Posts by neverendingjourney

119

If Bush Used Nuclear Weapons On Iran Should He Be Tried As A War Criminal?

by frankiespeakin in

jw
friends

what do you think?

should he be put on trial before a world court?

neverendingjourney

Wow, you lost me there, Humper.

people will always see only what they want to see and always think they are right. no matter what eveidence points to the fact that they may be wrong about something.

Okay, I'm following you up to that point, but...

dont forget that mexico is not friends with the u.s. they supported hitler and many of our enemies in times of war, and what do you know?! were at war again, so what makes you think that mexico wont support the terroists groups of this war?

Come again. Don't you think you should follow your own adivce? Mexico supported Hitler? Really, when? Have you ever heard of the Zimmerman Telegram? Germany tried to get Mexico on their side in WWI, but they refused. See, I can use my own self-serving facts to prove a point as well. I think your argument that Mexico is somehow an adversary of the United States is absurd. Illegal immigration is a different topic altogether. Never has a suspected terrorist been caught trying to sneak into America through the Mexican border. The same cannot be said for the Canadian border. Plus, the terrorists that carried out the 9/11 attacks came into the country legally.

You're just wrong about your Mexico comments, and I mean that as respectfully as possible. That's not to say that terrorists can't or won't sneak in the country via Mexico, but that has never happened. Don't confuse the issues, however.

14

What would happen if all of the "annnointed Ones" die before Jesus returns?

by A-Team in

.....this is a hypothetical.

most of us know that they will change doctrine in order to keep this going.

but, if somehow the doctrine isn't changed, and there are no more 'anointed ones' left in the org....and if jesus hasn't returned yet...what happens then?

neverendingjourney

Perhaps this is a bit off topic, but I doubt that it would make a difference to most JWs if all of the "anointed" died off or not. I was appalled to learn that so few Witnesses knew what the official doctrine is on these matters. Many don't care. They've relinquished their ability to think to the Watchtower. They do the thinking for them. I was surprised to learn that so many JWs in my congregation thought that there were already "other sheep" serving on the GB. Whenever I would engage JWs from my congregation in conversation about whether there would be anointed on Earth when Armageddon came around I'd get mostly empty stares or comments about needing to research that point later on. When it comes to matters of prophecy interpretation, most JWs are clueless. Many of them, if not most of them, couldn't care less. Their brains start to hurt if they think about it. They've accepted that the GB somehow is in tune with Jehovah and they will provide the answers when necessary. All of these adjustments and flashes of "new light" go mostly unperceived by the JW masses.

37

Back to the topic - I am in love with a JW

by LindaLu in

i have been dating a very committed jw - he spent some time out of the organisation after a divorce and about a year ago has been granted a fellowship again.

i absolutely adore him - and what is there not to love!

he is the most kind, sweet and lovable man i have ever met.

neverendingjourney

LindaLu and fiveangels:

The Jehovah's Witnesses religion demands exclusive loyalty from its members. If your boyfriends become committed members, their loyalties will be divided. You see, JWs are taught that it's a sin to marry another non-JW. There will be consequences for them in the congregation if they continue their relationships with you. They will eventually have to choose between continuing their relationships with you and becoming members in good standing in the congregation. If they choose their relationship with you over the religion, there's hope. If they don't, you are in for some tough times. They will be allowed to remain members of the church even if they continue to be with you, but they will be constantly looked down upon. Expect pressure to convert to their religion. The congregation will view you as a mistake that needs to be remedied. There are several non-JW members of this forum married to JWs who will be able to share their stories with you. Think long and hard about what to do next. Welcome to the forum.

14

What would happen if all of the "annnointed Ones" die before Jesus returns?

by A-Team in

.....this is a hypothetical.

most of us know that they will change doctrine in order to keep this going.

but, if somehow the doctrine isn't changed, and there are no more 'anointed ones' left in the org....and if jesus hasn't returned yet...what happens then?

neverendingjourney

There is no longer any reason to think that the "anointed" will ever die off. The anointed were all supposed to have been gathered by 1935. Other post-1935 anointed began to pop up, but it was explained that they were replacements for original members of the 144,000 that had not remained faithful. It was argued that the declining numbers of the "anointed" was a sign that the end was right around the corner because some still had to be on Earth when Armageddon came. Well, all of that has now changed recently. There has been "new light" on this matter because it was becoming laughable that a solid majority of the governing body were of the "replacement" class. Also, the numbers of anointed kept going up every year. To fix this the Society now says that we can no longer say when the anointed were gathered. In essence, the 1935 date used for this purpose is now gone. New anointed can theoretically appear at any minute. It is no longer necessary for them to have replaced any former anointed that fell away. It was a very subtle way of getting out of the corner they had painted themselves into. Of course, they walked all over the wet paint, but how many people noticed? It was printed in a Questions from the Readers article in the back of a Watchtower magazine. How many witnesses actually read the magazines cover to cover? This is just another the-end-is-really-near proof that has been thrown into the dumpster.

