Let's face it--it should be impossible for a human to be nicer, kinder, more just than a deity purported to be a god of love and justice.
Posts by Terry
-
18CAN WE BE BETTER THAN THE GOD WE SERVE?
by Terry inbe careful what you say god is and what he wants; you may be saying more about yourself than you realize.. it may well be our personal taste in religion is revelatory of our basic character.. _____.
look at the devout islamist whose worship consists of blowing people up or cutting off heads.. contrast that to those hindi who sit with legs folded in their own lap contemplating bliss.. now contrast both the above to somebody who believes service to god is visiting the sick in hospitals.. _____.
instead of there being 3 different gods served--there might only be an extraordinary unveiling of each person's heart and mind!.
-
-
-
8
JEHOVAH consents to sit down with a reporter for a one on one INTERVIEW!
by Terry inr: thank you for agreeing to this interview.
how should i address you?
if you are a good god, why wouldn't you want to stop the evil?.
-
-
-
18
CAN WE BE BETTER THAN THE GOD WE SERVE?
by Terry inbe careful what you say god is and what he wants; you may be saying more about yourself than you realize.. it may well be our personal taste in religion is revelatory of our basic character.. _____.
look at the devout islamist whose worship consists of blowing people up or cutting off heads.. contrast that to those hindi who sit with legs folded in their own lap contemplating bliss.. now contrast both the above to somebody who believes service to god is visiting the sick in hospitals.. _____.
instead of there being 3 different gods served--there might only be an extraordinary unveiling of each person's heart and mind!.
-
-
Terry
Be careful what you say God is and what He wants; you may be saying more about yourself than you realize.
It may well be our personal taste in religion is revelatory of our basic character.
_____
Look at the devout Islamist whose worship consists of blowing people up or cutting off heads.
Contrast that to those Hindi who sit with legs folded in their own lap contemplating bliss.
Now contrast both the above to somebody who believes service to God is visiting the sick in hospitals.
_____
Instead of there being 3 different Gods served--there might only be an extraordinary unveiling of each person's heart and mind!
_____
Do we not have the power of choice to serve humanity with kindness EVEN IF some religious leader tells us God is vengeful?
In other words: CAN WE BE BETTER THAN THE GOD WE SERVE?
_______________________
Jehovah's Witnesses believe in a god who solves problems by destroying billions of non-Witnesses!
What if your kind of "God" would never do that?
Are you better than Jehovah? I say, "Yes."
____________________________
Think how superior JW's feel when they encounter folks who believe in a god who burns people in Hell!
They smugly explain how Jehovah is a God of Love and how a parent would never punish their child by
sticking their hands in the fire for discipline.
What if we believed in something superior to Jehovah?
The power of mere human beings to repair the world through acts of kindness, volunteerism, charity and education--I say--
is vastly superior to the JW's Jehovah's way!
STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT.
_________________________
Jehovah demands JW's spend time taking dreary-worded magazines door to door.
But, what about people who take meals to the hungry, the aging, the sick and the dying?
JW reading material (food at the proper time) is stale from start to finish,
while a true benevolence in feeding a hungry person genuine meals is far more loving.
_______________________
(James 1:27) "The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself with out spot from the world.
_________________
Working at charity is far from an approved activity among Witnesses. This raises the question: aren't those
who do visit widows and orphans, who feed the sick, who work at hospice for the dying--aren't they
SUPERIOR to Jehovah's Witnesses in every way?
________________________________
I say this: the new rebuttal we owe Jehovah's Witnesses should consist of the following:
"I SERVE A MUCH NICER GOD THAN JEHOVAH because I am free to be loving and kind to everybody
instead of practicing empty words, shunning those who disagree, hiding pedophiles,
clinging to False Prophets, and condemning the entire planet to holocaust in order to gain a paradise founded
upon the death of billions."
YOU GET THE GOD YOU DESERVE!
THE GOD YOU WORSHIP REVEALS WHAT HIDES IN YOUR HEART.
-
4
Animated debunking: a pretty good idea
by Terry inwhat we need is a cartoon presentation of jw beliefs that's as revealing as this very entertaining one exposing mormons.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3bqlz8uozk.
