Arthur

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Posts by Arthur

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  37

  Are there not enough anti-Witness books out there?

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  every once in awhile i will read comments about someone thinking a new anti-witness book needs to be written, to expose something.

  well, recently i took the time to look over the search engines of the internet and found something interesting.

  when you type in "jehovah's witness" or "watchtower", you found almost 3 to 1, negative sites and information on the witnesses.

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  Arthur

  You do make a good point free2beme.

  I understand that there have been several exposes and books written about the Church of Scientology; but do I care? No. That's because I never had any interest in Scientology, and I never will. But, I'm sure that most of the ex-Scientology members are reading them. If people already believe that a religion is strange or cultic, they probably aren't going to go out and pay 29.95 for a book that is going to tell them what they already believed. I think that this is why so many books about the Witnesses aren't even a blip on the radar screen.

  As far as any books that are pro-Witness; I think that there are so few because there are so few Witnesses who are professional writers or journalists (if any). Another factor is that even if a Witness does have the professional credentials to publish a book; they will surely not write a book about the organization, because they would be strongly admonished not to. And even if they did have the tenacity to do so; I think many publishers realize that there just wouldn't be a very big market for it anyway.
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  16

  Do you know a guy named "BLOW?"

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, this is a funny story and shows how i was kind of sheltered as a witness.. about a couple years ago, i went to las vegas to visit a friend and have some fun.

  i was with one of my friends who went with me, and my spouse was at home.

  we were walking down the strip, wasting time until my friend got off work and we had some big plans for the evening.

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  Arthur

  free2beme'

  That's hilarious. It's funny you bring this up. Just tonight, I was talking with some buddies of mine. One of them was making fun of the other guy for smoking menthol cigarettes. I asked: "Whats the difference between a regular and a menthol cigarette?" They thought that was pretty funny, and then explained it to me.

  Here's another story. I was out at Denny's with several friends about a month ago. One of the girls is getting married and was talking about her bachelorette party she's going to have in Las Vegas. One of her friends said to her: "When we're in Vegas, we're going to have to go experience the 'thunder from down under' ".

  Like a real dumbass, instead of just staying quiet, I had to ask:"What's the thunder from down under?"

  Everyone at the table started cracking up. I just smiled, pretended to sip my Pepsi, and never did find out what they meant.
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  16

  Was the straw that broke the camels back, the workload?

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realise that there are many reasons for people leaving the org and some are very sensitive and difficult to discuss.

  but i was wondering how many people, if they really think about it, were finally broken by the sheer workload as a jw.

  someone replied to my thread yesterday (page 2), and discussed the average week for most jw`s.

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  Arthur

  Hey, brutusmaximus,

  What the heck is going on in that picture thats under your alias. The picture is too small for me to tell. Is it a picture of you wrestling with someone? Just curious.
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  16

  Was the straw that broke the camels back, the workload?

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realise that there are many reasons for people leaving the org and some are very sensitive and difficult to discuss.

  but i was wondering how many people, if they really think about it, were finally broken by the sheer workload as a jw.

  someone replied to my thread yesterday (page 2), and discussed the average week for most jw`s.

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  Arthur

  The work load was a huge factor. I actually had an emotional break down of some sort. But it was this hitting "rock bottom" that woke me up to the fact that I needed to address all of the doubts that I had been suppressing for most of my life. I think that if the work load had been very light, I would have gotten comfortable and complacent, and never looked into all of the beliefs that had been eating at me for all of those years. But it was definately the endless, exhausting treadmill of "salvation by works" that eventually caused me to completely burn out and to fade out.

  Is this over-working of the friends deliberate and by design? I believe that the answer is both yes and no. Let me explain. Do any of you remember the well-known illustration that was used often in talks of the fence? A brother would describe the meeting schedule as a fence with five cables on it. ( five meetings ) He would usually draw a picture of a fence on a black board and would take an erasure and erase one cable at a time saying: "Look friends, don't you see that erasing just one meeting from the schedule weekens the fence that separates us from Satan?"

  This illustration was quite powerful and made people refrain from ever complaining about the schedule. I believe that the Society truly believes that it is their ordained duty to "corral" the friends in to protect them from Satan. I think that they truly believe that keeping the friends extremely busy is the only way to protect them from "worldly influences".

  To illustrate, I have heard of parents who were so terrified of their children getting germs and viruses, that they would force their children to engage in the most incredible rituals of cleaning, washing, and bathing. Often; the child because of being indoctrinated, becomes so terrified of germs, that he doesn't think twice about the rituals.

  Some parents because of having irrational fears and faulty information will do some very irrational things in trying to care for and protect their children. Some children fall in line and become comfortable with the behavior. Then, there are those few who revolt.
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  587

  Show us your picture

  by Honesty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  that is, if you are able to without the prospect of facing a three-man kangaroo court appointed by jerhover to keep the congregation clean from apostate influences.. i'll go first: .

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  Arthur

  I would like to apologize

  After I posted that picture, I got to thinking that it will probably offend someone. It may have appeared as though I was showing a callousness toward babies with deformities; and I certainly didn't mean to. I posted the picture on a whim without really giving it much thought. If any of you found it to be offensive or in poor taste, I want to sincerely apologize.
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  45

  Special Campaign announced for September: Creation vs. Evolution

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we had a boe letter read recently.

  the september 2006 awake will be 100% dedicated to the "creation vs. evolution" issue.. even the "young people ask" article will be something like "how can i defend my belief in creation in school?

  also, i think one of the articles is entitled "does the bible support the notion that the earth was created in 6 24-hour days?".

