Posts by Joseph Joachim

20

Preparing the sheep for Dateline

by expatbrit in

here's a quote from purlanguage.net regarding a recent special assembly day:.

our speaker from bethel told us that something big is coming from the apostates in the next few weeks, something is afoot.

also to prepare for outright persecution in the united states, as well as elsewhere.

Joseph Joachim

when I post websites about the JWs, who come into their neighborhoods and knock on their doors, wanting to gain ENTRANCE to start "home bible studies" who merely RELOCATE known and admitted molesters to a new area to "knock on more doors"........doesn't this ALARM anyone?

Sunspot, if this was the tone of your posts, no wonder they were deleted, because you're well off the mark.

Tell me, were you a JW or not? If you were, did you go door to door or not? If you did, were you just trying to find new kids to sexually molest? Or were you really convinced that you had "the truth" and you were saving people's lives? Personally, I was in the last category, and I think 99% of the dubs are.

When people in this board generalize and call JW hypocrites, with no distinctions, I wonder if that doesn't tell more about themselves than about the dubs they are critizising.

8

I don't understand the logic of religion

by Leander in

jw
friends

if you ask a jw why does god allow suffering, more than likely you'll get the response that god has allowed satan and mankind to follow their own course to prove that only god has the right to govern over man.

for a long time i accepted that answer as being correct and i never even took the time to really think about what that meant.

now however when i reason on that logic i realize that it does'nt make sense.

Joseph Joachim

Of course as it is written in the bible Job remained faithful

That's not entirely true. That's only the simplistic way fundamentalists (including JW) interpret the book of Job but it isn't that simple. Job and Ecclesiastes are probably the most subtle books in the OT, and have been called "the agnostic books" for a reason. It's true that Job doesn't curse God as his wife wanted, but he insists in his inocence and the unfairness of his situation. In other words, he questions God's justice. That is the core of the book of Job, God's justice, not Job's faith. Note that in the final chapter God does not tell Job why all those bad things happened to him. What God tells him, simply put, is: "don't question my ways; there's a reason for everything, but you wouldn't understand it".

18

Offer to Reconcile

by Amazing in

jw
friends

this will be my last new thread for a while.

i am not leaving, but plan to confine my comments to the threads started by others.

i will finish my jfr-trial series elsewhere, and maybe at some time in the future i will post the balance here.. a plan: over the weekend, i watched the threads bouncing up and down on the active screen, and saw some very good ideas.

Joseph Joachim

Amazing said (if I'm not hallucinating):
I will leave it to you to contact an attorney in your jurisdiction to determine if your posted words constitute a chargeable offense.

I offer a more realistic alternative: seek political asylum at the Swiss Embassy. I can give you shelter in my apartment for one or two months.

~ Josef Joachim

PS: The invitation above is extended only to good-looking, single men under 35.

10

Goodbyes

by rhett in

jw
friends

why do people feel the need to tell everyone that they're not going to be posting here anymore?

you wanna stop posting here, fine, stop posting.

i just always see people saying "i'm leaving" (how can you leave a discussion board?

Joseph Joachim

Why do people feel the need to tell everyone that they're not going to be posting here anymore?

I've been wondering about that, too. I guess they feel they are part of a community or something. Some of them have even made friends here. Honestly, I think these are people with some emotional issues, but I understand them and respect them. I don't think they're only trying to draw attention to themselves.

16

I'm sorry but here is another goodbye...

by Mindchild in

jw
friends

i've been depressed big time over all the fights, attacks, flame wars, bickering, complaining and what have you that seems to dominate the board these days.. i've just decided that there is no point in my bringing down myself any further and that i don't have anything of value to offer here, especially since it takes as much emotional effort to insulate myself from my friends behaving badly, that i just can't seem to offer much in the way of positive vibes.. i will check back some time (maybe a month or so0 down the road to see if this place has gotten any more mellow and friendly but until then.... hasta la vista and the best of luck to you.

any who wants can still drop me email.. goodbye,.

skipper

Joseph Joachim

If your determination to leave this board is as strong as Farkel's or Amazing's, all I can say is: See you next week!

~ Josef Joachim

20

TO ANSWER WHY WE WENT TO KINGDOM HALL TO EAT!

by JUSTAMOM in

jw
friends

hello to everyone today.

some of you asked why in the world we go to the kingdom hall to partake of the emblems at memorial when we don't believe in them anymore?

was it just to cause an irritation?

