Posts by DanaBug

29

The King of the North and the King of the South. What gives?

by dgp in

if i understood correctly, one of the ideas advanced as proof of jehovah's witnesses beliefs is that of the kings of the north and the south.

i didn't understand much of it, to a large extent because i think it's nonsense, but something else i did find curious.. the king of the north was the soviet union, and the king of the south were the united states.

i am not sure the soviet union is "north" of the united states in any sense (think of alaska), but, that aside, what kind of theological distress resulted when the king of the north crumbled to pieces?

DanaBug

It's hogwash, that's my opinion. Things like this make people blind to the good. Like the Berlin Wall coming down or the end of the Cold War, that was a good thing. Protests in the Middle East are really good for those people if they end up with democratic governments. Instead, you have all these Witnesses wondering if Armageddon is around the corner. What is actually progress is turned into hope for the end of this system and the deaths of millions. Cra-zay.

Didn't the king of the south include Britain and it was called the Anglo-American world power?

16

Help w/ Bible Teach ch 9 section "Major Developments of the Last Days"

by InterestedOne in

i'm in ch 9 in my study, and we will go over the section "major developments of the last days" (pars 6-9) next week.

although i don't see anything special in pars 7-9, i think par 6 allows the jw's to strike a chord with people, and i was wondering if anyone could help me with how to respond to it.

they are able to quote real figures in that paragraph such as "three times as many people fell victim to war in [the 20th] century as in all the wars from the first century ad to 1899.".

DanaBug

How do they define victims of war?

Check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll

And this has lots of sources for before the 20th century http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm

Adding up the low numbers (wiki, first chart) for before the 20th century gets 189 million casualties. After 20th cen it's 70.3. Then you can add in genocides including the holocaust and famines. There were more famines before the 20th cen but greater casualties because of China. But then you can add in victims of colonization like Native Americans and Asia and the slave trade. Honestly, I think that quote is bogus and you could probably verify that by finding the source.

11

So my dad called today...

by DanaBug in

we had a tornado watch today.

my dad called to check on us and tell us they had what he thought was a tornado near their house.

the tops of some trees went missing.

DanaBug

like george strait said "love without end"...amen

I think it fell under "necessary family business". No, he'd never conduct my wedding, they wouldn't even be there. They weren't at my sister's wedding or at any of their grandkids births. It's funny how the love peeks through every once in a while though. I bet it hurts to suppress that all the time. Sometimes I want to be pissed off but I end up just feeling sorry for them. Maybe that's a good sign.

16

Help w/ Bible Teach ch 9 section "Major Developments of the Last Days"

by InterestedOne in

i'm in ch 9 in my study, and we will go over the section "major developments of the last days" (pars 6-9) next week.

although i don't see anything special in pars 7-9, i think par 6 allows the jw's to strike a chord with people, and i was wondering if anyone could help me with how to respond to it.

they are able to quote real figures in that paragraph such as "three times as many people fell victim to war in [the 20th] century as in all the wars from the first century ad to 1899.".

DanaBug

Ask him for that source so you can see it. Also, wouldn't there be more victims since there are more people and the wars involved several countries? Are there actually more wars now than back then or are there more people involved? Maybe ask him how far back war victim/casualty records go? Can they even make that statement if we don't have enough evidence for that time period?

Imo, if any period of time fit the last days I think it's the dark ages. Things really sucked back then. Glad I'm alive now.

11

So my dad called today...

by DanaBug in

we had a tornado watch today.

my dad called to check on us and tell us they had what he thought was a tornado near their house.

the tops of some trees went missing.

DanaBug

We had a tornado watch today. My dad called to check on us and tell us they had what he thought was a tornado near their house. The tops of some trees went missing. He called my df'd sister to check on her too. It kind of took me by surprise.

And then I wondered...would he call to see if we're okay when Armageddon starts?

FTR, I know it won't ever happen. But darn it! I'm dying to ask him that, lol!

