Posts by darthfader

307

JW Defenders- Is WTS Right to Insist You Stay Away From these Websites?

by OnTheWayOut in

i read these threads and there are a few that bend over backwards to say why wts is correct on this issue or that issue.. they act like typical jw's that refuse to acknowledge points that may show that wts is not following the scriptures or that wts goes beyond the scriptures in a way that is not supported by others.. the point could be the blood issue or shunning or whether 1799 or 1914 was the start (or finish?

) of the last days or whether there is a faithful and discreet slave class or not.

i don't want to harp on each point.

darthfader

Blondie,

I always read your comments and really appreciate them, I am just not capable of posting anything meaningful in response

Please keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Darth Fader

39

Birthday Celebrations & other shenanigans

by homeschool in

well, here's my latest "thing"...i plan on speaking with my siblings & their mates in the near future.

i have told them that i have questions regarding some doctrines, mainly stuff like birthdays, mother's day, father's day, etc.

my hubby has some questions for them regarding their wacky blood doctrine (but i wont cover that in this thread).

darthfader

I dont know about you guys, but at the last few "Birthday Parties" I went to - I felt the strong urge to behead someone

Darth Fader..

100

1975 coverup! Compare the '68 and '81 Truth book scans

by JimmyPage in

the wt society pointed to 1975 as the date for the end of the world.

when the date came and went they changed their publications to remove themselves from the fiasco.

need proof?

darthfader

Spike,

Have you really looked everywhere for spiritual food - then settled on the WTBS interpetation and being the best? How did you qualify them as the best?

I am actively looking an many spiritual paths -- so if you have chosen the best among all others, please share your process.

Darth Fader.

22

Is human death permanent?

by The Berean in

jw
friends

the age old question ... is this all there is?.

darthfader

I have been pondering a "physical view" (maybe a bit atheist) of this question for a while now - here are my thoughts:

We are a collection of ever changing material -- as we consume food, portions of our body are slowly replaced over time - we grow new cells and old ones die off. Are we the same people we were 10/20 years earlier?
Are we really only electro-chemical goo? Are there any other "mechanisms" at play (like quantum mechanics or ??) that have a direct impact on our "existence/selfness"?
After we die.. what then -- a trillion year nap -- then what? Forever is a long time -- maybe long after our universe dies of "heat death" a new one will arise?

Yes, I know that some of those are questions and not answers, but it begs the thought that from a purely physical point of view - we have existed before and will exist again...

.02 worth.

Darth Fader

66

As a JW Did other Witnesses Annoy you by Condemning " Worldly Music" ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

i know i got bothered by all the self righteous music police who would condemn me or others for our awesome record collections from early years as a teenager .

several experiences were really quite odd .

one brother came up to me saying i was wrong to listen to the moody blues " nights in white satin "!

darthfader

I have been a Rush (the band not the Republican Pundit) fan for years before I went back to meetings in my early 20's. I had several old concert T-shirts from when I went to see them. One day we were asked to help renovate the KH. I wore my junk clothes (which consisted of one of these concert T-shirts) -- I was there for about 1/2 hour and got called to the side by one of the Elders. He asked me if I really knew what that RUSH stood for. Here it comes.... "Rules Under Satans Hand" and that all the rock music is controled by Satan - who wants us to fornicate to the seductive rhythms. Apparently he never listened to Rush -- I dont think there is any way for someone to fornicate to 7/8 time signitures (lol). Any I left and didnt go back to help them...

Darth Fader

31

When Did You First Get Exposed To "Apostate" Info? How Did It Affect You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as a kid, i used to read all the watchtowers of the 40s and 50s to see how the present day information developed from its original "thought".

i was exposed to many eye opening statements but i swept them under the carpet (although it stayed in the recesses of my brain) until the time was right.. so for me, it was a gradual thing.. how were you affected by your first encounters with "apostate" material?

