Posts by passwordprotected

50

TMZ has a photo of Paris and her brother at the kingdom hall Tues night!!!

by Pandoras cat11 in

jw
friends

i know, i know, more michael jackson news.

this for some reason has got me ticked off.

if you go to the tmz website you will see a photo of paris and her brother holding the "sing praises to jehovah" songbook.

passwordprotected

The current view is that while God looks at the heart, man looks at the outward appearance, so that needs to be taken into account so that the right impression is reached by the audience being addressed.

The current view? What does that mean? God's current view? Jesus' current view?

When Jesus ate with sinners, who's view was important then? The view of the Pharisees to whom outward appearance was important (and remember, Jesus called them whitewashed graves, ie. it's what's inside that counts)?

If our interest is in pleasing men or in looking good before men then yes, wearing a business suit when we worship God would be very important.

A couple of verses to consider;

Matt 4: 18 Walking alongside the sea of Gal´i·lee he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, letting down a fishing net into the sea, for they were fishers. 19 And he said to them: “Come after me, and I will make YOU fishers of men.”

- Did Jesus expect these guys to go off and get changed, bring their appearance up to a certain standard that would be socially acceptable to onlookers?

Isaiah 55: 1 Hey there, all YOU thirsty ones! Come to the water. And the ones that have no money! Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk even without money and without price.

- The invitation is to come. There's no caveat that first you'd have to dress or groom according to a certain standard.

It seems you're happy to concede that Jesus doesn't judge from outward appearances. Shouldn't that be enough for us? Why add to that truth by stating that, actually, it's how we look to outsiders that matters. If it doesn't matter to Jesus......

47

What Works Best on Exposing JW's? All of the above....

by AllTimeJeff in

there are some days when i log in here and because of my own views on governing body dogma (which is, its a big smelly stinky wet pile of shit), i find myself writing essays about subjects concerning how nutty their doctrines really are, how weak they are.

so i do these expose's and at the end of it, i feel better, because i know, (i know!

) that the governing body are cynical liars, and that their doctrine is total crap.. i know this is good for those who actually care enough to take up the gb on its offer to "study the deeper things", might question what they find, and want some other info... thats how it started with me.... lately however..... this other way, where you simply mock jw's.... when i first came here, i was pretty sensitive to that.

passwordprotected

That, passwordprotected, is in case of the New Covenant, of which the great crowd of other sheep also benefit. As Narkissos (Post 9457) has just aptly shown on the relevant Topic [http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/178760/7/How-many-of-you-knew-about-theJesus-is-not-your-Mediator-teaching-when-you-were-JWs] that Jesus is the mediator for both the little flock and the great crowd with respect to prayer. Here I am exemplifying how best to expose that JWs know things better than what is otherwise portrayed. They worship according to accurate spirit and truth. At least the real ones do. Thanks for this opportunity to expose some of JWs' strong points.

So what you're saying is that if a sincere person read 1 Timothy 2 and came to the conclusion that Jesus is the mediator and ransom for all men, he'd actually be wrong and would in fact have to believe the teachings of the Governing Body (or Narkissos??) in order to be in in truth? Paul said that the testimony of Christ as mediator and ransom was why he was appointed an apostle, so obviously it was a big deal to him.

47

WTS causing more anguish

by GapingMouth in

i don't really know where to start on my first post; i feel i have so much to say and yet i am so emotionally tired that it is hard to go through it all again in my head.

but, i do need support and advice and so i will make the effort.. i started having doubts about certain beliefs of the witnesses about 2 years ago and did research since that i now come to the belief there is no god, and witnesses definitely are a cult.. at first it bothered me more on the god issue, but now i am more bothered by the cult issue, mainly because it dictates my life even though i am aware of it.. when i was a child, my mother and father divorced and my mother told me i will live with my father because she was going to die at armageddon being a non witness.

i think, as well as many other pressures i cant list for fear of a very long post, this was the main pressure that made me get baptized even though i wasn't that happy being a witness.

passwordprotected

My research on whether there is a God or not was not limited to one book, Passwordprotected, although I appreciate the advice. It was many things that convinced me, and the creationist argument played just a part in it. As I said, I am more concerned about the Governing Body dictating.

