let's say there is a new law.. once each year the leader(s) of any religious group have to answer 20 questions in public on tv posed by their critics.. twenty questions are allowed for a one hour presentation.. of course, we would expect softball answers.
except for one thing: the questioner can press a "bullshit" button!.
that would mean the question is repeated and another answer was called for.
"There are hundreds of thousands of bacteria living in my ass I can't explain either but it doesn't damage my faith in my religion"
Why would it damage his faith since his faith isn't built around specific and time sensitive information his religion claims to have regarding the bacteria in his ass. His faith is based on specific information regarding creation and where we are in the stream of time in terms of God's plans for mankind. His religion claims that we are in the last days and the only way to be saved is to follow their lead and trust their every word. The trouble is, science has proved their timeline to be inaccurate which therefore leads one to question whether this organization is guided by God at all and causes one to wonder what else they are wrong about.
Does this change make the dedications/baptisims from the past, like mine, null and void ?
They probably weren't valid in the first place since Jesus (the Son of God) never made anyone answer manditory questions or read a bunch of his publications before he allowed them to dedicate their lives to his own Father.
in a discussion with some other dear ones, the question was asked as to what such ones put their faith in.
in response to one comment that"one can't function without faith," another disagreed, stating ones can, that "many do so every day... the ones who have trust" (in things like the sun rising in the east versus the west).
that trust extended to "faith" based "on nature and the natural order of things.
To me trust is earned and trust is based on past experience and current information.
Faith seems to be a "knowing" that transcends physical evidence. Unfortunately some people say they have faith when in reality its a way for them to feel smug about not wanting to bother to look any further into a matter.
I was in Bethel back in the late 70's and I still have these really really dreadful dreams that I've "signed on" for another stint there. The setting of the dream is that I did my time at Bethel then came home, got a good job, but then for some reason I find out I've mistakenly agreed to go back. In the dream I arrive back at Bethel and immediatey am filled with a sickening remorse about it. Aside from having no job to go to, I can't get out of this without absolutely shaming and embarrasing my family and wind up being on Jehovahs number one enemys list. Im obligated and trapped and there's no way around it. The odd thing is I didn't altogether hate my time at Bethel. Although I definetly wanted to do my year and leave, most of the time it was just fine. I'm puzzled as to why this dream keeps happening and why it is so disturbing to me. It's such a releif to wake up in the morning and realize that it's only a dream I'm free of all that heavy obligation and guilt. There is this other dream I have where I am in High School and I'm standing on a table in the cafeteria wearing a pair of Lederhosen and singing song number 48.....but that's another story altogether.
i understand the whole playing their game by writing a letter but i feel as though im still playing thier game by still being tech a "jw" by not being da or dfed we live in the basement apartment of her parents and im not trying give more info so i cant just fade i have tryed .so so frustrating lol i have to try to be positive or i will lose my mind.
It seems like this is ego/pride thing more than anything else. I understand completly needing to be in charge of the situation and not wanting to let them off the hook for their misleading and unscriptural ways without you getting the satisfaction of putting your two cents in. However I think ultimately you'll pay a heavier price for this and they will continue to have the upper hand in the situation. If you fade and tell them nothing about your views of their teachings and are very vague about why you're not at meeting you'll have them over a barrel. You'll be giving them no ammunition...nothing to go on so they'' have no grounds to do whatever it is they do. A letter simply feeds their idea that they have some special authority over you, so much that you were compelled to write them a six page saga explaining yourself to them. The letter will probably be placed in a file somewhere and they'll have it forever. I'd say it's best not to leave a paper trail for them to dredge up against you. Make sure you're in the drivers seat from now on. You already know what happens when you take a back seat to these people.
