Posts by simon17

58

Have your prayers EVER been answered?

by nicolaou in

have you ever prayed for something and actually gotten what you asked for?

specific examples would be nice to hear about.. .

nic'.

simon17

Prayers get "answered" all the time.

1) When praying people "look" for the answer. So if you pray about needing help about lonliness and you go look through a bunch of WT articles, then chances are you'll find one sooner or later. It need not even be that proactive. If you pray about something enough, eventually you'll stumble onto some advice about it and there you go, a coincidental answer to your prayer. Of if you're one of a billion people who prays for help living in this crazy world. What are the chances a JW knocks on your door that day, or that second? Not that great. But get a billion people giving it a billion chances, and you'll have a bunch of success stories of answered prayers.

2) Prayer helps people who think they need help focus their mind and go solve their own problems. Some people are paralyzed by the fear of having to get something done under stressful situations. If you believe the big man is backing you, its much easier to go out and do it.

58

OT God vs NT God

by brotherdan in

this is mainly a question for bible believers.

but of course anyone can chime in.

how do you justify the differences between the way god acts in the ot and the very different way he acts in the nt.

simon17

We are sinners - babies, children, adults, and have no right to life.

Were it not for the grace of God, we would be hopeless.

So, in perspective, God doesn't kill anyone - we're already dead.

Sigh. So Jehovah was completely justified to take it upon himself to kill David's son for his errors? And his actions are not at all contradictory to the command that "sons must not be put to death for the errors of their fathers."

In fact he could kill me for Hitler's errors. Or your son/daughter for your errors. Just like that. For just a whimisical fun time.

Or he could bring a scourge upon Israel that kills 50,000 people because King David took a census.

So when you say God loves you, its just that you hope he does because at any moment he is justified to take you out for his own pleasure.

58

OT God vs NT God

by brotherdan in

this is mainly a question for bible believers.

but of course anyone can chime in.

how do you justify the differences between the way god acts in the ot and the very different way he acts in the nt.

simon17

How about David's punishment for his sins. The Bible says, literally, that God sickened David's child until he passed away in death. That is a God killing a child. That is putting a son to death for the error of his father. There is literally not excuse or justification for that.

There are many other things that are damning as well (and much worse death tolls). But try to defend THAT action.

70

Avoiding the Meeting

by brotherdan in

jw
friends

so, darth plaugeis (or however you spell it) has suggested that the best way to get out of going to the meeting is to tell your wife that it's time to get ready for the meeting, and when her back is turned hit her over the head with a large object.. i'm sure there are better ways to get out of going.

i'm looking for some real ideas here.

" i like the whole getting your wife (or husband) drunk before the meeting so they won't want to go idea.

simon17

What I've found fairly helpful is the following: Say in advance, "look, on Thursday its going to be really tight for me to make it to the meeting, I think I'm going to go Tuesday instead." And actually go. She may go with you, fine. She may not (better... just bring something else to do).

How does that help? Not at all. Buuuuut, it gives this major impression that the meetings are important to you and you dont want to miss them if you don't have to. It really shows something. Then, I've found future times that you have to miss last minute are questioned quite a bit less because you went out of your way to get to the meeting another time.

Could backfire depending on the person... but worked for me.

Another option is just saying you're sick and and are going to listen in on the telephone tie-in. Listen for 30 minutes enough to bring up a point when she returns (could be spiritual could just be something dumb the guy said but shows you listened) and then the night is mostly free.

213

Brace yourselves: The GOOD things about the WTBS! heh

by theMadJW in

yes-lotta nonsense; a self-proclaimed "slave class" that is not a prophet but like a prophet, giving so awfully embarrasing opinions that are supposed to be automatically acceted by all of us jws...pretenders...mistakes... and moves not "discreet" at all- like the ngo united nations membership they secretly had for awhile....terrible, isn't it?.

i mean, look at the inspiring example we have in churchianity: such wonderful dogma- such as the three sadist-gods who have been torturing billions of men, women, and children for thousands of years- with eternity to go...and god making the universe in 72 hours...and backing the wars of their governments- "god and country!

", as they send their men out to war, telling them they will be blessed for it, and so many more wonderful revelations: the rapture, once-saved, tithing, etc.

simon17

Actually, it has been my experience that is exactly the case, sorry that wasn't yours.

I'm not saying JW are unique in that respect. I'm sure other relgions offer something similar. But I would certainly not say ANY religion offers that, which is my point. I think a large part has to do with the smallness of JWs. The tighter the group, the tighter the bond, especially as the group gets further and further from the mainstream.

213

Brace yourselves: The GOOD things about the WTBS! heh

by theMadJW in

yes-lotta nonsense; a self-proclaimed "slave class" that is not a prophet but like a prophet, giving so awfully embarrasing opinions that are supposed to be automatically acceted by all of us jws...pretenders...mistakes... and moves not "discreet" at all- like the ngo united nations membership they secretly had for awhile....terrible, isn't it?.

i mean, look at the inspiring example we have in churchianity: such wonderful dogma- such as the three sadist-gods who have been torturing billions of men, women, and children for thousands of years- with eternity to go...and god making the universe in 72 hours...and backing the wars of their governments- "god and country!