49

"We are all atheists ...

by Nickolas in

... about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in.

some of us just go one god further.".

dawkins raises a point which some, if not many, theists will dismiss as irrelevant, but i am not exactly sure why.

DanaBug

When we understand that we are on our own and feel no fear about it we will be able to solve the problems of mankind that we expect God to solve for us.

I agree, especially when I look around at the amazing things we've done so far. No God involved, just humans. We're capable of so much. It's time for humankind to grow up. I hope I see it in my lifetime.

43

Young people, you can die if you do not progress in the truth and become baptized.

by garyneal in

this is what the guest speaker was saying at my wife's hall yesterday.

she and i was babysitting our niece and since she had three kids going to the hall with her (including my two daughters) i figured i'd go with her to help out.

they were rambuctious and wild to say the least.. while i was in the hallway with my youngest daughter, i continued to listen to the speaker talk.

DanaBug

If someone's home were about to be swept away by raging floodwaters and you were entrusted with the task to warn them of the danger, you wouldn't tap on their door and say, "Can you picture yourself in a dryer place where no one has to worry about floods? Wouldn't a place like that be swell? Maybe I can stop back next week and give you one tiny detail about avoiding floods. Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm just a volunteer and any donations you can provide to further my work will be appreciated." NO! You would beat their door down and scream at them to get to safety! You would cut out all the BS and give them exactly what they need to know to get saved.

Saving this one!

43

Young people, you can die if you do not progress in the truth and become baptized.

by garyneal in

this is what the guest speaker was saying at my wife's hall yesterday.

she and i was babysitting our niece and since she had three kids going to the hall with her (including my two daughters) i figured i'd go with her to help out.

they were rambuctious and wild to say the least.. while i was in the hallway with my youngest daughter, i continued to listen to the speaker talk.

DanaBug

Faith motivates you to works, but they're not what saves you.

There is not one example in the Bible of a child being baptized. Why is that? There are examples of children who loved God and stayed faithful to him. Imo, child baptism takes the seriousness and responsibility away from dedication. If you're going to dedicate your life to God, you'd better make sure you can live up to that first; and that's not something children have the mental capability or experience to figure out. If you're a child, you might very much love God and want to serve him you're whole life. But I would say, you're doing it more out of fear and hoping that symbol is enough to stop God from killing you (and making your parents happy) since you lack that capability.

20

Did you feel this way?

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

these two comments are from a jw message board.

the comments were to an article posted about the uprising in greece.. .

this is so sad, but you no we are very, very, very close to the end of this system.i am so glad because i hate this system and satan along with it.

DanaBug

My brother and I once had a conversation as teenagers about who would survive Armageddon. I thought that only God would know why someone didn't join the JWs and there were a number of reasons why they wouldn't that we could think of; but ultimately it was up to him and I trusted he was loving and merciful. We agreed that since he could read hearts, and people are generally good, most everyone would survive; except for truly evil people. I never wanted to see Armageddon, I did look forward to the afterward. Of course, I never stopped to think about the dead bodies to clean up or children being killed as the WTBS taught.

35

Does anyone out there understand how i feel?

by TimothyT in

my name is tim, im 23, from the uk, and im currently a jw!.

ok... to cut a long story short... i love serving jehovah but ive begun now to embrace my sexuality as a gay man.. although im still attending the meetings, praying to jehovah and trying my hardest, i can no longer lie to myself about my sexuality.. i have had enough of feeling depressed and confused now - its killing me!!!.

does anyone else know what i feel like?

DanaBug

((((Timothy))) and welcome to the forum!

I have had enough of feeling depressed and confused now - Its killing me!!!

I felt the same way but for different reasons. There are people here who've been in your situation. Maybe an important question to ask is if God wants you to feel this way over something you can't change.

Check out these threads http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/205480/1/Does-Genesis-19-condemn-Homosexuality http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/204270/1/Defending-homosexuality-as-NOT-a-choice

Josh's story http://www.freeminds.org/sociology/sexuality/growing-up-as-a-gay-jehovah-s-witness.html