Today on my morning run I saw two sets of JW's going door to door on Boston St. One set was two ladies and the other was two guys. After I has passed them up on the sidewalk I turned around and began walking towards them. The ladies turned to go up to another home just before I got to them but the guys were still approaching.
I looked at them as they approached a ... nd said "Good morning!" They returned the salutation and kept walking. In my days as a witness I would have stopped to talk to anyone standing outside, but today they must have deemed me not needing their good news.
So I ran around the block and began walking again when I saw them in the distance. This time I decided to be the one who would speak. As they approached again I asked if they were Jehovah's Witnesses and they replied in the affirmative.
I then told them I have an aunt who is a Witness (I really do) and she keeps telling me that the JW's have been the only true religion since the spring of 1919.
The taller of the two looked at me with a puzzled look and asked "She really said that?"
"Yes," I replied;, "Is that not true?"
He answered ""Well yes it is, but that is rarely shared with people who are not of our faith?"
I said laughing "Why is that? Is it secret information?"
"No" came the response, "It's just not something that we talk about much. It is a very difficult subject to explain to those not familiar with the teachings of our faith. Are you interested in learning more about 1919?"
"Yes I am."
"May I ask why? What is your religious background?"
"I am an agnostic atheist myself, but I am interested in understanding why she believes that?"
"Why is 1919 so important for you to understand?
"Well because that is a very, very, very important statement. What your church is essentially saying is that in the spring of 1919, God ceased any involvement with any and all other religions and from that point on he only worked through you guys."
"I guess it is important. I just had never thought about it much." (I am not surprised)
He then began explaining the 7 times mentioned in the book and how it added up to 2520 years and if you start with the destruction of Jehovah's temple in the year 607 BC you end up in the year 1914.
I replied, " Yes, I understand how the 1914 thing works but I do not get the way she gets to 1919. She cannot explain it to me."
"Well don't fault her too much. Most of us cannot as well or at least not without a lot of research." The mans partner had a look of confusion the whole time this conversation was going on.
"Isn't that strange," I retorted. "You would think that would be a well taught point of faith for you folks."
"I understand but since I cannot explain it well at the moment can I get your address so I can come back when I am better prepared?"
"Sure." I gave him my address and I look forward to his explanation. I have a feeling that I will not be hearing from anyone anytime soon.
Posts by donny
-
22JW's on a Saturday morning.
by donny intoday on my morning run i saw two sets of jw's going door to door on boston st. one set was two ladies and the other was two guys.
after i has passed them up on the sidewalk i turned around and began walking towards them.
the ladies turned to go up to another home just before i got to them but the guys were still approaching.
-
-
donny
-
89
Poll--How Many Believe In God, Do Not Believe or Are Not Sure Of His Existence?
by minimus ini believe in god but i'm not sure of anything....what about you?.
-
-
donny
I do not believe there is enough evidence to believe in an a diety who interacts with the natural world. I cannot say for certain that there is nothing beyong the physical, but I am very certain that if such an entity does exist, it sure is not the being referred to as Jehovah, Yahweh or Allah.
Donny
-
10
Not Thinking It Through part 2
by donny inrecently i was going through some of my old storage boxes and came across my 1988 copy of the watchtower issued book "revelation.
its grand climax at hand!".
as i flipped through its pages i was reminded how blinded i was in regards to rational thinking.
-
-
donny
steve2 brought up a good point about using persons or situations in the bible as types or anti-types of things currently going on in the organization. Those used to drive me nuts. I got sick of hearing about the "Noah class" or the "Elijah class" etc. In reality it was closer to the "Jim Jones class" than anything they suggested.
-
10
Not Thinking It Through part 2
by donny inrecently i was going through some of my old storage boxes and came across my 1988 copy of the watchtower issued book "revelation.
its grand climax at hand!".
as i flipped through its pages i was reminded how blinded i was in regards to rational thinking.
-
-
donny
I cannot fathom that they studied this book like 5 times? I guess when Freddie bit the dust they have had a hard time coming up with equally bizarre material.
-
10
Not Thinking It Through part 2
by donny inrecently i was going through some of my old storage boxes and came across my 1988 copy of the watchtower issued book "revelation.
its grand climax at hand!".
as i flipped through its pages i was reminded how blinded i was in regards to rational thinking.
-
-
donny
You are welcome LostGeneration. You have a great user name!!
-
10
Not Thinking It Through part 2
by donny inrecently i was going through some of my old storage boxes and came across my 1988 copy of the watchtower issued book "revelation.
its grand climax at hand!".
as i flipped through its pages i was reminded how blinded i was in regards to rational thinking.
-
-
donny
Recently I was going through some of my old storage boxes and came across my 1988 copy of the Watchtower issued book "Revelation. Its Grand Climax At Hand!"
As I flipped through its pages I was reminded how blinded I was in regards to rational thinking. When I read this material now I have to laugh at the absurdity of it and still struggle with the fact that I actually believed some of it at one point in my life.
I mean some of it is just so damn stupid!!! For example the blowing of the 7 trumpets in Revelation chapter 8 corresponded to some "proclamations" of the Watchtowers second president Joseph "Judge" Rutherford. I must have been heavily sedated to believe that these verses were in reference to some blubbering statement uttered by this 20th century drunk cult leader!
Also, you have to laugh at how "Caucasian oriented" the Watchtower Society is. The crowd of angels standing before the throne of God on page 86 are all blond and blue eyed. Not one person of African, Latino or Asian decent is to be seen in this vast throng of angels. I guess Jesus was European after all.
