Posts by StephaneLaliberte

30

"New light"?

by winstonchurchill in

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-june-2016/man-with-inkhorn/.

so i guess baptism is no longer the "mark for survival".. as a matter of fact, that key aspect of the 'old light' is not even acknowledged in this article.. they are just publishing new understanding without even bothering to explain the full extent of the change, hoping nobody will remember how it was... and they may be right about that..

StephaneLaliberte

What do people need to do to be symbolically marked for survival? They need to react favorably to the preaching work that is taking place, put on the Christian personality, dedicate themselves to Jehovah, and loyally support Christ’s brothers. (Matt. 25:35-40)

There is nothing left to interpretation here... If you are not a baptized JW, you will be destroyed. With that paragraph in mind, Jesus' selection, or separating of the goats and sheeps will be WITHIN the JWs since those who are not baptized don't stand a chance.

I need to bookmark this crap so that if I am ever brought to a JC, I will be able to quote it.

63

Tight Pants

by pixel in

today is friday.

so let's see something refreshing on the new june 2016 study wt.

tight pants!.

StephaneLaliberte

ToesUp: Nahh, he does like the Maestro in Seinfeld: He hangs his pants when he sits so that he doesn't have to iron them out later. :)

63

Tight Pants

by pixel in

today is friday.

so let's see something refreshing on the new june 2016 study wt.

tight pants!.

StephaneLaliberte

This is absolutely ridiculous. This clearly shows that if you are counselled for such insignificant things, you will be judged for everything you do, for the rest of your life the moment you join these fools.

37

Memorial 2016

by Flg8ter in

the memorial is on march 23 this year.

but all the official jewish calendars has nissan 14 as april 22!

april 22 is the start of passover!

StephaneLaliberte

Pixel, I was just about to refute your statement. Then, I made a research for the calendar used by the ancient Egyptians and... You're right!

The Jews followed a system that was based on the Babylonians and was obviously overly complicated.

37

Memorial 2016

by Flg8ter in

the memorial is on march 23 this year.

but all the official jewish calendars has nissan 14 as april 22!

april 22 is the start of passover!

StephaneLaliberte

Pixel: Objectively, because there was no other calendar at that time :)

162

Do you still believe in God?

by FormerlySandL in

i never thought i would admit it, but i don't.

i might superstitiously have some kind of doubt but digging a bit deeper in my heart i really don't believe in god.

as a human i could never just sit and watch people be tortured, live years of abuse, suffer from illness and disabilities and all the other awful things people have to endure day after day without doing something about it.

StephaneLaliberte

I don’t know. Here is how I feel: I do not believe in a personal God. The idea that he would care for my working conditions, my love life, etc, while he tolerated and tolerate so much cruelty around the world… its just not working for me.

So, could I envision a God who placed us on the earth (using an evolutionary process) and further plans for us once we die? I don’t know…. I am not sure I would see the point in this. That being said, if I wake up somewhere else after I die, I would not be surprised.

In the end, weather I believe in God or not does not change the fact that I chose to be a good person. I want to do good around me so that once I pass away, people will be able to remember me as a good guy.

So, if there is a God that has some higher purpose for me at that point, I don’t see why he would not judge me on my action rather than my beliefs.

37

Memorial 2016

by Flg8ter in

the memorial is on march 23 this year.

but all the official jewish calendars has nissan 14 as april 22!

april 22 is the start of passover!

StephaneLaliberte

OldHippie : Thanks for the explanation, very useful. I am bookmarking this page.

That being said, I find the condescending attitude of that article very interesting. The author makes it sound like the Jews are not following God’s Law and goes on about the “first opportunity on or after the spring equinox” – While not citing a single verse that would enforce this. Quite the contrary, Exodus 12:2 simply says “[this Month] will be the first of the months of the year for you”. Well, the first Month of the 2016 year will start on April 9 since the previous year was longer.

The actual interpretation that it should be after the spring equinox was a Jewish tradition that was used up to the 4th century. So, to condemn today’s Jews based on a tradition that the Jews themselves were responsible for is pure popcorn entertainment.

That article sounds like it was written by a self-righteous religious fanatic who takes the typical stance of judging others on insignificant matters. Why not write: “The Jews do this, we prefer to do that; what matters is that we take the time to mark the 14th of Nissan every year. To each his own.”

Funny thing is, until I read “Church of God Most High”, I thought the article had been written by a JW!

81

Your feelings for the former travelling overseers

by Hecce in

during our wt life we met a good number of friends involved in the circuit and district work.

i am sure that we share the same experience and that we remember fondly some that we caring, loving and generally interested in the brothers.

at the same time we might remember others that were arrogant, selfish, abusive and oppressive.

