Posts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite

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What will JW.org / Watchtower be like in 15 years?

by jw07 in

over the past few days i've been reading and watching bill and melinda gates speak about their plans for a better world by 2030. they bet that due to technology and the compassion of people the world should improve more in the next 15 years than it has in all of history.

specifically lower child mortality rate, eradication of polio and guinea worm among other diseases, improvement of standards of living, greater access to education etc.. i'm a realist, so i'm not looking for miracles, but i believe most of these things are possible given the level of success they have reaped in other endeavors, and naturally emerging tech being used to make some of these projections possible.. you can see that the world is actually improving in many areas if you seek out the good news stories and statistics and look beyond the watchtower friendly fear porn about terrorism, and potential dangers from culturally diverse nations around the globe.

for instance 2014 had the lowest fatal airline accident rate in history despite the hyping of the ill fated malaysian airlines crashes.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I predict that in 15 years, WT will crack down on higher education, condemn tight pants, and denounce gays. I also predict that they will say the end is coming very soon.

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Science still doesn't have the answers on how life first appeared

by EndofMysteries in

since so many athiests in this thread, and since i'm going to college, i was curious if what i would learn in biology would change my thoughts and show that life clearly and easily spontaneously happened.

just looking up the origins of dna or rna there is nothing conclusive.

for example, scientists today are able to manipulate life.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I wonder are athiests convinced life (on planet Earth and life as we know it) convinced that it all happened by chance? Or are athiests just convinced the creator as described in religion is incorrect but believe our life may have had some intelligent life preceeding it? ...
Even if I did not believe in a creator as described in religion, based on everything so far, I'd say some type of other life was responsible for us. It's like breaking down a building, if you see a building and with enough research it comes down to blueprints, but the blueprints, where did they come from?
It would be easier to believe an advanced life/civilization with scientists who mastered biology were able to create cells, code DNA to make any sort of biological life they wanted, features, etc. They would have programmed it to adapt as well to environmental changes, evolution.

Infinite regress. If you point to a watch and say, "It had to have an intelligent creator." Then you point to it's human designer and say, "He had to have an intelligent creator." Then you must point to god and say, "He had to have an intelligent creator, too." Then of the creator of the creator of god, you have to say, "Well, she had to have an even more intelligent and powerful creator, too!" Etc.

Or are you going to say that our material world is so complex that it must have a designer/creator. But God, of infinite power and wisdom has simply always existed? That huge mystery is somehow an acceptable explanation?

When I studied biology, chemistry, and physics, it certainly did not give final answers to all the questions of the universe, but it did bring a lot of mysteries down to a level to grasp. All those mysteries of life, electricity, and radiowaves had clear explanations. Everything about God became more mysterious and illogical. For me, it wasn't a stretch to replace the unanswered questions about God's beginning with the unanswered questions about the beginnings of the universe and life. As JWs we were supposed to simply swallow "Jehovah has always existed." Now I replace it with, "There's a lot of things out there that we don't know. There's a lot of things about our history that we don't know. But those answers won't be coming from some suits in Brooklyn with an interpretation of a Bronze Age god."

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JW Broadcasting Jan 2015 Gem

by Watchtower-Free in

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Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Want to make ToMo3 watchable? It needs some audio enhancement, like...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me2H7Ja93Wg

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JW Broadcasting Jan 2015 Gem

by Watchtower-Free in

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Billy the Ex-Bethelite

"If we don't protect our House of Cards from pea-shooters and slight breezes, the whole thing could come crashing down and everyone would see it for what it is!"

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I'm studying with Jehovah's Witnesses!!

by Kulotti79 in

jw
friends

hello all... i currently studying the bible teach book and i'm just curious what information does the study conductor record about the student and is it passed on??

and they keep on saying "the truth" which is starting to get on my nerves.

lol.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

The interesting thing is that I've told the elder and his wife who are the study conductors that I'm a gay man right at the start, I thought that would difenatly end it before it even started. But, they continue to text me about meeting for the next study and inviting me to the meetings at the Kingdom Hall.

Of course they haven't dropped you.They WON'T drop you because they ~~probably~~ really believe they can fix you from being gay. They may have some sisters in mind to get you married to after your sunk into the cult. I've known the type of JWs that would already be bragging about how they've gotten you straightened out by "the truth".

