if god is like a loving father why did he set up a way for adam and eve to possibly fail by putting the "magic tree" in the garden?
if my dad sabotaged his kids this way or felt the need to test our love him he'd be considered an abusive father.. when god put an angel with a spinning sword in front of the entrance to the garden why didn't a&e walk a few miles down from there and climb over the wall ?
was there a wall ?.
As a kid:
I wondered why I couldn't do anything fun.
I wondered why those of little means were treated as second class to those of better means.
I wondered why no one seemed to like mentioning Jesus.
I wondered why my dad was supposed to die in the big A since he's a pretty cool guy.
All sorts of stuff.
im not sure i understand why we do this.
i met r.franz after i left jws and meeting him was a nice experience.
it was a kind of turning point in my life and i guess his books helped put the final nail in the coffin of my departure from jws.
I recall some praying for God to forgive those killing them & praying to be able to endure whatever type of persecution.
I don't recall anyone in the Bible praying for anyone else about to die. I think that may be a spin off of the ancient Egyptians & Greeks.
this is an excerpt from the final talk of the day, "remain in the secret place of the most high".
i looked around as this explanation was being offered up, and the looks on the faces of people there was mostly disinterest.
this is a very convoluted explanation that reminds me of someone running a con and trying to cobble together an explanation to deal with legitimate objections to their false claims.. http://www.sendspace.com/file/dodp4w.
I could sooo not listen to that whole file. I'll try again when I'm drunk.
Thanx for the file.
last week (i left on 5-17-10) i was sent to juneau to work i took about 5 gb worth of pictures and a few short video clips.
the camera was a nikon coolpix l22, it's a pretty decent little camera.
unfortunately it had a dust spot or two under the lens.
Nice snaps. Beautiful place.
Too bad it rains too much and is dark near 6 months out of a year. (aka forever night)
when i fell for him i was completely unaware of his upbringing as a jw and only became aware once he decided to leave a few months back.
being raised without much of a religious basis, besides the typical western christian exposure, i have researched, read, attended groups, read in this forum, to try to better understand him, and jws, but i am feeling at a loss here.
he just recently left the jws and now i am experiencing this struggle with him; i am wondering how much of our problems can be contributed to this transition.
Sheesh!!! This guy is only your BF right? He curses you already? Are you crazy?!!
Kick him to the curb before you become his punching bag. [I'm serious.]
He has zero respect for you.
the watchtower has been known for over 130 years as a great scriptural cherry-picker.
they pick out disparate unrelated verses and combine them to support the wackiest of wacky doctrines.. on the other hand there are many scriptures they almost never address, whether because they contradict wt doctrine or because they simply don't have a clue what they mean or how to spin them to the wt advantage.. one of these is revelation 19:1 that mentions a "great crowd" "in heaven.
" the only time it is ever brought up it is dismissed.
GodsWord
Duet 18:
19 Whoever refuses to listen to the words that prophet speaks in my name will answer to me.
20 But any prophet who dares to say something in my name that I didn't command him to say or who speaks in the name of other gods must die."
21 You may be wondering, "How can we recognize that the LORD didn't speak this message?"
22 If a prophet speaks in the LORD's name and what he says doesn't happen or come true, then it didn't come from the LORD. That prophet has spoken on his own authority. Never be afraid of him.
this is a complex question, and i just want to get a discussion started on the message of jehovah's witnesses and how it relates to their adventist roots, and esp calvinism.. bear with me, i will try to be concise.. we all know that while jehovah's witnesses like to deny adventist roots, that it is clear that according to them, the man jesus selected to get the whole thing started, c t russell, was heavily influenced by adventist ideas, esp the (adventist) idea that has really never left them; the idea that somehow, a time date or period can be inferred from the bible if you read certain scriptures through an adventist lens.
(thus, the 2520 years, 7 gentile times, etc.).
so while this is relatively well known, there is a concept that jehovah's witnesses teach against, yet practice.
Whatever the case of theology, I know the JWs got that crazy invisible return and 'end times' insanity from William Miller (Millerites).
after leaving this religion has there been anything that you have done that is completely separate, or negative from their belief/control system.
yet from a worldy viewpoint you make a difference,,, a positive stamp in some aspect of everyday life ?.
for an example to get things started, one thing that i have done is trained my dog to help people in the hospital.
Yeah, I actually help people now.
It feels good to actually DO something for other people without any conditions ... simlpy seeing a real need and filling it.
Thinking about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Imagine finally building something that actually benefits someone.
I'm so wicked and gonna die.
i just wanted to introduce myself.
my name is chris and i'm on my way out of the only "society" i've known.. i was raised a witness and have been a ministerial servant for a while now.
i recently notified the elder body that i will be stepping down and it will soon be official.
Welcome Chris!
Take your time.
i saw a jw girl i used to work with a few weeks back who was married for about 8 years and has 2 children , she was in a right state and told me her husband had just left her for a work collegue and said he no longer loved her !
within a month i see her again and she took him back within a wk of him going to live with this other woman , she told me she blamed herself for not having sex often enough !and they were working on their marriage !
why would you want someone who said they no longer loved you ?
Weird how JWs have "mates" like donkeys and dogs instead of husbands/wives.
I see more JW ladies marrying "outside" now because what's available "inside" isn't worth the bother. "Two becoming one" means there is mutual respect and dignity.
You can't get that when one is drilled to be seen as inferior to the other - that there type of relationship is called master/slave.