.
-
-
Terry
As we say in Texas, "Oh my gravy!"
-
8
JEHOVAH consents to sit down with a reporter for a one on one INTERVIEW!
by Terry inr: thank you for agreeing to this interview.
how should i address you?
if you are a good god, why wouldn't you want to stop the evil?.
-
-
Terry
We report . . . you decide :)
-
8
JEHOVAH consents to sit down with a reporter for a one on one INTERVIEW!
by Terry inr: thank you for agreeing to this interview.
how should i address you?
if you are a good god, why wouldn't you want to stop the evil?.
-
-
Terry
R=Reporter
J=Jehovah
__________________________________________________________________________________________
R: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. How should I address you? What is proper? Yahweh? Jehovah? Lord?
J: Doesn't matter much. I know who means to contact me and why.
_____
R: You aren't offended if somebody calls you, um, Allah or Jehovah or Adonai or just god?
J: Oh please! The taking of offense rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.
_____
R: Very well, then. Lord . . . are we on our own or do you guide us in some way?
J: You have each other don't you?
R: We cooperate to a certain point. Mostly, we argue. We disagree. Things are a mess. We need help. We need YOUR help.
J: False premises lead to false conclusions. You are making an assumption and treating it as fact.
________________
R: But--we die! Every one of us. Our best science, medicine, and technology can only delay death for awhile.
J: Flowers die. Plant more flowers. People die, but you have no problem replacing them with others from what I observe.
R: Are you saying we're no more important than THAT?
J: Important? You live; you die. How does "important" figure into that?
_____
R: Well, for one thing, Lord--we're made in your image!
J: Can you see me?
R: Certainly not.
J: What could an "invisible" image really mean?
______
R: We're special. We've been created to fulfill your purpose, and we got sidetracked by sin and Satan. It says so in your Word: the Bible.
J: That's news to me.
_____
R: (Dumbfounded) Oh my god! Sorry. I mean--are you saying . . . what ARE you saying?
J: When the snow melts--where does the "white" go? It is a meaningless question, is it not?
_____
R: But, why give us the Bible. Why send Jesus to die for us if everything is "meaningless" for us?
J: You are getting ahead of yourself. Slow down.
_____
R: First off . . . Did you give us the Bible?
J: Nope.
R: You didn't?
J: Nope. You gave yourselves the Bible. If you don't understand it--don't blame me!
_____
R: You mean--the Bible isn't the Word of, um . . . God?
J: I'm sure it is.
R: I'm confused.
_____
J: Yes, you are ALL confused. Figure out what you mean by "God" and part of your confusion will vanish.
_____
R: Are you implying there is more than one God?
J: God is whatever you put above your own understanding. If you need advice, wisdom, purpose or blame you find it. You put it where you can find it. Then, you wrestle with it. Argue over it. Kill for it. None of that is my doing.
_____
R: But, you are real. Aren't you?
J: Let me ask you: do you ever talk to yourself from time to time?
R: Sure.
J: Is this one of those times?
_____
R:Please, I'm trying to get answers to important questions here!
J: Ask the right ones, then.
R: You tell me, what questions should I ask?
_____
J: Now that is a fine example of what I am telling you! You want the answers to questions you don't even know how to ask. And you wonder why you are confused?
R:(Silent . . . thinking . . .) sighs . . . Is there Evil? Is there a Devil?
_____
J: How can you doubt evil?
R: I don't. But, is there a PERSON who is the cause of evil?
J: Lots of them. Your prisons and history books and governments and religions are filled with them.
_____
R: I mean just ONE named Satan?
J: Cancer. Do you know what it really is? Cells in your own body. They multiply and interfere with the other cells. Is CANCER a person? Would it mean anything if once, millions of years ago, there was person named CANCER?
R: I'm asking YOU!
_____
J: And I've already told you that asking the wrong questions doesn't get you anywhere. You are stuck in a quicksand of mythology. Meaningless lore.
_____
R: Do you--the Creator of everything--have a work for people to do here on Earth? Let's start with that.
J: This is your home: Earth. Is it perfect? Do you want to improve it or ruin it? Your home; your choice. You have Life. You own your life. What do YOU want to do with it? Do it. Or, don't. But, crying out to me for directions is abandoning your OWN purposes. Make choices, then own those choices.
