Posts by easyreader1970

32

What would keep you in?

by DisconnectingDrone in

jw
friends

for those still "in" but looking for an exit, what changes to current practices/teaching would make you decide to stay "in" ?

There was a time when I thought that some doctrinal changes might be enough to make me not mind being a JW. I thought that maybe the blood doctrine could be effectively done away with, the abuse of the idea of college education, labeling people who don't participate as much in activities, etc.

But that was when I still believed in religion and I still believed in a personal deity.

Over the past couple years I have come to the conclusion that there isn't a god that is involved in anything that is happening on this earth right now. I'm not outrightly denying the existence of a "superior" being. They could have been space aliens that seeded the earth fifty-thousand years ago for all I know.

I think that religion now is a total waste of time and mental energy. It is the cause of much of the evil that goes on in the world. That last bit may be less important. I am pretty much convinced that people will be violently disagreeable regardless of the issue. But religion makes things easy because you can claim that you are only doing with your deity told you to do.

er

41

How Many Here Still Attend Meetings Sometimes?

by shamus100 in

jw
friends

?

if so, how often.. do you still attend the memorial?.

i never go, ever, and haven't been to a memorial in about 6 years (been too long to accurately remember) - i'm too far gone.

easyreader1970

I still regularly attend the mind control sessions. Once you have a family inside the Organization, it then becomes sort of like the Mafia. They make it very difficult for you to leave without burning everything down on your way out.

er

25

the sons of god began to notice....

by lilyflor in

nwt gen 6: 2. then the sons of the [true] god began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves namely, all whom they choose.. where did these angels get their sexual urges from?.

easyreader1970

The OT takes every opportunity to depict women as sexual objects and not much more. This is yet another example.

Why are they "sons of God" to start with? If they are truly genderless, why wouldn't they also be interested in a buff, young twenty year old whose muscles are rippling and whose manhood can be seen from the highest mountain? Why did they only sex up the women?

And were the offspring of the fallen angels and human females only males? Why no females? Or were there females but they weren't discussed because of the severe gender bias?

Is it possible that the angels did/do have genders and only chunks of the male population revolted while all of the female angels stayed in heaven because human men just weren't very sexy (all that messy facial hair)?

er

70

Can being gay live in harmony with being a christian?

by digderidoo in

jw
friends

i have looked at the thread about gay marriages in california and thought about asking this question there, but instead of hi-jacking that one i thought i would ask it here.

there seems to be quite a few gay people on this site and i wonder how many class themselves as christian?

if so, can being gay live in harmony with being a christian?.

easyreader1970

The problem is this: Humans have a sin scale, in the bible God does not.

Humans have somehow determined that homosexuality is worse than heterosexual fornication. There are other sins as well that people will "rank." Society still feels that homosexuality is a higher ranked sin than many other more acceptable ones. For instance, alcoholism or gluttony would probably rank pretty low on most people's sin scales. Even adultery is often overlooked. But for some reason people stuck homosexuality at the top of the list, right up there with murder. Profanity and blaspheming speech is definitely way at the bottom of the list.

Either Christ makes a way for sinners or he does not. If he does, then that should apply to all sins. If he doesn't then homosexuals be rejected along with every other human on the face of the earth.

er

36

What should I do with all of these books?

by Confession in

jw
friends

while growing up, my dad maintained a rather huge wts library.

i liked the idea of being able to pick out one of those old books from the1940s or earlier and read what they were saying back then.

well for the first time, in september of 2006 at the age of 40, i finally became a home-owner.

easyreader1970

But I came upon one large and one medium-sized box of WTS books, and I don't know what to do with them.

That's like finding boxes of volatile explosives. You should destroy them before some unsuspecting child stumbles across them and he ends up not going to college and working at the drive thru for the rest of his life.

er

46

Do you think the Society has spies on sites like this?

by easyreader1970 in

jw
friends

not that any of them would post, but do you think that they have people who they secretly have visit anti-jw sites and forums like this just for the purpose of seeing what people are saying about them and what their current members might stumble upon?.

if you google jws, the first couple are official, the next two are wikis, then you have an anti-jw site and then there's this one.

any current or potential member that is looking for more information than is published by the wbts will be directed to these sites.

easyreader1970

Not that any of them would post, but do you think that they have people who they secretly have visit anti-JW sites and forums like this just for the purpose of seeing what people are saying about them and what their current members might stumble upon?

If you google JWs, the first couple are official, the next two are wikis, then you have an anti-JW site and then there's this one. Any current or potential member that is looking for more information than is published by the WBTS will be directed to these sites.

