what was your biggest intelectual/philosophical/psychological/religious discovery of the year 2004?
was there anything new that you "understood" about our existence?
did you learn something new about human relations or your spirituality?
I realized that there was no spirit creature watching me, poised to condemn or praise me. When that belief left me, it took guilt, fear, and so much more away with it. I am so much happier now. 2005's gonna have to really kick butt to cover the ground 2004 did!
(And my wife left the bOrg with me!)
Dave
SuperSecret,
More die from blood than die from lack of it? Can you point to a reference for that statistic?
Of course, the blood doctrine is not a medical one, but a scriptural one. It doesn't matter a whit if blood transfusions are the single most dangerous procedure on the planet, nor does it matter if they DO cost more lives than they save (I seriously doubt that). The question is, Does the God of the Bible forbid his servants from accepting one?
Any medical argument is a red herring.
Dave
i am a fortunate 'apostate'.
my parents are still speaking to me, regularly, and we also have been discussing jw doctrine.
however, they do not believe anything i tell them about the un scandal and that the wtbts was a member of the un for ten years before being removed by the un.
Gina called the Watchtower (718-560-5000) today and just asked them if they had ever been an NGO with the United Nations. Of course, we knew that they had, the UN's own web site confirms it. But her mom was very skeptical, and assumed that some evil apostate (probably me) had hacked the UN's web site and inserted the information. It took her talking to a few people, but somebody who's name she didn't get finally admitted that they had in fact been an NGO. He made all the standard excuses, of course, even going so far as to say, "We're not a government, and we are an organization, so by definition we have always been a Non-Governmental Organization," but the point is that he did admit to it.
Why not get your family to give them a call? Or set up a three-way call with them and the Watchtower. Then they can hear for themselves.
Dave
friends, whats your opinion about www.jwgift.org ?
first creditcard acceptpoints in congreshalls in the netherlands, now an internet creditcard donationsite, official of wts brittain.
just see this as using only new technics for getting donations or is it big business now?
JW's leave it to each individual to decide on when and how much to contribute.
I could almost buy that, if it weren't for the dishonest way they get donations to the organization's general funds from local assemblies. It has been discussed on this board before that prior to a circuit assembly, the CO and elders sit down and determine what the "donation" to the Society will be for this assembly. Before the assembly even starts, it's $5000 in the hole because of that donation. Then the chairman will come out and say, "We have expenses for this assembly totalling $6500. Receipts total $2200. We're sure you friends will take care of that deficit." In reality, there is no "deficit". The expenses were $1500, which were already met and exceeded. But the donation -- dishonestly and quietly lumped into the "expenses" -- forces everyone to dig deeper.
Granted, it's still voluntary in some sense. But there's no arging that it's dishonest.
Dave
"Baby, next year, *I* get to pick the vacation location."
reading all these 1914 threads lately has made me think a lot more about my own feelings of the jw movement in the early years.
particularly how i feel they got kind of "lucky" that something big happened on whatever numbered prediction 1914 was for them.. we have all seen individuals ride out the rest of their sports, acting, etc.
careers on one big break.
They (Watchtower) kept right on going through their 1874/75 dates, I doubt they would have had any trouble coming up with something to say about 1914, regardless of what happened. After all, as I recall, Russell didn't predict anything resembling a war, he was looking for economic ruin, then armageddon. Instead they got a war, and so later claimed that they knew "something big" was going to happen. It could have just as easily been a major earthquake, a fire, a disease outbreak. I doubt it would have affected their growth.
Just my two cents, happily refunded if not fully satisfied.
we often talk about unconditional love on the forum.. how our parents and members of our congregation only love, conditionally,and we condemm them.. but does god love us unconditionally, ive come to the conclusuion he doesnt so why are we surprised when his followers dont either.. so whos to blame, the witness who want to do everything by the "book" and feel there pleasing god regardless of the pain it causes them,or is it god himself who expects more than we can posssible do.
one day i believe and want to believe in him the next minute i dont.. when he looked down on the events of these last few days, did he feel sorrow for all those people who lost there lives.
was he proud of all us humans, flocking to help them, with money, volunteers and more important empathy for our fellow man who are suffering?.
Hey Vitt,
There were some points brought up by believers in this thread that bear on your question:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/82731/1.ashx
I can't say that I buy it, (I'm pretty much a unicorn/derby kind of guy, too) but as far as arguments go, these were about as good as I've seen.
Dave
hello, i am am trying to figure out where to locate ex jw's that i knew long ago...is there a certian area that you put a posting on just in case someone is out there.
new to this posting thing.
help is appreciated!
There's an "Experiences & Reunions" topic you could post in. Here's a thread similar to what it sounds like you're looking for, you can click New Topic from there and it will post in the right place.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/82669/1.ashx
Good luck!
Dave
web-posted sunday, january 2, 2005 .
perryton [texas] church fire under investigation
amarillo globe-news
Suspicious evidence at the scene? Hmm? .. I wonder what that could be.
I don't know, I *thought* I cleaned up quite thoroughly!
(For any FBI'ers listening in, no, I'm not serious.)
hi does anyone know what the procedure is for reinstatement?
i love this forum- you guys are all great.
sugarbritches
Of course everyone's lives and circumstances are different. Some have gotten reinstated to ease tensions in their family. I didn't mean to suggest it was "bad" for you or anyone else to seek reinstatement. I just hope that you don't feel any need to.
Dave
