Posts by Heaven

241

Another generation....

by joey jojo in

it has been 21 years since the 1995 article that pretty much buried the idea of the '1914 generation'.. remember those guys?

the ones born in 1914 that would still be alive when the end of the system arrived.. i'm glad i'm old enough to remember going from door to door, preaching this belief.

the reason i say that is because i have a lot of 'still in' jw friends and family.

Heaven

Here is the updated image that Kairos posted:

29

for the many years i was mentally " in " the congregation, i equated the organisation as interchangeable with the persona of jehovah, in effect whatever the organisation said or thought, that was what jehovah thought and that was what jehovah said.... it was that simple.

so when i found out the ttatt and the cynical moves of the organisation over the years,including 1975 , the donation arrangements, the united nations, etc i was devastated and thought " where's jehovah in all of this?".

the god who i'd poured my heart out to on many occasions and who i thought was silently listening and hearing my pleas ..... was not there , .

Heaven

How do some of you cope with the reality of once having everything and now left alone and having to rebuild?

You are the architect of your life. Building your life plan is probably a good idea. You can start by looking at who you are and what you wish to accomplish. Do you have any goals? What skills do you possess? What skills would you like to develop? What are you good at doing? What do you enjoy doing? Sometimes these are tough questions to answer and may take some time to figure out.

One question that may help get you started is: If you had unlimited amounts of money, what would you do with it? Or ...When you come to the end of your life and look back, what do you wish you had done that you are not doing now? There are so many things in this world that need doing. Perhaps look upon this new chapter as an exciting adventure.

41

Angst and the Jehovah's Witness Mindset

by cofty in

there is no typical jw personality type.. any of us who were in the religion for a number of years will remember all sorts of individuals.

there is as much variety among jws as there is in the general population.

some were arrogant and judgemental but others were humble and kindly.

Heaven

Excellent observations cofty.

I have seen the angst in the witnesses I know. One woman, friend of my folks, was all worried about the imminence of Armageddon the last time I saw her. That was in 2010. We're almost 6 years on from that day. I hope she realizes Armageddon is not coming. Once I figured out god was a fantasy and so was Armageddon, my nightmares stopped.

I've also seen seething anger, self-righteousness, holier-than-thou, judgmental attitudes as well as a complete resignation that nothing will improve and nothing can be done to improve anything because Jehovah is the only answer - the old 'Pray More + Wait on Jehovah' useless advice/ideal. When an imaginary thing is supposed to be your only resolution, then yes, things are going to get worse. This is basically the same thing as ignoring your problems. And the best way to make a problem worse is to do nothing about it. JWs are captives of their own beliefs. A definite result of what they are fed by the Borg. What one focuses on expands and fills one's life.They are constantly bombarded with destructive images, words, and ideals. Negativity begets negativity.

As soon as a person or group isolates itself, they/it becomes insular. This is unwise - it is not healthy.

The last time I spoke to JWs at my front door, was about 10 years ago. I said to them "My Mom was a Jehovah's Witness. She smoked herself into a chronic illness called COPD. I don't understand...if she had such a wonderful hope in Jehovah, why was she so miserable?"

They have never returned.

14

Excuses for God

by xelder in

i am amazed at how people will go to extreme stretches of logic to explain or justify the supposed actions of their god (lower case g intentional, no upper case deserved).

i have seen people with wonderful bullshit detectors in normal life, throw all of that ability away in order to retain their hope of a creator who cares for them.

i am agnostic, certainly not atheistic, since i think atheism is not provable.

Heaven

What about the Goddess?

18

The question of who man/woman actually is...

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

naturally leads to the question of god.

why does man need god?

why does man create god?

Heaven

The Rebel said: The question of man/woman naturally leads to the question of God.

