Posts by Cold Steel

59

Evolutionist on their deathbed.

by Nimble duck in

i would really like to read the thoughts of an evolutionist as they lie on their deathbed.

their "honest to nogod" thoughts.

their terrors.

Cold Steel

DeeGee » Has anyone been back from the dead and personally told you about their conversation with God, what he/she said to God and vice versa, and provided you with the details of what the afterlife is like?

That's kind of the whole question about religion, isn't it? And how we face our own demise is central to it all. The JWs most also experience some apprehension when they die as well, because they, too, face a void...a cessation of existence. If there really is a soul sleep, a person will literally cease to exist, never to exist again. Jehovah may reconstruct someone, reconstruct their memories -- the person may even look the same and feel the same -- but all they can expect to be is a carbon copy. Jehovah could crank out two more of them without breaking a sweat! But none would be the same exact person and all three would swear they were the originals (and in a sense they'd all be right...and wrong).

Intelligence would have to be constant to be eternal. God could take all your original particles and recreate you bit by bit, atom by atom, and you still would be only a copy.

The entire idea behind religion is revelation. People don't all experience life after life revelations, nor do they all see God. But it's far too simplified to say that all prophets are con men and that all those who believe them are fools. Con men aren't usually willing to die for their cons and many religionists have been shown to be some of the most brilliant thinkers and writers in world history.

Whether created or the products of generations of evolution, man has some internal need for religion. And many early prophets weren't one-man bands. They had witnesses. Moses had a meal prepared for seventy elders, all of which "saw the God of Israel." So whether the account is true or false, the ancient God of the Hebrews wasn't hidden as many other gods of the world. So it's not a reach to ask whether non-believers might have doubts on their deathbeds, a time when they have to face their own mortality.

19

Jehovah Banned in Singapore

by EverApostate in

singapore is a tiny, beautiful and economically powerful country in se asia.

all religions are allowed there except the jehaovah's witnesses and another christian denomination.

jws are banned because they don’t serve the military and all singapore citizens are required to serve in the military for a while.. the jws are banned in singapore since 1972. .

Cold Steel

EverApostate » Jehovah being such a powerful GOD, (As we all once believed), can't remove the ban in Singapore for his most important preaching work. If this JW religion is all real, Cant Jah lift the ban in Singapore in no time? ... There is a huge Hindu temple in Singapore, dedicated to Lord Muruga.... I can only conclude that Jehovah is less powerful than Muruga, assuming both GODs are real.

Ah, yes, but assumptions are tricky things. First, even if one assumes that Jehovah is the one lording it up over that Brooklyn publishing company, one must also discount all the other Christian religions and sects who worship Jehovah more intelligently than the Brooklyn religion.

Ever since Rome fell (and Jerusalem before it), Christians and Jews have attempted to guage Yahweh's power over the other gods of mankind by which cities rise or fall or what temple or church was destroyed. Augustine wrote his City of God trying to explain why, if Rome was God's city, that He let it fall, and God's people with it.

The same thing happened with the first destruction of Jerusalem circa 600 BC and the second destruction in the first century AD. Jesus told the Jews in his day that they relied too heavily on the temple and the city of David, but that the Lord was going to give it all up because of the wickedness of the people. In the end times, the Lord would set his hand again to recover his people (Isaiah 11), but not because of their righteousness, but to prepare them for the return of Christ (see Ezekiel 38-39, Rev. 11). In fact, just before that return, John called Jerusalem the spiritual equivalent of Sodom and Egypt.

The point is, the survival or destruction of cities, temples or the success or failure of a people, their missionary efforts -- it's pretty much irrelevant to the existence or power of God. It's often been used as a criterion by the ancients, but it's fairly meaningless, since there are many Christian worshippers of Jehovah in Singapore who aren't and have never been Jehovah's Witnesses. So you can't come up with a viable argument that the JWs can't come back with from scripture.

BTW, I'd love to visit Singapore. They have some draconian laws there, but that's how they keep things clean and sparkling. We could use a little of that here. They know how to deal with crime, littering and vagrancy.

P.S. -- I only hope the universe isn't ruled by cows. If so, I've eaten far too many gods (medium rare) to escape Hell.

15

No go field service days

by Steel in

it's canada day today and not just any canada day, it's canada's 150 birthday.

for some strange reason i was actually able to reason with my wife day and she agreed with me.

field service on a special day wouldn't be appropriate.

