Cold Steel

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Posts by Cold Steel

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  9

  Still Contaminated After All These Years

  by new boy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the contaminantion of years of being a jehovah witness.. it's interesting to see in myself and in many others here how no matter how much we want it or wish it, we will never be able to erase all of the mental contamination.

  in one way or another it will always be a part of us.. i've had many friends that have been out for many years say "well i can't do that it just wouldn't be right.

  " yes they are still judging themselves and others.

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  Cold Steel

  https://youtube.com/watch?v=oL7tYyBSzTo&sns=em
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  14

  The ends of empires

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i’ve been reading up on the last days of the roman empire.

  the rule became a tetrarchy; by four regional emperors or caesars.

  the emperors had these necessary concerns; they always gave first consideration to the security of their own positions followed by the annual extraction of taxes and their territorial authority.

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  Cold Steel

  Rome had its great leaders, its half-assed leaders and its degenerate leaders. Augustus, despite the fact that he killed Cicero (when he really didn't need to, an act he later deeply regretted), was the father of the Empire. He gave the Empire stability, prosperity and sanity. His two successors, Tiberius and Caligula, destroyed that. They also popularized the worship of emperors.

  I've never thought of Russell as the main bad guy in the Society. I see him as misguided, but sincere. It's Rutherford who I've always seen as the real scoundrel of the organization.

  Initially the anointed class was the faithful and discreet slave. Anyone should have predicted that wouldn't last, as power tends to consolidate downward, not upward. The Society's legitimacy also has never been established. All the authority has been assumed and has never even been addressed in any of its publications. When Jesus began his ministry, the first thing the Jews wanted to know is where he got his authority. He called and ordained his apostles and established a chain of command. His lineage was such that had the Davidic dynasty continued, he would have been the rightful king.

  But the Society has never shown anyone its birth certificate. Where did it come from? What part did God play in its formation. From whence were it's leaders ordained and how did they receive the keys of the kingdom to bind and release in Heaven and on Earth? It's not a matter of anyone disagreeing with it; it's a matter of the organization never bothering to make a case because, as far as I know, no one has ever had even the slightest contact or communication with God within the Society. We're being offered a car without registration, a house without a deed, and the interesting thing is, no one has even asked for one.

  As a republic, Rome created one of the most astounding governments of all time. But all republics eventually fall into despotism and become burdens to the people. The power the Society exerts over its people is astounding, and it's devised a system of controlling it's people that is brilliant and effective. But it can't survive a loss in credibility. That's what I see is the greatest threat to it in the coming decade.
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  13

  Is the Dubbers cult going to more digital than printed?

  by dogon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know they have slave labor free but it costs a lot to print, ship ect and then you have waste.

  digital would cut costs.

  i was thinking about this because my wife visited her mother an father who are still cult members.

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  Cold Steel

  Speaking as a nonmember, I can say that if read a Watchtower in print, but would be less inclined to read it online (unless I was looking for something specific). And the religion is a publishing company, and it's supposed to reach people like me. It could get out of publishing, but how would they reach the people they preach to?

  As a Mormon, we'll never stop printing the Book of Mormon, despite it being online. We have cut back on the number of pamplets we publish, though.

  The WTBTS uses cheap paper, it prints in color and it sells its products. Why change? You have to have something to hand the potential convert, so I predict printed products for people like me and online materials for people like you.
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  30

  New member

  by NinaCee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i did not see a newbs thread to introduce myself, so my apologies if i'm in the wrong place.

  i was a 3rd generation born in witness for 30 years until i was disfellowshipped back in 2007 for making a mistake.

  my entire life up until that point was based on and circled around the society, and even though at first i really enjoyed my freedom (i still do), the fact is that i'm still struggling with cognitive dissonance, resentment, and loneliness.. i miss my family all the time.

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  Cold Steel

  NeverEndingJourney » Not everyone who voted for Trump is a racist, but everyone who voted for Trump decided racism wasn't a dealbreaker, and that's horrifying.

  With all due respect, you're delusional. We voted for Trump because of the sanctity of the Constitution, and because of the gross evil of Mrs. Clinton. Obama never showed us a legitimate birth certificate. No one knows who he is, where he was born, where he went to school overseas. All his records were sealed and his father and mother were communists. But Hillary was the real real reason Trump was elected. She's creepy, corrupt, can't tell the truth and is involved with witchcraft and pedophilia (and you'll be getting more about this soon).

