question or doubt the teachings.
If you could tell us a little bit about her it might help.
I personally would tell any JW something like the following:
Whatever happens no matter how bad it gets is not going to be anything like what the Watchtower predicts and you'll be wasting your time being in it.
They used to say that the end times was between 1799 and 1914 and that 1914 was going to be the start of the Millennium with Armageddon being a 40 year period between 1874 and 1914. Then when that failed they started saying that 1914 was the beginning of the end and that the end would end within the lifetime of those who were then alive. Now they make some incomprehensible statement about 1914 and "overlapping generations".
Don't waste your future with people who can't understand what their future is going to be like.
Keep it simple and short otherwise she won't remember what you said later on. No point in trying to deluge her with information. It won't make a lasting impression to make more than two or three points. Just stick to that one and elaborate on it.
i think he probably will (it is the us after all) but i hope he doesn't.
he caused incredible pain and suffering to men, women and children who had never done anything to him.
many died in unimaginable agony, others are disabled for life.
American laws prevent "cruel and unusual punishments". The purpose of prison is to separate criminals from society not to have them torture each other.
As far as the death penalty is concerned, the problem I have with it is not that it's morally wrong - I would gladly kill someone who presents himself as a mortal danger - but that it inevitably will be used against those who have been wrongly accused or condemned.
i attended my brother and sister in laws' baptism at a kingdom hall a number of years ago.
i was [am] not a jw so when i arrived i was bombarded with attention from the flock to which i politely stated that i was there to see my brother and his wife.
it seemed like the distraction was intentional.
I knew a woman who wasn't able to squeeze through the crow to witness her daughter's baptism. She was crying.
No, they didn't do that on purpose.
we all know the wts abandons and invents beliefs faster than apple can churn out new shiny stuff.
but have they ever abandoned a belief and later picked it up again?.
i remember many years ago we had one of those post-district-assembly review parts (part of the service meeting) where they were discussing some "new light".. there was some confusion about which was the "new" and which was the "old" and a semi-discussion ensued with people commenting.
anybody remember how this became a doctrine , years ago , we were at the meetings so that out fingers would be learning something .
..
i came across this site and love it, just full of interesting things to read.
this one is particularly good about whether we are alone in the universe (as intelligent life) and what different scenarios could play out:.
http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html.
do you want to know why i think people don't believe in god?
well i believe people don't want to believe in god because they are scared.
they know that if they finally do gorge the confidence to believe in him, he might discipline them for their skepticism.
"Why people don't believe in God"
Because your god doesn't fill up our tummies like the god below.
bottom line money not god.
to grow a religion you need money and suckers who fall for your particular line of logic.. take away it's money to take away it's power.
the ceos of the watchtower corporation are running the religion/business into the ground because they can't make good business decisions and are caught in a awful web of delusions of grander and blind to the realities of the real world.
@ Brokeback Watchtower,
"To grow a religion you need money and suckers who fall for your particular line of logic."
I disagree. There are many religions, like Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and many others that seem to have come into existence without money playing a crucial role.
do you want to know why i think people don't believe in god?
well i believe people don't want to believe in god because they are scared.
they know that if they finally do gorge the confidence to believe in him, he might discipline them for their skepticism.
And what people tend to believe about God only contradicts what others believe about God and the belief that they are all going to suffer from eternal tortured based on their beliefs.
Why does God's ego have to be so narcissistic as to not tolerate those who don't believe in him?