there was this really lovely old geezer in a congregation i was in here in the uk.. he was an old bloke and very frit of giving talks and that.
when he was on the platform he'd be bleedin' scared...like an elephant near a bloody mouse.. so, 'ere's my question, right?
blimey.
It’s hard to say for him, punky. He may Be was glad. He is the only one could say—if he would say truly.
I knew a young fellow who fainted when he gave one of his first talks. Those who saw it said his sentences begin to slide around and he lost color and went down like a cut tree. They did the Watchtower study so he could recover. Then he finished the talk.
He is still in.
i'm a current bible student of jw's looking to chat with someone about biblical doctrine.
i'm not interested in talking with an apostate or a fader, i'm just a person looking for answers and wondered if there are any neutral voices in this forum who have good insights into the bible.
i currently talk with a couple of jw's on a personal level from my congregation and they are knowledgeable to a certain extent, but i dare not ask them certain questions because, as you know, the congregation has a culture of fear that impacts trust and openness, especially concerning biblical doctrine or the societies teachings.
You will be faced with either believing the Bible or else believing the Governing Body.
The culture of fear you face is because “Perfect love casts out fear” and the WT is all about conditional love. The fear you see is that any time someone remarks “ this isn’t what the Bible says” the elders will mark you as a trouble maker instead of a serious Christian.
For instance if you were to point this out:
The policy for the Anointed ones was changed in recent times. The Revelation 14 verses that identify these individuals says they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. But they are obliged to follow the Governing Body wherever IT goes. Isn’t this a contradiction?
Conflict. You will find many such problems in the doctrine of this religion.
You will have no freedom of worship in the WT religion. This is aside from what l personally believe at this moment.
Ask your questions now if you plan to join. You will not be free to question later without paying the price many of us paid: disfellowshipped and shunned.
But we are free to believe or not- honestly.
this article won’t change your mind - the facts on why facts alone can’t fight false beliefs.
brilliant article in the atlantic by julie beck discussing the phenomena of cognitive dissonance and how it affects religious and political beliefs.
it includes some interesting thoughts on how social media has magnified the problem.. spoiler - she is not optimistic about the possibility of successfully reasoning with members of religious cults.. the article also has a link to the 45 minute audio version.. link....
groups are usually better at coming up with the correct answers to reasoning tasks than individuals are.
Of course, the wisdom of groups is probably diminished if everyone in a group already agrees with each other.
“One real advantage of group reasoning is that you get critical feedback,” McIntyre says. “If you’re in a silo, you don’t get critical feedback, you just get applause.”
This can happen in religion or in any community—If there is a group leader who dominates. As was said“If you’re in a silo, you don’t get critical feedback, you just get applause.”
Great article.
i was watching lloyd evans rebuttal to the saturday program of the be courageous convention.
lloyd pointed out something that had occurred to me as well:.
all this talk and examples of courage, whether it be standing up in class defending intelligent design, putting up with being imprisoned, not running away from bullies, always having a reply to someone who tries to ridicule your faith... the young ones are encourages - nay, commanded - to stand their ground and be courageous.
a walk in the moonlight will do me good.
i shall understand inner turmoil in a new light, that proffered by the softly suffused illumination della bella luna.
the black shadow of the walking dead, cast upon a meandering path by the gracious moon, will be my companion.. treading my way slowly, reverentially, to the frosty view above that patiently awaits me, i stop dead at land's end.
The moon is a lovely companion even if she doesn’t speak, hey, Coco?
And a tree house is another world. That a great thing to do for your kids, Perry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk8b_xqi_nm.
this is self explanatory.
please if you are in a commonwealth country write /phone /fax your local member to support tr release from his current place of imprisonment.. you may not receive any reply but do so anyway.
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2017/mar/29/florida-immigrant-coalition/do-undocumented-immigrants-have-constitutional-rig/
Non-citizens DO have some constitutional rights but not all the rights of citizens.
That looks like wild plum taking over. I wonder what the story is on the old place.
hitchens has some provocative thoughts about where much of today's monotheist beliefs originated which came out of inarguable human ignorance and how potentially dangerous and redundant they are in this modren day.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwihkm126bk.
Hitchens drank and smoked and did other things Christians might call sinful. But the remarks he makes in the above interview at 1:39 -1:42 are fairly said.
He makes the case for honesty in a person’s not believing in God. The penalties imposed by religion for a person who cannot find belief should make religious people ashamed.
just curious.. when you started to wake up to the truth about the truth, did the shock and the whole experience distract you from your usual activities such as performing at your place of work?.
did you become so consumed by researching, and the subsequent factual discoveries, that it affected your ability to carry out daily tasks?.
Hell yes
edit: l had ordered Crisis of Conscience when l he tote the letter telling elders that the FS was FoS (Full of Shit) and commenced reading. I sort of “denned up”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk8b_xqi_nm.
this is self explanatory.
please if you are in a commonwealth country write /phone /fax your local member to support tr release from his current place of imprisonment.. you may not receive any reply but do so anyway.
And you never read a goddam word of my previous posts . Neither you nor Simon have a clue. I referenced absolutely nothing on the Crusades to the effing holy lands.
You straw man me to death.