entire family, 20 others die in fatal accidenttragedy struck weekend in akwa ibom state as a man, his wife and all their children, as well as more than 20 others, all members of the jehovahs witness church, perished in a fatal road accident which occurred, friday, along the utu etim ekpo road in etim ekpo local government area of the state.. forty other members of the church sustained varying degrees of injuries following in the crash which occurred on their way to the jehovahs witness annual convention ground in ikot ekpene local government area of the state.. thisdays gathered that more than 70 members of the church had hired a lorry to convey them from ukanafun local government area to ikot ekpene for the annual district convention which began on friday and billed to end today (sunday) but the journey ended half way with many members of the church dying on the road in the accident.. eyewitnesses alleged that the driver of the lorry conveying the church members to the venue of the convention lost control of the vehicle when he got to utu etim ekpo, the junction opposite the local government secretariat, and hit the stone used to construct the roundabout, thus resulting in the lorry somersaulting, leaving many of its passengers and others wounded.. the corpses and those injured in the accident were said to have been taken to neighbouring hospitals and mortuaries.. one of the eyewitnesses, mr. friday john, said the people who died may have been more than what was seen because a whole family including parents and their children were all trapped in the accident.. we were all here discussing when suddenly the lorry appeared and was looking like the driver had lost control of it.
then the lorry drove straight and hit the stone and somersaulted into the gutter.. many people died, more than 18. in fact, we couldnt count the number because there were many corpses, including husband, wife and children and they were all taken to the mortuary in various hospitals near etim ekpo here, john explained.. in another narration, a secondary school teacher in eka uruk eshiet etim ekpo, mr. ndipmo nkanta, said the lorry boarded by the deceased and the injured passengers was not meant for passengers but goods only.. he blamed the accident on poverty , arguing that if there was a better alternative, such casualties wouldnt have been recorded, especially as they were going to worship god.. the public relations officer of the federal road safety corps, frsc, in the state, mr. godsgift uwen, blamed the incident on over-speeding and overloading by the driver of the lorry.. he said the lorry was not supposed to carry any passenger as it was a meant for goods only but the driver stubbornly used it as a passengers vehicle, which led to the sad incident.. he advised against rush and drunken driving, especially in the yuletide, noting that these are some of the major causes of accidents on the roads..
Meanwhile at Headquarters, the money from contributions to help the poorer countries rolls in, the Stanley Theatre with its frescoed and gold onlay ceiling has JW tourists visiting it by the luxury busload. Why didn't the society, if they insist that people travel from far and wide to hear their wonderful insights, hire a proper bus so poorer members could attend safely? Didn't you think that's what your donations were going for ??? I did ! I'm sure when these folks attend such assemblies, they are expected to fill the "Contribution Box" to pay for the venue it's held in and are expected to send the surplus donations to the Society. This tragedy probably could have all been avoided for less than $100. You can bet this tragedy will be swept under the rug....no "Jehovah blesses those who put him first" yearbook experience can possibly be gleaned from this one, Tossers !
i don't know about you, but i love saturday mornings...now that crawling out of bed on a cold november morning to go and knock on doors is no longer on the agenda.
does that sense of being free ever grow old?
i hope not any time soon at least.. this week we've had quite a few atheist vs believer threads along with speculation on what the actual numbers are on jwn :.
dear family, i want to tell you that although this has been the worst of my lifes tribulations, that i am still standing.. the obvious reason is that jehovah is the faithful keeper of promises holding to his word that never, would his great love allow his precious children to be tested beyond what we could bear.
I'm glad she has something to get her throught this immediate loss but I fear as time wears on and a decade or two passes to a time when she is facing old age and death herself, she will see the loss of her daughter and their lost years together much diffrently. Her rationalization that the longer the newsystem is delayed the more there are that will be saved may not hold up. If she were thinking clearly she'd realize that the longer the delay, the more individuals who will never accept thier truth are being born by the hour.
my dad heard from the co who heard from a do that heard from his brother-in-law that heard from the friend of a governing body's wife, that the gb is getting very concerned that "the friends" are losing sight of the nearness of the panda-petting paradise.
many of these friends are also looking too critically at the "spiritual food" provided by the "faithful slave class.".
don't tell anyone else, but i hear that the gb has begun testing something new on some of the sheeple.
I heard if this program is successful they plan to come out with contact lenses that make the end seem closer for the friends who might be a bit more apperance conscious. The only trouble is the wearer's eyelids would enter a room 5 minutes before the rest of him does.
