I'm not a witness, but I got tangled up with them when I asked a friend of mine (who is a Witness) what they believed as I am not the type of person to rant on someone else's religion when I don't even know the facts. This led to a Bible study. I didn't get hooked, but during a study, one lady said that she and her husband became Witnesses (she was unaffiliated, he was Baptist) when he heard that Witnesses didn't really believe in hell and "Why would a loving God torture a person for eternity with hellfire for only about seventy short years of making mistakes." They were sold. FadingAway, I'm like you-- a loner. But the love bombing at the KH and at a convention didn't work. If anything, it's irritating. Hell, anytime you show up at most churches for the first time, people are always schmoozing. Love-fests are definitely NOT a selling point with me.
almostbitten
JoinedPosts by almostbitten
-
39
If you weren't born in, how did you get in?
by ecuador ini am not a jw, but know several, and i am curious as to why adults get involved with the jws.
any one have an answer from personal experience?
-
-
-
28
I have a wierd take on praying, what about you?...
by Hecklerboy ineverytime i talk to someone about praying they say that they pray all the time.
talk to god whenever they can.
well i'm just the opposite.
-
-
almostbitten
I'm somewhere between NanaR and Heckler. I've always believed in God, even when those who called themselves His representatives were mucking things up. I felt that was people's fault, not His. Anyway, I look to God for the basics I need to get through life--strength, endurance, patience, perserverance, wisdom. And I look to Him to provide for my everyday needs, not necessarily my wants. In the scheme of it all, I cannot complain. As far as prayer, what works for me is SINCERE, heartfelt contact with Him--for the big things and the little details, which surprisingly, I have more trouble with. Nothing's too small for Him, considering that everything IS small compared to Him anyway (I read that somewhere). I do believe that constant prayer can sometimes become rote, mechanical--like brushing one's teeth. Do YOU get excited about brushing your teeth? I don't. [Pauses to remove dentures to put in glass of water and Polident]. What's more, God wants us to be thankful. That doesn't mean we have to gush and go over-the-top. People want that, not God. He's satisfied with a simple "thankyou," because He knows we could never repay Him--He who has everything and is the Creator of all. The main point is this: whether you pray sixteen times a day, or once in a blue moon, God is an appreciator of SINCERITY and HUMILITY. He's here for us and wants us to lean on Him. Don't let anyone make you feel insignificant concerning that. Take care.
-
28
I have a wierd take on praying, what about you?...
by Hecklerboy ineverytime i talk to someone about praying they say that they pray all the time.
talk to god whenever they can.
well i'm just the opposite.
-
-
almostbitten
I'm somewhere between NanaR and Heckler. I've always believed in God, even when those who called themselves His representatives were mucking things up. I felt that was people's fault, not His. Anyway, I look to God for the basics I need to get through life--strength, endurance, patience, perserverance, wisdom. And I look to Him to provide for my everyday needs, not necessarily my wants. In the scheme of it all, I cannot complain. As far as prayer, what works for me is SINCERE, heartfelt contact with Him--for the big things and the little details, which surprisingly, I have more trouble with. Nothing's too small for Him, considering that everything is small compared to Him anyway (I read that somewhere). I do believe that constant prayer can sometimes become rote, mechanical--like brushing one's teeth. Do YOU get excited about brushing your teeth? I don't. [Pauses to remove dentures to put in glass of water and Polident]. What's more, God wants us to be thankful. That doesn't mean we have to gush and go over-the-top. People want that, not God. He's satisfied with a simple "thankyou," because He knows we could never repay Him--He who has everything and is the Creator of all. The main point is this: whether you pray sixteen times a day, or once in a blue moon, God is an appreciator of SINCERITY and HUMILITY. He's here for us and wants us to lean on Him. Don't let anyone make you feel insignificant concerning that. Take care.
-
16
The term "Jehovah God"
by kzjw ini'm having trouble with it...i accept that god has many different names, yaweh, allah, jehovah, etc.
imho, it doesn't matter what you call him as long as you him!
but what's up with "jehovah god" as i hear the term used in talks by certain elders.
