Topics Started by donny

21
Living Vicariously Through the Sheep.
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. child-abuse
when i got baptized as a jehovah’s witness in the summer of 83, my honeymoon period lasted about two years before i began to wonder if the society and its adherents were all it claimed to be.

no of the things i encountered for the first few years was really faith shattering, they simply just made me pause and think.

after a short while, i would file those issues in the back of my brain files and move forward.. .
16
Running ahead of Jehovah can be done with a slow walk.
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
a few days ago i read a post of someone who has recently awakened to what the watchtower bible and tract society really is.

in their comments, they stated that they had been accused of "running ahead of jehovah.".

"running ahead of jehovah" was a statement levied at me many times during my convoluted journey through that organization.
16
How much of the Society's publications just get stored away in the garage?
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
almost a year ago i moved back to the dallas - fort worth area after spending 16 years in the northern california area.

the area i live in has several nearby parks and walkways and these areas have several "share a book" pods mounted on a pole spaced about 1/2 mile from one another.

people are encouraged to add books they no longer use to these pods and to take one if they are interested.. i have been diligent on removing watchtower publications from them and what has surprised me is how many old publications in pristine condition are added almost on a daily basis.
10
It's not your conduct, it's your status
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jw's often state that their practice of disfellowshipping is used to keep the congregation clean and free of "worldly" influences and the like, however that is just pure b.s.

in actual practice, all they actually care about is your status according to the watchtower society.

case in point is ray's situation.. ray disassociated himself about 20 years ago because elders and other jw's were constantly spreading false rumors after he quit attending meetings.
23
What was the strangest off-the-cuff remark you ever heard from and elder or higher appointee?
by donny in
1. jw
2. experiences
i showed up for saturday morning field service and i was partnered with an elder who had transferred to our congregation in the dallas, texas area from michigan.

i told him about a recent embarrassing moment where i had played a "worldly" song during the sunday meeting due to someone replacing the cassette i had placed in the cassette player late friday night that had the correct "kingdom melody.".

out of the blue he said "about 4 years ago i was giving the sunday talk and i kept sporting a boner from time to time which was bizarre since being horny and teaching about jehovah is typically not something one associates with one another.".
59
Asshole Atheism – Not for me, now or ever.
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
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.
3
Hey you are doing it backwards.
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
"hey guy, aren't you doing things backwards in your spiritual life?".

this question or similar ones has been posed to me a few times over the years.

"most people i knew were agnostic when they were teens or young adults and then they become believers later on, but you seemed to have done it in reverse.".
23
Is there anything about the JW's you still like?
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
some jw's on various postingshave asked me was there anything about the jw's i still agree with.

of course there are some things i agree with and some i partially do.

1. political involvement - while i do not agree with totally avoiding anything associated with politics, i agree that many of todays churches are way too involved in trying to sway their constituents beliefs.
11
Why I became agnostic after leaving the Watchtower
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
one of many things that led me to agnosticism after leaving the jw's was the cognitive dissonance i encountered with those in the mainstream churches, especially the really conservative ones.

these types would scream out in protest (rightly so) on all of the current atrocities going on in the world regarding islam and its radical extremists, but then justify the savage murders and slaughter perpetuated by israel in the old testament.. often i would take these passages and replace the names and places of these scriptures with current ones.

for example 1 samuel 15:3 reads "now go, attack the amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.
20
Well folks it looks like September 23, 2017 will be the new date of Armageddon, the Rapture or whatever.
by donny in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
well folks you had better get your act together because there is only about 2.5 years before you are held responsible for your way of life.

according to "rapture watch", things are really going to start happening in 2017.. i am already asking the lord for leniency.

http://www.rapturewatch.net/timelines.htm .