Maybe the Watchtower can get some pointers...
garyneal
JoinedPosts by garyneal
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50
Question for the married guys
by TweetieBird inis it possible to be friends with a woman, text her, call her, etc and not be physically attracted to her?.
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garyneal
Well, I use to correspond with a muslim woman who lived in the UK (I live in the US). Just penpals, strictly platonic, but to say there was zero attraction. I certainly could not say no and I don't think she could either. Still though, we kept is just friends if for no other reason than because we had an ocean between us and we had no plans to actually meet up.
There is a part of me that would like to seek her out and renew our friendship but I feel that it is probably best to let it go. I already know my wife would not appreciate it and I doubt whatever husband she has would not either. Before our friendship faded, she was dating an atheist and was becoming one herself but her older sister was a devout muslim. Don't know where she is religiously now. I was an IFB then and I sometimes wonder if my being so devout back then caused any dissonance. If that chick could see me now.
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BOOK: Jehovah himself has become king - Robert king
by *lost* ini just got my first book ... to start with.
the next one will be ray franz, crisis of conscience.. so if there any believers or semi-believers that would like to chat about it i would appreciate your comments.. also it may help any visitors to this site, who may be questioning things.. .
lost.
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garyneal
marked for the videos
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what proves jw's aren't true?
by jwfacts ini am inactive and it took years of doubt to convince myself the jw's arent true.
i started doubting because i hated the idea that jehovah would kill 6 billion non-jw's.
the thing now that is the most important proof for me is that until 1954 jw's worshipped jesus and it is still in the watchtower charter, even though you now get disfellowshipped for worshipping jesus.
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garyneal
I lot of things summed it up for me. I was not a witness but was seriously considering becoming one as I was beginning to think after 6 years of off and on study that they may be on to something. Among the things that changed my mind were:
- Misrepresentation of the Trinity doctrine. Sadly, most trinitarians don't really understand it either (such as I until I began researching it more closely) and are therefore easily misled by the witnesses interpretation of it.
- The whole idea that the 144,000 mediate for the great crowd while Jesus mediates for the 144,000. This is in direct contradiction to what the Bible says.
- The fact that witnesses teach that our death provides payment for ours sins by misquoting the Bible passage that speaks of our dying to our sins by being made alive in Christ (not our literal dying).
- A few other Bible contradictions to their doctrines that I discovered but do not have time to go into detail now.
Then, of course, there is their double sided stance on blood, their numerous false dates, and their many doctrinal changes and flip flops. Even if I wanted to consider them another denomination of Christianity, their stance on blood, holidays, birthdays, and practically everything that seems normal to me would prohibit me from ever being a good witness. Sadly, as long as I am not one of them, they would never recognize my relationship with God. Oh well, who needs them.
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Why is God speaking in riddles?
by sosoconfused init seems for most of the bible that god spoke directly to people and told them what to do.
he wrote things on rocks.
he gave them laws.
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garyneal
What is with all this other stuff? Calculations? Days for years added to some obscure events?
I obviously believe that all of that stuff is manmade if for no other reason than to make the inventor and/or the followers feel special. (as rebel8 pointed out) I believe that real truth that is closest to anything that would come from G-d would be so simple and yet so profound that many would not choose to believe it simply because truth just cannot be that simple. Especially to the individuals who love riddles.
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Theists - Why does Morality require the existence of God?
by cantleave in"without god in your life, you cannot have a moral compass",,,, please explain to me why you think that should be so?
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garyneal
As others pointed out, it is easy to see why there seems to be two kinds of morality. One seems relativistic and the other is absolute. The absolute would imply that their needs to be a source of authority which for the theist (and I assume you mean Christian) would be G-d. However, the Christian paints himself into a corner (often unknowingly) when he states that without G-d he would be a sinner. Considering that the true test of character is whether or not you would do the right thing even when no one is watching, this assertion says little about that person's character.
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My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped
by cofty inthis is the letter i wrote back in '96 about the parousia.
following the '95 watchtower that disconnected the "generation" from 1914 i began to look carefully at end-time prophecy and soon discovered what i knew were basic errors in what i had been taught.. i was a loyal jw at the time and was still serving as an elder.
i used only watchtower publications in my research.
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garyneal
Well, um, thanks Lars.
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So apparently I'm now a Secular Humanist
by Oubliette ini was doing some research on the subject of beliefs and belief systems when i came across an on-line survey/test that supposedly helps you determine which religion or philosophy is most like your current beliefs.
if you're curious, you can take the quiz here: belief system selector quizafter answering the 20 questions the results were spit out!
tada!!!.
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garyneal
1. Orthodox Quaker - Religious Society of Friends (100%)
2. Mainline - Liberal Christian Protestants (81%)
3. Mainline - Conservative Christian Protestant (79%)
4. Liberal Quakers - Religious Society of Friends (76%)
5. Seventh Day Adventist (66%)
6. Unitarian Universalism (64%)
7. Taoism (59%)
8. Mahayana Buddhism (58%)
9. Reform Judaism (57%)
10. Eastern Orthodox (56%)
11. Roman Catholic (56%)
12. Theravada Buddhism (55%)
13. Hinduism (52%)
14. Sikhism (51%)
15. Neo-Pagan (48%)
16. Islam (46%)
17. Orthodox Judaism (44%)
18. Scientology (42%)
19. Bahai (40%)
20. Jainism (40%)
21. New Age (39%)
22. New Thought (39%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (38%)
24. Secular Humanism (36%)
25. Christian Science Church of Christ, Scientist (29%)
26. Jehovahs Witness (25%)
27. Non-theist (20%) -
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My Son is studying the lie, this is long but I need help !
by oldflame inlisten, israel: the lord our god, the lord is one.
the lord our god, the lord is one.
jesus is god: .
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The Mark of The Wild Beast, How Does One Receive It? 666
by Este inthe first thing that needs to be determined is who or what is the wild beast ?......
estephan.
1and it stood still upon the sand of the sea.. and i saw a wild beast ascending out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten diadems, but upon its heads blasphemous names.2now the wild beast that i saw was like a leopard, but its feet were as those of a bear, and its mouth was as a lion's mouth.
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garyneal
What?! You've never been an Independent Fundamental Baptist! Therefore, you cannot possibly know the correct interpretation of scripture. All that nonsense about war. The true mark of the beast is a barcode that has been stamped or tattoed on your right hand or forehead (old light) a microchip containing your identity that has been inserted in your right hand. This is because the ancient language depicts 666 to mean the same thing as 'to prick.' As in to prick this microchip in your right hand or forehead.
By the way, the wild beast whose mark you will be receiving is R-O-N-A-L-D W-I-L-S-O-N R-E-A-G-A-N because all three of his names has 6 letters (old light, because the man has now been dead for years) is a supercomputer in Belgium known as the B.E.A.S.T. (Belgian Electronic Accounting
Surveillance Terminal) which will have a complete record of every man, woman, and child on the planet. The numbers 666 means three sets of 6 numbers that will make each and every person's identity.