-
-
almostbitten
I know this is a little off the topic, but my Witness teacher always seemed a little exasperated when I didn't refer to God as Jehovah (in fact, I preferred Yahweh). I agree with chappy. For me, it is a respect thing. I never call my parents by their first name, so I don't do it with Him. He is first and foremost, my Heavenly Father.
-
4
Jehovah's Witnesses under consideration as "extremeists" in Russia
by done4good inhttp://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1159
-
-
almostbitten
Hmmm. I know why the Russians really don't like JWs. It's all the Classes they have--you know, the Annointed Class, the Jonadab Class, etc. Russians have had their fill of this Class $hit! Remember the Bolsheviks? ;-)
-
76
What JW teaching did you find hardest to defend??
by karter infor me it was that god is killing billions of people just to prove a point.
what about you?
-
-
almostbitten
I would find it hard to get too deep with someone about the stake vs. the cross. My JW teacher brought this up and once she realized I wasn't buying it, she referred me to an article about some research some dude did that stated that there was no evidence that Jesus was hung on a cross, blah blah blah. I got irritated and overloudly stated that it didn't matter if it was an upright post or a cross-beam--he DIED on a tree for you and me--not concrete, not particle board, not during a drive-by shooting. Stunned, she then used the "the cross had pagan origins." Again, who cares! The Romans were themselves pagans, inventing new and unusual ways of tormenting prisoners. To me, this is just yet another way JWs try to separate and distinguish themselves by others by nitpicking over stupid trivial stuff that has no bearing on salvation.
-
27
post - df experience
by Solace1998 init was a shock to many when i was df'ed -- .
but i found afterwards, many did not want to obey the arrangement... one sister cornered me at a local supermarket, and made sure everything was okay with me, and if i ever needed someone to talk to, that she and her hubby were available... .
there is more to this, but another sister i worked with was quite ardent about talking to me about much more than just work .
-
-
almostbitten
Oh, I don't know. The JW lady I know sat at my table and proudly explained to me how cold blooded she is towards DFed people. Keep in mind that this woman is trying to convert people to "true Christianity." I was completely turned off. I know plenty of people who do things that I personally believe to be immoral, but I don't blatantly ignore them. I will say hello and exchange pleasantries with them, but I don't "hang out" with them. To me, JWs go too far and come across as goodie-two-shoes whose butts don't stink. We all fall short.
-
35
Some questions about WT sources
by witnessgirl insomething has been bugging me for years and years, and always bugged me when i was an active witness.
i've never mentioned it before and i've never seen it discussed.
like with a lot of other matters, i just assumed that this meant that i was missing something that everyone else understood.
-
-
almostbitten
oops! hit the enter button. Anyway, I posted something similiar about how the WT cites their sources. When I first read an Awake! or a WT, I once looked in the back for a bibliography only to find there was none. This struck me as suspect because anytime I've had to do research in college or high school, we had to properly cite sources in the event someone would actually look up the information for themselves (which I think is exactly what the WTO doesn't want you to do). A member of this site was nice enough to post this link about WT discrepencies. Hope it works. http://corior.blogspot.com
-
35
Some questions about WT sources
by witnessgirl insomething has been bugging me for years and years, and always bugged me when i was an active witness.
i've never mentioned it before and i've never seen it discussed.
like with a lot of other matters, i just assumed that this meant that i was missing something that everyone else understood.
-
-
almostbitten
Witnessgirl,
-
13
Is it just me?
by almostbitten ini've listened to a number of jws speak about the "new world" and it strikes me that many of them plan to carry a lot of materialistic and worldly expectations with them.
for example, i heard one lady complain about the williams' (venus and serena) success as tennis players, that they should be out there preaching and waiting to play tennis in the new world.
another one came from a visiting elder speaking at the local hall.
-
-
almostbitten
Well, it's just sad to me, really. And they are so enthused about it. But for them to be so "all about the Bible," I can't understand where this is all coming from. Maybe it's a subconscious thing, that they really have some deep desires and wants hidden and repressed. I just hope that I don't run across a JW whose hope for the New World will be to try every sexual position and act that they've been told they could not do in the here and now!! That may not be a good thing.