Posts by OnTheWayOut

27

Oh God(s)!

by tepidpoultry in

meant to hopefully get your mind off the craziness which we sadly refer to as the news these days,.

we'll call this one .

fun for seculars.

OnTheWayOut

#7 for me.

Everything had (in our limited understanding) a beginning. Life from lifelessness had to be. No need for a god.

None of the gods of man's creation exist. I have a slight belief that there may be evolved beings beyond human beings that would seem godlike to us, but in a Star Trek kind of way. I am extremely confident that were there any such beings, they have never visited Earth. Even if I am wrong and they visited and actually started out our primordial soup, they started out themselves from lifelessness and are not gods. But I really only put that up as a tiny slight silly notion of a possibility.

16

A Perfect Life Isn't Worth Living?

by Sorry in

think of your favorite tv shows.

what do they all have in common?

the answer is they revolve around some type of problem or conflict.

OnTheWayOut

I am torn on this. I get that man has evolved due to the need to overcome. I get that we are shaped mentally, philosophically by our challenges.

I know that I would be happy in retirement on the beach but we are talking about 2 decades, a far cry from "forever."

But it seems we could challenge ourselves in small ways even in perfection- learning an instrument or how to build certain things, then a different instrument and building different things. We could learn how to win auto races or horse races or foot races, then rowboat races. We could sew our own clothing and become skilled at that. To rid the world of large facilities, we could get our own water and food the hard way and dispose of our own sewage and garbage the hard way, so our daily drudgeries become a workout. Sure, tiny goals would become important goals and it may be a bit weird to focus on cutting a half-second off your rowboat mile, but it could be done.

I think I could find a way to "switch it up" over time.

It matters not, though. It's all just a fantasy.

45

What's preventing YOU from stopping meeting attendance?

by nicolaou in

we all 'exit' in our own way and at our own pace but i'm curious, why carry on stuffing yourself into that stiff suit and tie or meeting dress years after you realised the truth about 'the truth'?.

they kept you a prisoner, what's stopping you from leaving now that you have the key to your own cell?.

loved ones?

OnTheWayOut

I have strong opinions like everyone else about this subject. My thoughts drove me to quickly fade. Some would say I am still living a lie if I am not openly opposed to Watchtower.

I had strong opinions about homosexuals and revealing outfits on women, and abortion, and tobacco and all kinds of things when I was a JW. I have since learned that no matter what my opinion is, I have no right to impose my way of thinking on others.

It's fine to ask others why they still attend meetings. It's fine to have opinions about it. But I was so wrong about so many things before, and I have learned to just let people lead their lives. Even beyond this forum and a little bit on facebook, I don't even try to influence religious people to wake up to reality unless I am asked for my opinion.

I think you all meeting attenders should find a way to seek more personal peace through less meeting attendance, but who am I to decide that your peace comes ahead of a delicately achieved happy relationship with family?

6

Question (and answer): What does it mean to believe in someone?

by schnell in

"do you believe in jesus?".

yes.. "do you believe in jehovah?".

yes.. "do you believe in the grand man of the universe?".

OnTheWayOut

So I understand that you believe in the Santa-Claus-type of Jesus. For the naive, they can be coaxed into a morality via stories of that Jesus.

I don't like when older children haven't been taught the truth of how a Santa Claus would be more fair to poor people, so Santa Claus must be their parents. There's a time to grow up and realize you have to do good works for the sake of the good works instead of for the sake of Christmas presents.

Very few sane adult people continue to believe that Spider Man, Darth Vader, or Santa Claus are real people.

I think the same should be true of Jesus. It's time that mankind stops "believing" in him and grows up.

50

If turned off by the GB's latest bloopers- do you still have faith in God and Christ?

by the-Question in

some go back to churchianity!.

and that, to me, indicates they never had real faith in god- but it was in men.....

OnTheWayOut

The GB are flawed men.
The Bible was written by flawed men.
All the gods were created by flawed men.
Churches/Religions were all created by flawed men.

The God of the Bible can be anything readers want him to be- a god of love, war, justice, injustice, peace, slavery, macho standards, yadda yadda yadda.

40

Wife is Awake

by freemindfade in

following the news of stuckinarut2, over the past few months my wife has completely mentally woken up.

i've been meaning to post but haven't had the time.

i saw stuckins post and i figured i'd add my news too.

OnTheWayOut

63

Life is changing for me: no pioneering, got a job!

by Skepsis in

jw
friends

a month ago i decided to register in this board.

i had decided to step down pioneering but was frightened about the consequences.

i had finished my university degree some months before (despite disaproval from brothers in my congregation) and i had to choose: continue pioneering and working in jobs with no future or starting a career, working full-time.. i was thinking to postpone the decisiton but... i was fed up with preaching.

OnTheWayOut

Hey, great that you have a career-oriented future. Congratulations on leaving pioneering.

If it were me where you are now, I would tell the brothers that so many well-intentioned people have said such negative things about my resigning that I insist that I can no longer be an MS....then refuse to remain no matter what they say.

35

How long did people like Methuselah really live?

by dubstepped in

i was working today and my brain was working in circles like it often does and i started wondering about what i was always told about people like methuselah in bible times, and their incredibly claims of longevity.

i've tried researching things but have a hard time getting through all of the bible thumpers to some real evidence, and figured that some here may be more informed or have done the research previously.

so, did people really live longer way back when?

OnTheWayOut

I believe that the writer of Genesis tried to bolster the thought found in Psalm 90:10 (both Genesis and that Psalm alledged to be written by Moses who supposedly lived over 120 years) that our lives can only reach 70 to 80 years unless God blessed us with extra life. And then the writer shows that God did that for the men of their fictional history. That way, such men could be viewed as "larger than life." But because it was fiction that could not be matched in the days of the reader, those lives were shown to be getting shorter and shorter.

There is no way the stories are based on real people counting years in a different manner. Everyone knows what a year is- going thru one summer and one winter, or going from one fall harvest to the next fall harvest.

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

OnTheWayOut

I haven't read the other answers, but I can say that I did not choose to be an atheist like one might choose the beef over the chicken at a restaurant.

Jehovah's Witnesses were wrong. I finally figured that out via investigation. I did not stop investigating until I figured out that the Bible was wrong also. That led to so much more until it was inescapable to realize that none of the gods of man's beliefs exist.

Jehovah's Witnesses were taught to reject mythologies, so many ex-JW's are just doing that.

14

elders are leaving me alone. what to make of this?

by nowwhat? in

i am a born in that goes back to the 1960's i am in a very zealous congregation with super dub elders.

i have been inactive for 3 years and only go to about 2 meetings a month.

i made my displeasure known about the overlapping generation b.s.

OnTheWayOut

You do what you need to un your situation, but I managed a complete fade with no contact from the elders in something like 8 years, and that is with absolutely no meeting attendance while my wife is still very active.

My point is, they still see you, they still assume you are a loyal (but douting) minion. And as mentioned, they have no good answers for you. I suppose luck plays in most cases whether the elders let someone leave in peace or not, but to see if you are lucky, you might try dropping the twice-a-month meetings.