Posts by leavingwt

i've just finished reading coc and it's truely a thought provoking book that's given me much to think about.. one thing that has struck me is the way rf was disfellowshipped and how he tried to reason with the elders on the jc.

a key point of reasoning was that how the elders could define the disassocated one he ate with as "the antichrist" or one practicing the things described in 1 cor 9. apparently the elders either remain silent on the matter or said it was not for them to judge.. i thought the reasoning was really sound but i have been doing some checking on the definition of apostacy and the antichrist according to the society and it seems pretty clear to me that anyone guilt of apostacy becomes part of the antichrist.

characteristics of apostacy as defined in the it-1 book are described as follows:.

leavingwt

Reasoning with the elders = a fool's errand

25

How do you work through the Anger

by jworld in

how do you deal with the anger when your parents stop talking to you?

my partner says i should continue to confront them but it builds so much anger in me and i sometimes i think i should just let it go and bring balance back to my own life.

it's sort of sureal to mourn your parents while they are still alive.

leavingwt

Not allowing yourself to be emotionally abused is not the same as cutting your parents off. You're can cut them off in the sense that they are presently incapable of having a healthy, mature relationship with their child. The blame is all theirs. Ending a toxic relationship is sometimes necessary.

You can still have a measure of hope, while you take steps to prevent any further emotional abuse.

Unless you are taking positive steps to have meaninful interactions with them, using Hassan's techniques (or some other method), you can expect them to go to their graves being JWs. The natural course of events is for them to retain their JW beliefs and worldview.

43

think i'm becoming an atheist

by rather be in hades in

jw
friends

i was just thinking about how often i prayed when i was going downhill.. now i subscribed wholeheartedly to the 'don't pray for bullshit requests' concept, so at first i rarely prayed.. starting around middle school, 9/10 i prayed for friends.

didn't really pray to stop the teasing, my fists did some of that and besides...racism isn't/wasn't jehovah's fault anyway and i can't pray for that to end when he allowed the witnesses to suffer in ww2.. through high school, same issue and then when i started pioneering and hanging out with some of the other witnesses, those prayers prayers for friends intensified cuz they were asses.. but they were dominated by the prayers to love god starting around 15. i didn't want to read the magazines, despite how much i love reading.

didn't want to stdy the lessons, didn't want to plan my presentations, though i did enjoy giving the talks and crafting them.

leavingwt

You may enjoy this essay.

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/ingag.htm

9

FACTS can be very pesky things. What side do you come down on?

by Terry in

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leavingwt

Terry, where else could JWs go? All other religions are false.

In other words, details of doctrine/history are of no concern. It's a matter of authority. In the JW mind, only 'The Society' speaks with authority. This authority comes from God.

Everything else is of no concern, including the facts.

7

If God Doesn't Interfere with Free Will, Why Pray for Others?

by leavingwt in

jw
friends

john w. loftus asks the question in this post at his blog.. .

when terrible things happen, god is hidden in a way that make him seem non-existent.. .

so, why pray for someone to be saved, or to travel safe, etc, etc?.

leavingwt

One of the comments at the post, put forth some common excuses to the question.

1. God made man and then left him to his own devices to make mistakes, do bad things etc.
2. The "potter and the pot" argument. God like the potter makes the pot and like the potter if he doesn't like his work he has a right to destroy it. (Catholics seem to like to use this one)
3. God made the universe and then left it alone (the absentee landlord God)
4. It wasn't God, it was Satan who did the bad stuff, and God seems to not have the power to do anything to prevent/counteract what Satan does.