Posts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Frankly, I've just never understood why god, supposedly the creator of all things constantly needs to beg money from humans. What would we call a rich man that takes an elderly woman's egg money with the empty promise that he'll pay her back "very soon now"?

Instead of all their talk about how much they need money for "projects", why don't they let the real numbers do the talking? Why not open the books for everyone to audit? If they are so careful with "Jehovah's money", why do they insist on audits and reports for every penny on the local level, yet up in the GB executive suite hundreds of millions of dollars come and go with no audits or reports to the rank and file? It's all a recipe for corruption.

8

Today's text--Jehovah, the 'Impartial' God

by sd-7 in

"jehovah your god...treats none with partiality."--deut.

10:17.. "impartiality is one of jehovah's endearing qualities.

" <--yes, between that and his tendency towards genocidal warfare, i don't know what makes me love him more.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

God is not partial. All humankind are deserving of death... because a naked lady listened to a talking snake and ate an apple.

17

OMG... what happened in a bar today

by leaving_quietly in

so, i'm sitting in a bar, having a drink.

the bar participates in taptv, an online trivia thing.

the question that came up was, "what did jehovah's witnesses call themselves before 1931".

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

She said "because every time they come to my door, they're like sales people.'

The history and methods of WT are rooted in salesmanship.

42

Convention Cartoon

by freemindfade in

so last night they played the convention cartoon.

there were a few laughs from the audience, overall though people seemed a little taken aback and tight lipped.

like no one gushed about it afterwards, no applause, just like it was nothing new at all.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Still trying to figure out who would want to be waiting outside the convention at 7:50 a.m. After driving half the day to get there, I'd be lucky to wake up before 7, much less be there before 8.

Normally, I'd just try to get there about a half hour before it started. Only a couple of conventions did I have to get there really early before the doors officially opened because I was an attendant or sound duty. It was weird that there were maybe a couple of hundred that were lined up before the doors were opened. Maybe a handful were nutty enough to run and get into shoving matches to get a particular front aisle seat or something. And some of them totally freaked out because they saw that some attendants and others in departments that had to be there early had already saved some seats for their families.

27

Assembly Survival Kit

by pronomono in

so, i've got the assembly tomorrow, or so the wife says.

i should have bought this in preparation..... .

http://cdn.blessthisstuff.com/imagens/stuff/gentlemans-survival-kit-2.jpg.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Anti-depression a must need.

Indeed. Might need a bigger film canister.

27

Assembly Survival Kit

by pronomono in

so, i've got the assembly tomorrow, or so the wife says.

i should have bought this in preparation..... .

http://cdn.blessthisstuff.com/imagens/stuff/gentlemans-survival-kit-2.jpg.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

What's in the round tin in the middle?

http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/wear/bags-luggage/gentlemans-survival-kit/

I thought it looked like a film canister... and it is. It's used to hold kindling. And the rectangular thing above it is a tin for matches. At a Botchtower Crapvention there is plenty of litteratrash around to burn. I suppose you could put beef jerky in the film canister instead.

27

Assembly Survival Kit

by pronomono in

so, i've got the assembly tomorrow, or so the wife says.

i should have bought this in preparation..... .

http://cdn.blessthisstuff.com/imagens/stuff/gentlemans-survival-kit-2.jpg.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

And wear some kind of brace and crutches so that you can bring a comfortable folding chair and sit in the infirmed section.

48

May’s ‘study WT’ admits having taught “far-fetched” ideas

by wheelwithinwheel in

not on the front page, not in the study articles, but carefully camouflaged in the questions from readers on page 18 (watchtower march 15, 2015).

you can bet most jws wont even read it..

there is no apology...just the usual excuses..

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

You mean the average Witness actually knows about the concepts of Types and Antitypes? That's an unfounded assumption.

This would be the old-timers like my parents. So many of the things they had been previously taught have already been discarded, this is just one more thing... yet a very big thing.

When they write stuff like this, it gives ever more validity to my argument that WT teachings are all like shifting sand. To try to build faith on what they are teaching and prophesying now is futile since those teachings can dramatically shift with one sentence in one article. Then shift again just a few months later.

72

Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

long time lurker (2009-ish), first time poster.

first of all, i want to say thank you everyone who contributes to these boards and provokes stimulating conversations and thought processes.

all the opinions and different perspectives are very enlightening.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Greetings HumblePotato, Welcome, you are!

As an atheist, I'll readily admit that there's a lot that I don't know. But there's a lot that I'm certain of:

The bible is a fictional story book. It may have some valuable moral lessons that people can learn from... but the Harry Potter books and Smurfs cartoons have valuable moral lessons too. But the bible also contains plenty of morals, lessons, and stories that are wrong now and were wrong then. (A rape victim must marry her rapist? That is completely f###ed up.)
All the other religious belief systems I've examined claim they are "true". Yet, under critical examination they are not profound religious "truth" either.
There are religious groups that do good works, but I might as well join a social club and volunteer for charities instead. They do good works without wasting time on theology.
Is there a higher power/spirit/god(s) that exist but are giving us the silent treatment? Is there some other life after death that those on the other side cannot communicate back to us? Or is there some type of reincarnation? Maybe, maybe not. Spending time looking for answers that aren't there (or coming up with more unanswered questions) is time that could be spent doing other productive and enjoyable things.

You've probably already seen it, but here's a link to my thread about asking questions without really setting off the "apostate detectors":

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/254990/exjw-psychology-102-how-ask-question-when-questions-arent-allowed

Since you've already seen how JWs will jump all over you if you express doubts, putting the questions in the context of maybe just one question encountered in FS, from a relative, or at work, puts the discussion in an entirely different context. "I know the Bible must be true, but how do I answer my workmate who questions how we don't believe in evolution, yet we do believe that the millions of species of animals could have fit in a floating box about 4000 years ago. I guess we don't have an answer and I'll just have to stop talking about it and stop preaching to him."