digderidoo

Joined

• started 201 topics
• posted 1,715 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by digderidoo

• 
  47

  New Jehovah's Witness forum on Facebook (w/real JW's)

  by middleman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's called "jehovah's witness facebook forum".

  check it out could be interesting........................ .

  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51298429787#/group.php?gid=51298429787.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  It is funny how it has been taken over by JWD'ers, i get a feeling it will soon be taken down. lol

  Paul
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  LWT:Are you saying that they would be better off trapped in a cult than have an Atheist use the Bible to extract them?

  Lance:Are you criticizing my motives? I don't get it.

  It's just that i don't get it.

  I can understand someone who has an alternative belief system that they are trying to persuade or coerce others into believing. Take Shazoolo for example, he's a born again christian, his motive is to 'save' JW's and Mormons. So he critiques the WTS from his own beliefs and the way he interprates the bible. That i understand.

  On the same token i have had many debates on bible forums with active JW's, debates using the bible, yet my own beliefs do not necessarily align with the bible. But for me, it was part of the healing process. Once i realised that i could prove the JW's wrong it felt empowering to do so, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

  But in all honesty what stopped me from debating the bible with others was Newagegamer's videos. In that we saw as it happened, his doubts coming to the surface, he has gone through a hard time at such a young age of losing his family. The reaon for this was his doubts had begun as regards Colossians 1. Now in my opinion all he has done is change one belief system for another and in doing so he has lost his family. In my opinion, and i feel i am going to be slated for this, he would have been better off staying a JW, rather than becoming evangelical and losing his family in the process.

  So speaking for myself i do not now get involved in biblical debate, because ultimately i feel the bible can be interpretated in many ways. If i do not believe in a certain interpretation of a scripture i will not present an alternative, because i do not feel i have a right to critique one belief from another, when i believe in neither.

  If as an atheist you are presenting one alternative biblical standpoint against another, and you don't believe in either, as a way to cast doubt on WTS beliefs, then i guess i am being critical of you. If you are doing it purely for your own healing or telling your own story then i am not.

  Paul
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Lance: An example:

  You are a forensic investigator. You arrive at the scene of a crime, and there are 2 spots of blood. You run the DNA for one spot, and assume that this must be the perpretrator. However, while there is another spot of blood, you don't run DNA from that sample to see if it is diferent. If you were to bring such evidence into a court of law, the defense could always point out that you failed to analyze all the evidence, and if you had, you might have come to another conclusion, or worse, the conclusion may have been amibiguous. Additionally, as an investigator, whether you personally believe that the accused is guilty or not, is totally irrelevant. You are there to present the evidence.

  This is what I am doing in my videos. I make it clear that I am not advocating any particular religion or belief ssytem. I merely point out that the WTS only presents one side of the argument that supports their views, without considering all of the evidence. Whether I still believe in the Bible or not is irrelevant. I am in a unique position as a Gilead Grad (along with other Gilead grads such as AllTimeJeff) to show viewers that something is wrong with their belief system. What they do with that knowledge is up to them.

  With that example a forensic investigator is attempting to come to a conclusion, whereas what i have felt you are doing is presenting one argument against another for argument sake, when the reality is you believe they are both wrong.

  LWT:I'm very perplexed after reading that paragraph. Why wouldn't an ex-JW use the Bible to argue against JW teachings?

  It depends on the reasons for presenting the alternative argument, as i have mentioned.

  Lance:I agree, LWT, his comment threw me for a loop, as if he were Reniaa, LOL!

  Hmmm...don't know where that one has come from.

  Paul
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Does being an atheist in some way disqualify me from discussing the Bible?

  Not at all, that's not what i am saying.
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Thanks Lance,

  If your channel is just about you and why you left, then i can see why you want to do that. I am sure it is a part of the healing process upon leaving the JW's.

  I guess i have felt that your channel is maybe to use the bible to put doubts in JW's minds, or even to make them question the JW teachings, a bit like shazoolo's. If that is not the case, then i have got the agenda of your channel wrong. If it is to tell your story then go for it. As i have said on the second post here i wondered what you're agenda was in refering to the bible, it appeared to me that you were using the bible to argue against the JW teachings which is what i could not understand.

  Paul
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Now, which is easier to help a believer, especially a JW? To say the Bible is fairytales or to say that "You don't have the truth." ?
  Easier to demonstrate the lack of truth to the believer, or to examine them by their own standard, then to afterward show them why it is so easy to reveal their lack of truth by their Bible because the Bible is fairytales.

  I guess then that the question then comes as to what is Lance's agenda in disproving the JW's as far as the bible is concerned. I have always been able to see why someone who believes in another version of scripture would want to disprove an alternative view, such as JW's, mormons or whoever. Their agenda is to 'save their life'. I cannot however understand why an atheist would want to represent an alternative scriptural view on a point.

  Plus, Jw's use the Bible to condemn everyone else, so it is important to show them how it can condemn them.

