Posts by humbled

43

New Job

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

well i have been up and down this year with this current company i work for.

from the time they employed me they have paid me late, without explanation.

i have been miserable coming in here.

Falling asleep praying...did you?

by punkofnice in

i remember there being 'admonition(tm)' from the platform about how disrespectful it is to sky twat jar hoover if we nod off when speaking to our imaginary despot god.. i was always nodding off when praying.

i noticed in the end it didn't matter if i prayed or not the results were always equally disappointing snooze or not!.

humbled

I read yesterday that the new Pope Francis said he falls asleep when he prays before he hits the sack-

-I fell asleep in the middle of my prayer last night --happens to me a lot.

I used to fall asleep during meetings--but the worst were assemblies. Who didn't have trouble with that--especially in the afternoon after lunch. Snoorrrrrre....................

544

FINALLY! Can you prove God exists? If you can I won't ask again!

by punkofnice in

i have seen debates and shizzle about god or not god etc etc.. i was even confronted by an aggressive and trheatening muslim in the street, who was angry that i wanted proof that god existed.

he ranted on a load of old b0110cks about 'hell' and stuff.

finally he yelled at me: 'do you want god to write your name in the sky?

humbled

There is no way to prove to others the existence of god. If I experience something that I am certain is the action of god, that story doesn't "prove" god to anyone else.If that is how faith is transmitted then small wonder there are so many religions--MAY THE FIRSTEST AND BESTEST STORYTELLER WIN!

If there is god, then it makes no sense that we should believe by proxy.

A huge problem for me was that i was born into a world that expected me to believe the stories I was told without question. (cradle Catholic) I left my church for some years but down the line I had a series of phenomena and a sinular event that convinced me that there was a being-a god --something --out there.

Being Catholic I "translated" or "interpreted" what I experienced through the lense of my upbringing and culture. And I returned for a while to Catholicism.

The problem is that other people, in other lands, cultures and religious traditions tell of encounters with God and their experience as they tell it sounds like my own. Except when they tell their story, they interpret their experience using their own religious/cultural language.

So, to keep my prejudice with my church, I either have to say that a Hindu, a Muslim, a Boot-strap Arkansas Baptist didn't--COULDN'T-- experience God's mercy. But thre is a problem with this, if I am honest.

Here it is: If the evidence for MYSELF, my personal proof of God's existence, is the acknowledgement through my senses that a supernatural experience has occurred--how do I dismiss what I hear expressed by another person? Just because they don't believe in transubstatiation, call god by another name, never heard of jesus--how can I deny that my experience and their own are materially the same?

I have to wonder if God might extend the same mercy to them even without us sharing the same religion.

Uh-oh.

If such is the case that god could be that promiscuous, maybe I should divorce Him.

But I can't. Because when I think about it, I have to wonder if all the priests, preachers,mullahs and so on have been wrong --not in telling stories--but in expecting us to believe things that are second-hand allthe time. Thet system is a set up for abuse--as we well know who sat in rows waiting for the latest God-story from the FDS.

We all can tell our story if we like--and I think it is perhaps important to do that. But an "official story" is a real danger. That's my opinion.

If God is there, he is there.

53

For Those who believe the Bible is truly the word of God

by sosoconfused in

what exactly is the reason?.

i am not an athiest or agnostic... i definately believe in god.

however i would honestly like to hear others explain to me why they believe the bible is truly the word of god.. .

humbled

Well, soso.

Is the bible the only writing that is inspired by God? There were other writings around.

The Catholic church claims that their churchmen were in line from Peter to make the selection.

Problem.

But I believe there is God and I believe that the wonderful teaching of Jesus reflects God. And the fact that other teachers from other faith traditions have similar teachings only makes me happy. God draws us everywhere in the same direction.

How to use the bible yourself if you don't have religious rulers to define doctrine and theology? You will have to as Jesus how that works. I cannot see how he delegated a hieracrchy, a governing body.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A good read for me the other day is the story of Franz Jagerstatter. A man whose reliance on what he understood of Jesus was not backed by his church. The Nazis didn't like him either.

Way to make the truth your own. google search him. It helped me.

38

Wolf, sheep - or sheepdog?

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

on sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs - by ltc (ret) dave grossman, author of "on killing.

honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age.

it does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost.

humbled

Nathan, do you think I posted a pat answer to your presentation in praise of warriors?

Hardly. Defending ourselves from aggressors is ever a problem. But governments are the ones that make war--they have the information and deseminate it to the public--we have to believe what they say, don't we? It can happen that a nation becomes unmeasured in its response to fear of injury--Look at North Korea.