?.

darthfader

My wife an I started fading almost 10 years ago. We saw the lack of love between ones in the congregation and the "new light" about the 1914 Generation teaching as "dings in the armor" of the Organization. We sat in "limbo" half heartedly believing the what the Witnesses had was the "Truth". A few years back I began to get a little bolder in my research and came across this Forum. As you can tell by my profile - I lurked here for a long time. What really was the trigger for me was reading Franz's books Crisis Of Conscience and In Search Of Christian Freedom. I felt really betrayed by the organization. I was stunned and confused and a touch angry - when realization that the "You’ll Never Die" promise was bogus settled into my brain...

After that I recycled all our literature (I was a book hound so we had a lot) except for a few books/bibles that have sentimental value. I shared my research with my Wife who went through a similar cycle of confusion and disappointment and anger (as a teenager her, abuse by the "Brothers" was simply horrible - but that's another post). She as been rebuilding her spirituality looking at a wide variety of paths and concepts -- she has settled on paganism - believing that is the most basic and raw foundation to build upon. I am still "agnostic" not yet convinced that there is a god who cares.

Darth Fader

19

Man on the Moon

by Satanus in

jw
friends

are you a believer, agnostic, or nonbeliever?

i'm a believer, but, i get moments of doubt.

i read how it could have been faked.

darthfader

I say real also.. I was to young to specifically remember the landing of Apollo 11, but I do rmember watching men on the moon on TV as a kid. I think it was one of the later landings.

I really think there is value in what NASA and other space agencies are doing. It is really disappointing that we havent been back on the moon for 37 years. There is little support for the different space projects from one Administration to another and there is lack of coorperation between governments on the IIS projects. As they say "necessity is the mother of invention" - If we dont push ourselves, nothing new will be produced. Every day people push themselves to create new inventions for medicine, energy and entertainment, but with regard to space exploration, cosmology and astronomy we are resting on the laurels achieved decades ago.

(end rant)

Darth Fader

35

Have memes been scientifically proven?

by passwordprotected in

jw
friends

i'm guessing lots of people here believe in memes.

my question, have they been scientifically proven?.

darthfader

PP:

Wow great summary. To be quite honest I have only limited knowledge of the "Memespace"

I searched through some of the papers on definitioins and came across this paragraph:

In addition to the above, memetics has the potential to enhance our study of psychology. In the future, psychologists may look to memetics to discover the origin of certain psychological conditions. Perhaps multiple personality disorder could be explained by the existence of two (or more) competing memeplexes that each define a sense of self (Susan Blackmore (1999) calls such a memeplex a 'selfplex'). The idea behind this thinking is that a human mind is basically a memetic construct. When a brain becomes inhabited by a suitable collection of memes, they form a mind and a selfplex develops. Anomalies such as psychological depression (non-physiological) or addiction might be explained by memetic viruses that influence the behavior of the selfplex.

http://www.geocities.com/brent_silby/what_is_a_meme.html

I never thought to take the whole mind construct and a collection of memes. I originally thought of memes as a kind of worthless "sound bite" that fills our head with some unproductive words that limit out thinking and actions -- well it seems bigger than that!

Thanks PP for asking/sharing these questions - Im definately going to read up more on memes!

cheers

Darth Fader

35

Have memes been scientifically proven?

by passwordprotected in

jw
friends

i'm guessing lots of people here believe in memes.

my question, have they been scientifically proven?.

darthfader

This page looks like it has links to a number of scientific papers on them:

http://users.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/Memetics/

Darth Fader

25

New Harry Potter movie

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

this movie is getting a 98 percent approval rating on rotten tomatoes so far.

hell, even the vatican gave its blessing!

(okay, so maybe they approved of hitler, too lol- at least that's what the wt always claimed).

darthfader

Love the Harry Potter books and movies! Some of the Witnesses I know wont let their children see any of the movies or read the books. What a shame to loose out on such great entertainment. I also know quite of few witness families who wont let their children see any Disney movie with magic. The leaves out a LOT of the classics!

Regarding Disneyland: Growing up witness I wasnt allowed in the haunted house or the "enchanted" Tiki Hut. I remember my dad talking about how Disney consulted with Spirit Mediums for the construnction of the Haunted House.. What rubbish!

Darth Fader