Posts by Heaven

5

God’teachings or men’s personal opinions and interpretations ?

by MacHislopp in

before addressing the topic, i would like you to keep in mind the following statement coming from the society’s governing body:

· 'the golden age' january 18th, 1933 page 252.

· "if the message the jehovah's witnesses are bringing to the people is true, then it is of greatest importance to mankind.

Heaven

God's natural language is silence. All others are bad translations.

16

as i've been reading the book "what did africa contribute to the origins of religion" by robin walker, i've been fascinated with walker's work and it's led me to something i never thought i'd want to read.

the egyptian book of the dead.. i got a copy of e.a.

wallis budge's 19th century translation of the papyrus of ani from barnes and noble, so i'm sure everyone here can procure a copy or find it free online.

Heaven

schnell, "The Book of the Dead" is a good choice.

As children raised in any faith, we are indoctrinated from birth to only the agenda of the authorities of that faith. It is only as we get older, and we begin to apply logic, reason, mathematics, and a number of other different disciplines, including researching previous belief systems to the one we've been raised in, that we come to realize we have been manipulated, lied to, and for many in the Christian faith, maneuvered through the Bible to suit a religious agenda.

Christianity adopted much of the previous belief systems. I figure it was partly due to people not wanting to give up their traditions and also partly to attract people to the new cult. There are many similar themes found in Christianity that are in the Egyptian "Book of the Dead". Knowing that this book was written before the Bible is important too as, at least for me, I was led to believe that Christianity was unique, and THE only solution and way to live.

Xanthippe said: I've always thought it odd that they revered the dung beetle.

Manure has many beneficial uses and was used extensively in ancient times for various applications. Even today, as an example, paper is made from elephant dung, due to it's high plant fiber content.

The dung beetle was associated with the divine manifestation of the early morning sun, Khepri, whose name was written with the scarab hieroglyph and was believed to roll the disk of the morning sun over the eastern horizon at daybreak. Since the scarab hieroglyph, Kheper, refers variously to the ideas of existence, manifestation, development, growth, and effectiveness, the beetle itself was a favourite form used for amulets in all periods of Egyptian history. In later parts of the period, they symbolically represented the heart and were placed in the bandages of mummies of the deceased. A winged scarab might also be placed on the breast of the mummy, and later a number of other scarabs were placed about the body.

12

The movie moment that woke me up.

by NikL in

jw
friends

i can still remember the day.

sitting in a theater watching the new star trek flick.. they were searching for god and found him...or did they?.

when this part played before my eyes i literally felt my heart fall.. still powerful after all these years.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxvkjav5ik.

Heaven

This resonated for me too NikL. Also, the ending of that movie where Kirk said "Maybe God isn't out there. Maybe he's right here, in the human heart." and points to his chest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj8PlGMPZ1U

12

I haven't checked in here in at least 5 years

by Dinah2 in

jw
friends

this place is great and it helped me.

for anyone i used to interact with, i think about you often.

i just wanted to read and catch up..

Heaven

Hi Dinah! Hope you are doing well. Did you know that wearing tight pants and coloured socks do not make Jehovah happy?

I wore my leggings today and some black socks with orange heels and toes. I guess I won't survive Armageddon or get a resurrection into Paradise Earth. Particularly since my socks also represent Hallowe'en colours, a double wammy there. Isn't Jehovah such a wonderful god?

50

Why Finding the One True Religion is Impossible

by Simon in

jws like to think they have found the one true religion.

but like so many other religious people, it's usually the religion they were born into, the only religion they know because it's the first one they found or, at the most, one of two or three (typically the second one after they left their first / born-in faith).. the trouble is, there simply isn't enough time to explore and investigate each and everyone of the many thousands of belief systems, religions and sects around the world.. think of it this way: which is the best neighbourhood to live in where you would be most happy and most successful?

not just in the city or even the country you are in, but the entire world.. how would you ever know?

Heaven

Simon, you keep applying logic and reason to the realm of religion. That just doesn't work.

Any organization based on fantasy and mythology is not 'true' in the sense that it is based on factual evidence.

