Posts by donny

58

Eccentric Jehovah's Witnesses

by snowbird in

jw
friends

so as not to hijack logcon's thread about crazy things jw's have said to householders, i'd like to start one about just plain old odd jw's.. for example, i knew this dear, dear senior brother who would carry a small bag of peanuts in one pocket of his suit coat and a small plastic bag of brown sugar in the other.. during that time, we would stay out all day long because the territory was extensive.. can't you just picture that precious soul alternately tossing a few peanuts/crumbs of sugar into his mouth as he schlepped from house to trailer, from trailer to house?.

the householders would usually offer us water, lemonade, kool-aid, or soda pops, so no problem with finding something to quench our thirsts.. those were the days!.

sylvia.

donny

One of the strangest ones I knew was a guy who was a ministerial servant in the first congregation i was associated with after becoming a JW. He was a ministerial servant and looked like a stereotypical nerd, i.e. goofy expression on his face and oversized glasses.

One day on field service I was assigned to him as a partner and we went an knocked on a few doors and then went to dump older magazines in the areas laundry mats. After a couple of hours of this, we went by his place for lunch.

As I walked into his apartment I noticed life-sized cutouts of C3PO and Indiana Jones in his living room. As I sat down in the living room I noticed a stack of National Geographic magazines on the end table to my right. As Leo prepared some ham sandwiches, I went through the National Geographic and noticed that they were from several different years.

What was interesting is that all of them featured articles that included pictures of various native cultures where the women went topless. I was still perusing his collection when he came back in.

I am not sure why he decided to share some TMI (too much info), but he looked at me and said with a nervous laugh, "I am a single brother and those magazines have kept me from committing fornication on many an occasion."

I was totally shocked when he said that and had no real reply other than "Well different strokes for different folks," and I changed the topic of discussion to what was coming up at next week’s Quick Build project.

I never told anyone else about it because I kind of felt sorry for him because he was so strange that I figured he would never hook up with anyone. About 2 years later he quit coming to meetings but I never found out the reason.

I was totally shocked when he said that and had no real reply other than "Well different strokes for different folks," and I changed the topic of discussion to what was coming up at next weeks Quick Build project.

I never told anyone else about it because I kind of felt sorry for him because he was so strange that I figured he would never hook up with anyone. About 2 years later he quit coming to meetings but I never found out the reason.

48

Jesus was a False Prophet - But was he deluded or deceitful?

by cofty in

any objective reading of the gospels makes it plain that jesus believed his parousia would happen within the lifetime of his generation.. his followers believed in his imminent return until the day of their deaths.. his false prophecy damaged the lives of his disciples in a similar way to that done by the lies of modern cults like the watchtower.

peter and others walked out on their wives, children and businesses to follow him around palestine.

jesus taught them to put their families and other normal concerns in second place to their task of spreading his message - which turned out to be false.. the question is what he was up to?.

donny

As much as I tried to hold on to my belief that the Jesus story, or for that matter the whole Bible, was true, the more I read the Scriptures without anyone coloring them for me, the more I realized that it was not what is presented in today’s American version of Christianity.

First, it is clear to me that Jesus and his followers expected "all things" to occur within their lifetimes. According to the story, these were times of urgency in getting the message out that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Even Peter had to remind those of his day that Jesus was not slow in keeping his promise as some consider slowness, but was waiting so as many as possible could be saved.

If that delay was a few weeks, years, or decades, it is clear from the Bible that they were not referring to centuries much less millennia. But as human nature has clearly shown throughout history, people resist change. Leaving ones cultural or born-into religion is not practiced by the majority and once a religion is established the adherents usually hang on to it.

About a century after Jesus died, Christianity began shifting from a religion with an urgent message about a soon-to-be return, to one that was looking at a long future ahead of it. As a result it slowly became intermeshed with the political element of the day (Rome) and eventually became indistinguishable from it.

As a result, like most government agencies, it became full of greed and corruption leading to some of the most offensive atrocities ever assigned to mankind.

What I found interesting is that for about 75% of the history of “the church”, only a relatively few schisms and breaks occurred after it became part of the government machine. The Bible was not readily accessible during this time.

But once the Bible became easier to access, the divisions of the church multiplied greatly and continues to do so today leading to 40,000+ different ideas of what a Christian is.

I could start my own church today and with just a little bit of flamboyancy and clever “reasoning” it may even grown into one of the larger ones and go on for centuries.

I no longer believe any of it anymore and assign it to just another one of the many stories about beings of divine origin that have developed over the history of man.

63

First Post...Hi everyone! Thanks for all of your help over the years!