", as they send their men out to war, telling them they will be blessed for it, and so many more wonderful revelations: the rapture, once-saved, tithing, etc.

simon17

Some of these were mine and I worded them carefully for a reason. Regarding "It promotes very healthy and strong families in my experience" I put that "IF EVERYONE BELIEVES" in there. If not, it rips families apart and that is awful. But JW families that are "in" are, in my experience, very good models. Very little fighting. A lot of love and care for one another. Very active and attentive parenting.

On this retort though I must disagree:

"They do have a "worldwide brotherhood" in a sense. They know they can go to Moscow or Santiago, walk in a KH, and probably have a bunch of friendly faces, a free meal, maybe even a place to stay the night just because they are a JW." --->>>"Same goes for any other religion."

No way is that true for "ANY" other religion. You're not going to be greeted by a bunch of people at the door who accept you as one of them and would often give you the shirt of their back to help you out. You're not going to some random catholic in Prague and having a unique bond because you're catholic too.

Now stay there a year in their congregation and become a part of the clique culture and its a different stories. But JW strangers are treated special wherever they land.

33

Are You Afraid Of Death?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when we were jws we were told that death is an enemy but if we were faithful to jehovah, we would be alive always in his eyes.

death wasn't something to be feared.

we were only "sleeping".. do you fear death at this point in your life?

simon17

Not really. I am very uneasy about knowing that I will not know the future or fundamental things about the universe I'm part of. I'll die not knowing if there is life elsewhere in the universe. I'll die not knowing how it will be when scientists start manipulating human's DNA before birth. I'll die not knowing if another asteroid strike puts life on the planet in peril. I'll die not knowing how (or if) the human race can migrate off of earth as the sun heads toward supernova. And a million other things I can't even imagine. That deeply disturbs me.

213

Brace yourselves: The GOOD things about the WTBS! heh

by theMadJW in

yes-lotta nonsense; a self-proclaimed "slave class" that is not a prophet but like a prophet, giving so awfully embarrasing opinions that are supposed to be automatically acceted by all of us jws...pretenders...mistakes... and moves not "discreet" at all- like the ngo united nations membership they secretly had for awhile....terrible, isn't it?.

i mean, look at the inspiring example we have in churchianity: such wonderful dogma- such as the three sadist-gods who have been torturing billions of men, women, and children for thousands of years- with eternity to go...and god making the universe in 72 hours...and backing the wars of their governments- "god and country!

", as they send their men out to war, telling them they will be blessed for it, and so many more wonderful revelations: the rapture, once-saved, tithing, etc.

simon17

I would say the following are good:

1- Kingdom Halls with no collections, tithing, nor paid clergy; why even marriages and funerals are FREE! Also literature I'll throw in here

2- If everyone believes, it promotes very healthy and strong families in my experience.

3- There are a lot of sincere people who are trying to understand the Bible the best they can and, annoying as it might be, are trying to help other people to have the same understanding and hope they have. Among the R&F, there is a lot of sincerity and good intentions.

4- Helps people who need a concrete, structured direction and hope regarding their life/death/etc.

5- There is a lot of brotherly "care" for certain ones. If someone gets surgery, they'll have a line of hot meals for a month. If someone gets old, they'll have people to cut their lawn and look after them.

6- They do have a "worldwide brotherhood" in a sense. They know they can go to Moscow or Santiago, walk in a KH, and probably have a bunch of friendly faces, a free meal, maybe even a place to stay the night just because they are a JW.

39

To serving elders and anyone else who went to the SM this week ...

by wannabefree in

jw serving elders ... did any of you have to handle the part at the sm this week on why jehovah's witnesses are not a false prophet?.

this part made me livid.

our most corporate elder handled this part and i felt my self wanting to refute everything he said.

simon17

I left after the school to watch Vikings - Saints. No Favre KO but at least he lost, so I went home fairly happy ;)

7

Jumping The Shark...

by titch in

a defining moment when you realize that from now on, it's all downhill...it'll never be the same again.

and, believe me folks, my years as a productive member of society have jumped the shark!

has your career "jumped the shark"?

simon17

I dont think this saying really applies in life. LIke OntheWayOut said, its really the moment that something shouldn't be anymore. A lot of people hate working from Day 1. If that hell is the provisions to allow him to raise a loving family or pursue his passions, there's nothing wrong with that at all.

Probably this expression makes more sense on your time as a JW. At some point its your life, your hope, your everything. Then it trends down with doubts or concerns. And at some POINT, you realize that "no, this just isn't working". From there, whether a fader or a spy or whatever... its just an ugly, torturous downhill death march. I remember mine: Giving a talk on the dating in the Bible and proving the date of the flood and right there, as I was speaking from the platform, I said to myself "this is just all wrong, how can I even be so stupid to be saying this out loud." Jumped the shark right there. Still at 5 meetings a week (or whatever the fuck number its called), but its not pretty :)