I lived in a largely LDS town for years, and yes, it's hard to get out of the religion because it's so closely tied to family and community, in most cases.
mindmelda
JoinedPosts by mindmelda
-
7
Comparison to ex-Mormons
by rebel8 ini've been learning about ex-mormons recently and was astounded at the similarities, right down to using tm.. here's a free pdf i worked up that compares the similarities..
-
-
-
6
Things that we on JWN have in common
by BonaFide inhere on jwn, i have noticed the following things we have in common:.
we all thought we were alone with our doubts.
we all sat at meetings feeling something was wrong.
-
-
mindmelda
I could add, I thought I was evil, wrong and crazy for having doubts and feeling something was wrong. Now I know I'm none of those things and that I wasn't wrong.
That's worth a lot.
-
13
The odd trajectory of Watchtower fulfillment of prophecy
by Olin Moyles Ghost inwhen you were a believer, did you ever find it odd that the further we get into the "last days" fewer and fewer bible prophecies are being fulfilled?.
for example, as jws we learned that lots of prophecies were fulfilled during the wwi time period--satan being cast out of heaven, gentile times ending, jesus enthroned as king, then the inspection of religions in 1918 and the appointment of the wts 'over all his belongings' in 1919. also, the two witnesses of revelation were resurrected in 1919, and the 1260, 1335, and 2300 days of daniel were fulfilled by various wt articles during the 1920s and 30s.
further, the 7 trumpet blasts of revelation sounded in the 1920s at 7 district conventions.
-
-
mindmelda
Quick, how many prophecies you have to be wrong about to be a false prophet?
Answer: One.
-
5
the meaning of the word "disciple" has changed
by 1914BS inin the feb 15 08 koolaid the teaching of the generation changed 180 degrees.
along with that change, was a change of the meaning of the word "disciple".
previous to that feb 15 koolaid, the word "disciple" meant every day rank and file jws im pretty sure that the word "disciple" was radically changed in the feb 15 koolaid.
-
-
mindmelda
I think what he's referring to is that the scriptures tell us this term "disciples" was always used to refer to spirit annointed Christians who are "born again from holy spirit" so the WTS seems to have decided it should only be used to refer to the remnant of the 144,000 and not Witnesses who have an earthly hope.
At least, I keep getting hints of that in more recent writings. I don't know if they've come right out and announced it. Haven't seen a watchtower mag in a few months.
Luke 10 for example, the 70 he sends to evangelize are referred to as disciples and it specifically says they are those who have the gifts of the holy spirit to heal, exorcise demons, etc.
The "great crowd" (in Revelation) are never defined as "disciples". They are not "born again" or "spirit annointed" in JW theology. "The disciples" in the gospels and in Acts and throughout the NT are always those who are sent out to evangelize, use gifts of the spirit, and bear the responsibility for spreading the word of the Kingdom of God, and how many times have we heard from the WTS that that applies to the "little flock" alone, and the "great crowd" are their assistants, sans that blessing of holy spirit?
(raw deal if you ask me....the "great crowd" has the same rules and demands but none of the perqs of being "born of spirit")
-
18
God's kingdom:is it possible to define it ?
by Koiné insince i am working on an essay about "gods kingdom or the kingdom of heaven" i would appreciate how people describe or define this expression,apart from the watchtower definition.. is it only another metaphor for god's eternal universal reign?.
do we have to see it in a pre-post- or amillenial setting?.
is it only something in the mind and heart,or will it like, daniel2:44 says, one time be the only government over (or on) the earth.. if it started his activities after jesus death and ressurrection in the 1st century what has been the influence since then?.
-
-
mindmelda
Matthew alone uses "the Kingdom of Heaven" while Mark and Luke use "The Kingdom of God". Matthew, being a Jew, may have used "heaven" as a stand in for "God" like other Jewish writers writing for Jews so as not to offend.
But, the word used defines kingdom by territory, but by dominion. "Basilea" in Greek. Kingdom, sovereignty, rule, dominion, all are pretty acceptable synonyms.
In parable, it's spoken of as "sown in the hearts of men".
Jesus said the kingdom is among you AND in you, andf there's no reason it cannot be both things at once. Present reality and future manifestation.
