Posts by aligot ripounsous

407

Is it the JW's or the God of the bible you no longer believe?

by reniaa in

i have a question for the ex-jw's on this forum after months of reading the forum..... many say how good it is to be free of the oppressiveness of the jw's that they can now enjoy the freedom to... have sex, celebrate christmas, gamble, embrace politics etc.

there are still biblical scriptures and principles in place that if you still followed the bible would mean you avoid these things and yet these are now embraced as one of the perks of no longer being a jw so in my confusion i ask.... if these are what you want, isn't it more correct to say you no longer follow the bible as apposed to just the jw's?.

aligot ripounsous

Reniaa,

I'm not sure this answers your question but I think that an exJW's attitude toward the former rules he chooses to break will really depend on how he understands the Bible teaching, how he has personally made it his own, and what "perks" we are talking about. Among the perks you cited, it seems to me that there are some which clearly involve Bible principles, such as out of marriage sex and to some extent, gambling (let the one who doesn't work not eat). The ExJW who indulges in them will certainly think that in doing so he breaks free from too limiting WT regulations but, if he is honest, he will also acknowledge that he is acting contrary to Bible rules.

Now, IMO, Xmas, birthdays and politics are to be considered differently. They are viewed as non biblical by JWs out of a sheer will to singularize that religion, so that JWs can easily be identified by "worldly" onlookers and they give JWs a sense of exclusiveness, but one hardly finds any biblical basis to the JW stand. Objectively, the ExJW who gets involved in these practices won't break any Bible rules, but he may feel that he does so because of all that he has been taught and repeated again and again over the years by the WTS and that is now stuck to his mind. So, in the end, in celebrating Xmas, may be out of a desire of self assertion vis-à-vis the WTS, he may still feel bad conscience as regards "true" christian principles when in fact there is no ground for guilt if those practices are carried out with genuineness .

5

Polygamy in Canada: Our dirty little secret?

by happysunshine in

i thought this was interesting.. .

polygamy in canada: our dirty little secret?.

if there are thousands of people illegally practising polygamy in canada and the united states, why is our biggest battle for human rights happening overseas?.

aligot ripounsous

Polygamy is rife, though unofficial, in France, within the west african community. When questioned on the radio about those 10 children families in Paris suburbs, an immigrant association representative replied : who we call our wives you call your mistresses.

4

The sower can't be Jesus

by Bonnie_Clyde in

jw
friends

14. who is this sower?

some in christendom believe that this refers to jesus himself.

but how could it be said that jesus sleeps and does not know how the seed grows?

aligot ripounsous

Sir82

I think that the 2 narratives in Mark 4 : 26 and Mat. 13 : 36 are referring to the same parable about the wheat and the weeds. In both gospels, the account is situated between the parable about the sowing in the rocky soil, etc. and the parable about the mustard grain.

Part of de discrepancies can be explained by the fact that Mark's narrative is more concise. For example, it says that the sower sleeps, when Matthew reads "while the men were sleeping". You may remember that the society teaches that Solomon building the temple means in fact that he got the temple built by his workers. The same reasoning could be used here but the WTS just forgets to apply it because differenciating the 2 accounts suits their purpose, which is assimilation of the sowers in the first and the second parable in Mark's, and only Mark's account, the one where we don't read that the sower is the son of man, and leaving aside Matthew's parallel account. dishonest approach, we'll all agree.

Now, trying to answer Bonnie's question, we notice that in 21 and 28 sept study articles, they apply right now events which the Bible says will occur at the conclusion of the system of things, namely, harvesting in the wheat/weeds parable (which they say represents those who study with the JWs coming to chistian maturity) and the sorting out of fish, which they say is operated now, whereas Matthew says that it is performed by angels who throw the wicked in the fiery furnace.

My assumption is that the WTS holds that view for the reason that they want to get JWs accustomed to the idea that Armaggedon is not for tomorrow morning and not even for the day after tomorrow, and the society gradually adopts a long term perpective which will justify her being still around in 50 years from now, as a mainstream religion. In addition, this stand allows R&F JWs to have the satisfaction of seing right here and now the result of their preaching work : harvesting and selection of fish. Did anyone say manipulation ?

7

The French Connection continues...

by THE GLADIATOR in

jw
friends

just returned from a 3 day sojourn to france with my older abrother.

the overnight ferry pushed on through a sea of snoring to arrive on time in le havre.

i drove as my stoic brother examined his seat belt and air bag and quietly contemplated the possibility of an afterlife.

aligot ripounsous

I ordered escargots but instead they bought snails

were you expecting slugs ?

10

harrassment in the congregation

by badboy in

jw
friends

how many cases in your kh?

aligot ripounsous

Thanks, StAnn, corrected

10

harrassment in the congregation

by badboy in

jw
friends

how many cases in your kh?

aligot ripounsous

I must admit that elders have not dared (or bothered) having a conversation with me for more than one year by now, about the fact that I haven't reported any preaching nor attended BS and midweek meetings. They just seeem to be happy to see me turning up at sunday meeting. Even last sunday, after I publicly commented at the WT study that we can readily understand that the society would until now hold the view that the sower is Jesus, because that's what the gospels plainly read, not even one of them did say to me at the end of the meeting that this view is now apostate. I gather that, either they apply Jude's word "while you hate even the inner garment that has been stained by the flesh" or, more probably, they just couldn't care less.

