Posts by almostbitten

57

Mystics don't talk about their experiences.

by BabaYaga in

jw
friends

discuss.

almostbitten

Seriously, though. Explain yourself, Baba. Are you talking about Christian mystics, Jewish mystics, what? That may be the route I end up taking.

10

Jcanon and my pants fulfilling the 70 year prophesy?

by Asheron in

discuss please...at length..and add youtube videos and quotes that go on for pages...thanks!

almostbitten

--------->

Loose--er, I mean, JCanon, I'm about to go to Walgreens. Need me to pick up your lithium, xanax and diazepam pills for you? I don't mind. Just lie down and rest yourself for a while.

20

"If you are Christian you are definately Trinitarian"

by Sirona in

my jw mother thinks that all christians (non jws who call themselves christian) are all trinitarian.. i tried to point out that there are certain groups who are not trinitarian, but she seemed to think that all christian groups in babylon the great believe in the trinity.. is it true that only fringe groups reject the trinity?.

sorry for my ignorance but i don't know much about mainstream christianity.. i would like to email her (my mum) a list of religions which reject the trinity but are also christian.

i also heard of groups who believe and preach about jehovah as gods name.. sirona.

almostbitten

One more thing--the use of the name of Jehovah in mainstream Christianity is nothing new. If you go to many older black Baptist congregations, you'll likely hear them singing a call-and-response devotional that goes, "Guide me over, great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land," a song that commemorates the Jews and their exodus from Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. And during prayer, from time to time someone will utter the name Jehovah--and this has been going on for years and years!

If you watch tele-evangelists from time to time (and I try NOT to), they often use the name Yahweh or Jehovah. I prefer Yahweh myself, which seemed to irritate my teacher.

20

"If you are Christian you are definately Trinitarian"

by Sirona in

my jw mother thinks that all christians (non jws who call themselves christian) are all trinitarian.. i tried to point out that there are certain groups who are not trinitarian, but she seemed to think that all christian groups in babylon the great believe in the trinity.. is it true that only fringe groups reject the trinity?.

sorry for my ignorance but i don't know much about mainstream christianity.. i would like to email her (my mum) a list of religions which reject the trinity but are also christian.

i also heard of groups who believe and preach about jehovah as gods name.. sirona.

almostbitten

I'm with LayingLow on this. A young lady in another online forum expressed it best when she said that while even under the roof of one church, belief in the trinity can vary from one person to another sitting on the same pew!

The JW lady I studied with was completely thrown off when I told her that I really didn't believe (or at least I didn't expouse) the doctrine of the trinity--and I was raised a Southern Baptist. It was just never taught or highlighted during service or Sunday School. Come to find out, two of her other studies admitted to not being trinitarians. She just had no clue, because, hey, the Watchtower knows everything about other people, right?

After reading the Bible one year for myself PRIOR to ever studying with JWs, I just kept noticing how Jesus always responded or acted in deference to the Father, not as a co-equal, which is how the doctrine of the Trinity is usually taught. So I am a non-trinitarian Christian with no affiliation to any organized body. I must say, however, that I generally keep that to myself considering I live in the Deep South, heart of the so-called Bible Belt. If you're a little eccentric in your Christian beliefs, folks give you a little hell.

To add to that list of non-trinitarians, I'm tempted to add the Friends of Society (Quakers), but the jury is still out on that. Anyone know for sure about them?

14

JWs and the Mentally Challenged

by almostbitten in

i know three women from the local kh (one is a distant relative of mine) who call on my uncle for bible study.

problem is, he has alzheimer's disease--and they were told about this!!!

still, they've been doing studies with him until my aunt (his wife) told them to stop coming by.

almostbitten

So I'm guessing here that in the case of my uncle and my friend's son, they were "statistics," numbers to jot down so as to seem like good JWs. Sheesh! How low can you go.

14

Neutrality Issue - How did the WT Society used to hide behind us...

by justhuman in

jw
friends

the neutrality issue was one of the major issues that young brothers in many places in the world are facing.

some they died for that issue, some the spend many years in prisons, and as a result they are record is marked for being in prison.. in my country many brothers went to prison from 2-4 years, but the most outrageous thing that the wt did, it was to hide behind an 18 year old kids.

yeah the cowards running wt they didn't have the balls to stand next to us, and i will explain why:.

almostbitten

james and megs, Even though the ICC is a body with no real executive power to provide real justice, wouldn't it be just as useful to bring these incidents up just to make the public aware of the cowardice and double-talk practiced by the Org? The publicity would do real damage, even if the Court itself could do nothing.

32

Bad Associations spoil useful habits. Are the JWs right? Scripturally?

by Open mind in

it has been interesting for me to learn the various ways that the jws twist the scriptures to fit their own dogma.

(of course jws aren't alone in that, but that's another topic.

) two quick examples of jws not following or going beyond the bible are blood and birthdays.

almostbitten

To add to jgnat, Jesus did associate with those who were outside of the box. Indeed, if we are Christians, we are supposed to reach out to others in example, love and fellowship. IOW, this is a case of good association and influence where Jesus' compassion and unconditional acceptance of them "as they were" made them want to change their ways and follow Him. He did not expect them to carry on and live as they did prior to His influence on them.

As for the spiritual "weight" of Paul's words in his letter as compared to Jesus, I'll have to agree with the man I saw on the History Channel's "Banned from the Bible" program: if Paul had any idea about how others would theologize his letters, he would have been more careful when he wrote them. (paraphrase).

15

Will the WTBTS ever become mainstream like the WWCG?

by donny in

back during the 80's and 90's, i occasionally heard statements lumping the society in with the likes of the worldwide church of god who had very similar teachings and even believed in 1975 as being a year that god would act (1975 in prophecy!

by herbert w. armstrong).

clearly the roots of the wwcg were from the same as the societys and both groups were viewed as cults.

almostbitten

Navytownroger hit the nail right on the head. JWs are indeed proud to be "different" and take solace in the fact they are indeed "hated" and will use the Bible to try and support this. I personally think they intentionally do things to achieve this reputation.

No, they won't mainstream. Otherwise, what would be their selling point in a world where differing religions seem to be the same on a basic level?

11

Questions Asked of Candidates for JW Baptism....

by almostbitten in

as a non-witness, i've heard that potential candidates for baptism have to answer a series of questions.

1. what are some of these questions?

2. is this an actual form or are these questions oral (be nice!)?

almostbitten

yknot, the info you sent me was great. Didn't get to read all of it indepth, but scanned over some parts. The part about recording FS (p.88) was so stupid and non-sensical. What a leap! It made me think of a pimp who wants to know what his "ladies" have been up to!!!

I've said this before and I'll say it now: God is getting tired of people putting Him into foolishness. There's this belief that if you put Him in the mix often enough, He signed off on it.

11

Questions Asked of Candidates for JW Baptism....

by almostbitten in

as a non-witness, i've heard that potential candidates for baptism have to answer a series of questions.

1. what are some of these questions?

2. is this an actual form or are these questions oral (be nice!)?

almostbitten

GoddessRachel,
I'm no JW rocket scientist, but I think there was a point to your being "passed" and allowed into the Org at such a young age despite not knowing all the required answers. Sorta like people who join the military at age 18 or 19 vs. someone who is older and will ask the hard questions about what's really going on

Mene, that was a good link. Look at how everything morphed from CTR's day to the 80s. Now do you really think God is a part of that?