The flood issue is what pushed me out of the org. I kept looking for answers or, at the very least, semi-plausible explanations to questions like "Why are there only koalas and platypuses (platypi?) in Australia?" and "If there was a global flood, how come there is no geological evidence for it?"
Even when I was a kid there was always something about the Noah story that made a little voice in the back of my head say "Something's not right here."
Yet there are otherwise very intelligent Witnesses who still doggedly assert that a massive deluge wiped out all plant, animal, and human life on earth except for a small group of survivors in a fetid waterlogged wooden box just 4000 years ago. My uncle, for instance, has a PhD in psychology and is a gilead graduate but he refuses to talk to me anymore because I voiced my doubts to him about the flood. He refused to examine the scientific evidence I was pointing him towards and simply labels me an apostate.
I spoke with close friends, elders and my dad when I was still trying to come to grips with my wavering faith and the best line they could come up with was "wait on Jehovah". Well, I faded 8 months ago and the society finally released a new WT with a question from readers on Noah's flood and it completely ignores any of the scientific issues that conflict with the flood. Instead we're told to believe that the flood happened because the Bible says it happened and crams this line of circular reasoning down readers throats, leaving no room for dissent.
I still wouldn't be surprised if more people left over this issue, though. I know there are Bethel lurkers who read this stuff, so take heed.
marmot
JoinedPosts by marmot
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Noah's ark - Can't believe I once actually thought it was true
by sam_sane_now inwhen i was a jw i didn't even question that the noah's ark story might not be true.
i didn't realise that it wasn't achievable for a handful of people to gather literally millions of animals - two of each kind - and fit them into a boat where they would all survive for many days.
i didn't think about the fact that if the highest mountain was covered with water then how could plant life like trees and flowers come to exist again, especially so soon after, with the raven grabbing an olive leaf was it?
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marmot
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marmot
Winnower, you're getting all tripped up over a non-issue. The WT has said before that the angels (including Nephilim) are indeed "sons" of god, but Jesus is the "only begotten" son meaning that he was the only creature made solely by Jehovah and without Jesus' assistance.
It's all a bunch of mythology anyway so it's like arguing over what Zeus ate for breakfast. -
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hm, i think jwd has been hijacked,,,
by orbison11 ini checked many many posts, and at the end of each one,,even if they were not on a 'religious' topic, the bottom of the page has an add for 'scientology'.
every single one i checked,,mighty odd.
orb.
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marmot
I've got the scientology ads too. Maybe the scientologists are doing a web campaign directed at Canada.
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marmot
Wow, that's maddening. About 8 months ago when I first started my fade all I got from people to whom I had voiced my concerns about the flood was: "Wait on Jehovah", except for those who told me to write in to the Society but that just adds a step to the process.
Now we see the answer that Jehovah cooked up in the meantime and it's a load of crap with circular logic topping. Just imagine if I had kept going to meetings for all this time. -
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Dinosaurs, Homenids,and Jehovah's Witnesses (Oh My!)....
by Tuesday inso this hit me the other day, i distinctly remember on stage and otherwise jehovah's witnesses have no problem admitting that there were dinosaurs on the earth.
in fact alot of times they would say that god used dinosaurs to get the earth ready for humans to inhabit it.
however at the same time many jehovah's witnesses defiantly deny the existence of early homenids.
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marmot
I'm a bit of a grammar Nazi so please forgive me while I get this out of my system:
Hominids.
Back to your question, JWs also have no problem reading and commenting about "Jehovah's wonderful creation" like the diverse animal and plant species, coral reefs, and dazzling mountain ranges when none of these would be possible had there been a global flood just 4000 years ago. When you're this bone-headed in your delusions there's no limit to what you can make yourself believe. -
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IF gas prices go to $10, and these major disasters continue......
by AK - Jeff in....like the one in myanmar now, will we not see the apocalyptic religions just explode in growth, including jw's?
even during relatively calm times, these groups can stir the 'sheep' to believe that the tribulation is just around the corner.
if we continue to see major disasters, what effect do you see in these groups?.
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marmot
I don't see the big deal, really, we're just entering another phase of civilization.
Think about it, just one generation ago my grandfather was born in a clapboard shack on the prairies into what we would now consider third-world poverty. Likewise, my oldest uncle had to start a woodfire in the mornings during the winter so they could thaw enough water to bathe before walking to school. We're talking full-on Grapes of Wrath stuff.
Now we live in downright opulence (comparatively speaking) with running water, electricity, much easier access to higher education, free healthcare (at least up here in Canada), multiple-car families as the norm, and a comprehensive set of institutions to safeguard human rights and freedoms.
We're now in 2008 and our little corner of humanity has weathered the storm of a massive economic collapse, two world wars, a cold war, outbreaks of disease, natural disasters, etcetera etcetera and yet we're still mysteriously plugging along and the quality of life for most people is still going up.
I'm not saying it's impossible, just look at that giant clusterf***k called Zimbabwe, but something way more drastic than higher gas prices and a few more hurricanes would be required to roll back the clock to even the way of life of my great-grandparents.
To play Devil's advocate, even if that scenario were to take place, would it be all that bad? I mean, our ancestors survived, obviously, and produced many fine achievements. Our descendants would inevitably get the wheel rolling again.
Problem is, not many people see things this way so yes, there will be a lot of panicky sheeple looking for a comfortable authority structure to take shelter under. -
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My Story-A Sioux Indian in the Watchtower Organisation
by ExjwSiouxChief inmy name is chief waneta ('the charger') of the sioux nation.
since the leaving of the seven falcons when i was a child, my family joined the jw cult.
chief waneta wanted to do a rain dance.
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marmot
Unfortunately, Dave, mouth-breathing troglodyte a-holes seem to be a universal phenomenon.
I've even encountered them in Sweden when I went there for a wedding. -
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My Story-A Sioux Indian in the Watchtower Organisation
by ExjwSiouxChief inmy name is chief waneta ('the charger') of the sioux nation.
since the leaving of the seven falcons when i was a child, my family joined the jw cult.
chief waneta wanted to do a rain dance.
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marmot
Hey buddy, take the Hollywood Indian act elsewhere. I get enough of that bull**** at work from bumpkin redneck frenchmen who think they're funny.
If you're really Sioux try giving us a legitimate introduction instead of the two-bit comedy act. There are other First Nations posters on this board, y'know. -
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GB sidles out of 1919 and puts 1914 in the bin. (WT study.)!!
by hamsterbait inhas anybody noticed in many recent watchtowers that christ is now said to have "turned his attention to the earth in 1914.".
unlike the 60's they do not say christ "came" in 1914. the "proclaimers book " p137 says the bible students came to discern that "christ did not return, (even invisibly), in 1914.".
the way is now paved.
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marmot
Uh, guys, I don't even get the WT and Awake anymore but even I know that that's just a spoof.
The language is all wrong for an "official" pronouncement from the pages of the present-day WT. That reads like something out of the early 70s, which maybe shows what era the spoof's author had their formative experience. -
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Movies about the Book of Revelation?
by sacolton indoes anyone know of a movie that uses the visions described in the book of revelation?
i'm not looking for some cheezy hollywooodized soap opera ("left behind") - just a documentary or film that attempts to show what the scriptures are illustrating.
anything like that?
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marmot
Not quite what you're looking for, but the 1985 Russian movie "Come and See" uses Revelation 6:8 as an inspiration.
It's a film set in WWII Belarus and follows a young boy's path through the horrors of war.