Cold Steel

Yes, but if you don't go out on a patriotic day, aren't you, in effect, honoring that day over Jehovah? I mean, what if Armageddon came on that day? He comes in the clouds on Canada's 150th anniversary, and you guys are out getting the breakfast special at Denny's!

That's okay. Just tell them you celebrated it "invisibly."

26

To kill or not to kill

by Chook in

how many jws would kill a violent rapist in there home or protect their family with lethal means .

the one thing i love about the usa is the right to defend oneself with lethal force in their own home.

it's not that i want to kill someone but better them dead than my children..

Cold Steel

Dagon » I don't agree with the idea of brandishing a gun to scare off an intruder. If they are in my home bag em. The old saying I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

The idea isn't to kill someone, but to deter someone. There's a moral dimension to self defense. A gun should not simply be brandished as a means of impressing a bad guy -- that's a good way to be killed or seriously hurt. Either an intruder is in your house to hurt you or take what you have. I talked to an ex-burglar one time who became a security expert. He was in a house he thought was deserted one night and he was putting things in a black bag -- whatever he could grab. "I thought I was alone," he said. "(If I wanted to meet people I woulda been a mugger.) Anyway, I was shoving stuff into this bag when I heard the most frightening sound I'd ever heard. It was a metallic, yet familiar sound. Then it struck me what it was -- it was the sound of a semi-automatic pistol being racked back and released!"

The ex-burglar said it was the last sound he ever heard as a burglar. "I was so scared I left my bag, my tools, everything, and I took off in the straightest direction outta there that was open to me!" His tools were specialized, he said, and not cheap. But he left everything behind and never burgaled another home. "That one sound was enough to turn my life around," he said.

This .357 Ruger Speed-Six is one of the sweetest self defense guns out there. It shoots both .357 and .38 Specials.. I use .38s for the home, but .357s for hiking, camping or cross country travel by car. It's stopping power is legendary.

26

To kill or not to kill

by Chook in

how many jws would kill a violent rapist in there home or protect their family with lethal means .

the one thing i love about the usa is the right to defend oneself with lethal force in their own home.

it's not that i want to kill someone but better them dead than my children..

Cold Steel

In most cases a homeowner doesn't have to shoot an intruder. Just producing a gun is enough to hold the guy for police. A criminal's family also can sue for wrongful death if one isn't careful. When I received my first instruction back in the 80s, my instructor told me to never shoot anyone in the dark. Turn on the lights and take cover behind a bed or a desk. If an intruder has a knife, and you have time to issue a verbal command, it's probably a good idea to do so. But if they have a gun, you're under no obligation to warn. Shoot them until they're no longer a threat.

The worse thing you can do is to try to talk to someone with a gun. Experience has shown you can't shoot and talk at the same time. And cops have recently learned that a determined man with a knife can reach someone armed with a gun and carve them up before being stopped (20 feet is the distance they've determined for cops).

I live in a horribly anti-gun state, but I just won't go into a national park unless I'm armed, legally or otherwise. When I was younger, I worked for the NRA and I've interviewed park rangers, people attacked by bears -- but one of the most interesting guys I talked to was literally terrorized by a man who threatened his family. He'd shoot into the guy's house into lit rooms and the police could never prove it was him. One night the bad guy broke into this fellow's house. In the firefight that ensued, he was forced into the back yard and hid behind a refrigerator that was under repair.

"I had a speedloader loaded with armor-piercing ammo," he said, "and I fired four shots at the refrigerator. I was about to shoot again when the guy just fell dead sideways." When I asked where he'd gotten the ammo, he said he made it from a steel dow and cut it in pieces and reloaded it. He was completely exonerated, but in this case his primary fear was that the guy would live to come back and harm his family. "He wanted to harm me by killing my wife or kids, and there was clearly something wrong with the guy, but I didn't care -- he had it in for my family." He had them trained to hit the floor when they heard shots fired.

2

Cartoon showing the WT changes

by careful in

sorry if it's a repost but it just seemed so funny i had to share it.. .

Cold Steel

105

Subliminal images - why and who are the individuals behind it?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i remember about 5 years ago reading on another site about subliminal images in wt literature.

i honestly thought it a load of bs until i checked out one glaringly obvious image of a creepy skull in clouds within the knowledge book.

i was shocked and even showed my wife at the time who thought it was creepy.. so my question is why?