_____
R: Some of us--many of us are born deformed, or sick. Some of us are murdered or molested . . . we don't get much of a chance to do anything before it is Game Over.
J: That deeply saddens me, I assure you.
_____
R: But--you don't--you don't DO anything about it--you don't step in and stop it from happening! Don't you care?
_____
J: Two different things. I care. Profoundly. But, you are correct, I don't step in and stop it.
R: Why why why? If you are a Good God, why wouldn't you want to stop the evil?
_____
J: The simple answer won't satisfy you. But, here it is. You can't have things absolutely PERFECT unless you are all by yourself. Been there; done that.
R: What are you saying?
_____
J: One mind can have one purpose and one outcome. Two minds . . . or more . . . that leads to conflict. I had a choice to be ALONE. I chose to not
remain alone. The result, like it or not, resulted in differences which led to conflicts. So, I take the good with the bad rather than be ALONE.
______________
R: Why not force conformity and destroy those causing conflict?
J: Like it or not. I gave humanity the gift of life. You work it out or you don't. I've stepped in and snuffed out men, women, children, babies in their mother's womb, plants and animals. It did about as much "good" as washing your hands does in spreading germs. It is a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. You have "good" people and you have "bad". Mostly, you have good people who sometimes do bad and bad people who sometimes do good.
___________
R:You aren't All-Powerful, then?
J: I can create. I can destroy. What more do you want? Constant remote control? What does that do for me? About as much as playing video games does for you. It might be interesting for awhile. But, I'm in the middle of Eternal Life. How far does that go with a Life Sentence such as that?
R: Wait--are you saying you are miserable! Being God is not a great thing?
J: I cannot die. You humans think you want that? You have NO IDEA what a curse that would be! I would be a monster if I gave you that!
_____
R: What about angels, demons and . . . what about your son, Jesus?
J: What about them?
_____
R: Aren't they eternal?
J: Listen, I Am independent. Every other living thing which exists is Dependent. Life itself is merely opportunity to DO. Endless opportunity to DO something is also endless opportunity to create problems for the others.
_____
R: But, I asked about Jesus?
_____
J: I was lonely. What do you want from me?
_____
R: The Trinity--are you part of a Trinity?
J: Oh please! Like you've understood anything I've said already?
_____
R: I'm standing here talking to the Supreme Being of all the Universe and I haven't learned a thing! How can this be happening?
J: Your fundamental human mistake is always the same one. Solve that problem and the rest goes away.
_____
R: Which is what? What is the "fundamental" human mistake we can't seem to solve?
_____
J: Time. How do you fill it with meaning without trying to escape the fact--for you and for every person--it ends?
_____
R: Pious people only want to do YOUR will. Are you saying we are wasting time trying to figure that out?
J: I told you. My will is that your life belongs to you. Eventually, when all is silent again I will be alone. It will be as it once was. I do not and can not change. You can! I have given to you what I don't have for myself. You have the magnificent opportunity to DO something knowing you will end.
_____
R: That scares us more than anything!
J: This makes you fools. You waste your life trying to escape death. LIFE is about DOING and then dying. Instead of DOING something you want rituals, prayers as though you deserve to GO ON LIVING! For what? Just to NOT die? That is the only hell there is: NOT DYING!!
_____
R: I don't know what to say...
J: You do. But, you won't.
R: I do....but, I won't? (thinking...) I DO...but, I WON'T?...oh..OH! I think I get it now!
J: (Smiling invisibly) That wasn't so difficult now, was it?
END of INTERVIEW
-
4
Animated debunking: a pretty good idea
by Terry inwhat we need is a cartoon presentation of jw beliefs that's as revealing as this very entertaining one exposing mormons.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3bqlz8uozk.
.
-
-
Terry
Hmmm, well, I guess maybe some JW might watch it out of curiosity.
Do the JW's STILL TEACH Jesus was an archangel?
-
4
Animated debunking: a pretty good idea
by Terry inwhat we need is a cartoon presentation of jw beliefs that's as revealing as this very entertaining one exposing mormons.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3bqlz8uozk.
