Posts by Zico

17

Was there any benefit to being an Israelite?

by jwfacts in

during the time of the israelites, non-israelites with no connection to the nation could have a relationship with jehovah; for example, job.. there also appears no lasting benefit to being an israelite, as all people will receive a resurrection.. the watchtower uses the israelites as evidence that jehovah needs an earthly organization.

however, the only real purpose of the israelite nation that i can see was it led to christ.

is the nation of isreal really an indication jehovah requires an earthly organization?.

Zico

Why send Jesus to open the way for all mankind to connect to God, as opposed to members of just one Nation, and then close it again by only allowing members of one Organisation to connect to God?

"I am wondering what the JW perspective would be, as they would want to paint it in a positive light."

Guess: "The Organisation might not be perfect, but it's better than anything in the world. Israel might not have been perfect, but it was still the best nation in the world." ?

24

Aren't we all responsible for the success of the Watchtower Society?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

raymond franz was a member of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses from 1971 until may 22, 1980, and served at the organization's world headquarters for fifteen years, from 1965 until 1980. franz wrote and edited two detailed books which relate his personal experiences with the watch tower bible and tract society and fellow members of the jehovah's witness organization.. .

after reading ray franz's books,i held him and his fellow members responsible for all the false teachings.

i also wasn't forgiving any of them even if they found out that it wasn't the ''truth'' and left the organization.now i changed my mind.

Zico

We're all victims, and we all did what we thought was right.

Even Ray. And Ray's books have helped so many people.

4

2 witness?

by 4mylove in

according to this rule, what exactly did the other two witness?

do they have to have seen the act or do they simply vouch for the victim?

again, this is simply ridiculous.

Zico

Personally I think the 2 witness rule isn't necessarily a bad one, when used properly. Otherwise you'd get bitchy JWs reporting people for sins just because they didn't like them, at least 2 witnesses means you need 2 bitchy JWs against the same person, which is possible, but not nearly as likely.

They misuse it by extending it to sins which are also crimes. When they hear of a crime, they should report it to the police, with or without 2 witnesses.

Although judging sins isn't the place of man anyway.

26

Why I like being a Jehovah's Witness

by TooBad TooSad in

there are so many reasons why i like being a jehovahs's witness.. 1. we get to count time when we share our faith with nonbelievers or our young children.. 2. we don't have to go to college to get a good job as a janitor or a window washer.. 3. we get to celebrate the birth of a child but not the anniversary of the birth.. 4. we don't pass a collection plate at our meetings and we get to put in our wills that when.

we die that our house, cd's, jewelery, life insurance, and cash can go the the watchtower society.

so that our family doesn't have to worry about those things.. 5. we don't have to be with our families during the holidays to enjoy each other company and eat the.

Zico

TooBad TooSad:

That was very good. You made me smile. :)

Obves:

"Would I not take that apple from somebody who you think is a robber or a child molester and eat it ?"

I doubt I'd take an apple from a robber, and definitely not from a child molester.

Outlaw:

Where do you get all your pictures?

75

If You Were Wrong About The JWs, Maybe Your Current Beliefs Aren't True

by serotonin_wraith in

if you're here, it's likely you were once fooled by what the jws believe.. back then, i expect you thought you were smart.

you thought you could tell if you were being lied to.

yet, they got past your mental defenses and sucked you in.. knowing this, how can you be sure your current religious beliefs are true?.

Zico

Sero: I Just looked up "Serotonin" as it was not a word I'd heard before, so I learned something today, which is always nice.

I can't remember exactly what I put now. In context, I think it was about how beliefs can be dangerous. Believing black people are inferior can lead to some terrible actions, but believing in a god can lead to many more negative actions, some more subtle than others. I can't find that post now.

Don't worry Sero, I wasn't being fully serious, I'm not really bothered now, hence the: at the end. Maybe I should have been clearer?

It's difficult to comment on your experience as I don't know what it is. I know the mind can be tricked.

I appreciate that, and I don't intend to post about the experiences on an Internet forum, at least not at the moment anyway, so I wasn't expecting a debunking. I also know the mind can be tricked, as I said above, I just can't rule out the possibility that it is real.
Good luck "debating" Vinny, though the phrase "exercise in futility" comes to mind.

