Posts by inbetween

75

Question for believers: How does God set priorities?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

while waiting for the bus yesterday, i overheard (wasn't trying - but due to his volume, impossible to avoid) a guy on his cell phone talking to someone about his likely imminent dismissal from his employment.. but he then went on to say that he had full confidence that god would take care of him, and he wasn't worried at all about finding new employment.. then i got home, watched the news, and found out that 4 million kenyans are in danger of starving to death because of a year-long drought there.. so i got to thinking - how exactly does god set priorities?.

the guy at the bus stop is not the first christian i've heard express his confidence that god chooses to intervene and help in the lives of individual believers.

he saves them from car wrecks, he helps them find jobs, he lends some sort of invisible emotional support to help them cope with the death of a child, and so on.. on the other hand, millions of people suffer excruciating pain for months or years before finally dying covered in mud with flies crawling on them - no relief from god in sight.. why does god help one middle-aged guy who's never been hungry in his life find a new job in time so that he doesn't miss his $3000 mortgage payment, but not send a little rain to help a land where millions of people are already living in misery and filth?.

inbetween

good question, I think, maybe God does not intervene at all, (I do not believe these stories, how he helped especially JW being save while in the kingdom hall, while earthquake etc)

however, he sends his spirit to endure things, and will fix anything bad in the future/afterlife/paradise whatever...

I also always wondered, when there are experiences, where someboidy prayed to God for the truth, and he listened by sending JW there..ok, on the other hand, we say, that anybody, who does not pray to Jehovah in the right way will not be listened to...so, was this person a JW before ? hardly, so he must just have prayed to the wrong God (according to WTS) and still he listened....kind of contradicts itself..

28

I'm getting my cat today:)

by Newborn in

jw
friends

while i'm waiting for mr. right i'm getting a cat to keep me company.

i love animals and it will be my first cat.

her name is java.

inbetween

love cats as well, we have 2, if your not home a lot, try to get a second one, they will appreciate it a lot, and its even fun watching them...

however, if thats not possible, give lots of time and love to her, cats are really amazing animals...

24

Why is Ray Franz the only GB member to have ever resigned?

by yadda yadda 2 in

jw
friends

it's always seemed a bit odd to me that ray franz is the only gb member to have ever resigned, particularly for such a controversial religion.. we know from ray franz's books that there is often debate amongst the gb about new ideas sometimes introduced and often they are quite divided in their opinions.. i am not sure when the "governing body" officially began (wikipedia's explanation is messy) but it was quite a few decades ago.

there have been dozens of members of the gb since it's creation (does anyone know the exact total number?).

one would think that there would have been a few more disgruntled gb members over the years who would have resigned if the gb voted against some proposal they felt very strongly about.

inbetween

imagine, you are probably a average guy, would never even get your 15 min of fame (warhol ), but through certain circumstances and your dedication and zeal you end up being in the government of 7 million people, and having the prospect of ruling over the entire earth (and angels perhaps)

no, its probably not money, but power can be just as sexy as riches...

on the other hand, there might be one or two like Ray, who stay, hoping to change some things from inside..who knows...

4

stupid hypocritical thinking

by wantarevolution in

jw
friends

so with the watchtower on sunday, and the no3 talk last night - it got me thinking.

both the watchtower and by default the talk last night spoke about how "christians" view life on earth as transitory, and waiting for their reward in heaven.

the tone was "how stupid are they".

inbetween

exactly, 2 weeks ago during WT I gave the comment, saying how religion used this hope of going to heaven to suppress the people, so they dont question their lot in life and the position of the powerful men in church and state....

inside I hoped some would apply it to the WTS, "remain loyal to us, and we give you paradise earth...and dont you question our authority.."

39

Good Watchtower Study today

by slimboyfat in

i am glad we went to the meeting this morning.

it was about how jehovah's witnesses have always taught the paradise earth for most of obedient mankind.

it mentioned how early christian leaders such as origen and augustine introduced neo-platonic thought into early christianity and allowed ideas about an immortal soul to crowd out what the bible says about the earth.

inbetween

hm, I thought it was generally ok, if all articles were about subjects like that, and not about selfpraising GB, or Pharisaic rules, I would have much less problems with the WTS, but thats another story,

anyway, I mentioned during the study to my wife about the "millions living will never die", that they are all dead now...she nodded, and surely started thinking...I have to use opportunities like that to break through the mind-control...

96

How much apostate is in each JW ?

by inbetween in

recently i talked to some jw, even so called strong ones in the truth:.

i noticed, they do not believe everything from the wts, for example:.

one older sister, a close relative of mine, she has been pioneering for years, babtizes over 40 years ago, mentioned, that sometimes she wonders about certain teaching, but she can not say anything, because somebody would say, she speaks against jehovah himself..further she said, she remmebers 1975, and that the society tried to blame the brothers, but was clearly responsible itself... i was quit shocked to hear that from her, and i added some careful comments in the same direction.... other brothers do not agree with certain teachings, like resurrected ones will not marry, or animals will not eat each other etc.... maybe those are "minor" issues, but if you doubt one teaching of gods channel, doesnt that mean, you doubt the whole thing ?.

inbetween

AE: I know you may try to be encouraging, however, you did not answer my question, do you doubt this teaching ? if its not sure, why does the WTS not say: It might be so or so....no, they usually say: It is so or so, if you dont believe, youre technically an apostate, until we get new light of course....

