Posts by humbled

269

Why does god kill children?

by Comatose in

i was thinking about all the accounts in the bible that indicate god kills children as a punishment or teaching experience.

1. kills all of egypts firstborn sons, who were innocent kids who did nothing to him or his people, who had no control over the decisions pharoah made.

how many times have you read that account or thought about it without realizing the devastating pain dealt to all those parents, and remembered those were innocent kids?.

humbled

Hello, cofty,

I hope you are well.

Respectfully, the scripture doesn't say "Kill your son" the story has God saying " offer your son as a burnt offering" to Abraham.

The Hebrew word for sacrifice, zebach, was graphic and bloody in its root.

The word for burnt offering, olah, was more spiritual and had no root connecting it to killing or to blood. In fact the two words are so different that they occur side by side frequently in the OT. They are by no means interchangable.

The story of Abraham and Isaac ( it has been said) has been left unedited by whatever person or persons who homogenized most of the OT . If in this God-story the Good One had told Abraham to kill Isaac then there would be nothing to discuss--ever--about the character of God. God would be a rotten, a tricky, lying SOB to his friend, Abraham. He would be no one to trust. It is the pivotal OT story.All the other stories can vanish and for me they largely have.

But in the interest of accuracy ir must be said that God never commanded Abraham to kill and burn his son.

Maeve

ps. thanks for kind thoughts on my bad day.

12

damm i miss jwd...this place will always be jwd to me...

by oompa in

jw
friends

thats all...except that five of my best friends are from jwd...so thats why too............oompa.

humbled

Sometimes it is the "small talk" that tells the whole story.

62

My mother continues with these creepy letters

by sosoconfused in

as i continue to post these letters just to let people see what they can expect through a fade, i hope they are not annoying anyone.. if so please let me know and i will no longer post them.

however i think these letters help you to see how cultish and crazy this religion causes people to become:.

evening <name removed>,.

humbled

Every word is calculated to devalue, condemn and undermine your every thought and action. There is no reasoning, no conversation. There is only pressure to conform.

She isn't giving up so easily.

Dude. Your beard? Keep it. After what she said it would always bother me if I lost it after her letter.

53

What exactly was going on after Jesus was put to death and no longer around?

by Terry in

the jesus believers were meeting in people's homes.

members of that community would take turns using private homes to gather.

thus, they went house to house.. these footstep tracers of jesus (they called themselves akolouthontes "followers" or some called themselves mathetai or "learners.

humbled

Starting at Mark 9:37 there is a clear indication by Jesus that there was no orthodoxy, no rules as the Churches abd GB would have us believe. It's a short read and if were a better typist, I'd type it. Have no way to copy and paste. Read it. Jesus didn't give a rats --- about in-crowd/out-crowd stuff. God love 'im.

Thanks for this post, Terry.

This place after he died is the place I live in now. It is very open and very personal at the same time. It is a Path.

Maeve

18

Tech 49: My Tripping Point, Part 2

by Tech49 in

after reading some of your other posts and experiences, especially regarding the elder's school, i am reminded of part 2 of my experience down the rabbit hole.. the last elder's school i attended was in 2011. i remember vividly the 3 day event.

i remember vividly being bored out of my mind!.

as has been stated by others, the hours of monotone counsel and examples and experiences were continually beating on your brain with the usual stuff:.

humbled

Point # 6 woke me up when I tried to talk to a new CO about a matter after our midweek meeting. He chanted three times at me: Do you know who the Faithful and Discreet Slave IS?

And he topped it with this:So, if there's a problem, WHO is the problem?

I told him, Brother, you were raised Catholic and so was I. When you say that to me, it raises a red flag.

That was the beginning of the end maybe. He wasn't favorably impressed.

Oh, and his final talk on the needs of our congo included women being content in their position in Jehovah's arrangement. I am woman. It felt personal. I hadn't been looking for trouble.

24

My First Birthday!!!!!

by Gojira_101 in

jw
friends

my birthday isn't until the end of july but yesterday i got my first birthday gift in the mail.

my best friend (stubborn disbeliever) sent me my gift early.

i know what it is, but seeing it all wrapped up and knowing on my birthday i can open it...it really struck a cord with me.

humbled

It's just FUN, isn't it? AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?!!!! Go, GO, Gojira! Happy Birthday!

7

WHO is the programmer for.........................what YOU are?

by Terry in

(if you just read that short sentence you thought about what i meant when i wrote it and its implications.).

our very lives depend on how efficiently our thinking supplies our human needs.

survival=efficient thinking.. i ask you now: is that true (what i just wrote about survival=efficient thinking)?.

humbled

You describe a pretty useful approach for anyone to examine and reroute a disfunctional life. Ex-JWs can benefit but other people, too. We all grow up with unexamined concepts of one kind or another. Thanks for the thread.

21

No memorable talks at assemblies? Sorry to sound cynical!

by punkofnice in

i used to give public talks from the rigid outlines from borg hq.

i remember altering some talks from 45mins to 30mins.. this was great because before we were given 30min scripts i could take licence and pick and choose which bits i felt were more christian.

before my exit i gave resisting the spirit of the world 30min with my own spin on true christian love.

humbled

The only memorable was a funeral talk given by an anointed brother who had the difficult job of staying "in the lines" of JW doctrine because the deceased was the much-loved elder of our congregation--and had died by his own hand. This brother had long suffered from profound depression add finally a pill overdose ended his life.

The talk walked along the edge of athoughtful merc that I had never heard in a KH. It made allowance for this suicide to have been--just maybe--- forgivable. It allowed for the unknowable psychological moments of this lovable brother's suffering.

Many of the non-believing relatives who attended were disgusted that the talk didn't put him in heaven straight-away. But the JWs there were delighted that Dear Brother hadn't been absolutely cast into the outer darkness.

48

Pronouncing things differently so they don't sound rude. Typical CULT persona. Political correctness?

by punkofnice in

i noticed over the years how bros & sis(tm) would pronounce words/names differently or totally substitute them so as not to sound offensive.. egs:.

instead of 'bible aids' a bro(tm) said 'bible helps' thus avoiding aids disease!?!.

instead of sodom the bro(tm) pronounced it 'sow dom'.

humbled

I heard of a brother's slipping up at a study describing the difference of belief between the Pharisees and the Sadducees he said: "The Sadducees didn't believe in the erections----er, ahem--- and that is why they're sad, you see."

26

Are there any former Circuit Overseers on this site?

by Robert7 in

jw
friends

i've seen responses from a number of elders, but have any co's become enlightened?

humbled

Still wondering what happened to Will and Bonnie Gorham.