I disagree with this. You have to have first been indoctrinated into a belief system of God. There are so many different flavours of god too. As children, we have no choice about what our parents do. We believe because we trust them and do what we are told. As we get older and as adults, our knowledge increases. It is key to develop critical thinking skills and adhere to intellectual honesty. Our knowledge of the natural world is far greater than it was thousands of years ago. The gods or god, just don't add up.

The Rebel said:Why does man need God?

If you look at ancient history, the gods and goddesses were created to define the natural world. Ancient man did not understand thunder, lightning, volcanoes, infection, disease, winds, love, evil. Multiple gods and goddesses were defined to explain these. But somewhere along the way, someone decided that there must be just one all powerful god, probably because something didn't work out that they were sure would. It may have been a conquering tribe's primary belief system that had to be adopted by the conquered tribes. Certain ancients decided that one God was all that should be worshipped and a new belief system was born. I think it is key to note, that the ancient belief systems of multiple gods does still exist today. The Jews, Christians and Islamists were/have been unable to eradicate them even though they tried/try. Again, looking over history, you can see religious beliefs evolving and new ones being born. Once created, God can then be used as a mechanism to control people.

Humans also know they can suffere from sickness and calamities, and they know they are going to grow old and die. These are unpleasantries. So they dreamed up a reason for these and an after-life to appease their unease.

It's all a bunch of fantasy. There is no evidence to support these beliefs. The knowledge we possess today contradicts many religious claims. It is interesting to note how the instances of 'god' speaking to humans has diminished in proportion to mankind's increase in technology and knowledge.

Perry said: left to himself man serves his fallen flesh

234

New ANTI-GAY video for Kids on jw.org

by ttdtt in

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/one-man-one-woman-marriage/.

disgusting!.

Heaven

Thanks wifibandit.

Jehovah wants everyone to be in paradise?

Uh, no he doesn't. He doesn't want the Catholics, the Jews, the homosexuals, the transgenders, the bisexuals, the transvestites, the hemophiliacs, the apostates, people with turrets syndrome ... you know, anyone who isn't a healthy, young, able-bodied, able-minded heterosexual Jehovah's Witness.

234

New ANTI-GAY video for Kids on jw.org

by ttdtt in

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/one-man-one-woman-marriage/.

disgusting!.

Heaven

Is this JW video available on YouTube? I don't like going to jw dot Borg.

And remember, Paul, Christianity's foundational figure, circumcised his adult male friend Timothy. We all know the ancient Jewish circumcision technique, right...right?

44

Evolution is a Fact #36 - Mass Extinctions

by cofty in

250 million years ago a plume of molten basalt gushed up from the earth's core.

it erupted in an area now known as the siberian traps - back then it was part of the supercontinent pangaea.

a curtain of lava a mile high and hundreds of miles long lit up the sky.

Heaven

cofty said: It may be true that human activity is creating a new extinction event

I have read this also. I think Cuba's Special Period is worth examining to see a way to possibly avoid a human created extinction event. I wonder if the collective homo sapien species is able to see the value of working with nature instead of against it, to adjust our rabid energy consumption to a more sustainable one in order to preserve the very system that supports us all.

12

The Freedom to Learn

by TheLiberator in

since i have left the watchtower's dung behind, reading and learning has accelerated at an unbelievable pace for me.

i am sure that is true for most here.

i have always been a big time reader.

Heaven

Liberator said: Bart Ehrman is another one. By means of careful words he misleads people to draw a conclusion that simply isn't true. It might be technically true,

This is one f'ed up statement.

21

Why haven't you been to the meetings?

by Zana in

jw
friends

some cong-member asked my wife this question (in the street, stopping her on her bicycle) in a rather police-like fashion.

i wasn't there so i don't know her immediate reaction and response, but she got very upset afterwards and one day later this still occupies her mind.

i believe it's an emotional mix of anger, sadness, shame and guilt.. she doesn't like this intrusion in her privacy from some jws and on the next occasion she will try to make this person respect her boundaries (or just ignore her).

Heaven

Q: "Why haven't you been to the meetings?"

A: "Because they suck."