who still find it strange years on to dive straight into your mail meal without 'giving thanks'?
i say main meal, because dad's prayers were always considerably lengthy before a main meal, and are an institution in every jw household.
even now after a few years i'm just about ready to tuck in when i find myself saying a simple thanks under my breath.
When and how did this custom/tradition begin?
Is it only related to 'christian' based religions? I don't seem to remember the Jews, Muslims or Buddhists praying before 'regular' meals.
Interestingly, if you've ever eaten at JW HQ, bethel, they pray before AND then stand and pray after all meals.
Seems to be some formalistic ritual without a strong biblical foundation.
just a thought from tonight's bible reading that kinda hit in a funny way.
in all my years i've never heard this scripture used like this.
*** rbi8 1 samuel 21:12-13 ***
didn't moses lie to the egyptians about sarah. he said it was his sister instead of his wife to protect her. i think the WTS uses this example to justify lieing to protect themselves and promote "theocratic warefare".
Genesis Chapter 1210 Now a famine arose in the land and A´bram made his way down toward Egypt to reside there as an alien, because the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came about that as soon as he got near to entering Egypt, then he said to Sar´ai his wife: ?Please, now! I well know you are a woman beautiful in appearance. 12 So it is bound to happen that the Egyptians will see you and will say, ?This is his wife.? And they will certainly kill me, but you they will preserve alive. 13 Please say you are my sister, in order that it may go well with me on your account, and my soul will be certain to live due to you.?
14 So it happened that, as soon as A´bram entered Egypt, the Egyptians got to see the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 And the princes of Phar´aoh also got to see her and they began praising her to Phar´aoh, so that the woman was taken to the house of Phar´aoh. 16 And he treated A´bram well on her account, and he came to have sheep and cattle and asses and menservants and maidservants and she-asses and camels. 17 Then Jehovah touched Phar´aoh and his household with great plagues because of Sar´ai, A´bram?s wife. 18 With that Phar´aoh called A´bram and said: ?What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ?She is my sister,? so that I was about to take her as my wife? And now here is your wife. Take her and go!? 20 And Phar´aoh issued commands to men concerning him, and they went escorting him and his wife and all that he had.
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i've always thought that it was a rotten trick for god to create us with free will and then punish us for using it.. wha'd'ya think?
How is it FREE will when we pay for it every day?
why is he so enamoured with us humans ("god's" ant farm).
his beef is with jojoba and jesus, so "god" hides in heaven and lets us take an ass whooping in his behalf?
uh oh... i'm feeling hot, is that a giant magnifying glass in the sky?.....
I find it amazing that our speculations are spectacular until we get there.
Just think of the many theories to explain: the edge of the earth, the sun/earth rotation, the moon, mars, etc.
In comparison, we are not too much further along than they were 5K or 6K years ago. So, our attempts to explain the unseen may be just as far-fetched.
However, think of wonderful conversation fodder we are making for future generations.
i came across this site, and while still my upbringing says i should stay away from such site, i had to join.
a bit of a background about me.
i'm 31, my parents became witnesses when i was born so they could give me the best upbringing they felt possible.
Hey! I took a survey from some site recommended by a guy I met on the internet.
Since the LORD works in mysterious ways, I will now base the rest of my life on the following results:
How did the Belief-O-Matic do? Discuss your results on our message boards.
1. Jehovah's Witness (100%)
2.Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (90%) 3. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (85%) 4. Eastern Orthodox (67%) 5. Roman Catholic (67%) 6. Orthodox Judaism (65%) 7. Seventh Day Adventist (65%) 8. Hinduism (58%) 9. Islam (55%) 10. Orthodox Quaker (52%) 11. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (51%) 12. Bahá'í Faith (49%) 13. Jainism (47%) 14. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (43%) 15. Mahayana Buddhism (39%) 16. Theravada Buddhism (37%) 17. Sikhism (37%) 18. Liberal Quakers (29%) 19. Reform Judaism (25%) 20. New Thought (24%) 21. Neo-Pagan (23%) 22. Scientology (23%) 23. Nontheist (20%) 24. Unitarian Universalism (20%) 25. New Age (15%) 26. Secular Humanism (13%) 27. Taoism (7%)
i came across this site, and while still my upbringing says i should stay away from such site, i had to join.
a bit of a background about me.
i'm 31, my parents became witnesses when i was born so they could give me the best upbringing they felt possible.
I agree with upside/down
Dude chill a little... and hang around here a while before you take another step!
from your post you have a whole lotta conflicting thoughts and emotions right now!
Those are just a few that I picked out. Take your time before rushing in either direction. If you go to the KH you will LOTS of pulling in that direction. On this site you will LOTS of pulling away from WT.
Ultimately you have to do what is right for you. That's what everyone here is trying to do.
Welcome & Best wishes on YOUR future.
years ago when i first started to question the organization and i knew at some point in time that i would eventually da myself or be df'd for some reason, i always wondered if my family would, in time, accept me once again after shunning me.
the 1995 generation thread brought this back up in my mind and i was interested to know if anyone else used this same line of thinking.. for the sake of those who still have jw relatives, let's put on their thinking caps for a minute.
jw's understand that just about everyone that has ever lived upon the face of the earth and have died, will be resurrected.
I feel that we will see new light on DF'd and DA'd ones stating that those who are categorized as such will not be eligible for a resurrection.
No offense, but that is already a current understanding.
Maybe a more recent jw can correct me, but that's not too old of a viewpoint.
i find the topic of the 1975 end of the world scenario facinating, especially since i never lived through it.
do you old schoolers ever feel concerned that people will one day forget about what really went down?
with whitewashed tripe like the 'proclaimers' book informing dubs that it was just the false expectations of over enthusiastic apostates, are you at all concerned that the legacy of bullshit that is 1975 will be a forgotten moment in history blamed on you instead where the blame really belongs?
Oh GREAT!
Now i'm an old schooler.
thanks for reminding me how MUCH TIME i wasted of my life.
i know i do, as my very first reaction.
but, it is almost always wrong.
i have observed my reaction like this so many times, that, in the background, i'm waiting for the reaction to subside.
Wow! i can hardly believe that you are discussing this, i was recently talking about this with a friend.
This must be a jw trait.
I remember a situation that happened shortly after leaving wt hq. i was invited to meet at a friends home before going out to dinner. as i drove up to the house, a sister was standing alone outside. i asked if the others had yet arrived. she said that others were in the house, but since she was the only woman she did not want to go inside with only men and decided to wait until other females arrived. i found this strange since everyone inside were her 'brothers' in the faith.
another time, my boss asked me to drop some items at his home one weekend. upon arriving, his wife told me that he had to step out, but wanted me to wait until he returned. she offerred me something to eat and drink. we were alone, but had a very nice conversation until he came in about a half hour later.
it was so surprising that these wicked worldly people had so much trust, while jws panic anytime a man and woman are alone.
i have so many weird jw quirks to get rid of.
it's been roughly ten years since the change in the understanding of the generation was printed in a november watchtower.. while i won't discuss here what everyone already knows about this change, and the effects it had on many people, questions have to be asked.. what happens next for the watchtower society?
where is the leadership?.
in what direction are they headed?.
Well confused....did you realize that since your 607th post it's been a time, time, and half a time?
I hate to correct you on this, but it is a time, TIMES and a half a time. It has to equal three and a half or else it's new light.