I agree that the Governing Body are hugely disturbing!

47

WTS causing more anguish

by GapingMouth in

i don't really know where to start on my first post; i feel i have so much to say and yet i am so emotionally tired that it is hard to go through it all again in my head.

but, i do need support and advice and so i will make the effort.. i started having doubts about certain beliefs of the witnesses about 2 years ago and did research since that i now come to the belief there is no god, and witnesses definitely are a cult.. at first it bothered me more on the god issue, but now i am more bothered by the cult issue, mainly because it dictates my life even though i am aware of it.. when i was a child, my mother and father divorced and my mother told me i will live with my father because she was going to die at armageddon being a non witness.

i think, as well as many other pressures i cant list for fear of a very long post, this was the main pressure that made me get baptized even though i wasn't that happy being a witness.

passwordprotected

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing pain. Many of us are familiar with that pain and I hope you're able to work through it, talk about it and hopefully find some relief.

I'm concerned, though, that you've let the God Delusion talk you into no longer believing in God. I wonder if you've researched Dawkins and checked the references in his book?

My eyebrows were raised when I found out that Prospect magazine ran a survey in 2005 which bore the result that Dawkins was one of the world's top 3 intellectuals. When the God Delusion came out, Prospect magazine reviewed it. The title of the review was "Dawkins the dogmatist" and the reviewer labelled the book - and Dawkin's arguments - as "incurious, dogmatic, rambling and self-contradictory".

Dawkins has been inspired by a guy called Antony Flew, who's regarded as one of the fathers of "modern atheism". Flew decided in 2004 that by following the lines of evidence (as a scientist should) he now believes that there is a God. He's written a book about this change in belief called "There is a God".

Sadly, often a JW would rather a person become an atheist than no longer believe in the Governing Body, but I'm pointing these things out to you as I don't think Dawkins is as transparently honest about the facts as people believe he is. And let's face it, the purpose of the God Delusion, as he admits, is to turn religious people into atheists.

I wish you well.

22

I would like to know if you have succeeded in helping your friends or family SLOW DOWN in their zeal as a JW

by BonaFide in

i have read thousands of posts on this forum, and i am finding with all your experiences that however hard we try, it's difficult to actually get a family member or friend to disassociate themselves.

after all, some of us are still "active jw's", right?.

but, i have been noticing that some seem to have accomplished enough with questions and comments that at least their family members or friends are less active as jw's.

passwordprotected

My family don't talk to me about anything relating to the WTS these days (we decided on a truce a couple of months ago). However, that doesn't stop us hearing things on the grapevine, or being aware of their level of WTS activity.

I'd say that on both sides of my family (by that I include my in-laws) there's been a degree of tailing off in the past 6 months.

47

What Works Best on Exposing JW's? All of the above....

by AllTimeJeff in

there are some days when i log in here and because of my own views on governing body dogma (which is, its a big smelly stinky wet pile of shit), i find myself writing essays about subjects concerning how nutty their doctrines really are, how weak they are.

so i do these expose's and at the end of it, i feel better, because i know, (i know!

) that the governing body are cynical liars, and that their doctrine is total crap.. i know this is good for those who actually care enough to take up the gb on its offer to "study the deeper things", might question what they find, and want some other info... thats how it started with me.... lately however..... this other way, where you simply mock jw's.... when i first came here, i was pretty sensitive to that.

passwordprotected

Witchcraft is another topic entirely, I suggest. The scriptures (as pointed out at Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17, etc.) are great for exposing motives, regardless of whether one is labeled JW or DF'd or anything else. A holy disposition is very good as a "sniffer dog" to determine whether the goods are "suspicious", or benign.

So what happens when you "sniff" out the WTS teaching that Jesus is the mediator only for the 144,000? (Sorry, this is off topic.)