.
-
-
Terry
What we need is a cartoon presentation of JW beliefs that's as revealing as this very entertaining one exposing Mormons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3BqLZ8UoZk
http://www.jeremiahfilms.com/store/catalogsearch/result/?q=jehovah%27s+witnesses
____________________________
Conventional videos are okay--but, easy to dismiss.
-
127
I'm sitting here listening to a JW try to recruit somebody
by Terry ini'm at starbucks .
just outside in the courtyard.. i'm trembling.
my hands are shaking.. wow!.
-
-
Terry
The young JW's family is rather high-powered, by his description. His mother is a force to be reckoned with.
I've some experience with matriarchal dynamics, but I certainly can't generalize.
Just from my guy's own words, the pressure on him from his mom must be tremendous.
He is highly intelligent, warm-hearted, and honest-minded simply by nature. However . . . his indoctrination is deep
and quite powerful. Now that he's had some "outside" contact with somebody who actually knows how this religion works, I think
he is too sharp not to have his periscope up in all future dealings with the elders.
I can't help but be optimistic about the long run.
I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but he asked for my phone number, and he gave me his.
He texted me about a child molestation article which appeared in the local newspaper concerning a case in nearby Dallas.
He and his family actually knew the people involved.
He was quite disturbed to say the least.
The pieces of the puzzle drop . . . one by one . . .
-
15
What have you learned, Terry, from TEN YEARS on this discussion board?
by Terry in1. it's not all about me.. each of us has to grow up our own way at our own pace.
when we regain our balance we can be of help to other people.
life doesn't.
-
-
Terry
1. It's not all about me.
Each of us has to grow up our own way at our own pace. When we regain our balance we can be of help to other people. Life doesn't even begin until we learn to be of help. Then, it becomes a skillset of "how" each individual we try to help CAN be helped.
2. Leaving the JW's creates extreme unbalance which has to be restored.
Jehovah's Witnesses walk a tightrope. Inside that cult things make a certain kind of ironclad "sense." When you unplug from it--you lose your mental and emotional balance! Just finding out it isn't the be-all and end-all "Truth" isn't enough. The roots go so deep it can take a lifetime to sort out. What does it mean to be a balanced person, anyway? That's task Numero Uno!
3. Knowing religious "information" means almost absolutely NOTHING. How you treat people means almost EVERYTHING.
JW's think "accurate knowledge" is an excuse for lip-service kinds of love. But, it is an awfully empty and cold substitute. Once you leave the Kingdom Hall for good, you must adjust. Kindness to others, charity, and a helpful attitude are very hard for JW's to develop. DOING GOOD beats "knowing Truth" by a mile.
4. Angry people, negative attitudes= trouble for everybody.
A therapist once told me something which really turned me around. "When you catch yourself saying something negative; immediately say three positive things!" What happens then? You find yourself struggling to find 3 positive things because you are in a different place inside your own head.
But, climbing out of that pit, and reaching the positive location lets in the light. IT DOES CHANGE HOW YOU FEEL.
5. Find people who know more than you and listen to them. Copy good habits in others. Stop bothering with what's wrong with others, and concentrate on really effective people and HOW they do what they do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
6. Intellectual honesty means you are WILLING to be WRONG if facts and evidence go against your cherished beliefs and opinions.
We all know people who think they are right. But, that's US too! Avoid confirmation bias by becoming humble enough to accept all the little (and not so little) errors we commit. Acknowledge when you are wrong. Say it out loud: I WAS WRONG. Now, the hard part--change your mind!
7. The things you think you know are usually the things you never really think about again.
Have you ever arrived home and suddenly realized you don't remember the trip? You were deep in thought and the driving was AUTOMATIC.
We all develop habits. Those habits become ingrained. We just KNOW how to ride a bike. We just know how to drive home. This can be dangerous in many ways. Why? We can't afford to STOP THINKING . . . not ever. Our most deeply accepted "truths" may have frayed edges. Only if we actively investigate our own "givens" can we have reason for confidence. Be open to seeing things with fresh eyes.