Cold Steel

The question of who's responsible goes hand-in-hand with why. And even more curiouser is what does the Governing Body do about it? Once these subliminals are discovered, it's not like them to just let the matter slide without doing anything about it. To them it would represent a loss of control or at least it would be an aspect over which they had no control, and that might...trouble them.

It's one thing to put in smiley faces, quite another demonic heads and twisted claws. I'm sure they'll be interesting topics of discussion on Paradise Earth in the Ministry of Theocratic Affairs, Historic Division. They could cover it up, but why bother? Everything will be perfect...delightful, in fact.

Or will they cover it up out of habit? After all, why complicate things on Paradise Earth? The last thing Theocratic Ministry or the Council of the 144,000 need is another rebellion on their hands!

33

My parents found out

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

so in my last post i talked about how i had told my younger siblings how i didn't plan to get baptized or ever be a witness.

i thought i could trust them but i guess i was wrong, they're just kids after all.

my oldest brother (who's 11) told on me today.

Cold Steel

BW » I'm going to find a job and save up as much as I can for a while and do online college.

Are they unwilling, unable or both to send you to a real college? Depending on where your aunt lives, you might be able to acquire residency and attend a state university.

Have you discussed college with them?

Also, how did they react when you said you didn't want to be a JW? Anger? Shock? Did they resort to spiritual threats? If you haven't been baptized, you can't be guilty of apostasy, can you?

I'd definitely consider moving in with your aunt. She may be willing to help you out with college. Do your parents know about that option, and do they communicate with her?

19

Looking for experiences from those who are married with kids and have dissacociated

by UnshackleTheChains in

this is a question for those who officially left the organisation and are married; and your spouse and kids are still in.'.

i just wanted to find out what your experience has been when you dissacociated.the following questions go through my mind all the time.

it always comes back to the what if's!.

Cold Steel

Must be interesting to be around someone who thinks you're going to be smoked on the day of Arrmageddon. Someone else on the forum indicated that if one is a fallen JW, that they might still be salvagable if they're resurrected on the big day and then decide to go with Jehovah when they see what's going down. I've actually heard this before as it pertains to those who die without hearing the gospel message. You're resurrected, then you see what's going down and you make your choice. I'm not certain how it works or what kind of a time frame is involved, but it's supposed to be some sort of a recalibration that makes things more equitable.

Of course, if you're alive when this all goes down, you've pretty much sealed your fate. There's also the tribulation that to my knowledge still hasn't taken place. If you see the tribulation beginning, you may decide to return when you see it fulfilled, which raises the question of how many fallen JWs would return if they saw some of these things starting to take place? (I've seen THE BUNKER videos and don't they have to start rounding JWs up _before_ Armageddon happens?)

Also, as far as I know, adultery and murder are the only two reasons one can use for divorce. Apostasy doesn't apply. If a JW spouse stays in a marriage and the other one begins to negatively influence the kids, that can't be good for the Society.

65

My Younger Brother Has Left The Witnesses!! :-D

by pale.emperor in

absolutely thrilled to give you the news that my younger brother, a zealous full-time pioneer has left the witnesses!!.

i haven't seen or spoke to him in a year.

i'd lost all contact with him, no facebook, no mobile number, i didn't even know his address because he'd moved house.

Cold Steel

Pale Emperor » In the end I had a breakdown. ... The elders came to see me in the hospital. They were nice and all but before leaving Bro. _______ asked for my ministry report for the month. I burst into tears right there in the hospital. The nurse had to tell them to leave.

I can't believe the insensitivity. Apparently when he came to the point where he didn't care whether what he'd believed was true or not, that's when it all fell apart. The lifestyle reached a point that it became absurd.

It reminds me of the struggle written about by Albert Camus, who sees suicide as the ultimate thumbing of one's nose at life; of recognizing the absurdity of it. “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide,” he wrote. “Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” One either does or does not. Life is entirely devoid of meaning. And what better way of describing the above than likening it to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, which fascinated Camus? Devious even with the gods, Sisyphus got away with his tricks even to the day he died. But then it all caught up with him because how can you ultimately escape the gods? So he was forced push a huge, rounded stone up the side of a cliff all day. Then, as neared the top, it would slip and go back to where he had started and he would do it all again.

It was something one could never appreciate about the absurdity of life until one is brought to the brink of destruction, then asked for his weekly report! That's the point where he sees the absurdity and decides to either end his own life, or, he sees the absurdity of it all and laughs until he can laugh no more!

Your brother would most likely enjoy The Myth of Sisyphus, by Camus. It would be a nice "leaving" gift.