Posts by Etude

25

The subtle , yet massive change of Matt 5:32 in the "New" New World Translation

by stuckinarut2 in

so i noticed this change in the text of the new silver nwt compared to the older nwt at matthew 5:32. old nwt:.

"however, i say to you that everyone divorcing his wife , except on the grounds of fornication makes her a subject for adultery...etc" .

new nwt:.

Etude

DATA-DOG: I hope he bought that pig dinner...

He may not have bought the pig dinner, but I'm sure he caressed it a little...porcine-human foreplay.

Etude.

25

The subtle , yet massive change of Matt 5:32 in the "New" New World Translation

by stuckinarut2 in

so i noticed this change in the text of the new silver nwt compared to the older nwt at matthew 5:32. old nwt:.

"however, i say to you that everyone divorcing his wife , except on the grounds of fornication makes her a subject for adultery...etc" .

new nwt:.

Perhaps the reason would be to eliminate their embarrassment of having to uphold marriage under certain circumstances. If I recall correctly, there was a case when a wife caught her husband screwing the bacon. He was having sex with the farm pig. She refused to be with him from that point onward. But, because it was "technically" not "adultery", she was excommunicated for divorcing the husband. The incident screams of a stupid application to an obviously justifiable moral (ethical) quandary. But the change brings up new problems because now, one can be disfellowshiped for greasing ones pole.

11

Paradise After Death:Mark Twain calls out some of the stupider ideas-

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

"in paradise, i am going to visit [insert favorite bible character here]" - said at least once in their life by every devout jw.now, for some hard, cold practicalities-excerpt from "captain stormfield's visit to heaven"“oh, there are a lot of such things that people expect and don’t get.

for instance, there’s a brooklyn preacher by the name of talmage, who is laying up a considerable disappointment for himself.

there’s millions of people down there on earth that are promising themselves the same thing.

Etude

Oh, it seems very easy to me. Firstly, there's no time constraint. After all, they have all eternity ahead of them to do it. No sense of time to finish. Then, there's the matter of food. You don't eat in heaven, for God's sake! You're sustained by the "glory of God." No chicken nuggets or strawberry shakes necessary there, even if that would be heaven to you. The "Golden Arches" will probably not make an appearance in heaven. Which means, there are no tacos in heaven. Also, there's no sweating in heaven. C'mon. God doesn't want an armpit in heaven who offends anybody. I mean, it's HEAVEN! You don't have to stop and take a shit or piss between hugs. Those are things of the flesh no longer a part of heaven. The question is: after you've done it and hugged everyone you wanted, what do you do next? Beats the crap out of me.

9

my 25 year anniversary of life after the WTS

by jookbeard in

its been a hell of a journey and not one i regret, i've had my testimony featured in free minds, married divorced, married again had 2 children, survived a very serious illness and come out just about unscathed.

it all started sometime in the early 1990's around the time of the waco siege, i just couldn't accept these crazy doctrines anymore of the belief system i was born into, the death and destruction of billions, the big a, the restoring of the earth to a paradise and the even bigger lie of a resurrection of billions, come early 1993 i had decided to fade, i attended the memorial of that year and decided never ever to return and i never did, come 1994 i had really hit rock bottom, divorced the following year, moved away,started a new career, a new life, the rest they say is history, anyone reading this and having similar thoughts, go for it!

you wont regret it..

Etude

In 1982, after receiving no answer from headquarters to my letter about Mexico/Malawi.

40

Introduce myself

by dantoole87 in

i'd like share why i went from being a teenager determined to work in full time service for jehovah my entire life, to now being on here commiserating with you all.

i use to be an atheist but i now believe in god.

but i'm not preachy about god.

Etude

Your tale is very comprehensive, dantoole87. You capture very well the pettiness and over-lording of elders. But you are not alone in representing this issue. That is why I would disagree with you on one statement:

"JW's could be a very good productive religion."

Their entire platform is conducive to all that you describe happened to you. If there are people still in it, it is because they're either masochistic or are still brainwashed. I liken saying it's a good productive religion with saying the plague is a good and productive disease because it kills the weak. There is nothing redeemable about that religion. Are there good people in it? Sure. Can some people in it do good works? Yes. Can they even promote good values? Absolutely. But so can the rest of the world, atheists and Flat-Earth believers, Shintoists and Xtians, famous people and the vast unknown sea of individuals. The operative word here is "PEOPLE." When it starts to muddle up into an "organization", it's time to run.

By its very structure, the congregations end up being currupted either by all members or by a few with delusions of power. They end up turning into, as you describe, "assholes" and "yes men." Still, it's a pity that you had to experience all you have and I wish the best for you as you move forward in life.