  I can see that point of view, but isn't that just tit for tat? It's as if you're saying they knock me with the bible, so i'll knock them. So again it comes down to the agenda.

  Paul
• 
  12

  Daniel 4 - 7 times linked or otherwise to Luke 21:24

  by besty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  "26 evidently, nebuchadnezzars seven times involved seven years.

  in prophecy, a year averages 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each.

  (compare revelation 12:6, 14.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Luke 21:22-24

  Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for (B) there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by (C) the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and (D) Jerusalem will be (E) trampled under foot by the Gentiles until (F) the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

  Jw's argue the first section is directed towards a first century fulfillment of Jerusalem's destruction, including the first half of v24, yet why do they change tack on the 2nd half of v24 and apply that and that sentence only to Daniel's prohecy?

  A classic example of taking scripture out of context.

  Paul
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Hi Lance,

  What i find hard to understand about your channel, is that if you are an atheist then why do you use the bible to critique JW's?

  Surely by representing an alternative biblical argument to a JW is futile if you do not believe that yourself? It's like using one set of lies to rebut another set of lies.

  Paul
• 
  18

  How many ex jw's have become born again?

  by digderidoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been in touch today with an old school friend, after around 20 years.

  his mom used to be a jw, but became a christian years before he was born, i always remember him as having a faith, but it was something that during his teen years he put to one side.. anyway this brings me around to today.

  we got in touch recently through facebook, turns out he only lives 5 minutes away so i went around today to see him.. we had a great conversation, catching up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  I have been in touch today with an old school friend, after around 20 years. His mom used to be a JW, but became a christian years before he was born, i always remember him as having a faith, but it was something that during his teen years he put to one side.

  Anyway this brings me around to today. We got in touch recently through Facebook, turns out he only lives 5 minutes away so i went around today to see him.

  We had a great conversation, catching up. But then got talking and it turns out he is a leader in a local non demonational evangelical group. I have to say i have not discussed the bible, beliefs, Jesus like this for many years. Initially i was only going for a coffee and had to get back to work, but stayed over an hour. I discussed the JW's with him and why i left all those years ago, i never forget a conversation we had when i was 13 and my mom started studying. From one 13 year old to another, he said it may all seem fantastic to you now, but the hard part comes when you try to leave. I reminded him of that conversation and he remembered. His gran was a JW at the time.

  He has always maintained an interest in the JW beliefs, i guess from his mother. But he has had that born again experience that many talk of, i can tell there is something within him, i would put it down to a passion, i guess he would say it's the holy spirit.

  Talking to him today was a real eye opener. As kids we never spoke like this, i guess i never spoke JW beliefs to school mates and he never discussed his christian beliefs. Our friendship was always based on the usual lads stuff.

  To my surprise all my scriptural knowledge was coming back, along with my critique of the JW religion which i have learnt over the years. I was amazed by his scriptural knowledge and i feel he thought the same of me too.

  It has made me wonder as to how many here are born again? How did this make you feel? Did you have that born again experience?

  Thanks in advance

  Paul
• 
  12

  665 JW's in US prisons...

  by digderidoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the federal bureau of prisons does have statistics on religious affiliations of inmates.

  the following are total number of inmates per religion category: .

  catholic 29267 39.164% protestant 26162 35.008% muslim 5435 7.273% american indian 2408 3.222% nation 1734 2.320% rasta 1485 1.987% jewish 1325 1.773% church of christ 1303 1.744% pentecostal 1093 1.463% moorish 1066 1.426% buddhist 882 1.180% jehovah witness 665 0.890% adventist 621 0.831% orthodox 375 0.502% mormon 298 0.399% scientology 190 0.254% atheist 156 0.209% hindu 119 0.159% santeria 117 0.157% sikh 14 0.019% bahai 9 0.012% krishna 7 0.009% .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  The Federal Bureau of Prisons does have statistics on religious affiliations of inmates. The following are total number of inmates per religion category:

  Catholic 29267 39.164% Protestant 26162 35.008% Muslim 5435 7.273% American Indian 2408 3.222% Nation 1734 2.320% Rasta 1485 1.987% Jewish 1325 1.773% Church of Christ 1303 1.744% Pentecostal 1093 1.463% Moorish 1066 1.426% Buddhist 882 1.180% Jehovah Witness 665 0.890% Adventist 621 0.831% Orthodox 375 0.502% Mormon 298 0.399% Scientology 190 0.254% Atheist 156 0.209% Hindu 119 0.159% Santeria 117 0.157% Sikh 14 0.019% Bahai 9 0.012% Krishna 7 0.009%

  Total Known Responses 74731 100.001% (rounding to 3 digits does this)

  Unknown/No Answer 18381

  Total Convicted 93112 80.259% (74731) prisoners' religion is known.

  Held in Custody 3856 (not surveyed due to temporary custody)

  Total In Prisons 96968

  Wow, bet the WTBTS doesn't advertise that.

  Paul