Posts by gotcha

20

Farewell To All For Now

by Moridin in

jw
friends

just wanted to say farewell for a time.

i'm leaving for basic training in the army on monday.

i want to thank you all for the help you've given me during some troubling times.

What is your ex-JW retirement plan?

by Mindchild in

jw
friends

i have been talking to a few people in chat recently about retirement strategies for ex-dubs.

it doesnt take a rocket scientist to realize that many people who exit the borg are really in a very poor situation in terms of their retirement prospects.

if it wasnt bad enough that there was always the pressure to avoid higher education and the corresponding quality jobs afforded by such, many dubs were just plain conned out of their resources by the borg in thinking that the end was just around the corner and you should pioneer, even if it meant selling your assets, going into debt, or turning down good job opportunities.

gotcha

what is 401k?? a pension plan or sumthin?

15

What is your ex-JW retirement plan?

by Mindchild in

jw
friends

i have been talking to a few people in chat recently about retirement strategies for ex-dubs.

it doesnt take a rocket scientist to realize that many people who exit the borg are really in a very poor situation in terms of their retirement prospects.

if it wasnt bad enough that there was always the pressure to avoid higher education and the corresponding quality jobs afforded by such, many dubs were just plain conned out of their resources by the borg in thinking that the end was just around the corner and you should pioneer, even if it meant selling your assets, going into debt, or turning down good job opportunities.

gotcha

just wonderin if any of you has thought of migrating to another country where the interest rates are high and where the value of your $ is more than what its worth?

21

If you need to earn more - State your Hobby here:

by Celtic in

jw
friends

you could be earning money from your hobby, from the very thing that you enjoy as a past time in life.

you may not be aware how to do so, but others here can assist you in showing ways forwards.

what have you got to lose by stating your hobby / interest here?.

gotcha

hey lb --- where do u dive? and how's the water there? do u do underwater photography?

38

why, what made you join JWs?

by tosko in

i would like some brief stories of people saying the reasons they joined jw organisation.

where you already in another church, were you disillusioned, were you biblically illiterate?

and if it is possible, please let me know where you come from, hoping you're not all from usa.

gotcha

mom was used to be a catholic (blind believer) always had nightmares and stuff...she felt like being bothered by evil spirits/demons...someone offered bs (bib study) she got into it, after than whenever she had nightmares just called on the name jehovah and everything went fine..
so obviously she got us into it, claims that jws are right coz she had been to other churches and evil spirits/demons do not stop bothering here until now...and of course everlasting life in paradise on earth did it..
i once believed that everything they said made sense..i still think that other teachings do make sense but hate how the system works..unfortunately i am still in..with no hopes of getting out...

17

Would you employ a witness?

by sleepy in

jw
friends

lets get all hypothetical.

lets imagine you are starting or have a business and you need an accountant.. one of your main concerns is their honesty.. you interview some potential employees.. they have very similar qualifications and experience.. the only difference is their religious beliefs.. person 1 is a catholic.. person 2 a moslem.. person 3 an atheist.. person 4 jehovah's witness.

(imagine you are not disfellowshiped so they wont shun you).

gotcha

dont have an answer for this right now...but in fairness to the jws..my mom has employed some good jws some not good....i think it depends on the person....my mom doesnt prefer jws over non-jws coz just think of having all jws...killer -- no one would work for you in times of assembly, meetings and all

66

Are Jehovah's Witnesses evil?

by SexyTeen in

jw
friends

i am shocked at the many accusations against jehovah's witnesses in this forum.. i know that i am young, but most of my family are jws and they are good people and i love them.

even my worldly family is very nice and i do not shun them.

the friends in the hall are very nice also.

gotcha

hey there sexyteen -- just wanted to ask..if ever armageddon comes do u think that mostly jws will survive and those who survive who are not jws are just exceptions? if u say it depends, if there's a good-hearted jw and a good-hearted catholic and both of em follow the rules and does good things sincerely who do u think has more chances of surviving?

126

adam & eve

by gotcha in

does anyone here take the creation story literally?

if yes, did u do ample research and think carefully but still believe in it?

if u don't think that the story should be taken as literal, what is your reading of it and do u still believe in the bible as the inspired word of god?...thanks in advance..

