Posts by civicsi00

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?.

civicsi00

Everyone here has already made some good points, so I'm not going to go into detail.

As far as myself, I no longer believe in the JW's. This does NOT mean that I am free to commit all the sins I want. In fact, as I left, I felt an even STRONGER conviction to live my life in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. I take all of the holidays very seriously, and as of now I have only celebrated one type of celebration. I know now that I am free in Jesus Christ, and I wish all could be the same. I see that the world is a bad place to live in, but it's not like we can just pick up our stuff and move to another planet. We must live according to Christ and for Christ.

Reniaa, in reviewing some of your posts, you defend the JW's strongly because you feel that they are the only religion that "offers" some type of hope or "relief" in this mad world. I respect your opinion, but I know for myself that being raised in that environment can and does create a negative and short-sighted view of life. To top it off, any religion that tells you what to think and feel (or be excommunicated) cannot be the true religion in any sense. The JW's are not what Jesus had in mind when he showed his disciples how to be more perfect like their Father in heaven.

14

When did Jesus approve the organization?

by sacolton in

jw
friends

what publication/source does the watchtower claim that jesus approved the organization in 1918?

civicsi00

And one more quote from God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years:

Page 349, paragraph 40 states: "The serving of food, the right sort of food, at theproper timewas the issue. It had to be according to this that a decision must be rendered by the returned master... Not only was the regularity in serving the spiritual food a problem, but the quality of the food itself was to be considered. In this respect the body of hated, persecuted Christians, who always sought to be faithful slaves of Jesus Christ, met the test.

What I find most disturbing is that without presenting any sort of evidence (such as their old beliefs), they assert that they simply "met the test". I mean, what the hell? Freddy certainly knew how to avoid the facts...

14

When did Jesus approve the organization?

by sacolton in

jw
friends

what publication/source does the watchtower claim that jesus approved the organization in 1918?

civicsi00

It was supposedly in 1918. Although they weren't appointed with Holy Spirit to teach all things since Rutherford began to state in 1919 that angels were now ministering to him. Thus, the "spirit-directed" organization was born then, and has continued since.

56

Unexpected JW reaction

by cameo-d in

jw
friends

i talked to a jw i know and got an unexpected reaction.. i mentioned some of the "conspiracy theory" stuff i have heard...about one taken, one left behind ...and what i have heard about people will be picked up in the middle of the night and taken away to "places".

this jw took it right in stride and said "yes, that's the way it was done when the nazi's started.

many jws were killed then...blah blah".

civicsi00

Damn, I can't believe we all pretty much thought the same thing about what's going to happen during the GT!

I, too, thought that the GT was going to be like the WWII concentration camps, but on a worldwide scale! It was scary to think about that then, but now I see it was all scare tactics to keep the R/F in line.. How sad...

For an organization that considers itself "loving" I find it repugnant that they resort to fear tactics. I can't imagine Jesus and his apostles telling their followers these kinds of things... One can clearly read in the Bible that Jesus drew in his followers through love and patience, not fear and blind obedience.

36

Did You Find That A Lot of JWs Were Cheap?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i did.

and i hate cheap people!

civicsi00

I used to be cheap because I was born and raised a JW. Couple that with being poor, I was always cheap. My sister is even cheaper than I am!

Now that I'm out, I've learned to let go and spend. Life's too short to hoard all the money.

43

Nov 15 WT Study Edition - Appeal to help inactive ones

by TJ - iAmCleared2Land in

heard today that the nov 15 issue has two of its four study articles targeted at helping inactive ones.

get ready for the phone calls to start up.

has the scans of this been posted yet?.

civicsi00

Bring it on!! (I still haven't DA'd yet...)

75

Coptic John 1:1 makes it into the Watchtower.

by slimboyfat in

wt november 1st has a two page article on how the early sahidic coptic version of the new testament translated god with an indefinite article in john 1:1 and argues this supports the new world translation's rendering "and the word was a god".

online witness apologists have been using this piece of evidence in support of the nwt for a few years now.

in particular solomon landers promoted the coptic version of john 1:1 in discussions with evangelicals and other who oppose witness theology.

civicsi00

This is surprising. Is the Watchtower somehow letting itself be influenced by JW apologists?

It's still an incorrect translation. This would mean the JW's are polytheistic...in a sense. Wouldn't it?

I'm sleepy... sorry for my crappy response...

12

Trying to leave the Witnesses is like trying to leave the Mafia = Death!

by Witness 007 in

if you try to leave the mafia in italy they will hunt you down and kill you, there is no way you can quit and just walk away, you need to go into hiding always looking over your shoulder.

it's the same with witnesses, you can't just quit, you need to be disfellowshiped and punished....and you'll always be worried looking over your shoulder even if you go into hiding.

civicsi00

Like others have said before: "There's no honorable way to leave this religion!!!"

Justhuman is right... it's easier if it's quick and over. But JW's make sure you suffer for as long as you live... It's so unChrist-like.

19

How do mainstream Christians interpret the live-forever-on-Earth scriptures

by neverendingjourney in

you know the proof texts we used to "prove" that the "righteous would inherit the earth and reside for forever upon it?

" how do mainstream christians interpret those scriptures?

i gather that the scriptures in isaiah speak metaphorically to the return of the jews to the promised land, but what about psalms 37?

civicsi00

It's amazing, isn't it? When the scales began to fall from my eyes about the Watchtower, one of the topics I quickly looked up was the Paradise on Earth bit, in the Reasoning From The Scriptures book. I saw then immediately that they pulled so many texts out of the bible and used them out of context. I saw how fooled I had been...

Additionally, earlier this year, one of the Watchtower Public Edition magazines advertised the Paradise on Earth and I saw again the texts that they used. When I showed them to my wife, she immediately saw the farce, too. It's crazy...

26

Fading becomes ground for disassociation

by passwordprotected in

here's what i think will happen as i continue to develop my wt sleight of hand thought.... .

faders are a problem.

they want their cake and they want to eat it too.

civicsi00

Do not answer the so-called loyalty question...ask your own battery of questions
Why do I feel like I'm on the witness stand and I'm being cross-examined ?
What is your ultimate purpose in trying to put me on the spot ?
Can you please give me a Bible precedence where the Apostles encouraged this ?
I have not officially given you a change in my status or stance.. If and when by my choosing
I do so you'll be the first ones to know...you have my promise
The only Bible example I can think of for trying to corner me in with a question is the Pharisee's
trying to find fault with Jesus.. would you choose to follow their example ?
When you ask do I wish to be known as a JW why do I get the feeling it more about what you wish for ?
Always remember the rule .." He who controls the questions controls the argument"
Caliber

Good response, Caliber! I'll have to remember this one...

My wife and I were asked the "Loyalty" question about 4 years ago. We weren't making it to all the meetings, but we still considered ourselves Witlesses. We answered the question honestly back then, because we still sincerely believed then that it was God's organization.

4 years later... Yeah, I know. They're nothing but false prophets. I've been visited twice already this year, asking about our fade. Once, it was with just one elder, and again with an elder and another regular brother. They actually came a third time, but I never opened the door (and they couldn't tell if I was home or not, LOL). I've been able to finnagle my way out of why I stopped attending meetings, but the day will come when they ask that question again. I'll have to answer it honestly again... "Hell no!".