11

Tattoos and earrings

by Shadow1 in

jw
friends

what do you think my jw wife's friends think of my tattoos and earring?

do you think someone would have mentioned this to her?

i'm a ubm..

Zico

I doubt they'll have said anything to her. They'll probably have just judged you, and then talked about you behind their back.

Although you have to make allowances for different groups of people. For all I know, your wife's friends might be among the nicer members of the JW congregation!

75

If You Were Wrong About The JWs, Maybe Your Current Beliefs Aren't True

by serotonin_wraith in

if you're here, it's likely you were once fooled by what the jws believe.. back then, i expect you thought you were smart.

you thought you could tell if you were being lied to.

yet, they got past your mental defenses and sucked you in.. knowing this, how can you be sure your current religious beliefs are true?.

Zico

To be fair Vinny, you did give him a bloody long post to deal with!

5

Apple Mac users-HELP!

by Chalam in

jw
friends

hi jwd mac users, .

any tips for me?

i am using safari on the mac and i have trouble editing posts, i have managed it once or twice within the 30 minutes time limit but normally it gives me trouble.

Zico

Hi Chalam,

I use safari on a mac too, for editing posts, I find it better to use Firefox instead of Safari, although it still doesn't allow you to post clickable links or pictures.

For those, try Kifoy's thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/24/146155/1.ashx

75

If You Were Wrong About The JWs, Maybe Your Current Beliefs Aren't True

by serotonin_wraith in

if you're here, it's likely you were once fooled by what the jws believe.. back then, i expect you thought you were smart.

you thought you could tell if you were being lied to.

yet, they got past your mental defenses and sucked you in.. knowing this, how can you be sure your current religious beliefs are true?.

Zico

Sero:

I feel sorry for you. No, not because you don't believe in "God", but because I saw the size of some of the posts on your thread, and I thought "My gawd, is he expected to respond to all that!"

I think Christianity has become like an eat what you want buffet, so I'm bound to say things that some Christians don't apply to themselves. Some believe in evolution, some think everyone gets a fair shot at heaven whether they follow Jesus or not, and so on. People have their own personal religion much of the time, under the banner of Christianity.

Well, yes, there is that, but mainly, I'm still bothered about the time you said Christianity was worse than the Ku Klux Klan!

Anyway, getting on point:

While that could be very real to you, your rational mind should take over and look for alternative explanations for what you experienced.

Do you use your "rational mind" to look for alternative explanations to all the people you meet? After all, shouldn't you be consistent?

Actually, I'm not averse to questioning my own experiences, heck I even critiqued the first such experience on this board on a basic level, because I know that feeling it's real, doesn't make it so. I think the only alternative explanation I have here, is that I've had several moments of temporary insanity, as opposed to the other idea that I really did have an experience with something "divine"

I don't have evidence to support either of those conclusions, and I find, personally, that to accept the alternative explanation would mean I'd have to completely rule out the possibility that a supernatural experience did happen, and yet, I don't have enough evidence to be able to rule it out.

Maybe one day science will explain such experiences in a way that precludes God, as you often point out with your Thor example, they have often found natural explanations for things that were once given supernatural explanations, and thus, I accept that this is possible.

75

If You Were Wrong About The JWs, Maybe Your Current Beliefs Aren't True

by serotonin_wraith in

if you're here, it's likely you were once fooled by what the jws believe.. back then, i expect you thought you were smart.

you thought you could tell if you were being lied to.

yet, they got past your mental defenses and sucked you in.. knowing this, how can you be sure your current religious beliefs are true?.

Zico

Maybe... Probably!

Everybody builds their beliefs or non-beliefs around the "evidence" they have received in their life, this is why there is so much diversity in life, we have different friends and family who have influenced us, we read different things, and even when we read the same things, our influences cause us to interpret it differently! It's important to remember that since our experiences will always be limited, our opinions will also be limited.

What about me? Sometimes (most of the time?) I think it would be easier if I could be an atheist, whilst "God" can answer some questions Science can't, it raises a hell of a lot more questions that are answered by: "There is no God" However, I've had experiences that I personally, cannot, just write off, anymore than I could write off a meeting with any one person. I can't prove them objectively, and nor do I have any intention of trying, but it doesn't make them less real for me.

But that is just me. And who am I to say someone else's experiences are any less valid than my own?

Sero, except that I find you generalise far too often, I think you're a smart guy. I don't look down on your opinions.