Posts by B_Deserter

"the way these two words have been rendered in the new world translation has given rise to the charge that the new world bible translation committee let their religious beliefs influence them.

My point though is, are there any Bible translators who really know everything about the language? The slang and everything? Even when you're having a conversation on, say, instant messenger, it's easy to misinterpret what someone is writing, even though you're an actual speaker of that language. There are many english works that people get multiple meanings from. A translator who is the most familiar with the original languages will do a better job, for sure, but mistakes still can and will be made, because there's no way to tell if the author used a certain exception, or even slipped in the pen and made a grammatical error. If you're arguing for the "a God" position in John 1:1 using Greek grammar rules, there's always the possibility that someone along down the 1500-year line of copying and re-copying the passage might have made a mistake at one point. At some point, you have to guess at something. It may be an educated guess, but a guess nonetheless.

14

Did any of you ex JW's lead a double life? Any good stories?

by isnrblog in

jw
friends

i did when i was a teenager.

i was a good little witness on the outside but a pot smoking, girl chasing, booze swilling....normal teenager.. funny story.

i was 17 and this elders wife started a study with a lady in our neighborhood.

B_Deserter

When I was 14 I started dating a worldly girl. Unfortunately for me, she was a prude. Wouldn't even open her mouth when kissing me. I admit I wasn't the greatest, but she wouldn't even give me a proper kiss! I wouldn't have slobbered or anything. It went nowhere.

Anyway, I wasn't smooth with the ladies (I'm still not, in fact), and I was a known tattletale. All the "bad" kids in the hall were careful not to include me in their "funner" activities. I remained blissfully ignorant. When I got older I had a couple female friends who I would have banged in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity, but it never came.

11

Nice JW response to online question

by 5thGeneration in

jw
friends

someone on yahoo!

answers asked when the memorial date was this year.. check out this person's loving christian answer:.

if you really are a witness like you claim you can look in your km and get the date.. here's my response to them:typical jw response.. .

B_Deserter

If you ever check out JW responses to anti-JW videos, they'll be the most insulting. Even when I was in, I never wanted to pioneer or go to bethel because I didn't want to be associated with those pompous, prideful, hate-mongers.

60

The Problem with Atheism by Sam Harris

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

the problem with atheism(this is an edited transcript of a talk given at the atheist alliance conference in washington d.c. on september 28th, 2007).

to begin, id like to take a moment to acknowledge just how strange it is that a meeting like this is even necessary.

the year is 2007, and we have all taken time out of our busy lives, and many of us have traveled considerable distance, so that we can strategize about how best to live in a world in which most people believe in an imaginary god.

B_Deserter

*sigh* alright, I'll bite. You don't have to be a believer in God to be irrational or evil. The two are mutually exclusive. The problem is that when religion gets violent, it's done in the name of that religion. Not all world conflict is motivated by religion, and just because religious people start wars doesn't mean it's the religion's fault. Likewise, just because an atheist does some bad things doesn't mean that his lack of belief was to blame. You can be an atheist and still be an irrational person.

I agree wholeheartedly with Harris. Did southern non-racists have meetup groups and societies and conventions when racism was the prevalent ideology? No. They just didn't take part in the killing, and even marched during the Civil Rights Movement. Why is it that Christians can write countless books, make countless videos, and even broadcast their beliefs on radio and television 24 hours a day, yet when someone writes a book about the reasons he doesn't believe in God, the Christians cry "persecution!"?

I don't like to call myself an atheist and I don't identify myself as such. I am not defined by what I don't believe. It is also an inadequate term to cover my belief system. I don't believe in anything supernatural. I'm open to the possibility, but I put all supernatural claims on an equal level. So to me, Jehovah is just as likely as Santa Claus. I also don't believe this nonsense with pseudo-medicine "cures," nor do I believe in Feng Shui. Atheism doesn't BEGIN to cover it!

60

The Problem with Atheism by Sam Harris

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

the problem with atheism(this is an edited transcript of a talk given at the atheist alliance conference in washington d.c. on september 28th, 2007).

to begin, id like to take a moment to acknowledge just how strange it is that a meeting like this is even necessary.

the year is 2007, and we have all taken time out of our busy lives, and many of us have traveled considerable distance, so that we can strategize about how best to live in a world in which most people believe in an imaginary god.

B_Deserter

I don't debate with theists anymore. I don't because all the arguments are always the same, and everyone brings up the answers to those arguments over and over again, but the theist never listens, never pays attention. It just goes in one ear and out the other or degrades into insults.

18

An unbelievable quote by the JW's about the New World Translation

by isnrblog in

jw
friends

i came across this incredable quote in the watchtower, .

from the watchtower 8/1/62, pg 480: .

"the way these two words have been rendered in the new world translation has given rise to the charge that the new world bible translation committee let their religious beliefs influence them.

B_Deserter

The problem with interpretation is the nature of the Bible itself. Oftentimes, there is more than one english word or phrase that fits the Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic word. For example, John 1:1. Many people say that JWs were wrong in adding "a" to make it "a God." It would seem like they were adding a word, but there are no indefinite articles in Greek. Many ancient languages left out words and letters and those that were missing were implied by the context. The arguments on whether or not the context necessitates an "a" to be added are strong on both sides. Basically what it boils down to, is that Bible translation is all about guessing the original author's intent. Translating according to pre-conceived theology is necessary to fill in the gaps, or else such translations would be impossible.

27

1975 Letdown increasingly becoming topic of conversations among witnesses

by Meeting Junkie No More in

i have noticed that more and more, witnesses seem to be discussing the 1975 debacle amongst themselves, and agreeing that it is amazing that witnesses as a whole are all still here and the world is still here, and their kids are now in high school, or married, or whatever.

they also seem to be discussing the importance of retirement plans, in direct contradiction to what cos and dos are spouting at the annual conventions.... the last time this happened was at a recent funeral, where another long-time witness had passed on.

the interesting thing was that a younger group were discussing this, and some of them weren't even around in '75!.

B_Deserter

My parents have always encouraged me to save for retirement and invest my money. I went to college for two years and so is my younger brother. Even though they're Witnesses, they've adopted the "live as if Armageddon is coming tomorrow, but plan as if it's never coming" philosophy. Of course, those are diametrically opposed philosophies. If Armageddon were coming tomorrow and JWs were the truth, I'd theoretically be spending every bit of my resources preaching the word while I still could, as opposed to working secularly and investing money.