Posts by Apostate Kate

49

John 8:3-11

by Zico in

3the teachers of the law and the pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

they made her stand before the group 4and said to jesus, "teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

5in the law moses commanded us to stone such women.

Apostate Kate

Some do "cover," others "cover up" I guess.

I truly did not mean to contradict you, I am simply pointing out that there is a great movement of believers who are not stupid and ignorant of all ancient writings. The majority of mainstream Christian leaders have no desire to worship in any other way than in true Spirit and Truth. All American seminaries offer a full range of courses covering church history. We study the early church fathers, gnosticism, aryanism and have founded our faith on the truth we have accepted as truth. We study Hebrew and Greek. My daughter is studying ancient Greek and is doing her finals this weeks.

We read all Bibles translations and texts and do not discount anything as unworthy of study. We just process it differently from an agnostic, aryan, and athiest.

We do not hide from any truth, any books, anything ever written. We read it all and formulate our beliefs and faith accordingly, however, the simple truth of the actual gospel of Christ is simple enough for a child to understand. There is no evil in the teachings of Christ.

8

Counter arguments for the WT's Jesus is Michael Proof Texts

by lovelylil in

michael the archangel is only mentioned in five bible verses.

revelation 12:7

therefore, here it is saying that when christ comes down from heaven he is accompanied by a loud shout, made with the voice of the archangel, and he is also accompanied by the trumpet call of god.

Apostate Kate

Great research Lill! I'm bookmarking it for later. I have researched it years ago but having nothing really saved. Thanks!

Leolaia; you must have an entire room full of books! You are filled with so much knowledge. I always enjoy reading your posts. How do you remember everything?

20

My Story: My Current Religious Experience from Birth to the Present

by the_classicist in

i don't believe i've said anything about myself here, so here goes.. i was raised a jehovah's witness from birth.

my family's invovlement in this particular religion began with my great grandmother, a rather lovely woman who lived a long life who made homemade oreos which i had the occasion to enjoy once; she died firm in her beliefs.

my grandmother was subsequently raised in this religion, although not all of her brothers and sisters were, as far as i can reckon.

Apostate Kate

Thank you for sharing such a deep part of yourself. I too went through depression after leaving the org. I was on effexor and some other anti depressants. It took several years to find that natural balance and inner joy. The hardest aspect of being human for me was to learn to love myself. I always thought that self love was a horrid selfish thing, but I have come to learn that we must love and respect ourselves first, before we can love others.

I left religion but drew closer to the person of Jesus. Whatever one chooses to believe about anything, when one looks at what was actually recored as Jesus own words, very few could aurgue that those words were evil or wrong in any way. Love yourself, value yourself, love others.

Thanks again for sharing~Kate

31

What do you drive and why did you chose the vehicle you have?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

i love japanese cars, easy on gas too, and that's why i drive a corolla.

also it has 4 doors

Apostate Kate

I drive a 1998 VW Beetle - diesel. (Right now, it has a tank of bio-diesel.)
I got it because I could make my own fuel for it, if I choose to - out of vegetable oil. It also gets great fuel mileage... 47mpg city, 50+mpg hwy.
It's a fun car to drive.
Regards,

Jim that is great! We are going to convert the bus to run on bio100. When I buy another truck I'm definitely getting diesel so we can convert. Seems the conversion process is pretty cheap as Dave can do the actual work. He says the truck will run on bio diesel now I forget how he explained it. I would love to get a bio100 co op together out here. I seen a story on this one guy who gets his oil free from the restaurants and then advertises them on his car.

49

John 8:3-11

by Zico in

3the teachers of the law and the pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

they made her stand before the group 4and said to jesus, "teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

5in the law moses commanded us to stone such women.

Apostate Kate

I personally found that the "pastoral concern" of many church leaders, resulting in hiding to the "little ones" some important problems they were perfectly aware of (especially in the field of Bible criticism), often backfires. As a result what people learn and regard as "faith" is not only "faith," but an imaginary set of beliefs which includes a lot of pseudo-science and pseudo-history. When at some point they get in touch with the facts through popularisation books, TV programs or websites, and then turn to their pastors who tell them they knew about it all the time, they have a strong feeling they were lied to, and are much more likely to reject all "faith".

No offense but you use some very generalized statements here. You may not be in touch with today's church at all. The WTBTS is not reflective at all of mainstream Christianity. Please do not make such wide sweeping statements. You basically have generalised that all who believe and follow Jesus Christ is a life based on imaginary faith. In fact at Calvary Chapel, www.calvarychapel.com and many other churches deep study of the scriptures is the norm.

Faith and conversion is simple. You believe Jesus, you recieve Him as your God and Savior, and you follow Him. Study and research can take many years and there are many great Theological seminaries that cover everything.

Galatians 1:6-7 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel; and there isn't another gospel. Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Gospel of Christ.

Respectfully~Kate

49

John 8:3-11

by Zico in

3the teachers of the law and the pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

they made her stand before the group 4and said to jesus, "teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

5in the law moses commanded us to stone such women.