I now laugh when I look at the the many colored highlighters I used and the scripture citations from several bible translations and other comments I scribbled along the edges of the pages.
However there was one thing in this publication that I really had an issue with and was one of the earliest statements that began my road to doubtsville. It was on page 105 in the box at the top of the page.
Next to a picture of Charles Russel looking down at a bible was this comment. "Providentially, those Bible Students had not realized that there is no zero year between 'B.C.' and 'A.D.' Later, when research made it necessary to to adjust B.C. 606 to 607 B.C.E., the zero year was also eliminated , so that the prediction held good at 'A.D. 1914."
That did not set well with me at all. That was way to much coincidence for my brain. You mean to tell me that when they realized that their date for the beginning of the "seven times" needed to be moved back a year, which would have made the gentile times ending in 1913, they also discovered that there was no year zero so 1914 was still valid?
Please!! This smacked so much of spiritual bullshit that I was never able to let it go. I remember bringing this to the attention of my then wife who told me to forget it about it and to leave the matter in Jehovah's hands.
But that never happened and it gnawed on me for the next several years and by the end of 1991 I knew that my days as one of Jehovah's Witnesses were numbered.
It was the 1988 summer District Convention "Divine Justice" where this Revelation book was released that began my serious doubts. It was the concluding symposium talk on Saturday titled "The Appointed Time Is Near" that gave me the heebie jeebies.
It was a piped in talk by a Governing Body Member John Barr. At one point in the talk he commented how those who follow "Christendom" (non-JW Christian religions) deserved execution at the hands of Jehovah and asked the audience for a shout of "aye" in agreement. To hear several thousand folks yell "aye" in unison regarding the murder of billions sent shivers down my spine. For the first time at a J.W. function, I felt that something was very wrong in the organization.
As time went on I began to question many other beliefs I had regarding the Witnesses and in due time I came to the decision that it was not the "truth" it claimed to be, but I felt so isolated because I could not share of discuss my feelings with my fellow congregational members for fear of being "turned in" to the Watchtower authorities.
Eventually my then-wife and I went our separate ways and in September 1992 I sent a letter of disassociation to elders in my congregation. In the course of one day I went from having several hundred friends and acquaintances to having only my non-J.W. mom and dad to talk to. It was a period of much solitude and loneliness that I had to endure for quite some time until I had again built up a circle of "worldly" folks.
This was just another example of me not thinking things through. Even when I had doubts about some of the statements made by the "faithful and discreet slave", I would just shelve them and hope the clarification would eventually be realized.
Of course that never happened because it was all pure unadulterated bovine excrement. Once I did unshackle my reasoning faculties the "truth" shone through and the "Grand Climax" was the Watchtower Society was shown to be the wolf in sheep's clothing that it really is.
I have been thinking logically again for almost 22 years and I do not have any regrets. I have since become part of the humanist society and have found great sites like Dogma Debate Radio with David Smalley and The Thinking Atheist with Seth Andrews and The Atheist Experience with Matt Dillahunty, Jeff Dee, Russell Glasser, and many others. I also have found great books by such authors as David Fitzgerald, Darrel Ray and Terry Edwin Walstrom.
So those of you who are still in the Jehovah's Witness organization, keep questioning and the truth will set you free!!!
Ray Reed aka the Annointed Atheist. So full of the spirit of the FSM that I have to "n's" in anointed.
-
16
Thinking it through and not liking the result.
by donny intoday at work a co-worker of mine and i were having lunch at a nearby establishment.
he is what you would call a c&e christian in that he basically attends church only for the christmas and easter services, though he definitely says he believes in god.. he said that he just recently caught an episode of a crime/forensic show that featured a man from new jersey named john list who was also known locally as the "bogeyman of westfield.
" list became infamous for murdering his entire family consisting of his wife, three children and his mother on november 9, 1971. see below link for more data.. on the tv show the narrator commented there were a few reasons why he did it.
-
-
donny
You all are correct. There is no making sense out of senselessness.
-
6
Do you have a right to your private thoughts?
by Terry indefine: privacy.
the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.. .
if your private thoughts were made public--and you knew they would be made public--.
-
-
donny
Wow Terry, you gave me a lot to think about there. You have a great mind.
-
29
Are you interested in dropping your southern accent?
by jam inwell you are in luck, oak ridge national laboratory in.
tn offered a class for their 4000 employees from 90. different countries, get this,a class that teaches how to.
minimice a southern accent.
-
-
donny
Well that was pert near the most intristin thang I has heards in a while.
-
16
Thinking it through and not liking the result.
by donny intoday at work a co-worker of mine and i were having lunch at a nearby establishment.
he is what you would call a c&e christian in that he basically attends church only for the christmas and easter services, though he definitely says he believes in god.. he said that he just recently caught an episode of a crime/forensic show that featured a man from new jersey named john list who was also known locally as the "bogeyman of westfield.
" list became infamous for murdering his entire family consisting of his wife, three children and his mother on november 9, 1971. see below link for more data.. on the tv show the narrator commented there were a few reasons why he did it.
-
-
donny
I think there may be hope for this person. He is quite a smart fellow and he was clearly disturbed by where this concept of thinking finally ended up. He seems to be fascinated with the fact that I was once a JW and am now a non-believer in any of it. He commented "Most folks I have known got more religious as they got older but you went the other way."