12

Where have WTS clamed to NEVER have spoken in Jehovahs name?

by still_in74 in

so i pulled this article from cd rom as this was pdf'd on another thread by atlantis.

*** w79 9/1 pp.

29-30 pars.

aligot ripounsous

TheWatchtower,

the official journal of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has said: "We have not the gift of prophecy." (January 1883, page 425).

Now, the WTS has taught us at length that a prophet doesn't have to utter prophecies, he is God's representative, as it was repeated in last week WT study article :

" Jehovah assured Ezekiel that when the judgments he proclaimed came true, the rebellious house of Israel would" certainly know also that a prophet himself happened to be in the midst of them." (Ezek. 2:5) Similarly, when God carries out his judgments against the present system of things, people will be forced to recognize that the message Jehovah's Witnesses preached in public places and from house to house actually originated with the one true God, Jehovah, and that the Witnesses really did serve as his representatives"

Like the bat saying Look at my head I'm a mouse, look at my wings I'm a bird.

27

I am loosing interest in most things JW or XJW!

by AK - Jeff in

i think that simon's announcement that this venue was closing was the catalyst.

i looked around the other forums and realized i just don't need them anymore.

i have logged in here probably 10% of my former time since the announcement, first to do the 'admin' stuff that was happening immediately following - but now usually only once a day, maybe 10 minutes, and can't even find much of interest while i do that.

aligot ripounsous

Not that I've been such an important poster on JWD but I feel I've said about all that I had to say and I believe I'm fading from XJWs apace with from JWs.

49

ARMAGEDDON IS HERE

by DoomVoyager in

jw
friends

for real this time, i promise!.

you may have heard of the collapse of several large us financial institutions this morning.

the fact that this event coincides with a major natural disaster hitting the us is, according to my parents, 100% conclusive proof that armaggedon has in fact begun.

aligot ripounsous

Let's all turn our bibles to Revelation 14:20.

"And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress as high up as the bridles of the horses, for a distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs."

Since we'll all be swimming in blood up to our necks, wearing red clothing will obviously be practical. Wait a minute... won't all the blood just drain into the giant cravasses in the ground? And if not then wouldn't all the evil apostates just be able to swim up out of the cracks?

DoomVoyager, you just forgot the antitypical fulfilment of that prophecy, which the FDS gave us in due time, in 1920 if memory serves me well :

" Revelation 14:20 ... reads: "And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press as high up as the bridles of the horses, for a distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs." "By the space of a thousand and (six)TWO hundred furlongs--
This can not be interpreted to refer to the 2100 mile battle line
of the world war. A Furlong or stadium is not a mile and this
is without the city whereas the battle line is within the city.
See Rotherham's translation. A stadium is 606 three fourths
English ft; 1200 stadii are, mi...................................................................................137.9 mi

The work on this volume was done in Scranton, Pa. As fast as
it was completed it was sent to the Bethel. half of the work
was done at an average distance of 5 blocks from the Lackawanna
station, and the other half at a distance of 25 blocks. Blocks
in Scranton are 10 to the mile. Hence the average distance to the
station is 15 blocks, or .................................................................................................1.5 mi
The mileage from Scranton to Hoboken Terminal is shown in time
tables as 143.8 and this is the mileage charged to passengers,
but in 1911, at an expense of $12,000,000, the Lackawanna Railroad
completed its famous cut-off, saving 11 miles of the distance.
From the day the cut-off was completed the trainmen have been
allowed 11 miles less than the time table shows, or a net
distance of ................................................................................................................132.8 mi.
Hoboken Ferry to Barclay Street Ferry, New York, is .............................................2.0 mi
Barclay Street Ferry to Fulton Ferry, New York, is 4,800 feet or ............................0.9 mi
Fulton Ferry, New York, to Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, is 2,000 feet or .......................0.4 mi
Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, to Bethel, is 1,485 feet or ....................................................0.3 mi
Shortest distance from place where the winepress was trodden
by the Feet Members of the Lord, Whose guidance and help alone
made this volume possible.
(John 6:60,61; Matt 20:11) .......................................................................................137.9 mi"

29

Dog to its Vomit

by Sparkplug in

jw
friends

i know as a jw growing up, i would hear so much about how if you were of the"world" and came out of it...that you were like a dog returning to its vomit.

the other day, i heard of a friend of mine that went back to the borg.

actually over the past few months, i have heard of a few.

aligot ripounsous

Spark,

I understand this friend was a real friend so, when she decided to go back to the congregation, for family related reasons, did she tell you that she wouldn't speak to you anymore ? If not, you can still exchange ideas and opinions with her and it could be enriching for both of you, in fact she may need an independent minded friend to help her sort her thoughts out.