Posts by Balsam

117

Is It Possible To Reason With A Typical Jehovah's Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

from what i can see, it's nearly impossible to reason with a witness, even if you might consider them somewhat intelligent.

Balsam

You know one day all the so called annointed will be dead one day because most are up in age, and the Governing body will be taken over by the sheep class. Where will the divine information come from then, through the Sheep??????? But they are not recognized as having Jehovah's Holy Spirit directly so that may pose a problem. Can't wait to hear what they come up with. Now hey have some of the higher up Sheep Elders on the Governing Body. I know of one person who felt they were of the annointed and she left once they started putting the sheep ones on the governing body. She felt that the whole thing about the annointed and sheep was a lie after doing research. The congregation has left her alone mostly. In time the thinking will have to change dramatically and many will likely leave the JW. Because it will no longer make sense.

Balsam

117

Is It Possible To Reason With A Typical Jehovah's Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

from what i can see, it's nearly impossible to reason with a witness, even if you might consider them somewhat intelligent.

Balsam

To think and reason is to question, to question is to have doubts, to have doubts is question ones faith. To question ones faith in the foundation of their belief system is frightening. I remember well how it was mentally at that point in my life. But finally the questions and doubts became so big they came spilling out of my head through my mouth. There were no satisfying answers, and that forced me to reexamine my faith in the WTS. Thus taking me away from it. Its ok to not have blind faith in something.

We can't give up reasoning with them even though it might feel hopeless. There are some who are willing to think and reason, and for those who don't then they are were they need to be with their blinders intact.

Balsam

60

Convention Drama creeps out JWs?

by ezekiel3 in

jw
friends

i am getting news from jws who have attended the district convention that the drama (which is pre-recorded and played to lip-syncing actors) has a demon-possessed woman with a ?demonic voice?.

can anyone confirm this?

it is said to be pretty creepy sound effect and many jws are uncomfortable when they hear it.

Balsam

Got to keep the fear going don't they. Always giving the idea that anything outside of their organization is demonized. Lord knows what would they do with out Satan and his demons to continue their scare tactics.

Balsam

70

In All Honesty, Are You A Happier Person Now Than when You Were A JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

jws say, "the apostates are miserable!!

".....do you feel miserable?

(i don't).

Balsam

I am 100% happier now than 3 years ago. I am healing from my son's death, my new husband is a wonderful loving man and I have the love of my two wonderful sons. Both sons are out of the witnesses and living life more happily too.

As a JW I had happy times too, had a miserable marriage though. My boys though were treasured. I enjoyed door to door work, loved it when people would talk to me and get me to thinking. I had some good friends in the JW back then, though I've lost them all. Its ok though, I have better friends now.

Life I know from all I've heard is good after leaving the JW's, and what they say is just not true about us. The Brothers keep people in fear feeding all kinds of horror stories about those who leave and what happens to them.

Balsam

70

In All Honesty, Are You A Happier Person Now Than when You Were A JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

jws say, "the apostates are miserable!!

".....do you feel miserable?

(i don't).

Balsam

Doogie,

How long have you been out? Have you made an effort to find like minded folks perhaps at EX-Jehovah's Witness MEETUP that they have once a month. It's a great support system if you can link up with them in your town or a neighboring one.

You sound to me like your on the mend though. Hang in there, heads up know your not alone.

Balsam

45

Banned From the Bible

by Sweetp0985 in

i may be late in seeing this special on the history channel, but did anyone else see this show.

it was about books being banned from the bible that further explains events that may or may not have happened the way it is written in the bible.

this show peaked my curiousity and i went to the library and found the book who wrote the bible?

Balsam

I find these discussion very intersting. Never while I was a witness for nearly 30 years did we have such discussion about biblical authorship. Questioning the authority or bible canon was right up there with questioning the Governing body of the Watchtower Society. I wonder now why that was.

Since leaving 3 years ago, I've been through many stages of thought on God, the Bible, and religion. I seem like a person tossed here and there upon the sea. But you know this is much more exciting to me than sitting in the endless meetings hearing the drone of the Elders talking about WTS policy or concepts of bible teachings. I realize it is ok to be tossed about, reexamining our believe about God and Jesus. If I had the money & health was better I would go back to college and go into religious studies, I find it totally fasinating. How invigorating all this is. I have come to feel as a Deist, believe in God a powerful being who created all life, yet nothing written about this being is the entire Truth. Perhaps bits of truth are in everything written about God. I no longer view myself as a sinner in need of redeeming. And much happier for that.

Balsam

20

NWT Hides the Divine Name as Found in W&H

by [email protected] in

nwt hides the divine name as found in w&h

one of the foremost features of the 1948 macmillan edition of the w&h

greek text is the careful identification and indication of ?quotations from the old testament.?