Do you think they have tried to have these sites removed?

er

3

The vacuum cleaner is going to explode!

by easyreader1970 in

jw
friends

the first actual chore i can actually remember being given was to vacuum the living room.

this task was given to me by my mother.

sometimes while vacuuming i might get distracted or maybe just have to go pee.

easyreader1970

The first actual chore I can actually remember being given was to vacuum the living room. This task was given to me by my mother. I think I was six or seven. Sometimes while vacuuming I might get distracted or maybe just have to go pee. I would leave the vacuum on. My mother would always scream, "You can't leave the vacuum running in one spot! I will explode! Turn it off!" I was probably eleven years old before I realized that this simply was not true. Not because no mother would give their child an appliance that was likely to detonate, but because it just didn't seem possible. Still, thirty years and several vacuum cleaners later, I still turn the vacuum off if I am going to be away from it more than ten seconds. It's not because I'm saving electricity or because I hate the noise. It's because somewhere in the back of my mind, I can hear my mother's voice. "It's going to explode!" Sometimes I feel that was about the Watchtower. There are some things that they teach that I no longer believe. Still, I can hear that tiny "faithful and discreet slave" voice in the back of my mind about various things. It nags and pesters me, even though I don't believe in the Watchtower anymore and am about a fly's length away from not believing in God anymore. er

18

Are They Really Going Mainstream?

by WTWizard in

i have seen a number of threads lately that suggest the washtowel slaveholdery is making moves toward going mainstream.

notice a few examples.

the stand on people that are incorrigible being the only ones that are going to die at armageddon is one cited fact that people are pointing to.

easyreader1970

"Many of the changes reflect a desire to make it easier for those in the leadership roles ."

I agree with that, but making it easier for current elders will not make it easier for more to join. The elder ranks are dwindling and not just because current elders are overwhelmed with responsibility. They are aging, tired, and in some cases dying. They are not being replaced by younger servants and elders. This is evident in many places and I think the problem is going to get worse. It's been observed by "secular" sources and the Society itself that young people are not sticking around. They are hitting the 18-21 stage and discovering that the Society is full of crap. This is the main reason they don't want kids in college. That tactic is not going to work this time around, though. There is not going to be another entire generation of JWs that are crippled because of not going to college. I don't have a crystal ball to help me make that prediction; people are just smarter than they used to be when it comes to this sort of thing.

That is why I put the time limit at about 15-20 years. That is when it will be very clear that there are just not enough elders anymore. If they do not go on a mission to quickly gain new members that can lead the congregations, there will be a problem. Believe me now or believe me later.

er

18

Are They Really Going Mainstream?

by WTWizard in

i have seen a number of threads lately that suggest the washtowel slaveholdery is making moves toward going mainstream.

notice a few examples.

the stand on people that are incorrigible being the only ones that are going to die at armageddon is one cited fact that people are pointing to.

easyreader1970

I think that they are loosening the reins a little. They are having a tremendous problem keeping people, young people especially, in the Truth. Their only chance is to make it easier for Worldly people to join up. That is, they will make it less burdensome for newcomers to the organization. I think they are not going 100% mainstream, but I think you will see them alter some of their doctrines over the next 15 years. The people who "would never stand for it" are primarily old schoolers who will soon be dead or too old to matter anyway. It is their only chance for survival. On its current course, without modification, I doubt that the Society could last as a major force more than another 20 years.

er

193

One Reason Why I Worship the God of the Bible

by snowbird in

while this may be construed as a rebuttal to nvr's thread re: why i post about atheism, that is not my intent.. it is my intent, however, to show how i developed a belief in and love for the god of the bible.. my paternal grandfather, who died before i was born, was a baptist preacher, so you could say i cut my teeth on the bible.

i loved having it read to me, and once i learned how, reading it for myself.

i'm convinced that spirituality runs deep in my blood.. i've always had such a strong sense of right and wrong that injustices make me literally sick.

easyreader1970

A Christian will always say that injustices by God cannot exist. God is just and therefore everything he does is just. The fact that imperfect humans don't agree with Yahweh has nothing to do with it. I generally try to avoid biting on the "name some injustices carried out by God" question because it's not a winnable argument. Not only can God choose to do what he wants to and still be just, but he can also be wishy-washy. He is God. It is his right to do so. How can we as mere humans (and sinful ones at that) question him?

At the same time, though, God--assuming he exists--can't seriously expect all humans to just accept at face value everything that is in the Bible or any other religious text. The brains that he gave us are going to demand that we question things that do not make sense. And I don't care what Jewish or Hebrew religion you belong to, it is undeniable that from a human standpoint, there are many things in the Bible that do not make sense.

Why did the Yahweh deity never hesitate to show who was boss, often cruelly striking down thousands? As mentioned in another of my topics, once he cause 42 children to be mauled because they badmouthed on of his priests. Yet Jesus always scolded his apostles whenever they reacted in a way that suggested that enemies of Christ should be dealt with.

This is why the Bible seems contrived and outdated. Three thousand years ago it was acceptable to kill people for what we might call minor offenses, regardless of the deity worshipped. In some places that we would call backwards or undeveloped now, some of these beatings and killings continue and the communities feel they are justified.