Interesting that one of the few other groups aside from Witnesses, that equate it with God's absolute dominion over everything on earth are Muslims.
-
23
Awake July 2009
by mouthy incheck it out = the july 2009 awake magazine.
watchtower & religious freedom - a double standard?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplhxi812yc.
-
-
mindmelda
Well at least they acknowledge that the BIBLE says it's wrong to prevent someone from changing their religion. NOT the WTS!
The WTS IS not the Bible.
They seem to always talk about "loyalty to the organization", never to Christ's teachings.
I once brought out to a sister that some disfellowshipped people commit suicide and she said, "Well I would to if I were disfellowshipped. What would you have to live for? There is no life outside of Jehovah's Organization."
UGH!
Well as long as you believe that, you'll never leave. I'm sure some JWs would love to believe that everyone who leaves the WTS is so miserable they'd die. As long as they're more miserable than THEY are, they're somehow vindicated.
I was more miserable as a practicing Witness much of the time. I kept wondering what was wrong with me that I found no joy in the teachings, in particular.
-
21
If stillbirths aren't resurrected, why is abortion banned?
by rebel8 inhttp://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/72863/1/the-day-a-brother-died-in-my-hall-the-unbelievable-events-that-followed#1165197.
in that thread, it was mentioned that miscarried babies don't have the hope of being resurrected.
is this true?.
-
-
mindmelda
But, even then, what do you teach when they change it more often than some people change their underwear?
-
8
Is it time for a "do-over"?
by The Berean inwhen it comes to the world around us:.
a) are things pretty much as they always have been?.
b) has the time come for some sort of divine "do-over"?.
-
-
mindmelda
I was thinking of this very thing this morning as I watched the news.
The economy is just awful, global warming is worse than we thought, and there's a lot of grief and strife everywhere.
Humans did a lot of this to themselves and now we want God to magically fix it for us?
I don't think there's any harm in learning from our mistakes, and certainly nothing wrong in believing in divine help. I just don't happen to think that killing everyone and starting over with only JWs would work too well.
Not enough people with enough skills to rebuild the earth in that doomsday scenario. It was always one of the things that bothered me about it.
I can't see how going back to a primitive society, at least technologically, is going to fix all mankinds problems, which is where only 7 million or less people in the world, most of them lacking survival skills, would leave us.
-
50
The Fundamentals of God, Liberal Sensitivities and the Judgment of Sin
by Perry inwhat are the fundamentals of god?.
the word fundamental is used to imply the idea of "basic understanding" by those who identify with the term "fundamental christian" as a way of describing certain aspects of their approach to god.
this of course is the polar opposite of jehovah's witnesses who are theologically liberal.
-
-
mindmelda
Great scripture about riding herd over another person's beliefs.
-
21
If stillbirths aren't resurrected, why is abortion banned?
by rebel8 inhttp://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/72863/1/the-day-a-brother-died-in-my-hall-the-unbelievable-events-that-followed#1165197.
in that thread, it was mentioned that miscarried babies don't have the hope of being resurrected.
is this true?.
-
-
mindmelda
I was just writing a blog about how misogynistic concepts, many of them unfortunately perpetrated through religion, endanger societies as a whole.
It's been said that you can judge a society or a culture by how it treats women and children, the more misogynistic it is, the less freedom and rights for EVERYONE.
Try as they might to make their definition of headship a beneficient one, I've seen just the opposite among Witnesses far too often. For the man who truly wants to use this "cover"as an excuse to be abusive, it works wonderfully as a situation where victims are blamed for their abuse because they fail to be submissive.
Insisting on these literal intepretations of biblical stories and events that seem to me to be metaphorical is part of the problem. The Biblical customs of veiling and such were peculiar to those times, when men did have to protect their women and children from other men who mainly saw them as possessions, chattel, livestock.
I think we've progressed enough legally and socially (although it's far from perfect) that we don't have to worry about that so much anymore and observe outmoded social customs from a long gone era.
But yes, it's cold blooded to nit pick over who legalistically qualifies for God's love and mercy and who doesn't. I've always trusted God's mercy more than that of humans. It smacks of the Pharisees.