Posts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite

31

Where else is there to go?

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

when i left the jw's, close friends and some elders discussed my desicion with me,without fail they all concluded the same thing.... "but where else is there to go?!".

at the time, the question just confused me, i could not see why it confused me or the very telling nature of such a comment.

i never thought that once.. firstly, this indicates that many jw's remain jw's simply because of this tunnel vision perspective... everything in their periphery is valueless, but the wt on which they focus is everthing.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Great analysis!

A favorite illustration that I learned here and have used a few times, deals with the question "Where else is there to go?" Imagine that your house is on fire and you begin to run for the door but stop and ask yourself, "But where else can I live?" When the fire department comes and tries to rescue you, will you respond, "I cannot leave my house until I have a new home to move into!" Of course not, you grab your family and get out. Once you are outside, you have to wait and have an inspection to see if the house is livable. If it is beyond repair, you salvage anything of value and start the hunt for a new home.

Another thought that came to mind is how they've reduced the value of CT Russell, no longer part of the FDS. While it could be to distance themselves from him wacky teachings, it could also be because he fits the def. of an apostate and "independent thinker". He examined other religions, left them, and pretty much started his own organization from scratch. Watchtower doesn't want to encourage that kind of critical examination and "rebellion" against the establishment.

26

circuit assembly in cleveland -the good, the bad, and the ugly

by nowwhat? in

brother cuei{?

] really cool and funny, feet planted firmly on the the ground.

the usual good council on how we can save alot of grief by applying bible principles, etc.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

"he said the end couldbe here before the warranty expires on our next big purchase."

When the word couldis in there, the entire statement is meaningless. Replace it with couldn't and you have an equally valid statement.

26

circuit assembly in cleveland -the good, the bad, and the ugly

by nowwhat? in

brother cuei{?

] really cool and funny, feet planted firmly on the the ground.

the usual good council on how we can save alot of grief by applying bible principles, etc.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

"expenses related to our assembly, $13,500 !!!!!!!!!! for a family of five broken down i would have to donate $75.00! yeah, right."

When the publishers need money, they're told to rely on Jehovah.

When the organization needs money, they clearly rely on the publishers.

Multi-level marketing scam.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Specifically talking about the naked lady, the talking snake, and the beautiful, tasty, juicy forbidden fruit sounds a lot more interesting than "the fall."

It's like this...

vs. this...

15

Today's WT study

by piztjw in

so as i looked at the material i was struck by a few thoughts about this article.. par.

6 glossed over the idea that we can pray for ourselves, or our needs.

9-11 on one hand they say jesus did not harshly criticize peter or the apostles for falling asleep instead of praying continually, and on the other hand make veiled threats if we should feel tired out by life.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I think that study on prayer was just a recycle of previous "lessons" serving as bland filler leading up to the next three or so articles that are CRAZY.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

cofty, maybe you need a point specifically about the naked lady and the talking snake. If there was ever a reason for billions of innocent people to die, that's the one I followed when I was a JW.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

"No, Billy. The physical consequences of 'quelling the wave at its source'... like cause and effect?"

That would be #16 or maybe #20 or #8, that cofty already responded to.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

"And the physical consequences of doing that? Do you know what those would be?"

Saving 250,000 lives is "consequences"? Or are you going back to #18 on his list that he already responded to.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Cofty, your post 10432 is a fantastic summary. After reading that post compared to the OP of your conversation, I predict that the next pastor that tries to re-convert you will face a tsunami of logic.

45

Does anyone here believe that things are worse than they were in the past?

by Trismegistus in

jw
friends

i still hear this crop up every once in a while, so i figured that i'd open it up to a wide audience.. things are looking pretty good to me..

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

When WT tries to point back at the "good old days" when everything was wonderful... before 1914, they are completely erasing and rewriting everything that Russell said about the era. He said that the decades leading up to 1914 as the worst period in history and wondered if the world would be able to survive until 1914. When were the "good old days" that Russell pointed back to? Since he thought the last days started when Napoleon battled in Egypt, Chuck probably thought the dark ages were best. Crazy.

PaintedToeNail:"rampant population and all the strain that brings to earth natural resources"

I used to think population growth was a severe problem, and many parts of the world are more strained than others. In actuality, it's particularly a problem if everyone tries to live the American suburbia, drive don't walk, we need a big yard to mow mentality. One of the biggest health problems in the US is overeating. And the amount of food wasted is shocking.

http://www.ted.com/talks/tristram_stuart_the_global_food_waste_scandal.html

It's a terrible tragedy that there are people in the world that are hungry and in poverty. But the JW prophecy that we're living in the last days with terrible famine? One would have to ignore the real famines of earlier centuries... oh, right, WT doesn't want the sheeples to go to college and learn about real history. Take me for example. Now that I've been to university, I give priority to responsible buying and eating well, looking for the kind of work that will hopefully make the world a better place. That leaves no time for KH meetings and recruiting.