Posts by jwfacts

13

Galatians 5:26 was used in and before the 1960`s to not be involved in competitive sports for yourself or for your children

by smiddy in

myself and my peers in the jw organization in the 1960`s discouraged our children from entering into competitive sports because of the jw policy , regarding that scripture .. has their been a radical change since then ?

a re-interpretation of that scripture ?.

why i ask this question is : here in victoria australia where afl football ( aussie rules ) is often regarded as a religion , especially to the state, victoria , we have, according to the media , a devout jehovah`s witness playing professional afl football at a competitive level.. and at their latest win , the team , including alec rance a jw of the richmond club was enthusiastically singing the club victory song along with his teammates on their win .. are their other examples of this in other parts of the world or is this an australian hiccup.. smiddy.

jwfacts

Here is an article about Rance. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/alex-rances-dilemma-jehovahs-witnesses-in-sport-20150429-1mw11w.html

Interesting that the last reference in the index to Gal 5:26 is back from 1996, where Watchtower was jusftifying their misuse of this scripture.

*** g96 11/8 p. 30 From Our Readers ***

Sports Competition Your article “Is Competition in Sports Wrong?” (December 8, 1995) was very confusing to me, in that it used Galatians 5:26. What does the book of Galatians have to do with sports and games? Paul is speaking about spirit versus flesh and freedom versus slavery. The King James Version renders that verse: “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another.”

P. O., United States

It is true that the apostle did not specifically have in mind athletic competition when he penned those words. However, some Christians were evidently making unfair comparisons with one another. This gave rise to ‘fleshly’ attitudes such as ‘enmities, strife, jealousy, contentions, and divisions.’ (Galatians 5:20, 21; 6:3, 4) Paul thus cautioned Christians not to be “stirring up competition with one another.” According to “The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon,” the Greek word rendered “competition” means “to challenge to a combat or contest with one.” This principle would certainly apply to sports activities or to any activity that could cause Christians to compete with one another in an unwholesome way.—ED.

40

New Article - Watchtower View of Homosexuality

by jwfacts in

i have thought about writing this article for many years, and the awake!

2014 no.4 was the final straw.

there it states that jehovah's witnesses show no prejudice towards homosexuals, and "they neither mock nor mistreat people whose practices differ from their own.

jwfacts

I have thought about writing this article for many years, and the Awake! 2014 No.4 was the final straw. There it states that Jehovah's Witnesses show no prejudice towards homosexuals, and "they neither mock nor mistreat people whose practices differ from their own." I have had too many gay JW friends suffer severe terribly, including depression, shunning and suicide, due to the Watchtower's hateful filled speak about homosexuals, that I could not ignore this topic any longer.

Watchtower View of Homosexuality and Transgender

Let me know if you think I have missed anything.

17

Challenging JWs at Cult Carts

by cofty in

if i have time i always talk to jws when i see a cult cart.. they are in a public forum promoting a harmful ideology therefore they are fair game.

having said that, the individual jws on the trolley are not the enemy so i think it's better to keep it as friendly and non-confrontational as possible.. being realistic no jw is going to admit they are wrong because of something we say to them on the street but don't underestimate the long-term effect of doubts.. so what are your ideas for how to approach them?.

personally i like to use the literature on the cart.

jwfacts

I made my assistent play furious about the covering up of child abuse in false religion....

Awesome. When you get even braver you could have a part where a householder plays furious about the findings of the ARC and JWs and then come up with some lame justifications that it is apostate lies and we didn't know as much back then about child abuse etc.

150

I'm getting baptized

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

i know i've started similar topics before but this time i'm serious.

my parents have been constantly pressuring me and after yesterday's watchtower study they asked me if i was going to be baptized this summer... and i said yes.

i probably should have thought about it more before making a final decision, but they're pretty much forcing me to do it anyway.

jwfacts

That was a good topic to start with. Discussing doctrine often won't get too far, as he will just blame his own limited understanding. If you have the CD library and can research with him how a generation used to be within a lifetime of 1914, you can say how that made a lot more sense, but wasn't even true. So the GB aren't guided by Jehovah if they are just making things up as they go along, and then making something else up when they are proven wrong.

21

Question about baptism around 1973- can anyone answer for me?

by Virgochik in

i am hoping someone will take a look at this and be able to help me with my question.. i was baptized in 1973, you know, because i was a teenager and old enough to stand on my own when armageddon descended in 1975. .

perhaps elders, or any former elders especially, but anyone who was around then could help me with this question, because i honestly don't recall, and really need to know.. what were the baptismal questions the candidates responded to back then?

were we still asked if we repented of our sins, turned around, and were being baptized in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit?.

jwfacts

There is a summary of the baptism questions over the decades at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/baptism.php

36

Gorby says goodbye

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

my eyes for ttatt opened in 1995 with the generation change and the wt magazine stated "some witness thought that the generation started in 1914".

since 1997, with internet at low speed, i followed h2o hourglass, www.xjw.com and later on www.jehovahs-witness.net.. did a bachelor and post bachelor since then.. now, nearly completed with fading, i feel it's time to go on with my life and do some other things, spending more time with my wife abd children instead of thinking about jw topics in my head.

goal is being a better person and less grumpy at 45.... everything what could be said is already said.

jwfacts

32

Are the anointed really "lovely people"?

by purrpurr in

i've personally never met any of those who claim to be anointed but the other jw's who have are always unanimous in their praise of how lovely and what wonderful people they are.

and i don't mean the gb i mean common or garden anointed.

i was told that when they speak about being in heaven that they almost "seem to glow".. is this right?

jwfacts

I've known a number. Definitely nothing to set them apart from the crowd. They have really ranged the whole personality spectrum. Some have been quite mentally imbalanced, but in typical Watchtower doublespeak they would dismiss the nutty as pretenders, and the nice ones as genuine, hence perpetuating the myth that they are "lovely people." They have not spoken to me much about heaven, but when doing so it was no different than when the average JW speaks about their fantasies of paradise earth.

If you want to see the answer to your question, look no further than the Governing Body, which contains quite a range. In general, "lovely people" would not be something that springs to mind to describe most of them.

64

Were you beaten as a child?

by purrpurr in

i've been confronting my mother with her dubious parenting skills (abuse) of me as a child.

particularly the beatings i would get with the wooden spoon.

not a light smack but hitting me as hard as she could for as long as she could.

jwfacts

Yes, she broke a few wooden spoons on me, but it is ok because it was done "out of love."

There is an article at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/child-discipline-corporal-punishment.php outlining the Watchtower stance on spanking children.

38

Loyalty? Today's WT The RC. It's a fix!

by Slidin Fast in

today's wt has the below scripture as it's theme.

friday of the rc has the same as it's theme.

the silver nwt is alone in using the word loyalty in this verse.

jwfacts

Good point. For the sake of accuracy though, there are a few translations that use loyalty or faithfulness.

loyalty (ERV,MSG)

faithfulness (HCSB,NET)

See https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Micah%206%3A8

22

WT's expert on blood!

by Joyzabel in

the january 8, 2000 awake magazine published an article "the growing demand for bloodless medicine and surgery".

this article has been quoted extensively by jws as support for their "scientific" justification for refusing blood products.. a quote from that article that is familiar to most jws and exjws is this one:.

“all those dealing with blood and caring for surgical patients have to consider bloodless surgery.”—dr.

jwfacts

Posts by jwfacts

Joyzabel great find.