  Racism had nothing to do with it. I was for Ben Carson and Herman Cain before I was for Trump.
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  30

  New member

  by NinaCee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i did not see a newbs thread to introduce myself, so my apologies if i'm in the wrong place.

  i was a 3rd generation born in witness for 30 years until i was disfellowshipped back in 2007 for making a mistake.

  my entire life up until that point was based on and circled around the society, and even though at first i really enjoyed my freedom (i still do), the fact is that i'm still struggling with cognitive dissonance, resentment, and loneliness.. i miss my family all the time.

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  Cold Steel

  NinaCee » Nowadays I feel like an orphan. I feel awful for saying that because I do have a teenage son who is still close to me (for now), and my husband and his family are great even though they are tRump supporters (that is another subject altogether). But something is still missing. I don't even feel like I can have a personal connection with god because if Jehovah wants "his people" to behave the way they do, then I don't want to know or love Jehovah. In fact, I think he's a bit of an asshole. I'm sorry if that is offensive to some of you.

  Don't assume the Jehovah's Witnesses are God's people. If so, when, and how did he choose them? It's not fair to judge God by the Society. I watched one of their videos about King Hezekiah and the Assyrians. The acting was so horrible that I was embarrassed for the actors. It was "Jehovah this" and "Jehovah that"...no one in those days would dare bandy the holy name like that -- it was pure fabrication having ancient characters talk like Jehovah's Witnesses seven hundred years B.C. Since no one in the Society has ever heard from God, it's all speculation on the part of the Governing Body as to whether they represent Him. So please don't judge God by how the JWs interpret Him.

  It makes Jehovah sad.

  BTW, I was for Trump too. Woo-woo!
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  24

  The JW governing body are all overweight, creepy looking little men

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  having seen a few of these tv productions and some youtube clips of their assembly parts, how can jehovah's witnesses really take these silly little men seriously?.

  you take one look at them; their overweight, fat little bodies.

  their entirely shabby, overhanging suits.

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  Cold Steel

  Jambon1 » You take one look at them; their overweight, fat little bodies. Their entirely shabby, overhanging suits. Their weird obsessive manner of speaking about life which is so far removed from reality it's actually scary. Their psychotic, over exaggerated facial expressions. All of that, topped by what seems to me to be classic small penis syndrome - throwing their authority around as if it actually means shit to anybody other than the rank and file JW's.

  Well, their weakness is in their admission that they're not inspired, nor are their spiritual insights infallible. But if these weird little men actually were chosen and ordained of God, would they look any different? What would you think of an aging apostle Peter, for example? A fisherman? Or the apostle Paul, a zealous Jew turned Christian? We probably would be disillusioned a bit, no?

  The Governing Body speaks with authority, but they have none. Unlike the apostles, they receive no direction from Heaven. They've never had visions, never heard from God in any way, shape or form. Yet most JWs almost fall down in their presence.

  I've seen them speak and they act as if it's from Jehovah's mouth to their ears.
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  36

  Noah a Preacher of Righteousness?

  by Spoletta in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  during the watchtower study today, i browsed genesis and looked for evidence of noah ever preaching to anyone.

  from what i could glean from the scriptures, it was a foregone conclusion that noah's family would be it on the ark.

  (unless they towed some rafts behind) my wife says that building the ark could be considered a witness of his faith to the wicked world, but that seems kind of lame to me.. so, should i just assume that god decided not to give anyone else a chance for redemption?

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  Cold Steel

  FullTimeStudent » Of course, Noah could've paid others to source the timber, but that adds another dimension to the conundrum. Where did Noah get the funds for purchasing the timber (a voluntary contribution box maybe-haha). Who was Noah anyway? He just appears in the account. Was he a sort of local ruler? Did he have slaves to do his bidding? If he did, why are none of them 'saved.' (In the slave owning households of early Christianity, many slave became believers and are described as being saved).

  It took forty years to construct the ark and no account of how it was done is given. We don't even know what it looked like. The Book of Jasher tells how, when it was finished, wild animals surrounded it and kept people from breaking into it when the rains came and the water began rising.