96

How much apostate is in each JW ?

by inbetween in

recently i talked to some jw, even so called strong ones in the truth:.

i noticed, they do not believe everything from the wts, for example:.

one older sister, a close relative of mine, she has been pioneering for years, babtizes over 40 years ago, mentioned, that sometimes she wonders about certain teaching, but she can not say anything, because somebody would say, she speaks against jehovah himself..further she said, she remmebers 1975, and that the society tried to blame the brothers, but was clearly responsible itself... i was quit shocked to hear that from her, and i added some careful comments in the same direction.... other brothers do not agree with certain teachings, like resurrected ones will not marry, or animals will not eat each other etc.... maybe those are "minor" issues, but if you doubt one teaching of gods channel, doesnt that mean, you doubt the whole thing ?.

inbetween

Recently I talked to some JW, even so called strong ones in the truth:

I noticed, they do not believe everything from the WTS, for example:

One older sister, a close relative of mine, she has been pioneering for years, babtizes over 40 years ago, mentioned, that sometimes she wonders about certain teaching, but she can not say anything, because somebody would say, she speaks against Jehovah himself..further she said, she remmebers 1975, and that the society tried to blame the brothers, but was clearly responsible itself..

I was quit shocked to hear that from her, and I added some careful comments in the same direction...

other brothers do not agree with certain teachings, like resurrected ones will not marry, or animals will not eat each other etc...

maybe those are "minor" issues, but if you doubt one teaching of Gods channel, doesnt that mean, you doubt the whole thing ?

How much apostate is in each JW ?

Well, I have to say, before ever coming to a site like this, I also questioned some things, but I never draw the ultimate conclusion: The WTS is not Gods channel whatsoever...

45

Resurrection or re-creation?

by teel in

this thing (along with jehovah's capability to know everything before, wich leads to predetermination) bothered me the most while i was a practicant jw, and the topic of jws mourning brought it back to me.

maybe someone could shed a light on how jws cope with this problem.

i've seen this mentioned at other places too, so it's not just me who thought of this problem.. as we all know, jw doctrine tells that absolutely nothing survives the death.

inbetween

so a resurrected person is somebody, who thinks he is me.....

TOH: the problem with the life-force going back to god is, that it is interchangable, not personal, because if it were personal, whats the diffrence to a soul ?

another problem: we say, emory will be restored too, but if I loose all my memory (amnesia) I will be a different personaltiy, but it still would be me....,

I dont know, does anybody has some aspirin ?

51

Everything About Being An Elder is Weird (my misc rambling memories of being an elder)

by AllTimeJeff in

for any brother who is a jehovah's witness, the goal is put before them to reach out for the privilege of being an elder.

i can only speak for myself, but being born into the religion, i wanted to be an elder since i was 5. i would have much rather wanted to be a doctor or engineer, but those are the breaks..... i'll skip the part about what it takes to reach out, all the crap you have to put up with as a ministerial servant to get appointed, and go straight to the reality.. i know many elders who sincerely just wanted to be shepherds.

i did want the spotlight.

inbetween

interesting read, I observe some elders, being appointed young, acting as real jerks, maybe they will go through similar experience later ? there is always hope ;-)

My story would be different, I did not really want to be an elder, but when they asked, i agreed (partly flattered, partly felt the responsibility)

I was on a few JC, only dfd some, where there was no other chance, in all other cases, mercy whenever possible..

but those few cases really bothered me, to be somebody deciding over life and death (even in a spiritual sense) is something, that I felt is over my head ( well now I know, its over the head of any human). I felt guilty back then and feel more so even now...

My take was and somehow still is to serve the brothers, to help them through difficult times , to soften the strict rules of the WTS, in an attempt to silence my conscience....time will show how long that may work before i have to make an ultimate decison....

However, its also good to share with others and to read simlar experiences, since there is usually nobody to talk about this things...

45

Resurrection or re-creation?

by teel in

this thing (along with jehovah's capability to know everything before, wich leads to predetermination) bothered me the most while i was a practicant jw, and the topic of jws mourning brought it back to me.

maybe someone could shed a light on how jws cope with this problem.

i've seen this mentioned at other places too, so it's not just me who thought of this problem.. as we all know, jw doctrine tells that absolutely nothing survives the death.

inbetween

all this reasoning seems logic, however, IF the bible is Gods word (for the sake of further discussion, we just assume this now), then it speaks of a resurection (biblical examples given Lazarus, jesus etc)

so, there is a difference between recreation and resurection, the later being a technique God uses, where he does not make a copy, but really restores the "old" person itself, how, we dont know, its a miracle, but since God is also master over time, who knows, maybe that way.....