47

What Works Best on Exposing JW's? All of the above....

by AllTimeJeff in

there are some days when i log in here and because of my own views on governing body dogma (which is, its a big smelly stinky wet pile of shit), i find myself writing essays about subjects concerning how nutty their doctrines really are, how weak they are.

so i do these expose's and at the end of it, i feel better, because i know, (i know!

) that the governing body are cynical liars, and that their doctrine is total crap.. i know this is good for those who actually care enough to take up the gb on its offer to "study the deeper things", might question what they find, and want some other info... thats how it started with me.... lately however..... this other way, where you simply mock jw's.... when i first came here, i was pretty sensitive to that.

passwordprotected

"Whether people deny it or not these sites do promote hatred and mocking of witnesses or pro-witnesses and what is our crime? Only that we believe what you do not anymore, so why does this make us worthy of mockery and hate?"

Again with the two extremes; it's either support and promote the Watch Tower Society or mock and hate?

When you ask "what is our crime" does that mean you're now known as a JW again? I only ask because previously you'd stated that you were only thinking about going back? Or do you mean you're classing yourself as pro-witness, meaning that you don't go to the meetings but you believe what the Governing Body teaches?

Sorry, personal questions.

I don't think there's any crime being committed. However, as has been pointed out to you many times before, you're on a forum which is predominantly exJW. That means you're among people who have chosen to leave off following the Governing Body. Quite often taking such a course results in enormous emotional pain, usually through realising that the Governing Body are false prophets and that you've devoted your life to a high control, false religious group. People who are experiencing such pain, oftentime coupled with being shunned by their closest loved ones (at the behest of the Governing Body), don't take too kindly when someone vociferously defends the Governing Body. Quite often this is expressed in mockery and hate. But I believe that's completely understandable.

Btw, you're up really early. Was the little one not sleeping too well?

Personal question.

50

TMZ has a photo of Paris and her brother at the kingdom hall Tues night!!!

by Pandoras cat11 in

jw
friends

i know, i know, more michael jackson news.

this for some reason has got me ticked off.

if you go to the tmz website you will see a photo of paris and her brother holding the "sing praises to jehovah" songbook.

passwordprotected

I felt the Jackson kids were dressed a little sloppily for Kingdom Hall attendance. Obviously they'll be cut some slack because they're new and their dad just died, however, by Christmas they'll have been taken aside by a friendly, elderly elder (sorry for the tautology) and told that they need to smarten up. Oh, and cut the hair.

As for what we wear playing any sort of role in our worship....well, it only plays a role if what other people think of us matters when we worship God. Making it about us/how we look/what others think about how we look actually negates the whole point of worship. Think about it...

Plus isn't there a scripture about how Jesus doesn't judge on outward appearance?

11

Just found out I'm pregnant

by Cass in

jw
friends

just found out i'm pregnant about a month in.

i've been "fading" for about 2 years now and had everything nearly exactly how i wanted.

i'm still able to keep in contact with all my family just as long as the never found out about the boyfriend and the plan to never go back.

passwordprotected

If the only reason to abort is to avoid being shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses (those of the ever-changing doctrines and standards)......

5

Which one to read daily or at all....Watchtower or Bible???

by oompa in

jw
friends

inpired by another thread.....funny, but most dubs would quickly say "the bible"......and maybe even mention the brooklyn sign that says "read gods word the bible daily"......yet why?.

dubs teach that there is no way to understand the bible, unless wt through is faithful and discreet slave "class" (and that is one class i would like to see graduate already)........ they would point to: (acts 8:29-31) .

" 30 philip ran alongside and heard him reading aloud isaiah the prophet, and he said: "do you actually know what you are reading?

passwordprotected

I read the Bible every day. I don't usually have time to read entire chapters, but I always look at the Bible.

I do, however, listen to the Daily Audio Bible via podcast. I started listening daily to it in May, so by next May I'll have "read" the whole Bible in a year.

I think it's important to read the Bible through the lens of Jesus, rather than through the lens of Watch Tower teachings.