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  Arthur

  I believe that the whole creation vs. evolution debate has turned into a racorous "jaw-flapping contest". I think that many people on both sides of the arguement are wrong. Many people on both sides have bought into the "either-or" trap. Many creationists believe that to acknowledge evolutionary evidence is to reject God as the universal designer and creator. Many evolutionists believe that to acknowledge the evidence of intelligent design is to reject the evidence of evolution. Many on both sides have fallen into the trap of thinking that you must only believe in "hypothesis A", or hypothesis B". How do they know that there isn't a hypothesis C? I find it very interesting that many theologians and even scientists are beginning to point out the real possibilities of God merely using evolution as a tool in the creation of life. Even Pope John Paul II admitted this possibility shortly before he died. Predictably, many on both sides of the debate attacked him for saying this.

  I was totally shocked when I actually began to do my own research into evoltionary biology and to research the fossil record that scientists have assembled. Before doing this research, I never even knew about all of the fossils of Homo Erectus (aprox. 1-2 million years old) that have been discovered over the years. I was shocked at all of the "transitional species" that have been discovered just in the last 20 years. Like many, I just bought into the rhetoric and the myths that have been put out there by Fundamentalists that no transitional fossils have ever been found. This is absolutely false. Just recently, the June 2006 issue of Scientific American reported on the newly discovered fossils of Tiktaalik (about 375 million years old) that is a missing link between water and land animals. I was floored when I saw pictures of the fossils. If you want to read about this go to:

  http://sciam.com and search under "Tiktaalik"

  What many scientists are now admitting is that if you look at the first creation account in the book of Genesis, the order in which different aspects are created (i.e. land mass, vegetation, ocean life, land animals, then man) are in agreement with the evolutionary record.

  Yes, there still are many unanswered questions. But this does not erase the overwhelming evidence that evolution of life has taken place on earth. How does acknowleging this evidence all of the sudden erase God from the equation? It doesn't But, again; people on both sides of the debate have fallen into the "either-or" fallacy. According to all of the evidence that science has presented and continues to present; it looks as though maybe evolutionists and creationists are actually both right.
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  16

  Has it ever just hit you that......

  by LyinEyes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has it ever just hit you that you need to crawl out of the hole you have been in and that you didnt even notice it?

  just a couple of days ago, i awoke to the feeling of needing to change some things.

  most of you know that i lost my sister right before xmas and that hit me hard, knocked me to my knees and i honestly think that is where i have been for awhile.

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  Arthur

  Dear LyinEyes,

  I am new to this site and was not aware of your sisters's death. I am very sorry to hear about that. I have not yet lost an immediate family member to death; so I cannot say that I understand how you feel, but my sympathies are with you.
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  587

  Show us your picture

  by Honesty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  that is, if you are able to without the prospect of facing a three-man kangaroo court appointed by jerhover to keep the congregation clean from apostate influences.. i'll go first: .

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  Arthur
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  24

  Lonely newbie who is glad to be here

  by DesertRat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was directed to this site by a very kind ex-witness who runs a christian ministry in california.

  there are no words to express how thankful i am to be here.. here is what i hope (key word) will be an abbreviated version of my story: i am 35 years old, single, the only child of jw parents who had already spent over ten years in various watchtower capacities (two of those years as gilead missionaries in guatemala) before i was born.

  my father was diagnosed with brain cancer when i was 11 and finally succumbed, after a valiant fight, when i was 14. among the first doubts or questions i remember having was how a god of 'love' could just passively ignore the persecution (malawi!!!

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  Arthur

  WELCOME ABOARD DESERTRAT!

  Glad to have you with us.
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  20

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

  by the_classicist in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  Arthur

  Hey classicist,

  Thanks for opening up and telling us your story. I too was born and raised in the "truth". I can relate to so much of what you wrote. For most of my life as a JW, I suppressed many doubts and tried to carry on, but it didn't work for me either. I soon got dangerously depressed because of this. I too had to come to grips with my doubts.

  I went through a phase where I just didn't want to believe in God anymore. I think that many people feel this way because of the idiotic and anthropomorphic (humanoid characteristics) ways that God was presented in many Old Testament accounts. There is enormous evidence that many Old Testament accounts (global flood, Samson, and even the Garden of Eden account) were based upon much earlier mythologies from Mesopotamia and Sumeria. I realized that my anger toward God was not really toward God but toward humans for the way they portrayed God. I was merely angry at ancient superstitions and mythologies that has been passed down over thousands of years.

  You seem to have a deep interest in learning and exploring many areas of knowledge and discovery. I am the same way. I read constantly. I have discovered a world famous author and lecturer who has published some of the most enlightening reasearch I have ever seen. His name is Dr. David R. Hawkins. He is a world famous psychiatrist who has written extensively on religion and spirituality. He was once a self-proclaimed atheist who came to believe in God. In his books, he addresses many of the issues that have caused people to reject divinity or religion all together. (a very interesting point he brings up is the fact that many people do not believe in God because of the overwhelming evidence that evolution has occurred. What many fail to consider is the huge amount of evidence that God simply used evolution as the means of creation.)

  His writings have literally transformed the way I see life and the world around me. I highly recommend that you at least look into his work with an open mind. I think his best book is: Truth vs. Falsehood. It contains some very fascinating research regarding philosophy, religion, mythology, and what the evolutionary record is telling us.

  Whatever you do, keep searching; and keep and open mind!

  Best Regards