TheStumbler

Joined

• started 14 topics
• posted 198 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Topics Started by TheStumbler

• 
  21

  Question for apostates!

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a question.. the conventional wisdom seems to be that to 'convert' a jehovah's witness (or get them to see ttatt) you have to ask questions that they cannot answer and engage with their true personality not their 'cult personality'.. intellectual arguments tend to fall flat because jws (who do not already have personal doubts) believe they already know the absolute truth so anything contrary to that truth is nessecarily wrong.

  any criticism of their beliefs will be seen as an attack or persecution and will be dismissed as flawed 'human thinking' or 'apostate lies'.. to 'true believers' any amount of contrary evidence and illogical inconsistencies in their beliefs can be dismissed or explained away.

  their starting point is that they have special knowledge of absolute truth and all evidence and arguments are then weighed against this preconceived belief.. here is my question.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 
  2

  untitled

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a question.. the conventional wisdom seems to be that to 'convert' a jehovah's witness (or get them to see ttatt) you have to ask questions that they cannot answer and engage with their true personality not their 'cult personality'.. intellectual arguments tend to fall flat because jws (who do not already have personal doubts) believe they already know the absolute truth so anything contrary to that truth is nessecarily wrong.

  any criticism of their beliefs will be seen as an attack or persecution and will be dismissed as flawed 'human thinking' or 'apostate lies'.. to 'true believers' any amount of contrary evidence and illogical inconsistencies in their beliefs can be dismissed or explained away.

  their starting point is that they have special knowledge of absolute truth and all evidence and arguments are then weighed against this preconceived belief.. here is my question.

  1. 
  2. 
• 
  33

  JW drone posted typical JW response about Syria on my Facebook wall

  by TheStumbler in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i like to keep politics and religion off my facebook.

  i have friends.

  colleagues and relatives on there from all different backgrounds.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 
  15

  Question about Jesus and Armageddon

  by TheStumbler in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a question about armageddon.. my understanding is that the watchtower teaches that only jws will survive armageddon.

  following the great trubulation and time of trouble, when the world's forces turn on true religion (jws), god will step in an kill everone (apart from his true followers).. .

  i've been talking to a jw recently who seems to be suggesting that the casualties will be due to human warfare in the great tribulation so will be man's fault - not jehovah's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 
  40

  1914 - It was the end of the world as we knew it - things got much better!

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was having a conversation with a jw relative recently i casually mentioned how much better the world is than a few centuries.

  obviously the jw was incredulous.

  the next day i found an email in my inbox listing a few qoutes from notable people saying how the world has gotten much worse since 1914 and that 1914 was a pivitol year.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 
  40

  January 2013 Watchtower - HAVE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES GIVEN INCORRECT DATES FOR THE END?

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was just on the new jw.org site and i have to say, they've done a good job.

  it looks pretty sleek and is easy to navigate.

  the production values of their magazines (in particular the photos) seems to have improved since i last spent much time on the site.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 
  15

  People are turning away from Babylon the Great?

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was having a casual conversation with a jw family member yesterday and he mentioned some documentary he had recently watched about the catholic church and its cover up of the child sexual abuse scandal in ireland.

  he commented that the church is losing the political influence and control it once had in ireland and that the bible (revelation) prophesised that before the end, people would turn away from babylon the great (false religion).. .

  i disagreed and said that i saw no evidence that people are turning away from religion on a global level.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 
  97

  Elder father sent me an email about Feb 2012 WT - my resposne

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm not sure if any of you will remember but i posted on here six months ago about a correspondence i was having with my dad, an elder, about who would die in armageddon.

  i was asking some tough questions about children being killed in armageddon and i could tell he uncomfortable with the answers he was giving.. i drafted an email in resposne to his email but in the end i decided not to send it in the interest of maintaining friendly relations.. .

  last week, out of the blue, my dad sent an email link to the february 2012 watchtower article about armageddon and said it would answer some of my questions.. here is my response which is a critique of the feb 2012 wt article and some of the broader ethics concerning 'armageddon'.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  'Does your hope rest in science or the Bible and other false dichotomies' Talk Outline

  by TheStumbler in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this one is a bit similar to my previous thread about armagheddon.. i plan to send this email to a jw (elder) close family member and would like to get it screened by the jwn hivemind before hand for corrections and suggestions.. the background to this is that in dec 2010 i asked two jw family members to find out for me if the 7,000 creative day doctrine was still the orgs official position, and if it was dropped why.

  i provided references to how since the 1980's the org only refers to the creative days as being 'thousands' of years long which is consistent with 7,000 years and no official retraction or new light on the matter was made.. last week i emailed them to see if they had looked into it and, going by the response, i think they probably just sat on it.. i emailed and asked them that if i wrote a letter to the organisation, would they send it on my behalf, as a letter sent by an elder would more likely to get a response.

  so, here's my reply:.

• 
  49

  Please reccommend older Watchtower publciations for stumbling purposes

  by TheStumbler in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  first time poster here but i've been lurking a while.. i have a question that i was hoping some of the watchtower historians might be able to answer.

  if a witness was willing to read some of the organisation's older publications, what books would you get them to read and how do i get these books?.

  my family are witnesses and my father is an elder.

  1. 
  2. 
  3.