Posts by onacruse

i found it interesting----do remember that the comments made after are not mine, even though i thought they were good comments--i won't take credit for them.

apostates and apostasy reconsidered.

onacruse

Jes, I think that WTS is working toward a new definition of apostasy, namely, anything that in their opinion "causes divisions in the congregation."

Sure would like to get my hands on that divinely inspired Greek/Hebrew lexicon that the GB has hidden away in the secret files, right next to the pedophile list. Must be chock full of unique definitions and as yet unpublished ancient manuscripts (sorta like the Golden Plates, haha).

LOL

Craig

19

Rejection

by dsgal in

jw
friends

i faithfully attended all the meetings at the local kingdom hall...someone was studying with me...i went out in field service.but i never got invited to any of their social events.this hurt me so bad i stopped going to meetings.just curious,anyone else ever experience shunning?

onacruse

Welcome dsgal, and first of all, you WON'T be shunned on this board. Having been here only a short time myself, I've unexpectedly found TREMENDOUS acceptance.

As for JW social groups/events: you don't say you were ever baptized. That usually puts a big damper on the social stuff with dubs. As with any tightly controlled closed group, acceptance into the confidences of the social cliques required that you first make an unequivocal commitment to them.

OTOH, on this board, NO such obligation. Say what you think (within liberal social standards), and you will instantly have access to thousands of folks that have been through the same things.

Watch and see!

Craig

13

Do JW's count BBs and Chat Rooms as Service Time?

by alliwannadoislive in

jw
friends

out of interest, i've just posted the following at: http://forums.delphiforums.com/flame1/messages which is frequented by a number of active jws.. general discussion - do jehovah's witnesses count time here ?

previous | next from: alliwannado 5:16 am to: all (1 of 1) 465.1 it's a genuine question - do jehovah's witnesses count the time they spend posting on bulletin boards or in chat rooms as service time ?

i guess it completely fits in with the definition of witnessing to non-baptised individuals about jehovah's kingdom.

onacruse

Hey, six of us pioneers counted every minute of the time we spent driving mindlessly back and forth in rural territory for back-calls and not-at-homes. "Oops, I just noticed that I had an rv next door to that house we were just at 30 miles away on the other side of town, guess we should go back, eh?"

Average literature sales/day: $1.00

Average gasoline/day: $10.00

Internet preaching is SO much more efficient, and EASIER too. Don't even have to get out of the car!

Do miss the vicious gossip, though. Eviscerated so many brothers and sisters while in car-groups that even Arnold Schwarzenegger would be proud.

LOL (with regrets),

Craig

51

Explain this then

by Legendary U.2.K. in

(quote, messiah christ jesus) - "but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but "my father only" <--that's proof that christ is not god, cause if christ was infact god,'dont you think he would know about the coming of his kingdom, also christ said" my father only" , um he said my father, therefore christ is the son of god, infact !!

!christ prayed to god!!

!<---you cant ignore that.. all this cometh str from the bible, and the bible tongues has/been change, but no the words, everything is true.. so prove me wrong, um you cant, so pay attention....

onacruse

<<editing Little Toe into oblivion>>

Along with Gopher, I too have reached the conclusion that arguing Trinity issues is useless, except for some cerebral endorphin pleasure it may provide to sociologically retarded people like me! I feel this way for 2 reasons:

1) God is infinite, I am finite, and even if the Bible was 10,000,000,000,000,000 pages of divinely inspired revelation it still could not provide me with a complete comprehension of God;

2) Who or what God is (doctrinally speaking) does not affect my daily life. I pray to Jesus, I pray to Yahweh, I pray to God, I pray to Jehovah. I have no doubt that my prayers are heard, and that He is aware of my existence and hears my prayers. That's good enough for me.

OTOH, I am currently involved in an online debate with a Baptist seminary student re: the divinity of Christ, which will be published in the Christian Tool Chest Magazine. I am taking the devil's advocate position to "prove" that Jesus is not God. (Ah, can really feel those endorphins flowing now).

Best regards,

Craig

6

Was there Intent?

by jelly in

i have noticed that many people that grew up as a jw have a very difficult time leaving the org.

the obvious reason is the fact that they are going to be rejected by their entire social circle and family.

but on a personal level i have noticed the culture of the average dub tends to keep them shackled also.. for instance the meeting arrangement; the multitude of meetings seemingly effect witnesses in three ways:.

onacruse

Jelly, great thread!!

Since I am just now beginning to break out of the sociopathic jw web, I mostly attune to "hobbling the horse." More like a horse that was lame from birth, since I was raised as a dub. My disconnection from all society except the Watchtower "Society" is one of the greatest regrets of my life. And yes, they do this with premeditated purpose, so as to engender the greatest possible blind loyalty from their members. This plays into the "education" problem too, as many of my social "revelations" were a direct result of college, which of course like a good little old jw boy I didn't pursue until I was 40.

That term "culture" reminds me of a petrie dish, and most dubs are just a bunch of mindless bacteria in the FDS testing lab for maximum literature output and minimum independent thought.

Craig

33

Who are the 144,000?

by EXJWBrit in

i swallowed and believed such much shit when i was a jw that i have a few more questions to ask anyone who has the answers.

the 144,000 is a big gripe of mine........ right, i was told that the 144,000 found out they were one of the anointed when they had a flash of "revelation" at some point and truly believed it or they had known since they were a child.

what a load of shit!

onacruse

Insofar as WTS policy re: the remaining members of the 144,000 "anointed ones" is concerned, Ray Franz comments (In Search of Christian Freedom, pp. 158-9:

"The Governing Body is said to act as a spokesman for all these anointed ones. One would expect the Governing Body to be keenly and intensely interested in their thoughts on any and all spiritual matters...But what do we find?...no provision is made for communication with the 'anointed' members of the 'faithful and discreet slave' class. Not one's being of the 'anointed,' but organizational position is the factor...When opinions are sought by the Governing Body, they are generally sought from...members of Branch Comittees (sic) or from the Brooklyn Service Department or similar sources. Yet these are sources composed almost entirely of men not professing to be of the 'anointed.'...If one is in any other position...his being of the 'anointed,' a member of the 'faithful and discreet slave' class, will not cause his thoughts to be shown any greater consideration...than would be the case with any of his non-anointed peers." Ftn: "I cannot recall a single one of these ever being invited to express himself to the Governing Body as whole on any topic during the nine years of my being on the Body."

To that I can add my own testimony: In 40 years as a JW I knew many dozens of "anointed" ones, both in the various congregations I attended as well as at Bethel. To my knowledge, not a single one of them was ever asked to contribute to WTS doctrine/policy; they were just "little people" who did their daily duties like any other dub, "feeding" with the rest of us out of the GB's trough.

Also, a simple actuarial calculation shows that, using the number of "partakers" in 1935, there should now only be 200-300 "anointed" ones left on this planet, not the 8,800 now counted. A Brooklyn source recently confirmed to me that this is the "private opinion" of many at Bethel.

This whole doctrinal structure is succumbing to the law of Entropy: Time destroys all things.

Craig