Posts by JeffT

26

Did having kids make your decision to leave easier or harder?

by Comatose in

jw
friends

i was thinking about a few things confusedandalone said the other day.

i mirrored his thinking identically.

for me it was having kids that made my decision to leave an easier one.. if i had no children, i might still be in and just going through the motions.

JeffT

My children are the reason I left the Watchtower. In the Spring of 1988 the oldest was twelve, his sister was eleven, youngest was three. The two older kids were doing VERY well in school. At a CA in February we got one of the big lectcure about how close the end was and why we shouldn't waste our time on education and careers. I thought about how I gave up pursuing my Master's degree because the end was so close (1975) and how I'd gone back to school to try to get a better job.

I remember sitting there thinking "this is nuts, if the end of the world is coming so soon, doesn't have to actually get here?" That was the start of my exit.

50

What Would a Country Run by Evangelical Christianity Look Like?

by cofty in

on an earlier thread i made the statement that, "an evangelical christian government would look a lot like the taliban".. laika asked me incredulously, "do you really think your friends from your old church would govern like the taliban!?".

i thought it was a really interesting question and might work as a separate thread.. the people i worshipped with were mostly a nice bunch of people, but the thought of them having secular power would make me shudder.. christianity is mostly harmless because it lacks power.

christian politicians are restrained by secular laws and constitutions.

JeffT

"Evangelical" is a big term. If everybody decided to put "Evangelicals" in charge of everything, the first thing that would happen would be a big civil war to decide who the real evangelicals are.

edited to add,

With any luck somebody would start by taking out the Westboro baptists, for target practice if nothing else.

164

Did Cedars manipulate Lee into having a thread closed?

by cedars in

i will happily answer this question if there can be some guarantees this thread won't be deleted..

JeffT

With respect, if you don't find the thread interesting, don't open or comment on it.

I didn't say it wasn't interesting, I think its immature. If you were my AA sponsee I'd tell you to write down everything that happened with the provision that the only names and pronouns you can use are your own. (IE no "Simon did this" "you did that" it would all be "I")

Try it, its a useful exercise in coming to grips with where you were when everything was happening to you.

164

Did Cedars manipulate Lee into having a thread closed?

by cedars in

i will happily answer this question if there can be some guarantees this thread won't be deleted..

JeffT

This isn't a message board, its a time machine. I'm back in Jr High School. This happened SIX MONTHS AGO. Cedars, don't you think this dead horse has been beaten enough?

29

Did Jehovah's Witnesses Plagiarize HWA's False Prophecy Of 1975?

by Bangalore in

did jehovah's witnesses plagiarize hwa's false prophecy of 1975?.

http://livingarmstrongism.blogspot.com/2013/10/did-jehovahs-witnesses-plagiarize-hwas.html.

bangalore.

JeffT

I was converted and baptized in 1973. 1975 was the only thing anybody talked about.

60

A one sentence reply that could jolt a JW

by HBH in

jw
friends

my mind was wandering last night, and i though of this as a reply to a jw.. "oh, your the people who believe 8 men in brooklyn, ny are directing the world's only true religion.".

the sentence is a fact that they can't deny, but clearly shows delusion.

any other one sentence "stingers"?.

JeffT

Several years ago a couple of JW's (I think elders from their look). I told them that, as a Christian, I could not follow a religion that taught that Jesus was not my mediator. When they said they did teach them that, I asked when their doctrine changed. They said they always taught that and I told them to go look it up in the 1979 WT and get back to me. Never saw them again, but I wonder if they looked.

15

WT simplifying dates? other thought on Dec 15 edition.

by prologos in

jw
friends

trivial but interesting:.

1) page 23 : simplified memorial date : 4 numbers only: 14 / 4/ 20 14 -or- 4 / 14 / 20 14 -or- 20 14 / 4 / 14. it is only numerology, and if you switched between julian& gregorian calenders, the order would disappear , yet if we could have an eclipse too, like we had in the 60s in eastern north america, icing on the cake.. 2) the front cover, two huge stones piled in the back yard of the house, precariously perched.

perhaps an attempt to please god through service 6000 bc.

JeffT

Here's the front cover he's talking about. I think somebody just took a picture that's supposed to look like field service in Africa.

192

New Homo erectus Skull Shakes up Palaeontology

by cofty in

a fantastic homo erectus skull has been found in georgia - no not our former colony, the one in asia.. it is one of 5 that have been found at a site in dmanisi, it's the first homo erectus to be found outside of africa and it is in excellent condition.

the fossils are dated at 1.8 million years ago and comparisions of the specimens have thrown doubt over the details of human evolution.. it is possible that species previously named as h rudolfensis , h gautengensis , h ergaster and possibly h habilis were actually all h erectus.

the natural variation withing the species may be greater than thought previously.. the "lumpers" and the "splitters" are going to have plenty to argue about for years to come.. note to creationists - please read the article carefully.

JeffT

so let me get this straight.

Watchtower "new light" = baaaaaaaaaad

Mormon "new light = baaaaaaaaaaad

Scientific "new light" = gooooooood

Well the first two aren't backed by anything, its just made up. Science, as pointed out above, is about discovering new facts. This isn't a new version of a myth, its a better understanding of the real world. When I was a kid, Jupiter had twelve moons. Now it has about 40 because we can see them through better instruments and satelittes.

30

Well an Elder told me why all the new revised NWT bibles are grey/gray in color

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

while in discussion with an elder from my old congregation, he asked if i had been given an opportunity to see the new bibles yet.. i told him yes that a family member had showed me one a few days back and some of the improvements (changes) that were in it.. as our conversation went along he asked me what i thought of the color.

i said well its certainly different from the black cover i was so used to or even going back further a few decades the green covered bibles when i was a child.

(we both got a chuckle out of that).

JeffT

Since about 1900 warships have been painted grey because it makes them harder to see. A number of armies use grey uniforms for the same reason.

Maybe the WTBS will hope nobody sees it.

2

Archeology: Was the Thera volcano explosion the source of Atlantis myths?

by fulltimestudent in

bettany hughes is producing a program on atlantis for the bbc.. here's some of her claims.

is a volcanic explosion that destroyed thera, the basis of plato's story?.

around 1620bc the greek island of thera (now known as santorini) blew sky high.

JeffT

I've been reading about Thera for years. I think this idea is widely accepted as at least plausible. It may also be the source of many other ancient stories including some other strange accounts, including the flood.