Posts by IsaacJS2

8

Someone making lifesized replica of Noah's Ark in Holland

by MadTiger in

go to the yahoo!

homepage.

IsaacJS2

We a church just down the road that is shaped like the Ark, complete with gigantic plastic animals and everything. Does that count?

IsaacJ

27

How many JWs are still waiting to have children in the "new system"?

by truthsearcher in

*** g74 11/8 11 is this the time to have children?

significantly, in the first century jesus christ himself gave an ominous forecast regarding a calamity coming upon judea.

that the armies of roman general cestius gallus encamped around jerusalem, but then withdrew, apparently without any reason for doing so.

IsaacJS2

Actually, the way I remember it was; there was to be no marriage in the "New System" (this was in the early 90s I think).

I was a Witness in the 90s and heard it like that too. I don't think it was a sure thing, but they kept suggesting that the resurrected would be as the angels, who have no children. Note that the angels are supposed to be genderless too...so they might be assuming too much here, don't ya think? Have they gotten away from that, or did they simply change it for this one case?

One thing for the Society, it probably helps when the poor Witnesses have kids and the rich ones don't. It's the surest way of guaranteeing a large following in the future on the one hand, while raking in the cash on the other.

I know my congregation really discouraged marriage. As if no teen turned twenty-something would get hitched. Some Elders would wig out on you for that kinda talk. My wife and I were the first to break the unwritten ban. After that, everybody was getting married.

IsaacJ

14

What's a "Non Believer"?

by JH in

as far as i'm concerned, a "non believer" is one that doesn't believe in god.. as for the jw's, a non believer is someone that doesn't believe 100% of what the watchtower says, no matter if there were flip flops on many subjects.. i find it insulting when a jw will consider a member of another religion that prays ,and who may devote lots of time helping people, like jesus said to do, and still be branded a "non believer", no better nor worse than the worst scum of society that may be in jail for murder..

IsaacJS2

I don't remember them using the "nonbeliever" word much in my time with the Society, but I have seen it in a few articles since. I think it's a way of using the language to separate them a little more from other Christians. They don't want them seeing all Christians as...well...Christians. Calling them nonbelievers is pretty antagonistic to other believers.

I do seem to remember heavy use of the word "Christendom" back in the 90s when I was a WT slave.

IsaacJ

14

What's a "Non Believer"?

by JH in

as far as i'm concerned, a "non believer" is one that doesn't believe in god.. as for the jw's, a non believer is someone that doesn't believe 100% of what the watchtower says, no matter if there were flip flops on many subjects.. i find it insulting when a jw will consider a member of another religion that prays ,and who may devote lots of time helping people, like jesus said to do, and still be branded a "non believer", no better nor worse than the worst scum of society that may be in jail for murder..

IsaacJS2

Guest with Questions, I should probably point out that quite a few of us are atheists here. You may not realize it, but some of we nonbelievers may take your comments as an insult. You know?

Just a heads up.

IsaacJ

11

Ever heard of Uncyclopedia?

by IsaacJS2 in

jw
friends

it's a humorous rip-off of wikipedia.

unlike conservapedia, it's supposed to be funny.

not politically correct, however.

IsaacJS2

I am nominating Uncyclopedia as the best web site ever. Here are other articles I just had to share with someone:

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/You

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Jenova%27s_Witness

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/George_Dubya_Bush

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart

I don't necessarily recommend the Uncyclopedia to anyone who is easily offended or who prefers things that more politically correct. Go there at your own risk.

IsaacJ

11

Ever heard of Uncyclopedia?

by IsaacJS2 in

jw
friends

it's a humorous rip-off of wikipedia.

unlike conservapedia, it's supposed to be funny.

not politically correct, however.

IsaacJS2

I found it totally by accident. My fellow comedians can log in to make changes just as you can on Wikipedia. Whenver you get bored, just think of some topic and look for it to see what it says. Very cool.

IsaacJ

11

Ever heard of Uncyclopedia?

by IsaacJS2 in

jw
friends

it's a humorous rip-off of wikipedia.

unlike conservapedia, it's supposed to be funny.

not politically correct, however.

IsaacJS2

It's a humorous rip-off of Wikipedia. Unlike Conservapedia, it's supposed to be funny. Not politically correct, however. Which, for me, is one of the reasons it's actually funny. http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

You MUST check these articles out:

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witness

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/HowTo:Avoid

And not afraid to pick on my own:

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Atheist

IsaacJ

8

WEIRDEST museum in the world...and it's religious too!!

by Terry in

'the creation museum - motto: "prepare to believe!

" - will be the first institution in the world whose contents, with the exception of a few turtles swimming in an artificial pond, are entirely fake.

it is dedicated to the proposition that the account of the creation of the world in the book of genesis is completely correct, and its mission is to convince visitors through a mixture of animatronic models, tableaux and a strangely disneyfied version of the bible story.

