StephaneLaliberte

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Posts by StephaneLaliberte

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  3

  Chat GPT and the bible

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just used chat gpt to find scriptures easily and, wow... should i still be a jw, i would have been able to create talks in seconds with that thing.

  consider the following question: .

  when was jesus accused of violating the sabbath?.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  - deleted
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  3

  Chat GPT and the bible

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just used chat gpt to find scriptures easily and, wow... should i still be a jw, i would have been able to create talks in seconds with that thing.

  consider the following question: .

  when was jesus accused of violating the sabbath?.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  The link in the the OP, you can sign up for free. Here is the link again: ChatGPT
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  3

  Chat GPT and the bible

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just used chat gpt to find scriptures easily and, wow... should i still be a jw, i would have been able to create talks in seconds with that thing.

  consider the following question: .

  when was jesus accused of violating the sabbath?.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  I just used Chat GPT to find scriptures easily and, wow... should I still be a JW, I would have been able to create talks in seconds with that thing. Consider the following question:

  When was Jesus accused of violating the Sabbath?

  Low and behold, Chat GPT summarized three bible passages where that happened, giving me the bible references!

  Another application of ChatGPT I did not expect!
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  18

  Answering JW Conversation Stoppers

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jws often try to justify their religion as being the only true religion.

  questions like.

  which other organization is doing this or that?

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  StephaneLaliberte

  1 Corinthians 1:10 does not exist in a vacuum; it has context.

  You're right, there is context… consider Paul’s teachings regarding eating things sacrificed to idols, which was common to find in the food markets at the time. He explains that essentially, since other gods didn't exist at all, there was nothing wrong in doing that (1 Corinthians 8:1-6). BUT, for fear of destroying the faith of someone else, you shouldn’t do it (Rom 14:14-23). Now, he didn’t state what the consequence of doing it would be, but the words used in Romains were very clear:
  

  “All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble”.

  Reality is that the Society is aligned with Paul on that. The problem is Paul wasn’t aligned with Jesus! Otherwise, Jesus wouldn’t have done anything to stumbled the conscience of so many jews at the time such as violating the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6; John 5:1-18). Besides, if rules were so important to Jesus, he would have written several letters and books elaborating on these. But he didn’t. Instead, he walked around, preaching forgiveness and freedom of the heavy burden of the mosaic law as imposed by the pharisees. Paul on the other hand, who was previously a pharisee, fell right back into what Jesus was trying to free the people from: Caring so much about the conscience of others that you create laws that shouldn't be laws at all. And so, Paul went on and wrote more letters (books) in the bible than anyone else, putting in place rules that, were in fact, not based on his belief, but based on the fear of displeasing others.
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  18

  Answering JW Conversation Stoppers

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jws often try to justify their religion as being the only true religion.

  questions like.

  which other organization is doing this or that?

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  StephaneLaliberte

  When I got married, I seriously considered becoming a ministerial servant on the path to being an elder. It would've been easy considering I had a good reputation, I was fairly popular and was able to deliver talks. There was one thing however: I didn't believe everything we thought. At that stage, I rationalized my faith as:

  While I don't believe everything we preach, I still believe that as a group, in actions, we're the closest to the true religion.

  Still, I found it difficult to publicly teach things I didn't personally believed. I remember that I was often selective with the topics I was covering during the theocratic school, and I knew that if I reached out for more responsibilities, I would not have that luxury of choosing. So, I talked about this with a few Elders and they basically had the same logic:

  "When people go to the hall, it is not to listen to you. Most of the time, they don't even know who will deliver what talk. They go to the meetings to hear what the society teaches; you are simply the messenger. So, it doesn’t matter what you personally believe; preach what the people expect from you, preach what the society asks. Anyhow, if you wait long enough, chances are that the society’s beliefs will change your way.”

  While I agreed with what they were saying, my motivation wasn’t there. How could I be passionate about possibly preaching things I didn’t believe? I was passionate about showing love and care to one another, caring about the environment, being faithful, etc. I could have made thousands of hours on those topics. But explaining the overlapping generation and be convincing when preaching it? How could I be passionate about that? So, as the years went on, I found excuses not to take on new responsibilities all the while blaming myself for being too proud; not humble enough to accept the role of a WT pawn.