This elder and his wife WILL drop you if you start asking the wrong questions. If you're gay, they think they can fix you. If you have a brain that thinks critically, they can't fix that.

for some reason im just drawn to this perticular sect. Maybe because it's different. Some of you may think I'm crazy, oh well, that's me! 😊

WT has well over a hundred years of experience in finding ways to appeal to people and lure them in:

The love-bombing where you first visit the hall and seem to have all these new friends will later turn into people who find reasons to pick you apart for not dressing just right, underlining your WT, etc.
You've probably been given lots of commendation on how smart you are, such a good student. The stuff you find interesting now? Very soon you'll find the material tiresomely repetitive because most of the material has a recycle time of 6 mo. to 2 yrs. The message that you're so smart and making such great progress will be replaced with the message that you aren't doing enough.
And now they probably seem very tolerant and accepting, but since you've already outed yourself as being gay, you will always be "suspect". You won't be able to be alone with a guy because you are/were gay. You won't be able to be alone with a woman (other than your wife) because you're a guy that had lived an immoral lifestyle. You will hear lots and lots of bashing.

And WELCOME!

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Book study next week... was the Mosaic Law perfect?

by StarTrekAngel in

before i get the "no it was not, because god does not exist and this is a writing of man", i am directing this discussion to those that either still believe, or need as many tools as possible to talk to a family member still in.. the purpose of my posting is to discuss what i believe to be a mistake on this book or, in the other hand, be corrected if i am not getting the entire picture.. in the book, chapter 19 "god's wisdon in a sacred secret", paragraph 10, it reads.... 10 second, the law thoroughly demonstrated mankinds need for a ransom.

a perfect law, it exposed the inability of sinful humans to adhere to it fully.

compare this with hebrews 7:11-12. jesus a priest like melchizedek11now if perfection was through the levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of aaron?

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

"Um, you're telling me that a guy in a dress has to slaughter me and burn me in a fire to make a happifying odor for an invisible, omnipotent master in the sky? Do I have the option of respectfully declining this offer?"

39

Trashed WT's found in Dr.s' waiting room Friday. Do you trash literature you find?

by Wasanelder Once in

took the magazines in the waiting room and dumped them in the trash.

was a great feeling.

to think many witnoids wont dare throw out the surplus magazines they have in stacks around the house is amazing.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

The stuff I've seen was already nearly trashed: tracts in the apartment building foyer, magazines blowing around in the street. In each case, I put them out of their misery and put the litteratrash in its place... dumpster.

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Why are JW talks & publications never uplifting?

by thedepressedsoul in

i was sitting at the meeting the other night and for the first time it hit, jw talks or magazines are never uplifting!

i rarely, if ever hear a talk or read a magazines and have it give nothing but praise to jehovahs servants or just praise jehovah and jesus throughout it.

they never just a read through the bible or just a bible story explained or told.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Here's a couple opinions I developed from working in the WT sausage factory:

There were plenty of times that the elders and speakers were told to be uplifting and encouraging. But most of the time it was things like, "Look what good things you've done before based on your faith and obedience... now do more!" "Listen as I tell you how miserable you would be if it weren't for your faith and obedience to WT and its teachings." "Yes we're imperfect and deserve destruction, but Jehovah loves us anyway and will save us... if we just do a little more." It's like a toxic, abusive relationship where we're beaten savagely, but keep coming back because they tell us they love us.

I think most of us relate to reading WT litteratrash and getting the feeling that everything we do and think is wrong, and there is so much more we need to do to be worthy of anything. But I've certainly encountered plenty of the WT leadership that read and hear the exact same stuff, but come away with the feeling that everything they do and think is right. I even told my parents that when I would read things Jesus said in the bible, I would feel like I have a lot to work on. But having known the GB, I reached the conclusion that these guys read the Bible and got the feeling, "Hey, I'm Jesus' brother. I can nibble a cracker and sip some wine, so I must be anointed. And since I'm anointed, everyone else should shut-up and listen to me!"

And I told my parents I wouldn't buy a car from any of the new GB members. Here we are, worried if we're worthy to survive and have the privilege to dig graves after armageddon. Meanwhile, these guys are completely unworried and fully confident that they will be whisked up to heaven to sit on golden thrones and decide who of the rest of us will live or die.

So the stuff that we read as JWs wasn't uplifting, but it is all very uplifting to the GB... who somehow manage to keep coming up with new interpretation of scripture that makes themselves even more important, all the freakin' time!

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