You know, what troubles many soldiers returning from some of these wars is the pointlessness of them. The lack of a credible threat. And what THEY did to ensure their survival in crazy circumstances.

When a government uses young men and uses them poorly--even badly--not to protect the people back home I do not think that is good. And I wonder if you think it is.

War ruins lives so often for no good cause. No good cause.

I have come to believe that when we see rising conflicts there are better things to do than throw young men into harms way like so much toilet paper. Just calling them heroes doesn't fix them up.

Yeah, I love men and women who would protect others--I hate to see them used so miserably and hear them admit some of the atrocities that so often come to pass when their war "gets out of control".

And I do not trust government to look to the common folk's best interest.

I am not passive. But I hate the way people know how to make war but don't think how to make peace.

38

Wolf, sheep - or sheepdog?

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

on sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs - by ltc (ret) dave grossman, author of "on killing.

honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age.

it does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost.

humbled

Watch the documentary "First Kill" by Michael Herr on youtube.

My father was in three wars: WWII, Korea, Vietnam. I was raised around "sheepdogs". But the poor pups that signed up for the military didn't fight in the style of wars Augustine of Hippo (@300 C.E.) imagined. Wars are not what we imagine.

It is not enough to say "I'll be a sheepdog" or "I'll be a sheep" There must be more than guns and more than passive pacifism--both result in dead bodies and dead hearts.

Listen to what soldiers tell of war. Especially these wars of recent times.

Maeve

82

My Mom has decided to turn me in... I am not afraid (Letter Inside)

by sosoconfused in

the only reason i am posting this is because i know many of you are going or will be going through something similar and wonder if it is worth it.

i personally feel that it is worth it regardless of what i lose.

my wife is backing me and i have my children.

humbled

She left no thing unsaid. She is eloquent.

But the Watchtower is not God's channel of truth.

I pray for you and your family to be steadfast and find the joy in your freedom.

12

Are jw's actually Sons of the Devil - because they preach hate ?

by *lost* in

on an old thread (10 yrs) i found an interesting comment by aguest.. satan was hurled down from heaven to go and wage war with the remaining ones of her 'seed'.. he doesn't know who is a 'seed' unless and until such a one exposes oneself.. so 'his' war is against all of mankind and his tactic is to use mankind against one another.. .

we are supposed to have tender affection and brotherly love for one another,.

no matter what race, religion, sex, status etc.. the account of the good samaritan taught us that.. .

humbled

"a house divided cannot stand" -- Jesus

The JW house only seems to stand because it is held together with hate and fear--not love of God, not love of Man.

Self-serving behavior can only result in hate-talk. They only look for allegiance to the FDS.

29

'We are all scallywags, but God loves us anyway' - My story

by Laika in

jw
friends

perhaps the most profound moment of my life occurred when i was sat in a car with my dad.

we were travelling home and having a very jw conversation on the paradise, at least, it was until my dad slipped in one of those rare moments of honesty in the watchtower world:.

that moment really hit me hard.

humbled

Thanks for this writing.

Like the two of you, I had known that I could never be a "poster child" for the JWs. Fortunately, I wasn't a "born-in".

I was a mother of 5 children at the time I converted (2 more came later). My life on a remote mountain farm with few modern conveniences and many old-time chores to perform meant I could not participate in all the service that a full-on JW was called to do. Especially my husband was NOT on board with any of it.

It made me look at the often conflicting demands of responsiblity to GB/God and to life as I knew it and had to live it. I often had to research the bible to see where the GB had to get off my head and let me still be okay with God. I was in for 22 years. I could cry everyday when I thing about it--and I often do. That kind of tension set me up for the kind of desperation and strength to finally challenge my self, God and the WTS to a show down.

I am still recovering from it.

Yes, God does love scallywags. I love your fathers, too.

Maeve

18

How can one understand unusual personal experiences such as when going from door-to-door?

by Fernando in

given that i know how corrupt, dishonest and evil the watchtower is, i have wondered how to understand a personal experience i had many years ago - long before walking out mid-2009.. after an unusual series of many "co-incidences" on a particular sunday, my friend and i ended up at the door of someone who had been praying to god for someone to be sent to him, and who was expecting us.. i am still convinced it was by divine intervention, but cannot understand why a prayer is answered by sending representatives of an apostate organisation.. also when taking up residence in a foreign country, under very difficult circumstances, i twice ended up "inadvertently" moving in to homes just around the corner from the kh.

on one occasion it was about a 15 metre walk from my front door right into my seat in the kh!.

have you had similar experiences?.

humbled

Yes--I hear you, Oubliette. I wish I could laugh at it all.

But here is this funny saying also: "Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you."

Tough for the paranoiac to stay clear of trouble :(