54

Does eating a rare steak = eating blood?

by neverendingjourney in

jw
friends

i always wondered about this when i was still a jw.

i just assumed that it was improper for a jw to eat any meat that wasn't thoroughly cooked, especially steak.

i though everyone could see that the red juice contained blood, which, if eaten, amounted to a violation of the prohibition against eating blood.

neverendingjourney

Blood marrow is another excellent example. Obviously the Bible does not set forth an absolute prohibition on eating blood. Either that or God somehow forgot to ban eating marrow and meat as well. The blood transfusion ban is indefensible, so the WTBTS prefers to prohibit their members from reading opinions critical of it and to vilify those that espouse them.

54

Does eating a rare steak = eating blood?

by neverendingjourney in

jw
friends

i always wondered about this when i was still a jw.

i just assumed that it was improper for a jw to eat any meat that wasn't thoroughly cooked, especially steak.

i though everyone could see that the red juice contained blood, which, if eaten, amounted to a violation of the prohibition against eating blood.

neverendingjourney

The further I go to answer questions the more I have. My biggest fear is my marriage, I love my wife so much and I know leaving would break her heart. I am so sick over this that I am literally sick, for months now I have stomach problems and I am certain its the stess of seeing everything I have ever believed go up in smoke. I feel myself sinking into depression over this. I have no idea what to do. I cant sleep, I cant focus at work, I'm falling apart............

I'm here for you. I can relate to a lot of what you're feeling, although I am very fortunate that I did not have a wife to complicate matters when I began to have doubts. I can't imagine what that must be like. My entire immediate family is still inside, and we have always been a tight-knit bunch. I went through a lot of the same symptoms you're now showing. I couldn't believe that my entire hope in life was disappearing right before my very eyes. Moreover, I had nothing to replace that hope with. It was bad. I sank into a very deep depression. I lost a lot of weight and then gained a lot of weight all within a few months. I was having a lot of problems at work. One day my boss walked into my office and saw me with my head on my desk. He knew something was up, so he kindly left and came back a few minutes later. I couldn't sleep either. I kept waking up every hour or two thinking about the same things. There are no easy answers. I stuck around for two years, going to meetings and putting in token field service hours, and I've been inactive for the last two years. Things will get better. It just takes time. At least you've brought yourself to read XJW websites. I didn't start doing that until a few months ago. It's helped me put a lot of things into perspective. It's a kind of therapy. I wish you all the best on your journey. I'm here for you if you ever need anyone to talk to.

10

0.22% chance of being born into true religion as JW!!!!!

by Qcmbr in

i've just been reading some cool books, one, freakonomics is very very good at revealing why statistics are important and we make a lot of assumptions based on false info.

well anyway i decided on a purely statistical front to use the rough figures found on the pages below: .

http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop .

neverendingjourney

You're probably right. I didn't think about that.

10

0.22% chance of being born into true religion as JW!!!!!

by Qcmbr in

i've just been reading some cool books, one, freakonomics is very very good at revealing why statistics are important and we make a lot of assumptions based on false info.

well anyway i decided on a purely statistical front to use the rough figures found on the pages below: .

http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop .

neverendingjourney

Funny that the website you got your numbers from lists the number of JWs at over 14 million. The Society's numbers say there are less than half as many. Of course, only active publishers are accounted for by the Society.

37

"But he wasn't a REAL Christian!"

by FireNBandits in

jimmy swaggert (a "swaggert" is a swaggering braggart btw), jim and tammy fakker, or any well-known christian that "blows it" big-time in a public way is sure to elicit that response from the fundagelicals around you.

"but he wasn't a real christian!

" what a convenient psychological device to keep ones fantasy image of ones religion intact!

neverendingjourney

I remember a moment of clarity, when a large fat woman began to vigorously jump up and down, red faced, and screaming "JESUS DELIVER ME FROM THE DEMON OF CHOCOLATE!" It was a very important moment for me.

LOL - literally.

Question: When you were an evangelical, did you actually believe that speaking in tongues was a real, spirit-driven phenomenon, or did you know it was all crap from the get go?

45

Why do people hide on this site?

by Adolfius in

jw
friends

something i've noticed when reading the various threads on this site, is that so many people seem to be afraid.

their scared of being disfellowshipped, scared of being shunned, scared of not being accepted by the congregation, scared that people may find out they don't believe anymore, scared if anyone was to find out they use this site.

there is advice for people on how to avoid being disfellowshipped, if they may have "said too much" about their thoughts, or how to fade without being noticed.. i don't understand this.

neverendingjourney

It's actually pretty simple, if you think about it. All of my immediate family is still in the org. If I simply come out and let them know what I really believe as you suggest, they will feel compelled to report me to the elders, and I will be disfellowshipped. This means that I would lose all contact with them. I come from a tight knit family, so this would be extremely difficult for me and for them. You may not be bothered by the prospect of being cut off from your family, but I am. Believe me. It's not easy biting your tongue and keeping your true feelings to yourself, but there's no clean, consequence-free way to leave the org. It's ultimately about what's most important to you: maintaining family ties or speaking your mind. I'm not saying there is a right or wrong decision. Each of us has to make that decision on our own because we are the ones that will be affected by the results of our choice.