Posts by garyneal

52

Boyfriend force me to study the bible or no marriage

by MuslimWoman in

my boyfriend, who is a disfellowshipped jehova's witness, asks me to study the bible for 3 months or he won't marry me (i'm a muslim woman).

he loves me and really wants to marry me but he is doing a passive blackmailing: if i don't study for 3 months, 1 time per week, in my home country, and without him, there will be no marriage... as a muslim, i believe the bible is god's word so i look at the bible from time to time and would be happy to study with him.

but the fact that he is kind of saying "study the bible or bye bye no marriage" is really hurtful.

garyneal

This is exactly what I say to myself. But it's hard because I really feel that this hurts him too.. We love each other and I pray God to make my boyfriend opens his eyes about this extrem religion..

Don't count on it. I have been trying to open my wife's eyes for the past 14 years. It took her having an affair, getting disfellowshipped for it, and shunned before she even remotely began to see the extremism of this religion. Even then, though, I think she will eventually go grovelling back just to start talking to her family.

I join the chorus and recommend running from this man.

53

Is Satan Real ?

by jdash in

i've been pondering on this question for awhile now, and i'm starting to think this malevolent spirit creature isn't real.

.

do you guys believe satan is real?

garyneal

This video got me thinking that something is amiss about Satan.

https://youtu.be/j-gbOnWj6Mw

It's like this, JWs do not believe in hellfire and use similar justification.

15

Free Minds Web Site

by garyneal in

jw
friends

anyone know what has happened to freemind.org website?

it's still up but it looks like a shell of the site i remember back five or six year years ago.

if i am not mistaken, i think randy may have taken ill over the years.

garyneal

Yes, he is Dogpatch. I found his site years ago myself and remember the various stories from regular bloggers as well as some anonymous people. It was through his site that I found this site.

Someone PM'd me his direct contact so I will try that route. I also have him as a friend on facebook but even there I have not heard much from him.

15

Free Minds Web Site

by garyneal in

jw
friends

anyone know what has happened to freemind.org website?

it's still up but it looks like a shell of the site i remember back five or six year years ago.

if i am not mistaken, i think randy may have taken ill over the years.

garyneal

Sorry, the link is freeminds.org (with the s), not freemind.org (without the s) but I am sure everyone here knows which site I really meant.

15

Free Minds Web Site

by garyneal in

jw
friends

anyone know what has happened to freemind.org website?

it's still up but it looks like a shell of the site i remember back five or six year years ago.

if i am not mistaken, i think randy may have taken ill over the years.

garyneal

Anyone know what has happened to freemind.org website? It's still up but it looks like a shell of the site I remember back five or six year years ago. If I am not mistaken, I think Randy may have taken ill over the years. It certainly does not look as polished as it used to.

I recall also, about five years ago, he posted here looking for volunteers. I volunteered to help but never heard anything back at the time. Does anyone here know whether or not they are still looking for volunteers?

49

Do religious people fear that their religion may be wrong???

by James Mixon in

because there are so many religions in the world and it is obvious that no matter what the truth is, a large population of people will be wrong about it.

we at one time believe we had the truth and 99% of the world population were in darkness, but i wonder about folks in other religions today.

speaking with a christian friend about this and he told me," that's for god to decide, i hope i'am serving god"...the sad thing about all of this if one die and still believe in his religion, he will never know he was in the wrong religion.

garyneal

When I was religious I did not give much thought to it. I just simply feared that I was not doing enough.

I did sometimes allow my mind to wonder and thought whether or not I could've been wrong. In those situations, I always came back to Pascal's Wager and believed that even if it is not true, it is still the best way to live.

38

Even if it's not the truth, it's still the best way to live

by Simon in

how many times did you hear that gem?

it often went along with "the truth is a protection" which is their way of saying "living a moral life is good for you ... and you can't do that without us".. but think about what people are really saying.

i think the real message is "i know it's not the truth, but i chose to follow it anyway".. it seems like a pre-emptive argument because they know they can't defend it as "the truth" so instead they switch to defending it as a lifestyle.. of course any kind of lifestyle that has a decent moral ingredient to it, respect for law and order, discipline etc... probably increases people's chances of doing better in life, but they don't have a monopoly on it.. so just remember, next time you hear someone saying "even if it's not the truth" what they are really admitting is that they already know it isn't..

garyneal

This whole topic kind of flies in the face of what an elder at my wife's kingdom hall, Brother Smart Engineer, said when I showed him a picture of Pastor Russell's pyramid memorial tomb I took when my wife and I visited Pittsburgh, PA last year. He said that the one thing he loved about the witnesses is that they do not continue to believe in things if they discover the truth about them.

Simply put, "...we don't continue doing things like celebrating Christmas just because it feels good to us..."

Yet this whole phrase, "Even if it's not the truth, it's still the best way to live..." is no different than what they might encounter when a householder says that he or she loves his or her religion and will not change.

My wife has actually said this phrase, a fact that I might point out the next time I have a conversation with that elder, Brother Smart Engineer.

26

Were the apostles of the 'Anointed class' when they partook?

by why144000 in

according to john 20:22 the apostles did not receive the holy spirit until after jesus was resurrected.

wouldn't this make them part of 'the other sheep' when they partook of the bread and wine?.

garyneal

At least that debate starts with non-fiction and considers what might be best for all concerned. Not so with this subject.

LOL The crazy thing is I had the same thought.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/207585/stop-being-naive-time-has-come-use-your-primal-senses

236

84 Lumber Commercial

by azor in

jw
friends

just saw this commercial and was very impressed.

hoping more companies start doing the same.

most of us are immigrants.

garyneal

I'm all for national sovereignty and protecting the borders. This wall though has nationalist populisms dirty little hands all over it.

Who cares. If we had managed to solve the immigration issue some other way then we would not even be considering the wall.

236

84 Lumber Commercial

by azor in

jw
friends

just saw this commercial and was very impressed.

hoping more companies start doing the same.

most of us are immigrants.

garyneal

Garyneal so it's pc to use the n word or words similar to it? No it's people like you who have welcomed hateful rhetoric as refreshing.

Off topic. Explain to me how the problems in Mexico can be fixed so that the Mexican people do not need to cross the border illegally? Yes, ILLEGALLY.

I cannot enter into any other country without going through customs, why should the people of Mexico be given a special pass into America?