IsaacJS2

I've read about some creationist ID museum before. From what I've read, they were pretty hilarious--kinda like a middle school science fair, with home made displays of dinosaurs in cut-out cardboard boxes and such. I'd go if I could. Even better if they let you take pictures, but I doubt they do that. Would be funny to poke fun at for my own amusement, though. I couldn't go with my wife without insulting her.

Then again, I live down the road from a church shaped like Noah's Ark, where you can see the heads of giraffe's poking out the roof and where there are other fake animals you can see from the highway. Hmmm... Is that close enough?

IsaacJ

35

Is a rapid graceful exit possible?

by besty in

we will find out soon.

as a brief update my wife sweet pea and i have 'announced' to a few friends and close family - less than 10 altogether - that we are no longer going to meetings.

some friends have probed for details, others don't want to know.

IsaacJS2

From what I've exerpienced and read elsewhere, it really does depend on your congregation. I dropped out all at once, and while I never came out and told the Elders why, I think they got the message. A few of them used to bump into me at places where I used to shop and try to corner me. I'd just get smart with them and basically dare them to make a public issue of it in the store. My in-laws all knew that I felt the Society had problems; that I did not believe. This past year, I'm sure all of them know I'm an atheist, which is reason enough to DF me for apostasy on its own. (Atheism is apostasy to the WT)

Yet I was never DFed. I have not been harassed by the Elders in many years.

Bear in mind that the first month or so was rough. I started receiving so many phone calls each day that my answering machine was full when I came home every day that first week! Most of them from people I barely knew or had never spoken to. Which was creepy. The Elders came by a handfull of times (big push for shepherding calls when they were new in the 90s) and never admonished me directly for leaving. They'd just throw some small talk my way, then chastise me indirectly with a scripture or three. I stood there and put up with it because I was a kid and unsure of myself regarding the Society back then. (That has since changed) I wasn't clear on whether I was right for leaving or not. I just knew that I couldn't take it any more and had to get away. I always choked when confronted because I hadn't sorted through all my thoughts, but that was 11 years ago.

Like I said, things have changed.

I will be interested to find out what happens in your case, though.

IsaacJ

16

Finally starting to understand faders...

by ex-nj-jw in

i haven't been posting for about 2 weeks, just kinda lurking, reading other posts, but not participating because i started to feel like i had nothing interesting to add, my life experiences, personal issues were just not very interesting to others on the forum, i felt.. i also started reading coc as well as reading old posts and reviewing the links from "old timer" jwd members.

see, i never got deep into this cult, 18 years from birth to end and i was outta there!!

i never pioneered, never had the ms or elder husband, although i dated a ms, he was only 19 early 20's at best (i was only 16) but that didn't last.

IsaacJS2

Kicker is they never even had sexual intercourse!!~!!! WTF????

Unfortunately, breast fondling and the like is still considered pornea. I went before a JC when I was about 20 for it, so I found out the hard way. The Elders on the committee were actually laughing and carrying on while they grilled me and tried to trip me up so they could pin the thing on me. (It was both of us, actually) Making out can be nearly as bad as sex before marriage to the great bullies council.

I like the comment someone made about the double standard. Child molesting is okay if no one saw it, but kids who confess to making out is condemned. What a joke.

Anyway, times like this, it's hard to sit back and watch this kind of stuff happen. I feel it everyday with my wife and in-laws who are still loyal Witnesses. What a waste. Yet they surely say the same about me. I would probably have DA'd myself or deliberately done something to get DFed just so I could laugh in the Elder's faces when they tried to haul me in front of a committee, but I avoided it just because of my in-laws. Yet I find that I like them less with each passing year. The day may come when it isn't worth it. I'd still take DFing over taking orders any day, though.

It's especially hard when my wife starts talking about the meeting or criticizing some other religious group. I can't really pounce too hard on stuff like that or it'll just divide us. But I can't sit there and say nothing, either. So I mildly point out the obvious hypocrisy of her comments, then we both drop the subject after she pouts for a bit. That's about all I can do. The reality is that her faith in the WT isn't based on any sort of reason, so reason will never change her mind. I don't mean to suggest this is true of all religious believers, but in her case, the WT is a crutch. She can barely walk with it under one arm and her family under the other. Both of them have made her dependent on them for their own selfish ends. I used to be 3rd best, but now she sees what her family has done. So we're tied for 2nd, which is an improvement--the Society is still #1. She won't apply the same scrutiny to the WTS. She probably never will, so this may never change.

Like I said. What a waste--for both of us. But you have to resign yourself to the fact that there's only so much you can do. Try too hard and you actually run the risk of making it worse. It's hard to know what to do, and it's hard doing nothing.

You are not alone.

IsaacJ