You managed to revive in me the same anger you feel when looking back at the experiences we share with elder assholes and super-fine brown-nosers. It's been a while for me, but I've mostly shed my fury at those people. Although I wish they'd disappear from the face of the Earth as an organization, their works will eventually catch up to them. All the best to you in your endeavors.

18

Talking Janet Jackson and Religious Freedom with the Wife

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

my recent sidewalk discussion with a couple of jw's has gotten me in the mood to say more when appropriate.so the wife and i were riding in the car and cat stevens comes on.

i mentioned to her that cat stevens left music when he was still popular and converted to islam back in the 1970's- how he was told that his music would have to be morally acceptable and he found it easier to just abandon making new music for at least 20 years.

so i didn't really remember all the details and i figured the conversation would die.

Etude

OnTheWayOut:

Great conversation. You are fortunate that you have someone you can speak to congenially. If she was quiet after your comparison, something was rolling around in her mind. Hopefully, it will fall into the hole it belongs to sometime in the future. I don't have much luck talking to people with JW ideas (like family) or with other religious fanatics. Good for you!

52

Gas or Electric Stove

by just fine in

jw
friends

i am getting new appliances.

i have decided on black stainless for the finish.

the house is stubbed for gas and electric for the range.

Etude

I've had both. Definitely gas. It just cooks better because I feel I can control it better. It's also cheaper in most places.

Etude.

15

Funeral plan ?

by Chook in

to all you young and old alike what would you have as a farewell party from this earth , would you party with friends months before or would you go out quietly and rather have input into the wake.

i have heard of these duck hunters who put their ashes in shotgun shells.

.

Etude

Yes! Definitely a plan: A big-assed party! Not a funeral. Unless it's like a New Orleans funeral. I want a remembrance where people are free to say what they loved about me and what pissed them off about me. Don't hold back and don't expect repercussions. What people felt about me is real, good or bad. I would hope that the good mentioned is enough to offset the negative. I want music...lots of music. If you feel like dancing, dance away. If I have sufficient money left, I'll leave enough to rent the venue and pay for the food and drinks and a DJ. That's my last hurrah! I don't expect to be a conscious part of this universe anymore. If my JW family wants to show up, they're welcome to join in with the others, in the terms I've described. No religious speeches or Bible quoting allowed. But if they feel that's essential (I don't to completely restrict them) and and they declare it ahead of the event (they would have to), then someone gets to read all about what I think of that sick organization FIRST! Let them follow with their feeble explanations. Otherwise, no one needs to hear my last "beef" on the JW. After that, let the party begin!

Etude.

50

Completing the Scan of All WT Publications - Bibles List

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

i am working with paul grundy from jwfacts and with the administrator of avoidjw.org, and they are ok with me doing the work that i am doing right now, which is to try and complete, as much as possible, the availability of everything the wt has ever published, in pdf format.therefore, i will start listing in this thread what i have not been able to find anywhere online.

please let me know where i can find the pdf's for the following:(now, i know that there are multiple versions of these and that there are some that seem the same but they are not.

i am looking for the wt published versions of these publications.

Etude

That's a collisal task. Scanning whole bibles too??? I wouldn't have the patience

I would. I think it's important enough in order to document changes and defeat a lie. I volunteer to do it if you have the material. I have a pretty good scanner (50 pages at a time). I just have to prep the pages. That means that sometimes they have to be cut and trimmed, sacrificing the original bounded text.

Etude.

47

Has the Bible been redacted so that YAHWEH can be promoted to EL's position as Almighty God?

by I_love_Jeff in

for background, read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/yahweh, the section, "iron age i: el, yahweh, and the origins of israel.

" "el and his sons made up the assembly of the gods, each member of which had a human nation under his care, and a textual variant of deuteronomy 32:8–9 describes the sons of el, including yahweh, each receiving his own people.

"el, the kind, the compassionate,' 'the creator of creatures,' was the chief of the canaanite gods, and he, not yahweh, was the original 'god of israel'—the word 'israel' is based on the name el rather than yahweh.

Etude

vienne: I never let my students use wikipedia as a resource. It is often wrong.

So, do you think it's wrong in this case? I don't know if it's right. But neither do you. The way to update a Wikipedia entry is to change the text and then it's examined by the panel of experts who will approve it. Yes, the "experts" are arbitrary. That means that anyone can make an entry in Wikipedia. But no all entries are approved, especially if a verification process has shown some errors. Entries need to be challenged. I don't know and probably there's no way to know how often Wikipedia is wrong. So the characterization by you of "often wrong" is really incalculable. How many times has Britannica been wrong? I don't know. But I know it has had incorrect entries (read the link). If something is wrong in Wikipedia, you must feel privileged that you have the power to make it right. Anyone can make the changes and submit for approval. If you have the truth, by all means help us all achieve it.

Etude.