Joseph Joachim

The spirit of Jah that dwells in us moved us to try and HELP our loved ones and friends.

I already posted a reply in your previous thread. Now I see more clearly that you are trying to make a point. Yet I don't understand how a person who has been associated with the Witnesses for 3 decades cannot see the futility of this all. My advice, for what is worth: give it up. But if you insist, next time you try to help your friends try to see things from their point of view. This shouldn't be difficult for someone who spent so many years in "the truth"; just switch your brain back to "Borg-mode". I do this all the time, it's a useful intellectual exercise.

But as I said, I think there's little you can do to help. Personally, what I do for my family is to show them that I can live a perfectly happy life outside the WT, and I make it very clear that I'm not going back because I don't need it and I don't believe it anymore. Yet by attending the Memorial you're doing exactly the opposite; you're giving the impression that somehow you still need the WT.

21

IS EVERYONE REALLY WELCOME TO THE MEMORIAL?

by JUSTAMOM in

jw
friends

hello to everyone this memorial season...... yes another memorial season is upon us and a lot of talk and questions as to: how many will eat and drink?

what will be the number?

or is it finally going down?.

Joseph Joachim

I have to agree with YoYoMama on this one. Last year I went to Resurrection Mass in a Catholic Church and partook of the hostia (they don't serve wine though ). As a non-catholic I'm not supposed to do that, but it's a don't ask - don't tell situation because everybody goes up and take it. So my advice for the non-non-partakers is, if you can't just stay home for Easter, why don't you attend some other religious service where everybody partakes and no one will notice.

PS: I'm going to be attending Resurrection Mass in Notre Dame this time around

16

Why do they return?

by Stealth in

jw
friends

there are some jw's who will leave the watchtower orginization for years and then suddenly show back up at the kh often saying they have regrets of leaving and are often heard to say.. "there is nothing out there.".

as i contemplate my official exit from the borg, this question keeps coming up.... what is it that makes these people return to the borg after leaving for years?.

-stealth

Joseph Joachim

It's interesting what TR says about deliberately avoiding to know the truth about the WT. That wasn't my case, but I can understand it. Denial might seem a self-destructive behavior but it's actually self-preserving (at least for a while), because your world is not shaken so completely as otherwise would be. In my case it was a good thing (although as I said, it was not exactly a conscious denial) because I could deal with problems on a first come - first served basis.

16

Why do they return?

by Stealth in

jw
friends

there are some jw's who will leave the watchtower orginization for years and then suddenly show back up at the kh often saying they have regrets of leaving and are often heard to say.. "there is nothing out there.".

as i contemplate my official exit from the borg, this question keeps coming up.... what is it that makes these people return to the borg after leaving for years?.

-stealth

Joseph Joachim

What is it that makes these people return to the Borg after leaving for years?

It depends on the reasons why you left in the first place. Someone who left for doctrinal disagreements will most likely not go back, because he knows there's nothing of value in what the WTS offers. Now if someone left for sexual issues (like I did, following the majority I think), and they don't find "the truth about the truth", they will probably go back. The everlasting-life-in-paradise thing, as opposed to eternal death, is a very convincing reason to go back if you still believe it.

Personally, I had been out for 4 years and still believed it was "the Truth", until I accidentally discovered Randy's homepage. During those 4 years I lived a perfectly happy life, but I was completely uninterested in religion. Or more to the point, I was completely convinced that the JW had the truth and there was nothing of value outside (religiously speaking), so I didn't bother looking for something different.

It's amazing, now that I look back, how powerful mind control is, especially when you were raised a JW.

6

JW Mark II - Attack from the Right?

by Max Divergent in

jw
friends

" earth's final warning: chaos increases day by day.

famine, floods, disease, wars, hatred and violence are everywhere.

where will it all end?

Joseph Joachim

I wonder if the WTS is just as vulnerable from the conservative 'Right'?

Max, in Latin America and Europe there's nothing to the right of the WTS; perhaps the Opus Dei in sexual morality, but otherwise they are too far apart to pose a threat to each other.

I think the main reason why the WTS has survived more than a century is that it is virtually unique in its socio-religious niche. They are like koalas, in a certain way. Too specialised and too inflexible, but with no competitors.