Apostate Kate

I read this scripture during the meeting last night (I now spend the meetings just reading my bible)

That is what happened to me. I started reading entire chapters for every one Scripture referenced in Watchtower literature. I started to see a world I had never seen before. I found an awesome being named Jesus who was nothing like the Governing Body.

This Jesus taught unconditional love, he met people where they were at, he did not insist they change and then come to seek him. The only ones who Jesus got angry with were religious people.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

Matthew 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,

The kind of love Jesus taught is love in action. It is more than a word or discription.

Matthew 22:39 A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

This love is agape love and is a moral love. Neighbor means all fellow men. There is no teaching of Christ's that can be translated to say JW shunning and disfellowshipping practices are godly.

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another.

WTBTS love in action; not one charity, food pantry, orphaned childrens home, widows fund, homeless shelter..nothing. Watchtower love in conditional love, not the love of Jesus.

31

What do you drive and why did you chose the vehicle you have?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

i love japanese cars, easy on gas too, and that's why i drive a corolla.

also it has 4 doors

Apostate Kate

I drive my moms old 1986 Nissan hard body truck. She started having trouble with her leg when she drove, probably due to the clutch. It is a tough old truck. We live out in the boonies so when it retires I'll go looking for another good old truck. I don't like payments either so I put money away to use cash.

We have a boneyard out back. It came with hubby when we got married. Probably about 12 vehicles out there not running. The ones running are; 1951 GMC bus, 2004 Star (Suzuki?) motorcycle, Eagle Summit, dirt bike, and my truck.

I bet I could win Jeff Foxworthys redneck yard contest.

8

dogs and LIFE

by hamsterbait in

jw
friends

doubt this will realy make a thread - .

i am just dumbfounded that the average american family dog is fed more animal protein per week than the average indian gets in a month.. how can we justify taking fish from protein starved peruvians and feeding them to our dogs?.

is it fair to say that the birth of an american baby is a greater disaster for the world than that of 25 indian babies .

Apostate Kate

As for as I know....Americans have opened their wallets and hearts to starving people of the world for ages on top of ages. I have often thought to myself WHY are there so many starving people in the world when the more prosperous countries and so many large companies and charities give, give, give and it never ends starvation.

My comment was not a political one, just an honest observation, not the why's of it all. The sad fact is the powers that be in other countries grossly misuse funds that the US gives. I had to buy my way in and out of Peru on my visit 20 years ago with money and liquer. Nothing has changed. Most often than not, political, police officials do not act as we do in the US. When we find corruption we put it on the cover of Time magazine. McDonalds is now destroying the health that many countries has enjoyed for many generations. They should have a disclaimer; For Every Double Beef Patty You Eat, It blows up so many inches of anciet rainforrest in flames. The American media sells and sells and uses psychology to do so here and abroad. There are better ways to feed our dogs too. It only take one egg laying chicken per large dog. 1 Cup of rice and a handfull of veggies. Chickens live off of table scraps, a little grain, and bugs. This is a serious topic and not about guilt. It is about the degree in which we want to take personal responsibility for it all. We have to leave a healthy earth for our grandchildren, political corruption or not.

8

dogs and LIFE

by hamsterbait in

jw
friends

doubt this will realy make a thread - .

i am just dumbfounded that the average american family dog is fed more animal protein per week than the average indian gets in a month.. how can we justify taking fish from protein starved peruvians and feeding them to our dogs?.

is it fair to say that the birth of an american baby is a greater disaster for the world than that of 25 indian babies .

Apostate Kate

We Americans are killing ourselves with overconsumption. I would not be surprised to find out that American dogs get more protien that a large percentage of ther worlds population. Some nasty stuff goes into dog food though. The American lifestyle is responsible for some of the destruction of the South American rain forrest due to our desire for cheap beef.

I'm not sure what to think about the Peruvian comment. I'm thinking you must have read something about Peruvian fisheries selling fish to the US for dog food? Most Peruvians get protein from eggs, lamb, chicken, guinie pig, frogs, mackeral, trout, llama, veggies and beans. The sea cities are different from the Andean villages. They consume far less protein than we do. Poor families in any third world country suffer terrible malnutrition. Children suffer the most.

I am a vegan for many different reasons. The biggest is meat eating is very destructive to the environment and for our bodies. It takes a lot of food energy to fatten up a cow at a horrid feedlot. The grain and water used to produce a pound of beef can be used to produce many many more pounds of life saving plant proteins to a starving world.

21

When you were a JW true believer, what were you most afraid of?

by under_believer in

jw
friends

it's been pretty well established that all religions use fear as a motivator, to some degree.

the jw's have honed this practice to a near art form.

what were you most afraid of when you were a jw?

Apostate Kate

It's been pretty well established that all religions use fear as a motivator

I disagree with this statement. It is not well established. Mainstream religions today, most of them are love based, not fear based. They are charity oriented not works oriented.