8. STOP SEEKING APPROVAL
Discussion Boards can be a crutch when we first leave a cult religion behind us. We are soooooo accustomed to everybody thinking the same way. We are soooooo comfortable allowing the "other" to tell us what is "good" and bad. How will we learn to live our own life if we don't think our own thoughts?
Stop asking for advice. Making important decisions about your own life is YOUR OWN job. Start with what you value most. What DO you value and why?
That is your standard for making decisions: achieving the closest you can get to your ideal values. The rest is silly opinion.
9. A lot of what we think is EVIL is really laziness and stupidity.
When I was in prison all those years ago, I met a great many different kinds of "bad guys". Only one or two were EVIL. Evil people cannot empathize.
They feel only their own pain. They have sympathy for none but themselves. Being a sociopath or psychopath is about 3 out of 100 people's natural temperament and mindset. What does this mean? The other 97% do bad things mostly because they are so fucking stupid or lazy!!
Developing lazy habits makes you stop trying to be better or do better.
Never testing what you think is true leads you to never notice when you are wrong. If you don't notice it is you who is wrong you are likely to BLAME OTHERS when things go wrong.
I never met a criminal in prison who thought he was at fault! Not one!
10. The most dangerous person in the world is one who makes excuses!
When I say "dangerous" I don't just mean physically threatening. I mean: likely to cause trouble for themselves and others.
People who don't examine their own shortcomings, wrong opinions, ignorance and bad habits CANNOT IMPROVE. They won't look for a better solution to a problem they keep having over and over.
Take the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance.
They refuse to face the fact they have always been wrong about predicting Armageddon. Instead, they make childish and insincere excuses for themselves. They won't say: WE WERE WRONG when they can be moral cowards and say: We have, at times, made adjustments.
Without humility, you become a danger to yourself and others. In time, you become a force of destruction.
11. Unless you find ways to help people, you will confuse the "desire" to help others with actual help.
I was riding with a friend of mine in his car when we saw a homeless guy lying on the sidewalk next to a bus stop. I said out loud, "That's terrible,
I hope he's not dead." My friend stopped the car and ran over to the man and helped him up. We ended up driving the man (who smelled awful) in my friend's car to the emergency room of the local hospital. My friend insisted we stay until we knew the homeless guy was okay.
Now, why do I tell you this.
Here is why.
I had just been released from two years in prison as a gung-ho super-Christian Jehovah's Witness.
My friend was not a JW. He was a plain vanilla Christian.
He and I both thought the thought: "How awful."
But, the difference between him and myself was a world apart!
It would NEVER have occurred to me as a JW to actually DO ANYTHING for that man!
He shamed me. He actually actively MADE A DIFFERENCE while I was patting myself on the back for "thinking" charitable thoughts.
That incident made a deep impression on my which lasts until this day.
In my JW mind, I confused feeling pity with "Christian love" on my part.
Once I saw how empty and meaningless my "love" was---it was like cold water thrown in my face.
We really must learn the difference. It has taken me a lifetime to become a giving person who will take any kind of step toward
reaching out. It came slow and hard. I was a hollow Christian from my years in the Kingdom Hall.
If we try every day to do at least one little ACTUAL HELPFUL THING our awareness will grow.
It is deeply, movingly satisfying to help another person . . . once you get the hang of it!
12. The busiest, most important person in the world has the same number of hours in the day as the least effective person does.
How we choose to spend our time is really what our life IS.
What did we learn today we didn't know yesterday?
How many times did we discover we were wrong? Learning you are wrong is WONDERFUL! Why? Because you can fix that and change.
But, if you are only "right" you don't grow.
Being effective in our use of 24 hours to our day is the difference between a good life well-lived, and an empty life wasted.
Busy, important, successful people use their time to improve little by little.
If we aren't improving . . . what do you think is really happening?
13. Even the smartest person still believes really stupid things!
No matter how well educated you are, there is something you hold dear and true which is a totally bogus lump of crap!
Superstition?
Astrology?
Politics?
Religion?
Medical or health quackery?
Urban legends?
How can you discover what your CRAZY beliefs are in order to change them/
Try visiting websites created for the purpose of exposing these phony beliefs.
http://whatculture.com/offbeat/35-false-facts-wrongly-believe-1.php