Arthur

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Posts by Arthur

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  28

  Weekend plans?

  by KW13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am gonna be relaxing at uncles house, listen to music and all that sorta thing.

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  Arthur

  Yep, packing and saying bye bye to my wife and kids. Got a 6 month stint coming, and I fly on Tuesday.

  Hey Stealth453, If you don't mind me asking, where are you going for 6 months?
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  120

  September KM - 70 alterations in Revelation Climax Book

  by dozy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i can't find a thread on this subject yet - if there is one , please delete this one.. the september kingdom ministry has a 4 page insert detailing the 70 alterations in the revelation climax book which is due to be studied at the book study shortly.

  i'll provide scans if anyone is interested.. i will leave it up to more experienced analysts to examine the reasons for specific changes , but just a few brief observations for now:.

  p32 box - "they were completely exonerated" changed to "charges against them were dropped" - interesting change of terminology for the 1918 watchtower eight.

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  Arthur

  The light gets brighter flickers in the wind
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  12

  the true path ??

  by Ade in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  thoughts, please indeed proofs of the true faith / church / religion .

  backed up firmly by scripture .can indeed any religion be described as having no , idol worship , man made doctrine , conscience controlling of its members.

  if not which is the correct way to worship god at this moment in time and that to come.

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  Arthur

  Although i realize there will be views and counter views. can any of you back up your church/hall without any violation of bible rules whatsoever ??

  I don't think that this is possible. What you are talking about are people's interpretations of Bible rules. There has never been, and never will be a church on the planet that will not violate someone's interpretations of the scriptures. Consider just one issue: Jesus statement that his followers would be no part of the world. What exactly does that mean? According to the JWs, that means that Christians must not celebrate Thanksgiving Day, must not stand for the National Anthem, and should not play in organized sports (just to name a few) They love to sneer at Christians who do participate in such activities. Why? Because those other Christians don't have the same scriptural interpretations as the Watchtower Society. If anyone has a "bone to pick" with a church, they can always claim that this particular church is in violation of scripture (their interpretation of scripture).

  A much better focus might be toward the individuals true intentions. Obsessing over perfunctory rituals, practices, worship proceedures, and church codes has never brought anyone closer to God; (although this is what many warped religions such as JWs would have us believe). It seems to me that trying to chase after the "correct" practices is like chasing shadows. It seems to me that it is so much more important to align oneself with pure motives and intentions.
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  28

  Weekend plans?

  by KW13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am gonna be relaxing at uncles house, listen to music and all that sorta thing.

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  Arthur

  I'm going to an Oakland A's game tomorrow.
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  23

  How being a JW affected me as a person

  by keo15929 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long ago i bet no one from this site would have been able to stand me for 2 seconds.

  i was one of the most fiercest jws of all time.

  i'd argue until i was blue in the face and i was darn good at it to.

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  Arthur

  Can't watch violence on tv but you can read a book that has a story about a woman being raped and then chopped into pieces and her body parts being scattered among the tribes of Israel. Or about a "righteous" man that pierced a man and a woman through their genitals with a spear because they were fornicating.

  Don't forget the Israelites killing off every man, woman, child, and even animals inside Jericho and then "offering them up to Jehovah". Or, Moses commanding Israelite soldiers to kill innocent women and children, and keeping the virgins for themselves. Isn't that grand?

  According to JWs, and other fundamentalists, the ominipotent power of the universe supposedly allowed His name to be removed from ancient manuscripts, but He found it so important to retain accounts of His "servants" making shish-kebabs out of Canaanite women and children.
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  23

  How being a JW affected me as a person

  by keo15929 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long ago i bet no one from this site would have been able to stand me for 2 seconds.

  i was one of the most fiercest jws of all time.

  i'd argue until i was blue in the face and i was darn good at it to.

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  Arthur

  All those years in the wts I was continually told I'd been brainwashed, and never accepted it. I was there by choice, so I thought.

  Me too. I am very embarrassed to realize how I used to accuse members of other religions of being in denial. You know, I just thought of something. I remember how Sigmund Freud wrote extensively about the human mind projecting onto others it's own deeply suppressed and hated qualities. The very fact that I used to ridicule other religionists for being brainwashed and in denial should have told me something about myself.
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  16

  Must We Worship God as Part of an Organization?

  by Angelica in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i have finally verbalized that it is time to leave the organization.

  the question becomes, must we be part of an organization?

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  Arthur

  We were told that God lives in Brooklyn and has a JOB. He owns an error prone publishing company and he works there as "editor". He incorporated the business because He NEEDED the protection offered by a corporation.

  This is a good point. I began to resent the JWs for portraying God as so fallible that he has to physically gather people together into a totalitarian organizational structure so that He can see who wants to worship Him and do His will, as if he wasn't intelligent enough to read people's hearts. It's kind of like a little kid who has to gather all of his marbles into a sack so that he doesn't lose them.
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  601

  For those not sick to death of talking about this...607 BCE

  by Swamboozled in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  just got this link sent to me by my sister in law and i just keeping staring at it trying to decide where to start.

  i know that arguing with a jw is like throwing miracle wheat in the wind...but i want a comeback!!!

  http://www.2001translation.com/587_or_607.htm

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  Arthur

  ThirdWitness,

  Don't forget to count this time on your field service slip and all of your individual posts as return visits.
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  23

  How being a JW affected me as a person

  by keo15929 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long ago i bet no one from this site would have been able to stand me for 2 seconds.

  i was one of the most fiercest jws of all time.

  i'd argue until i was blue in the face and i was darn good at it to.

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  Arthur

  I have heard that a lot of the stories in the Bible came from ancient myth. I haven't really looked into that yet but what I saw in the Insight book was shocking.

  You are right. Many Old Testament accounts did come from earlier mythology, or at least that is what most of the evidence shows. To my surprise, I began to learn that this is actually common knowledge among many Bible scholars. Two books that I highly recommend are: "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Elliott Friedman and "Secret Origins of the Bible" by Tim Calahan. These two books are extremely enlightening and answer many of the problematic questions about the Old Testament.

  When you expressed all of your thoughts, feelings, and observations you had made as a JW, it was as if you were describing me. Many others on this site will also agree that you were describing them as well.

  It is indeed amazing to see the level of "intellectual gymnastics" that JWs (and myself) went to; to sheild our beliefs from evidence and information that may weaken our ideology. When I was expressing to a family member all of the research I had done into archeology, and all of the proof that humans have been on earth much longer than 6,000 years, the only reply they could come up with was "that is worldly thinking" and "scientists are taught not to believe the Bible". The level of naivete that many JWs have about how scientific discovery is carried out is truly amazing.

  But, as I say this, I realize that I am really describing the way I used to be. And so, I am truly amazed at the level I went to in order to sheild my beliefs from uncomfortable information. I am amazed at the naivete that I once had and held onto (and perhaps on certain matters, still do).

  It's funny. When I was a Witness, I always claimed that I was an honest and open-minded person. For so many years, I didn't want to face the fact that I was a slave to dogma. It wasn't until I actually began to openly question my own religious beliefs, that I truly appreciated the power that ideology can wield over the human mind.
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  46

  My dad died....

  by crazyblondeb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since i consider most of you family, i guess i need to unload.

  my dad died.

  i found out by looking under the obituaries online.

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  Arthur

  Dear Shelley,

  I am so sorry for this. I really feel for you. I relate to some of the things you wrote. Please continue to share your feelings and let people on this site support you. My deepest sympathies are with you.

  With love,

  Arthur