Balsam

I had ordered a book from ebay by a fellow it was called "Held in the Watchtower", well along with that book a he sent me a couple of publications about the subject here. One called "A field Service Encounter", and one about the tetragrammaton called "The New World Translation and Hebrew Versions" Book 1 & 2".

Well I just started reading these, and was surprised that the words of Paul were ones used to refer to Yahweh in the old testement were actually used to refer to Jesus. I had to reread several parts, and am still trying to digest this. I was unaware of this completely. I've been out of the JW's now for 3 years and had read alot on the WTS but this I had never heard.

Thanks for the discussion here. I came here immediately when I started reading to see if anyone else was aware of this imformation.

Balsam

25

Ban on baby strollers at DC's

by razorMind in

jw
friends

...is that at all the district conventions?.

did that rule come from the society or from a safety law on the books(fire hazard)?.

if i take a baby stroller to the dc will i get kicked out?

Balsam

I remember well the ban on baby strollers while my 3 boys were little guys back 20 years ago. Boy did it make it hard on parents. But it was a city ordinance and had nothing to do with the JW's. We had no business sitting in assemblies all day with little children and babies, it was harsh to expect the little ones to be still all day long. It is totally miserable for the parents.

I remember once my oldest son then 2 years old got sick at a convention, pooped all down my dress, and him. He had the beginning of chicken pox and was running a high fever. My ex-husband would not even let us go home to take care of him. Our youngest son the was just months old. So I had to take my dress off and wash it in the bathroom and wear it wet. Cleaned up my son and thankfully had more clothes for him. Then began my hate for my husband to be so cold as to keep his sick son at a convention. If I'd brought my car keys I would have left with the kids, but the husband had the keys and he insisted on us staying. I hated conventions after I had kids. Assemblies were tolerable mostly. No JW should ever have children, its a cruel way to raise kids. Ok I'm venting. LOL Hind sight is always clearer. I feel for anyone who is going through that now. Refuse to ever go with kids, you'll be doing yourself a favor and your kids.

I found getting sick for assemblies and staying home with the kids somewhat effective till my kids Dad caught on. Missing an assembly or convention was a no no like missing the Memorial was.

Balsam

45

Banned From the Bible

by Sweetp0985 in

i may be late in seeing this special on the history channel, but did anyone else see this show.

it was about books being banned from the bible that further explains events that may or may not have happened the way it is written in the bible.

this show peaked my curiousity and i went to the library and found the book who wrote the bible?

Balsam

Hi,

I follow all those shows on the bible on the History Channel and have read many books they have brought up on these shows. I saw the "Books banned from the Bible" show. I know as a JW I knew nothing of how the bible was put together. Had no idea that there were books left out of the old testement and the new testement. If all had been added to it it would have been 10 times as thick as it is probably. Men are the ones who decided which they wanted to be inspired and which were not. By the time the current bible was put together the Catholic Church with its Bishops were in strong influence. Thus Constantine turning to them to decide. As a JW we used to say those shows knew nothing, the funny thing is we were the ones who were ignorant.

There is JW lady who comes and brings me the magazines on a regular basis and I bought this up to her. She was ignorant about it. I have no idea if it made any impact on her thinking. I can only hope so. The bible is a book of mythos, created give man explaination for their lives and hope. The ones writing it understood it was myth like the greek stories of gods. But in our modern day and before the stories in the bible came to be viewed as the word and literal which it never was.

Even the Apostle Paul when he wrote his letters, he had no thought of what he was saying would be viewed as gospel 2000 years later. Karen Armstrong has many good books about the history of religion and how it came about. I've read "Who Wrote the Bible?" and it set me on the road to a better understand of why these text exist today.

A book you might be intersted in is called "Tomorrow's God" By a Walsh fellow. Gives us all something to think about in how we want to view God in our modern day.

I've learned more since leaving the JW then I ever did being one. I read everything I can get my hands on now, and I don't have to hold back or read in secret anymore.

Balsam

23

Jehovah's Witnesses arrested for being Islamic fundamentalists

by RR in

jehovah's witnesses arrested for being islamic fundamentalists .

this article was published by f18news on: 8 july 2004

uzbekistan: jehovah's witnesses arrested for being islamic fundamentalists .

Balsam

As for the adults being there ok. But taking that 16 year old girl and even the 19 year old youth there to be beat up really ticks me off. JW Elders would not hesitate to use young people to protect themselves there by endangering them too. Preaching in these Islamic countries where they are not allowed to register to preach or even be in the area is a product of the evil of religious control no matter where it comes from. The situation is sad, but avoidable. Get the heck out of that country if they want to be JW's or forget the religion. If they only understood that God is not in any of these religions loosely based on the bible or any other written texts.

Balsam