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

well... as they say on talk back radio "i'm a long time listener, first time caller"(poster in this case!).

i have been a "lurker" for several years, but never had the courage to take the step and join up...until now.. i really want to thank everyone for their insights and comments throughout the forum.

although i have not contibuted to discussions, i have benefitted very much from all of your comments and observations on all topics.

donny

Thank you Stuckinarit2. I have been here for 9 years and I am still fascinated with reading others perpectives about how they first begin to question the machine. Back when I was in everytime I heard "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd, it reminded me that I was one of those bricks in the Society's wall. Well aboard and I look forward to your future posts.

Donny

Facebook: DonnyRayReed

54

Lies taught by the GB about ....Life, Worldy people & apostates

by williamhconley in

the governing body not only lies to it's members about their true history but also about life itself, worldly people and former members.. here are some of those lies that come to my mind.. .

"jw's are the happiest people on earth" -.

fact: depression, anxiety, fear of punishment, paranoia, is what jw's live with every day.

donny

Great summary there Mr. Conley!!! Very well thought out and presented.

25

What happened to the "Witness" part of Jehovah's Witnesses?

by donny in

i just got back from my afternoon walk/run and about a block from home i saw two sets of jw's going door to door handing out invites to the memorial.. the first pair walked past me and only said "good afternoon" as they passed.. about two minutes later the second pair approached me and handed me an invite to 2014 memorial on april 14. i asked them why they chose the jw's as their church of choice and was told "we'd like to chat more but we have a set number of invites we have to get out before the memorial.

if you contact the kingdom hall listed here, they will tell you more... on how god's kingdom will rid the world of satan and the evil associated with him.".

i replied "you can't talk now?".

donny

Well Emeth that definitley looks better than the one I received. I like how in recent years that Jesus bears a strong resemblance to Kenny Loggins. I guess I was wrong, Jesus was of European decent.

25

Fred Phelps is dead

by zound in

jw
friends

two cults leaders in two days..

donny

Seth Andrews, host of the Thinking Atheist podcast @ www.thethinkingatheist.com interviewed Nathan Phelps, one of Fred's sons who left the church. The interview took place on March 18, just before Fred died, and he gives some great insight into this man who let hate run amock.

Donny Ray

29

Joining a Church and advice from co-workers!!!!!!!!!!

by Jon Preston in

so im obviously out mentally....i havent da-ed but i cant care less!

but.....my co workers are encouraging me to find and join a church.

this person is particularly "wisdomonian" meaning she seems to solve and assist many an ailing indicidual in my field.

donny

Of you can choose the path of no religion and just concentrate on living life and doing what you can to improve it. For myself, I went throught a phase where I visited many churches of different stripes, but eventually decided that while many of them were easier to believe, they were equally untrue. Whatever the path you choose, let it be your decision and do not bow to the pressure of others.

Donny Ray

25

What happened to the "Witness" part of Jehovah's Witnesses?

by donny in

i just got back from my afternoon walk/run and about a block from home i saw two sets of jw's going door to door handing out invites to the memorial.. the first pair walked past me and only said "good afternoon" as they passed.. about two minutes later the second pair approached me and handed me an invite to 2014 memorial on april 14. i asked them why they chose the jw's as their church of choice and was told "we'd like to chat more but we have a set number of invites we have to get out before the memorial.

if you contact the kingdom hall listed here, they will tell you more... on how god's kingdom will rid the world of satan and the evil associated with him.".

i replied "you can't talk now?".

donny

emeth:

First of all ,.. invitations for the memorial are never printed out by brothers and sisters at home but are printed by the society and look the same worldwide

2nd the invitations will be distributed starting saturday march 22nd and not sooner.

So these JW's are participating in a rogue operation here? This invite was definitley not printed by a professional, so does this mean they are running ahead of Jehovah?

12

TRUTH: Here today and gone tomorrow

by Terry in

the man who invented the religion known as "jehovah's witnesses," was joseph franklin rutherford.. he is the same man who spread the message, "religion is a snare and a racket.".

that's right, religion was the poison that caused the rot in the world.. were jehovah's witnesses a "religion?

" hell no!.

donny

Buy it, Buy it!!

11

Terrys New Book

by SAHS in

jw
friends

i just finished reading terry walstroms new book i wept by the rivers of babylon, and i just had to say that i thoroughly enjoyed it!

i just purchased the kindle version from amazon about a week ago and found it quite hard to put it down.

(heres the direct link: http://www.amazon.com/wept-rivers-babylon-prisoner-conscience/dp/1492902063/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1394547792&sr=1-1&keywords=i%20wept%20by%20the%20rivers%20of%20babylon&tag=vglnk-c1113-20.).

donny

It is a great book about one's harrowing journey through the Watchtower.