StephaneLaliberte

I hear a lot of negativity concerning the COs and somehow, I personally feel just the opposite. Most of these people have made great deal of sacrifices for the WT believing they are doing the right thing.

Most of them live constantly on the road with minimal possessions.
They officially have as many holidays as the béthelite, which is less than most of the working populations in developed countries.
For the brother, most of the meetings, he has to give a talk… he can’t just sit back and enjoy his program.
They have to deal with a great deal of people who are emotionally unhinged.
The time they spend with their friends, family and personal past time is greatly limited.
Most of them don’t have kids; they gave that up for the WT.
They have no social security: If one of them falls sick, they won’t be looked after for too long by the WT and they know this.
They constantly have to visit people over lunch and supers
Not enough money to put aside for anything. Vow of poverty.

Considering the above, I was always amazed at the amount of faith (or should I say, delusion) necessary for these couples to keep doing what they were with a smile on their face.

Bad COs? I’ve seen some who annoyed me, however, considering the above, not enough to characterize them as bad people.

If I find anything to complain about, it is at the WT, which I feel, lacks respect in the way they are using these devoted people.

35

Do todays Jw's care at all about Russell and the pyramid?

by olongapo joe in

just wondering, as i will be visiting active jw family in ohio in a few weeks, do you think it will be worthwhile dropping it into a conversation, about the wtbts pyramid near his grave, or try some other topic to try and wake them up.

i was never baptized and don't really care if they get upset or not, but it is only a day trip from ohio to pittsburgh, and thought it would be fun if they denied it, and then drove their to see it for ourselves.

StephaneLaliberte

Something that may help a bit are simple questions like:

About the Governing body

Why do we have 14 letters (Books) from the Apostle Paul and only one paragraph from the first Governing Body?
Since the GB is imperfect, it makes mistakes. Please show where or when and how they have apologized for their mistake.
According to your teachings, Act Chapter 15 describes a Governing Body meeting. Please describe how verse 12 and 22 would fit in today’s arrangements?

About the organization

Did the first apostle build kingdom halls and bethels?
Did the first Christians own a building where they gathered?
Is there an example of a Judicial committee in the bible? Was this committee public or private?
Does the bible provide examples of people instructed to shun their own family, even for years?
How much study preparation was required to be baptized in the first century?

Some more questions:

Did the first Christians pray using God’s name? Did they performed miracles using Jehovah's name?
If someone is on his death bed, would it be appropriate to pray jesus and ask him to receive his spirit? Please read Acts 7:59.
Is the name “Jehovah” realy God's name? What is the origins of that name? If this name is a composition, then what is the difference between that and saying "GOD", since there is only one God anyways.
Does the bible have example of families preaching with the kids?
In the bible, is there an example of someone who accepted the truth resulting of the door to door preaching work?
Since anointed Christians can still become part of the 144 000, since when Christians received the earthly hope? Could it go as far back as to the first Christians?
Why didn't Jesus write anything?
Why didn't John the baptist become a disciple of Jesus after he baptized him?
I understand that blood fractions are acceptable. Since these were obtained through blood that was stocked and processed, why is it permissible? Don't you accept that the only valid use for blood is to poor it on the ground?
If nothing, absolutely nothing survives death, then, is resurrection nothing more than making a clone of what you once were?

35

Do todays Jw's care at all about Russell and the pyramid?

by olongapo joe in

just wondering, as i will be visiting active jw family in ohio in a few weeks, do you think it will be worthwhile dropping it into a conversation, about the wtbts pyramid near his grave, or try some other topic to try and wake them up.

i was never baptized and don't really care if they get upset or not, but it is only a day trip from ohio to pittsburgh, and thought it would be fun if they denied it, and then drove their to see it for ourselves.

StephaneLaliberte

We all have been awaken by different things. For some, it was the Pyramid. For others, it was the handling of sexual abuse cases.

Believe it or not, I knew about the pyramid, the UN association, the sexual abuses cases, the flip flops in teachings, the wrong date for the destruction of Jerusalem (607), the 1975 teachings and subsequent denial of these, and so on.

I knew of all these things and I simply rationalized it all away, thinking that in the end, they were doing more good than evil.

Then, I had kids and I had to face the fact that the WT would not allow me to teach them based on my conscience. It would have to be their entire program, otherwise, I risked being disfellowshiped for apostasy (I envisioned at least two scenarios would lead to this). The thought that my kids would indirectly have to be thought by man that were essentially threatening me was the final straw.

That is when I left. Since then, I also came to understand a few more things that solidified my current position.