  Eventually, almost a decade later, my kids started hearing things at the hall that I didn’t believe. It was at that moment that I realized that I was supposed to teach them these things. If I didn’t, they would eventually realize that I had some “significant” disagreement with the WT and could possibly out me as an apostate! I was growing anxious about the situation and started to look for alternative views. And so, I read Ray Franz’s books in the morning, when riding the train to work. Honestly, I thought that Ray’s books would re-affirm what I already believed; that so and so teachings didn’t make sense. Surprisingly, he focused on Christian love, the very thing that kept me in the JWs. He made me realize that their greatest sin was to lack in that area while trying to hold an organization together. The priority was no longer in the Christian love that should live in each of its members, but the existence and survival of the organization! As a result of that, any disagreement with even the smallest teachings could result in disfellowshipping and ostracism. This is the furthest from Christian love considering that it is impossible to be united in all teachings! JWs have changed their teachings several times through the years. This shows that the Governing Body holds meeting where some of their members express disbelief in current teachings, convinces the other members, resulting in change in theology for the religion. And the question becomes: Why would they be above any of their brothers who would also express similar disagreement? What is more anti-Christian like? Expressing disbelief in a teaching that could very well change or to disfellowship and ostracise the person expressing such doubts; possibly taking away all his friends, family, lively hood, housing and even their own spouse?

  When I think of Jesus, I think of his hatred for the pharisees and their mentality that is kept alive by the JWs who are intolerant when it comes to personal Christian conscience and beliefs. Jesus thought personal responsibility for your faith and love and tolerance for others.
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  171

  Mass Shooting at Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, Germany

  by EdenOne in

  1. social
  2. current

  mass shooting at a kingdom hall in hamburg, germany this evening.

  at least 6 or 7 killed, dozens injured.

  single shooter on the run, police doesn't rule out more shooters.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  I cannot imagine the horror of meeting such violence in a place where people go, seeking God, peace and happiness.

  Something similar happened in Quebec City (Canada) where a man suffering a mental breakdown, entered a Mosque and shot at people gathered there (news article here). This has happened 5 years ago and the larger community still feels it.

  What is shocking about things like that happening in Occident countries is that we like to think of ourselves as civilized and somewhat superior to other countries that suffer much unrest and civil conflicts. And yet, when things like that happen, we are reminded that chaos is at our door step even when we feel the most secure.
  

  Horrible.
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  40

  "Mankind's Search for God" book

  by My Name is of No Consequence in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this book was published around 1990, but was never studied (to my knowledge).

  does anyone know the reason why?.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  I remember that we did study it and being shocked by the very graphic painting of the man being sacrificed, his heart being ripped out of his chess! To this day, 30 some years later, I remember exactly what it looked like!

  Anyways, I remember that when we studied it, I felt it wasn't going deeply enough into the beliefs of other religions and so, I ended up going to the library and studying about other religions, in particular, catholics. From that moment on, I gained much more respect for other religions and realized that the JW were not that special. I still felt that we were closer to the truth but no longer had the disdain I previously felt for others. It actually had a deep impact on me as I thought that others outside of my religion were just a bunch of idiots and didn't deserve my respect, but that changed. Thanks to that book triggering this reflection in me.
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  773

  Breaking News: Anthony Morris III no longer serving on the Governing Body

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this has been announced on the jw's official website, in the "jw news" section.

  this is not a joke.

  anthony moron da turd is out as a gluttonous body member!

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Interesting almost no JW know about Morris removed. Means few JWs visit website or follow along org development 😁

  Talked about it to some of my JW family, they didn't care. Reality is that the see the GB as a group and if one member gets on or off, they really don't care. One of them thought it was normal as they grow older. I think that's one of the reasons a lot of people stay in, they don't fully understand what their religion is about and what they're actually supposed to believe.
  
  
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  29

  why are we interested in what is going on in the JW

  by enoughisenough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for the most of us, we have left the jws...and even though we are no longer jw, many of us are still interested in their beliefs, doctrines and practices as currently practiced.

  i was trying to sort out in my mind why i still care about what they are doing.

  i think the answer to that is a hope that something will develop in the jws that will wake up a lot of others, and selfishly, a lot of my friends.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  I started on this board as I was a JW and thus, felt directly impacted and I was seaking exposer to all the things the WT was hiding from me.
  
  Once I left, I understood enough to warrant me leaving, but not enough to be satisfied. So, I kept watching for everything that had to do with JWs, including their religious view and practices.

  Several years later, this interest has faded into a case study of how humans control and fool themselves in social groups (religions, political parties, companies, dancing club, karate dojos, etc). The JWs are a very good example of how various tools can be used to make people do things that are against their own interest or that of others, seemingly for the benefit of a greater cause, something greater than themselves. Such examples include propaganda, logical fallacies, disproportionate sense of belonging, overbearing and dominating over your life. While there are more to these, the idea is that all these bad things that are found in JWs are also found in other group.
  
  The main difference with Religions and other social groups however is that they may control your entire social circle (family and friend), which, in turn, may extend control over you beyond what some may be able to bare. This is where they are more dangerous then everything else and I guess that's what brings me back to this board often. To see how far they can keep pushing such control and how they achieve it.
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  13

  Museums the new way to make money?

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the organisation is now creating museums in 35 countries, is that their new way of making money?

  nowhere does the bible say that christians should engage to such activity but is it possible the watchtower is now making it a priority for :.

  a. look like they have something to offer to the community.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Catholics have been doing it for 2000 years! Nothing new under the sun!