  How did Noah light the inside of the ark when the doors were shut? It doesn't say, though it's safe to say it wasn't by fire. There are ancient traditions that he used stones blessed by the Lord. During the day they would burn brightly and at night the light would be diminished. The ark also likely had a hole in the top for fresh air and for observation, and one at the bottom. By sealing the hole at the top, they could open the one on the bottom and dispose of waste.
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  36

  Noah a Preacher of Righteousness?

  by Spoletta in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  during the watchtower study today, i browsed genesis and looked for evidence of noah ever preaching to anyone.

  from what i could glean from the scriptures, it was a foregone conclusion that noah's family would be it on the ark.

  (unless they towed some rafts behind) my wife says that building the ark could be considered a witness of his faith to the wicked world, but that seems kind of lame to me.. so, should i just assume that god decided not to give anyone else a chance for redemption?

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  Cold Steel

  Giordano » Doesn't god have knowledge of the future? Wouldn't he know that wickedness would resume immediately? And finally it was all right with Jehovah to drown the unborn? Really!!

  The answer is yes, God does have a knowledge of the future. And though wickedness resumed on the earth, it was not the same manner of wickedness that existed before the flood. Two, you view death as the punishment meted out by God when it was merely the means of removing them from the earth. All people, all animals, when they die, don't cease to exist, but continue on as spirits.

  Peter, writing of Jesus' death, writes that as his body lay in the tomb, his spirit went into the realm of the spirits and preached to these miscreants. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (1 Peter 3:18-20) A few verses later, he continues, "For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1 Peter 4:6)

  If one wishes to debate whether the flood took place or was just a myth, that's one thing. But a just God does not punish the innocent for the sins of the fathers. The infants, the animals and others were simply removed from the earth. They weren't denied resurrection, nor did they cease to exist. And I wonder how Christ could have preached the gospel to the dead if the dead were asleep in the grave?
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  23

  2 questions about Warwick

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have two questions about warwick.

  see the picture included.

  1) at the other side of the lake you see other buildings.

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  Cold Steel

  Buildings?

  What makes you think there will be buildings?

  Did Adam and Eve have buildings?

  You're going to be resurrected. There won't be rain, you'll never get cold. You may not even need to sleep! All you'll need is to gather berries, pollen and honey. It'll be so exciting! Each night for trillions of years you'll look up at the stars and feel that same wonderful wonder and awe.

  You'll love it. We can watch slides!
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  129

  Hi forum

  by A Believer in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i proably shouldnt be on here but i feel like saying this.

  i have been for the last couple weeks been studying religion.

  i've learned the only ones who today do what the bible says to is jw.

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  Cold Steel

  A Believer » Heartsafire they may go door to door. But do they make it a global work and do it all over? And is it the truth?

  You'll find that every religion has a theology, Believer, and a reason for believing. Speaking for Mormons, since I am one, we have doctrines, archeologists, professors of ancient scripture, historians, anthropologists, geologists and theologians. And we have an apologetics arm that defends our beliefs. Not everyone looks at the scriptures and sees them the same way, and to study other religions you have to be willing to be more objective in the way you see things. And you have to ask yourself if a just God would condemn all religions but yours to destruction, and by that I mean the people.

  Man is imperfect and he errs. Too many religions condemn others while quietly (and some, not so quietly) excusing themselves from His wrath against others. As an outsider, I see nothing in your religion to distinguish it from any other manmade religion. Your leaders have never seen God, nor have they heard from him either directly or through heavenly emissaries. How would they know that Jesus accepted them in 1918, or that he came invisably in 1914? In Jesus' parable of the blind guides, neither the leaders nor the followers "see." How can a blind man therefore lead another blind man without both falling into the pit?

  I've asked many Jehovah's Witnesses how their religion can act in God's name if they've never heard from God. So far, no one has been able to explain it. I respect you for coming here to defend your faith, but we all have differing beliefs and we're all subject to making errors in judgment. The GB has said it's neither inspired nor is it infallible in its doctrine and teachings. Ultimately I believe each person will be judged by what they sincerely believe in their hearts. The JWs do their people a disservice, I think, in keeping them on a short leash and forbidding them from reading "apostate" materials (any materials not in line with their thinking). I'm glad you're at least testing your faith and hope you stick around.