i heard from a very reliable first hand source that an elder in a nearby congregation was talking about my views of the organization.
so, i called him.................................................................................................. me: hello m. this is xelder, i heard that you had a conversation with h. the other day.
any idea why i might be calling you concerned about what was said?.
Listen to this audio recording of a JW challenging an elder for slandering him.
http://deathorobedience.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/podcast-8-showdown-at-kingdom-hall.html
Within a few months the JW had been disfellowshipped.
Yeah, the elders tend to come after you...
on page 28 of the "who are doing the watchtower's will today" brochure they outline their website, and how great and grand it is.
then down in the lower right corner they print this:.
a note of caution:.
I remember as a JW having the sort of naivety that permitted me such arrogance; you really believed that people should listen to you and do what you said because you had "the truth".
What a fanny.
my wife and i were chatting about this last night.
having left the jws, we quickly became heavily involved in a born-again christian church, and the culture associated with it.. i've completely jettisoned any faith in supernatural god beings, and we were chatting about how intense christians are about god and how much they expect their version of the sun god to do in their lives.. however, as witnesses, you always had a fairly low expectation of jehovah, right?
you never really expected him to "show up" and help you, did you?.
My wife and I were chatting about this last night. Having left the JWs, we quickly became heavily involved in a born-again Christian church, and the culture associated with it.
I've completely jettisoned any faith in supernatural god beings, and we were chatting about how intense Christians are about god and how much they expect their version of the sun god to do in their lives.
However, as Witnesses, you always had a fairly low expectation of Jehovah, right? You never really expected him to "show up" and help you, did you?
Is that because the Christian faith experience is based on direct contact with their god figure, whereas Witnesses have this wonderfully human, error-prone and egotistical priest class that mediates for them?
life come from the living, and this is a universe of life.
his teachings are truth.
which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).
I'm not going to read all 12 pages of comments on Tec's OP.
However, I would like to chime in.
I was raised JW by JW parents, of which my mother was raised by JW parents. I served the organisation faithfully for 36 years before waking up in 2008, and swiftly exiting.
Upon exit from the Watchtower, I "found" Christianity. It was comforting. It "made sense". My wife and I quickly found ourselves attending a church and being as intensley involved in it as we'd been with the Watchtower society.
However, 3 years after that, I now identify myself as an atheist.
You see, Tec's reasonable list of subjective evidence "for God" is just that; subjective. And as a result, not evidence for anything other than Tec's belief that there is a god.
OnTheWayOut is right; any evidence posited to "prove" that there is a god is merely confirmation bias.
Tec - like I once did - wants to believe there was this all powerful, sovereign being who created the universe and has a "plan and a purpose" for his/her life, and that this God was best represented in a man, his son, Jesus Christ.
Now that I don't believe in any god or supreme beings, I realise that the evidence I used to convince myself of a god's existence was subjective and was merely confirmation bias.
Add anything you want to that list and I guarantee you - having once been an ardent believer - it won't prove there's a god.
However, anyone can choose to believe in God, and use whatever evidence they so choose to shore up that belief and faith. But that evidence will always be subjective and will always be biased towards confirming that belief.
On a personal note, since jettisoning belief in gods, I have never been more calm, at peace, contented, happy and at ease before in my life. I highly recommend it.
we have to love the thinking of the governing body.. someone t-shirts and shorts imply that their wearer is undignified.
would you agree?
[blog article on this subject].
We have to love the thinking of the Governing Body.
Someone t-shirts and shorts imply that their wearer is undignified.
Would you agree? [blog article on this subject]
T-shirts and shorts don’t imply a lack of dignity any more than suits and ties imply the presence of it. Think it through. The bankers who are accused of raping the world’s economy wear suits and ties every day. How much dignity do we suspect they possess? Conversely, life guards wear a uniform of t-shirts and shorts. Are we to believe that their uniform implies a lack of dignity? Sorry, but the Governing Body’s reasoning doesn’t add up. - read the full article here.
The Governing Body has sold Jehovah’s Witnesses on the idea that how you dress and act is more important than what you believe.
Or, perhaps more specifically, what you believe about how you dress and act is more important than what the Governing Body teaches about “truth”.
You see, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has, for example, convinced around 7 million people that the word “generation” evidently means something different from what it actually means, thereby rendering language useless.
So, in order to make up for this massive pink elephant pooping all over the room, the Witnesses have to be distracted.
Forget how illogical the teaching on “the generation” actually is. Forget how ridiculous “Judge” Rutherford’s claims about 1925 were. Forget what the Governing Body actually said about 1975. Forget the ever-changing policies on blood fractions. Forget the lives that have been squandered or lost through blindly obeying the men from Brooklyn.
In reality, if you really have – and represent – absolute religious and spiritual truth, if Godtruly is using you to spread his saving message throughout humanity, you should be able to dress in sackcloth and it won’t matter; the quality and trustworthiness of your message will always – always – shine through.
anyone got any idea what's going on with the wtbts legal department these days?.
witnesses are now told to leave the territory if told by a law enforcement office to do so.. how does this square with harold king?.
and can someone remind me of the name of the woman (in china?
Anyone got any idea what's going on with the WTBTS legal department these days?
Witnesses are now told to leave the territory if told by a law enforcement office to do so.
How does this square with Harold King?
And can someone remind me of the name of the woman (in China?) who was repeatedly jailed for refusing to stop preaching?
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The American constitution is dealing with all citizens, isn't it? We're talking about Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Watch Tower Society is an American corporation.
The people on this thread who are advocating the carrying of fire arms are American.
American citizens are brainwashed into believing their nation is always right, and their constitution - under which they live - asserts their right to bear arms. Therefore, American Jehovah's Witnesses, regardles of whatever religious creeds they hold to, are utterly susceptible to the idea that, while claiming to be pacificts, walking around with a gun is absolutely acceptable.
And as can be seen by Marvin's comments, there's no point in trying to disagree with them. They're American, after all.
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@Charikio - I'm with you on this one. But then I need to remember the American pre-occupation with violence. And that fact that Americans are always right*.
*typically the "constituion" is cited as evidence to support their "rightness".
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Wow, Marvin, can't believe how much a patronising douche you've been in this thread.