gotcha

i'm sorry i was just able to read some parts coz i find it too long but i just wanted to put my opinion regarding free will....i think that freedom is most achieved when we do the good because that is our orientation..it is when we do the good that we realize our true selves..it is where our hearts find peace..in doing good..and another thing...BAD is not created...because God made everything good..it is when someone/something does not live up to its expectation of its being good that it is called bad...let me put a part of the article i found good regarding evil...
"First of all, I suppose you will agree that there is no such thing as (sic) badness just as there is no such thing as redness. There are just bad things, as there are red things. You never get badness unless there is first of all something that exists that is bad, just as you never get redness unless there is first of all something to be red.
Now what exactly are we saying when we say that a thing is bad? Here we come immediately to a difference between badness and redness. For all red things share a property in common, the property of being red. If you know what it is like for an apple to be red then you more or less know what it is like for a pencil or a nose to be red.
But this won’t work with badness; if you know what it is like for a deckchair to be a deckchair you do not for that reason know what it is like for a grape to be a bad grape. A bad deckchair collapses when you sit down, but the fact that a grape collapses when you sit on it is not what would show it to be a bad grape.
We call something a bad deckchair when it doesn’t come up to our expectations for deckchairs, and we call something a bad grape when it doesn’t come up to our expectations for grapes. But they are different expectations. And similarly when we say that a thing is a good grape or a good deckchair we mean that they do come up to our respective expectations for grapes and deckchairs. Goodness, like badness, is different from redness in what it is like for one thing to be good isn’t the same as what it is like for another. The fact that wine can be made from good grapes has no tendency at all to suggest that wine can be made from good deckchairs."

another long post.

1

evil - mccabe

by gotcha in

jw
friends

at least in the western tradition nothing so affects our attitude to god as our recognition of evil and suffering.

the important factor in the modern bourgeois indifference to god has been cultivated exclusion of evil from our consciousness.

it is not long since english moral philosophers searching for an example of moral evil could only come up with promise-breaking; the liberal imagination shield away from real sin, just as a commercial advertising shies away from suffering.

gotcha

if anyone wants to have a copy of the article just email me at and i'll email u a copy...

1

evil - mccabe

by gotcha in

jw
friends

at least in the western tradition nothing so affects our attitude to god as our recognition of evil and suffering.

the important factor in the modern bourgeois indifference to god has been cultivated exclusion of evil from our consciousness.

it is not long since english moral philosophers searching for an example of moral evil could only come up with promise-breaking; the liberal imagination shield away from real sin, just as a commercial advertising shies away from suffering.

gotcha

At least in the Western tradition nothing so affects our attitude to God as our recognition of evil and suffering. The important factor in the modern bourgeois indifference to God has been cultivated exclusion of evil from our consciousness. It is not long since English moral philosophers searching for an example of moral evil could only come up with promise-breaking; the liberal imagination shield away from real sin, just as a commercial advertising shies away from suffering. It is a commonplace that prisons and hospitals are not only institutions for dealing with crime and sickness but also for hiding them.
If we break out this cosy world and face the real state of affairs we are liable to two apparently contrasting reactions. We may reject God as infantile, as unable to comprehend or have compassion on those who suffer and are made to suffer in his world On the other hand we may find, as Jon did, that it was our own view of God that was infantile, we may in fact come to a deeper understanding of the mystery of God. The first ‘atheist’ reaction may indeed be a part of the second.
It is not my purpose here to offer positive suggestions about the transition from an inadequate view of God, through, ‘atheism’, to a deeper understanding. I have set myself the minor task of removing one impediment on the way. We will not pass through this transition successfully if we let ourselves be trapped in the philosopher’s problem of evil.
As it seems to me there is the problem or mystery of evil which is a dark entry into mystery of God. Not to be aware of this, not to be confounded and overthrown by it is not yet to have recognized God’s love. But there is also a philosophical muddle about God and evil, and there is no reason at all to be confounded or overthrown by this.
This paper is not, then, intended as some kind of anodyne for those who are facing the mystery of evil – whether they express their understanding in the form of ‘atheism’ or of a deeper awareness of mystery. It is a philosophical reply to philosophers who seek to show that the reality of evil proves that the ultimate source of meaning of the universe cannot be unconditional compassion and love.
** *
I appear then as though in a lawcourt as counsel for the defence of God against his philosophical accusers. I seek to do no more than to answer their arguments.
The prisoner stands accused of wreaking all kinds of murder and mayhem, of running a world full of misery and malice. Evidence for the crimes lies all around us, and the question is whether God is really responsible, whether he should be judged guilty and perhaps whether he should get off on a plea of diminished responsibility due to unsound mind or natural ignorance.
May I say at once that I shall be falling back on that sound principle of English law that God is innocent until he is proved guilty. It is not my job to prove that God is innocent; I am not going to explain how and why his activities have been good. I am simply going to refute the charges brought against him. I shall be dealing, in fact, with what his accusers have said about him.
At the end of this hearing I hope you will agree that God has not been proved guilty, but I expect you will be as puzzled as I am about his innocence. In other words I hope it will remain a mystery to you why God has done what he has done; but you will at least agree that what he has done does not prove his guilt.
First of all, what is the charge? The world is full of suffering and sin; God committed this world; he openly admits to having done so. Nobody else interfered, there is no one else to take the blame from him. You might imagine a defence on the lines that the poor fellow couldn’t help it, he’s only a God after all. But this cannot be my defence for I hold that he is omnipotent and can do anything he likes that you could mention. (The only reason why you would have to say that he can’t make square circles is that you can’t mention them; the words cancel each other out so that you haven’t named anything.)