Posts by donny

43

New here!

by Mandy97 in

jw
friends

hi guys !

hm.. i'm new in this website !

my name is mandy and i just want to meet new people!

donny

Welcome Mandy to the wonderful world of the Great Unwashed.

17

A Total Waste of Time "In The Field"

by OnTheWayOut in

so i am walking down the street in a spanish neighborhood and two men, obviously jw's, are standing between houses writing furiously on their tiny slips.

i am nearly a block away approaching and they just kept writing the whole time i walked up.

i finally arrive to pass them and they are still both writing.

I have noticed this phenomenon over the past 5 years myself. I would see JW's out in field service while I was doing my morning walks and every time I would stop and wait for them to approach and give them a warm smile and even say "good morning."

What was my result. Nothing other than a returned salutation and they would pass me an keep walking down the street. Only once did they stop and that was to hand me a tract and then continue on their path.

Back in my day we were to take every opportunity we could to witness to those in the field whether at the door or in the yards as we passed by.

13

Prayers, are you worthy to do them? [5/15/90 wt]

by sowhatnow in

for those who still pray, and go to the kingdom hall, when was the last article on prayer?

whats the view now?.

king solomon asked that jehovah hear only foreigners who prayed toward gods temple in jerusalem.

donny

I came to the many of the same conclusions. After I left the JW's in 1992 I began visiting several "conventional" churches and I was especially interested in the subject of prayer. During my JW tenure, I did not see any evidence of God responding to such petitions.

I found the same in the other churches. Many of the prayers were generic and vague asking God for strength in helping to cope with an issue, or help in finding a job or heal an ailment. What I found was that it was a crap-shoot. The folks who prayed would wait a bit and then fit the conclusion to what they prayed for. If God acted positively then the answer was yes, if not then it was no.

I have heard many, many anecdotal stories regarding how God answered their requests, but I never saw anything divine in them. The vast majority could be explained as just random and flip of a coin, others had answers that could be explained by science or the fact that the person who prayed actually did something to ensure that something positive happened.

What was amusing is these results are found in every group or religion that prays. I could not find one instance where any belief system had a lock on the act of prayer.

I always chuckle when I hear the ad for "Christian Mingle.com" where the announcer says instead of waiting on God, he is waiting for you to act. In other words, you need to put forth effort to get a result. Sounds like the natural world to me.

Donny

9

convention this weekend

by zeb in

jw
friends

my wife has just left for the convention.

i dread it.

she will come home tired and cranky as always.

donny

I remember those days well and I am so glad they are behind me, Over the last several years one of persons I worked with was married to a woman who became a JW several years after they were married. He asked me "what do they do there all that time?"

I told him that you sit there and listen to very boring speeches by very boring people. I also told him that most people do not recall much after they return from such conventions. I told him "At the first dinner when she gets back, ask her what did they talk about at the convention?"

She could not recall anything other than stuff like "Read your Bible, Don't miss meetings, Love Jehovah, etc.

He replied "That is what you tell me they tell you at the Kingdom Hall. Was there anything new revealed or anything that required this 3 day convention?

The more he pressed more information from the convention, the more frustrated she got.

She finally blurted "I went there just to go there, no one expects you to remember much. Its about seeing people you haven't seen in a while."

60

Ten Commandments

by EA916 in

should we still be keeping the 10 commandments?

donny

Which list of 10?

20

I admit it, I believe in evolution.

by Louise in

jw
friends

after leaving the dub religion behind, i read everything that i could get my hands on, be it about other religions, beliefs, gods, occult, evolution - you name it - i read it.

i did this to 'catch up' and to educate myself, so that when i can to a decision it would be an intellectual / educational one.

not just because some book or person told me to believe it.. i have over time and with reading aids come to totally believe and accept evolution.

donny

Good for you Louise! I left some 22+ years ago and it is a decision that I do not regret. It was hard at first but things got better as time progressed.

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

donny

I am an agnostic atheist.

36

Do You Think President Obama Is Muslim?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i really think that he is.

not that it's a bad thing...

donny

No I do not. I have not seen any convincing evidence to support that conclusion.

59

Asshole Atheism – Not for me, now or ever.

by donny in

to start off with let me clarify that by asshole atheism i am not referring to strong atheism or any other type of upfront atheism.

what i am referring to is the belligerent, hateful atheism that smacks of trolls and other types who want to derail conversation or comments at any cost..

i enjoy hearing comments from both sides of the subjects of theism, nationalism or politics, especially from those who have intense opinions.

donny

Very true OrphanCrow.

59

Asshole Atheism – Not for me, now or ever.

by donny in

to start off with let me clarify that by asshole atheism i am not referring to strong atheism or any other type of upfront atheism.

what i am referring to is the belligerent, hateful atheism that smacks of trolls and other types who want to derail conversation or comments at any cost..

i enjoy hearing comments from both sides of the subjects of theism, nationalism or politics, especially from those who have intense opinions.

donny

To start off with let me clarify that by “asshole atheism” I am not referring to “strong atheism” or any other type of upfront atheism. What I am referring to is the belligerent, hateful atheism that smacks of trolls and other types who want to derail conversation or comments at any cost.

I enjoy hearing comments from both sides of the subjects of theism, nationalism or politics, especially from those who have intense opinions. As long as there is a decent conversation, comment all you want.

When I walked among those in the theist and Republican camps, I encountered many who wore the moniker of “asshole” quite often and it was one of the many reasons I eventually came to my senses and eventually embraced agnostic atheism. What shocked me as time went on was finding similar such folk on this side of the fence, although the numbers are lower.

Over the last few years I have been criticized for “liking” comments on my Facebook page made by folks/family on my friends list who make statements stating that their prayer or belief in God has helped them endure a calamity going on in their life regarding health, the loss of a loved one, etc. One fellow unbeliever IM’d me regarding one such post and said I should have replied “You should thank and lean on your doctor and not some placebo God for your return to health.”

Sorry, that is utter bovine fecal matter.

When I “like” such comments, I am not endorsing their religious claims, I am lending my support and/or consolidation for whatever they are going through at the moment. I am letting them know I am thinking about them and I am happy when they feel better. I am showing the good side of humanity.

On another recent thread that was debating on whether or not Jesus was who he is claimed to be by todays Christians. I commented that I believe Jesus was one of many itinerant messianic preachers of the day and that his message was only for those of that current generation.

This was followed by a “supporting” comment that read; “That’s right Ray and these people need to know that Jesus was a faggot and pedophile who through secret documents he gave to his followers has resulted in the child-molesting, homosexual centric group known today as the Catholic Church.”

That resulted in not only in me deleting my comment, but the whole thread and its 200+ comments as well. These type of comments have no use other than to inflame. If that person is really an atheist, then he belongs in the camp with folks like Ann Coulter or the late Fred Phelps who also do little to nothing in presenting data that could show their views in a positive light. He even IM’d me stating that I was a weak atheist.

While I believe the Bible is nothing more than the writings and musings of a long-ago culture who were trying to boost the morale of those who read it, it does have some good points here and there. One of them is Ecclesiastes 3:7 which reads there “a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak.”

If one cannot be cordial and can only post hateful and offensive comments then it is probably time for you to “be silent.” Be as strong or forceful you want, but leave the hate at the door.