Posts by Mad Sweeney

17

Need your suggestions

by angel.face in

hey guys,.

hoping to get your input.. i had a conversation with my dh recently and i asked him what would need to happen for him to question his belief system.

he said that something unscripted needs to be taught by the society.. now there are many things i can bring up...i have heard you suggest not to argue with doctrine...but he is asking for it.

Mad Sweeney

I like both Sab and Desirous' suggestions. You may add to Sab's the idea that Jesus waited until he was 30 and the Borg is dunking little kids.

Does your husband "take the lead" in "Family Worship Night"? Ask him if he would be willing to take the next year and dedicate "Family Worship Night" to reading and discussing the Bible ALONE without ANY literature. You can take turns choosing what scriptures/passages to read and discuss.

If you can get him to agree, then we will have plenty of suggestions for you. If he is unwilling to address God's Word free from the chains of Watchtower interpretation then you're extremely unlikely to reach him via the scriptures. But if he's willing to JUST READ the Bible and discuss what it SAYS, not what the publishing cult in New York interprets it to mean, then you have some hope.

66

The Impact of Leaving

by leavingwt in

jw
friends

i would like to share the information below with newer members and lurkers.

we're not insensitive to what you're now going through.

many of us have been in your position.

Mad Sweeney

Awesome thread.

Quendi, mad props on the Ulysses quote! One of my favorites. I would add to it Invictus:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

38

Do you believe in past lives??

by watersprout in

jw
friends

i am currently studying for my ''crystal therapy'' diploma and in the last module which is next month it looks at ''past life'' regression... well i for one do not believe in living before so will probably doze off during this last module... anyway i have been told by some people i know that i have been here before... apparently i ''date'' back to ''atlantis''... i found it very difficult to hold back my giggles so i said ''really, i always thought i was brand new''... to which started a discussion on past lives.. i just wondered if any of you lovely folk believed in past lives and had ever had any of this type of regression done??

i may not believe in it, but if it helps someone heal from emotional trauma then good for them and i'm really happy for that one.. just wanted some thought's on the subject.. peace.

Mad Sweeney

I like the "past atoms" comment.

Most of the atoms on this planet are recycled over and over - only a small amount of "new" matter reaches earth from space. I don't "believe in" anything but I also don't rule out the possibility of some sort of "atomic memory" going on. Do molecules from a person become part of soil which nourishes grass which is eaten by a cow which is eaten by another person? Perhaps quite regularly. At this point, however, there is no reason to think (no evidence) atoms and molecules from a living being possess ability to "remember" beyond the death of that being.

So if it was real, that's probably how it would work (because there is even less evidence for a spirit world-afterlife) but pending evidence I see no reason to believe in it.

On a different but related note. We can't even trust our OWN memories of THIS life as accurate representations of true events. Remembering OTHER lives in the PAST would be a crap-shoot even if it was real.

38

Who is Rolf Furuli?

by possible-san in

is he a reliable scholar?.

(most of anti-jehovah's witnesses in japan hardly know his name.).

is he an active jehovah's witness?.

Mad Sweeney

You are correct, possible, that he is an example of Watchtower "double standard." They do this with their attorneys, as well.

Thank you to everyone who added details to this thread. Very interesting stuff.

As for whether he is popular or known among Jehovah's Witnesses, in the USA the answer is NO. I never heard of him until I was researching OUTside the Watchtower.

17

Would Christianity have survived if......

by wobble in

...........the roman empire had not adopted it ?

they were far from being in the majority at the time,although growth had taken place over a large area, but within that area they were still a minority religion, often an underground one.. so hypothetically, would it just have withered and died, have torn itself to shreds with all the schisms and sects ?.

i think that without the power of rome it would have done just that, perhaps the coptic church may have survived until the 21st century and perhaps the eastern churches, but the western ?

Mad Sweeney

This talk of Mithras makes me want to re-read Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy again.

87

Watchtower STUDY EDITION - Vehicle for Vitriol and REALLY crazy statements?

by punkofnice in

is it me or do i notice that all the weird and hateful cultish statements are now appearing in the 'study edition' washtowels?.

anointed are nuts - august 15, 2011 watchtower (the study edition) pg 22 qfr: memorial partakers.

this is the number.

Mad Sweeney

any random person can just walk in off the street on Sunday and get a free copy of the article for the meeting?

I call BS. If congregations are found to be ordering extra magazines they're going to get a good "talking to" by the CO when he comes. The current arrangement is that the study issues are just like the Kingdom Ministry. The congregation orders the number it needs and NO MORE. A visitor can look on with someone else if they choose, or maybe a slacker JW didn't get theirs yet and there's an extra or two lying around in back, BUT THAT'S NOT THE PROPER THEOCRATIC ARRANGEMENT.

104

Father Elders going mad !

by koolaid-man in

jw
friends

the stress on jehovah's witness elders raising their children in "the truth" is causing many to literally go mad.. keeping their children in " the spiritual ark" is becoming more and more difficult.. many elders are snapping under the pressure.. one of our guests on the six screens conference call told of her elder father ( who everyone at the kingdom hall thought was an angel) came home from the meeting and killed the family dog in the kitchen with his bookbag as the family looked on....... join us tonight oct. 22, 2011 at 7 pm edt.

.... our guest will be wendy lee tucker former jw whose father was an elder and terribly abused her physically and emotionally.. she received horrific beatings..... hit with a bat, punched at, receiving a broken nose and became a prisoner in her home.. wendy was looked in her room with the doors being nailed shut when the family went off to the kingdom hall.. a far cry fom being a "spiritual paradise".

it is easy to get on the call....no computer is necessary.... just dial 712-432-8710 and when asked for pin use 9925. our lines open at 6:30 pm edt.....so come on early and talk with all those who have been "touched by the tentacles of the watchtower".

Mad Sweeney

The charitible planning thing is a great idea for a show, Zid.

38

Who is Rolf Furuli?

by possible-san in

is he a reliable scholar?.

(most of anti-jehovah's witnesses in japan hardly know his name.).

is he an active jehovah's witness?.

Mad Sweeney

He was probably reliable when he was working in his field of expertise (which I believe is ancient languages). I don't remember all the details for sure but I think he became a JW and then started using his educated credentials to write articles and books supporting 607BCE as the date for the destruction of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, he isn't an expert in the fields of history, anthropology, or ancient Assyria. Everything he claims stems around just a couple key points that don't actually prove anything and are completely rebuffed by Carl Olof Jonsson.

There is little doubt that the Borg used his input for its Watchtower articles this autumn because he is quite literally the only reputable scholar of any type who believes those assertions and supports them that way.

45

Witness plays Gov. Body Samuel Herd talk for me.....is he mentally ill??

by Witness 007 in

governing body member samuel heard talk -are you ready for the finishing line?.

so my witness "friend" plays this talk to show how near armagedon is.

his 18 y.o daughter said "it was scary" well shocking!

Mad Sweeney

If this is indeed CO Elwood Johnson and NOT Sam Herd, Randy at freeminds would almost certainly want to know about it.

42

Could The Watchtower and Awake Collapse?

by metatron in

jw
friends

this is not a prophesy, folks, but rather a train of thought to pursue about the organization, especially in light of its recent legal problems.. could the magazines collapse?

the watchtower is published in 188 languages?

and the awake a rather huge number as well?.

Mad Sweeney

I wonder what a non-Borg conversation with one of those goobers would be like. Do they know anything about ANYthing other than the Watchtower's isolated world?