I think the ancients who worshipped real things such as the Sun and the Earth as being life givers and divine were more sane than the big 3 we have today, worshipping Gods that kill people for not believing whatever warped interpretation of ancient scribes' superstitious writings less ancient people chose as some sort of 'bible'.

18

OT - Pork was unclean... NT Now it's not?

by pleaseresearch in

this always baffled me.

either pork is unclean and wrong to eat forever, or it was a load of bull to begin with..

Heaven

One of my Jewish colleagues a number of years ago told me they'd also prohibited broccoli. Apparently they felt it was not able to be cleaned enough to consume.

39

Where Does It Say JWs Can't Read Pubs By Other Churches?

by Cold Steel in

can jws read publications by other churches?

or by atheists?

i've always heard these are apostate materials.

Heaven

Heaven » My Father looked very suspiciously at my Hobby Farms Home magazine....

Cold Steel said: As he should have, you demonic apostate!
You need inspirational works like Watchtower, Awake and Guns & Ammo.

Haha! Well I am not a fan of the Borg's formulaic writing style for one. Their articles are predictive, ending in "Jehovah is the answer to everything" meanwhile, in the real world, Jehovah fixes nothing.

Perhaps it was the article about "Plan A Girlfriend Getaway On Your Farm" he had issue with. This implies you wouldn't be out in the Field Serve-Us or attending any indoctrination sessions (aka 'meetings' at the Kindumb Hell) but having a good time with good friends doing some fun things.

14

Has anyone out here read Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason"?

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

i wish i had read this back when i was 18. it's an amazing take down of religious beliefs, the bible, and religion in general.

) a "reason"-able manner.take this quote, from near the beginning:.

when also i am told that a woman, called the virgin mary, said, or gave out, that she was with child without any cohabitation with a man, and that her betrothed husband, joseph, said that an angel told him so, i have a right to believe them or not: such a circumstance required a much stronger evidence than their bare word for it: but we have not even this; for neither joseph nor mary wrote any such matter themselves.

Heaven

steve2 said: Paine's work was on the reading list of one of the undergraduate papers I took in Sociology.

You can see why the Borg doesn't want people attending higher education. I should add Paine's work to my reading list.

I do agree that it is a very good idea to research pre-Jewish/pre-Christian beliefs. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, written before the Bible, contains many of the same themes/beliefs Christians hold with their own adaptation of these. An example: instead of celebrating "Yule and the Winter Solstice" - where pagans celebrate the birth of the sun, Christians celebrate "Christmas", the birth of the son. What better way to attract new members to your cult? Offer up comfort and some familiarity saying "Look, we celebrate very similar things that you do! Come on over and join up."

As Christopher Hitchens once said "Ask yourself what is more likely. That the laws of nature are suspended... OR that an unmarried Jewish girl told a fib."

Edited to add: Interestingly, this being Thu Dec 8, 2016, my calendar states this is "Immaculate Conception" day.

39

Where Does It Say JWs Can't Read Pubs By Other Churches?

by Cold Steel in

can jws read publications by other churches?

or by atheists?

i've always heard these are apostate materials.

Heaven

Anything not produced by the Borg is suspect. My Father looked very suspiciously at my Hobby Farms Home magazine as if the demunz were about to ooze right out of it:

My Father also called the Dictionary 'worldly' with a tone of disdain.

37

Has the rebranding worked?

by MrTheocratic in

it's been several years since the start of the rebranding of jehovahs witnesses.

i believe it started with the website change.

ever since then the religion has moved in a more modern direction.

Heaven

Interestingly, my cousin, who hasn't contacted me in over 7 years, just out of the blue sent me an email about a month ago. He knew my Dad wasn't well 7 years ago as he was the one who emailed me back in 2009 that something wasn't right with Dad. Then nothing until now. He is a born in like me. Maybe ... just maybe the re-branding is part of why he contacted me.

Their videos are crap. Lots of doctrinal bs too. The blood policy nonsense is a big one for our family.

Anyone who has been in the Borg at least since the '60s has got to know something isn't right here. Where the f*ck is Armageddon?!! Fifty plus years ain't "imminent" ... it's not even "soon".