Posts by Half banana

41

What is the basis for authority for the governing body?

by Half banana in

a word to jehovahs witnesses: what is the basis for the authority the seven members of the governing body can claim in controlling the lives of eight million followers?

the organisation they represent has never got one useful piece of information correct in one hundred and thirty five years... so why should they be believed?.

Half banana

They must have a limited authority by the position they inherit individually as an appointed trustee of the WTBTS... I assume. (Assumptions are the last thing we want when examining evidence, anyone with better knowledge; do let us know.) Collectively and much more importantly, the aura of power is made through their relentless propaganda machinery to a captive audience.

This has been cranked up in recent decades to the point where the GB have elevated their own status approaching that of immortal demi-gods who will be sitting at the right hand of Jesus in heaven basking in perpetual bright new light (and they are welcome to it!) But the fact is that true believers will believe anything, so long as it originates with the divine leadership of the seven undereducated, out of touch buffoons of Brooklyn.

Morally their leadership is flawed. They have condemned whole groups of people on the basis of their Bible interpretation such as the UN... and then joined them for political gain. They have heartlessly condemned individuals for holding certain beliefs and then later adopted those beliefs as if from God. An example of this is their mocking and railing against “organised religion” and then for financial clout and taking control of all the JW finances worldwide; they have today become “organised religion” with an eye to following their role model of the Catholic Church (where there is real power and unimaginable wealth). Not to mention those individuals who were disfellowshipped for holding certain beliefs which were later made ‘sacred truth’ simply by saying so in the columns of the Watchtower...This is the deception of their authority: their demand for slavish obedience to the written word, both in the Bible and their own' holy' decrees in the Watchtower magazine.

As I suggested they have never got anything right! They have never informed in advance of things going to happen. They simply did not serve as a “Watchtower” as they symbolically presented themselves... instead, they have proved to be more like a deep and dark pit into which millions have fallen. The “new light” is more like a toxic fog...

So in all its one and one third centuries of religious blathering... nothing worthwhile has ever emerged from this organisation. Absolutely everything they promote has had to do only with the financial security and status of the governing body to dictate its cultic power over its susceptible followers.

They are not interested in the welfare of their flock. They use the Bible as a weapon to blind the sheep to what they are actually doing (enforcing their own control). Their Bible doctrines cannot possibly be inerrant if they are at liberty to determine how they are to be believed as “new light” for a limited time. If it was true, it would be so for all time without need for revision.

Are these not reasons for denying authority to the Watchtower org and escaping from its selfish propaganda?

If you are a JW why do you not turn away from this harmful, misleading and useless Bible organisation?

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Half banana

Good idea New York because if there are wobblers on the congos, they don’t want to advertise their disbelief. The JW religion is about appearances... an example of this is about the half hearted witnessing time, put in because it is required of them, not out of earnest desire to find new converts. Of course there are many who just put in a report without the work.

I have just spent the afternoon with a close friend who is a JW of good standing but in his head he doesn’t believe a word of their teaching. He is aware as most of us here that the GB are sociopaths playing the role of God ordained teachers but without the authority. He actually hates the organisation! But his fondness for his JW zombie wife means he goes through the motions and lives in tolerable peace with her but mentally lives elsewhere through books and a cultural life apart from JW indoctrination.

I asked him today about others in the cong who also might be non believers and he said he knows of others, but like him they would rather not rock the boat. Simply to talk about the errors of the society is enough to create a witch hunt and unpleasantness, so no one goes there...

If there are one hundred and fifteen thousand congregations I would think that would make at least 115,000 mentally out but stuck in and another 400,000 having grave doubts and perhaps another 500,000 unenchanted youth about to leave as well. This of course is just a guess...how could we ever measure it accurately?

All in all let’s hope that the internet with its transparent information allow the world at large and more and more JWs to see the harmful cultic activity of the JW org and encourage them to leave in droves.

41

What is the basis for authority for the governing body?

by Half banana in

a word to jehovahs witnesses: what is the basis for the authority the seven members of the governing body can claim in controlling the lives of eight million followers?

the organisation they represent has never got one useful piece of information correct in one hundred and thirty five years... so why should they be believed?.

Half banana

A word to Jehovah’s Witnesses: What is the basis for the authority the seven members of the governing body can claim in controlling the lives of eight million followers? The organisation they represent has never got one useful piece of information correct in one hundred and thirty five years... so why should they be believed?

15

Sketches of Revelation, this and that

by TerryWalstrom in

i've been rummaging around on bart ehrman's blog and such and managed to distill six cogent views about.

the book of revelation, i thought i share for whatever it is worth.

1. parts of the book of revelation could scarcely be explained if it were written by jesus own disciple, john.

Half banana

Thanks Terry.

57

How many of you still believe in God or are still Christians?

by JWCartPusher in

hello, i asked a new but old friend how many people are still christians after leaving the watchtower's mind control agency, for statistical purposes do you mind if i do a survey and see how many of you are believers?.

please don't post if your not a believer out of respect for this poll, we need to sharpen each other's sword and help build each other up and meet new friends over the internet with faith in god or some other force of the universe.

i asked another person how we can still manage our faith after getting burned by the high group mind control, he had a few ideas but he's not really involved with god because of how life burned him.

Half banana

Not surprising since the function of religious belief is emotional comfort.

Education is to be "led out," to be taken to a place where by our internal thinking alone, we could not have arrived...to be shown evidence for realities which other individuals have spent many lifetimes researching. This is the glory of education.

Religious faith however is a more primitive urge, it is sustained by credulity. It is a suspension of the logical thinking process and the pride of the believer is the certainty of his or her faith. Possession of this unshakable belief pays an emotional dividend which scientific knowledge cannot so readily supply. Belief based on religious hope short-circuits the more sober responsibility to lead a prudent life based on knowable things and their outcomes. We have a choice.

57

How many of you still believe in God or are still Christians?

by JWCartPusher in

hello, i asked a new but old friend how many people are still christians after leaving the watchtower's mind control agency, for statistical purposes do you mind if i do a survey and see how many of you are believers?.

please don't post if your not a believer out of respect for this poll, we need to sharpen each other's sword and help build each other up and meet new friends over the internet with faith in god or some other force of the universe.

i asked another person how we can still manage our faith after getting burned by the high group mind control, he had a few ideas but he's not really involved with god because of how life burned him.

Half banana

Last night actually...

48

Just woke up

by Doctor Who in

new to the site.

currently i am a ministerial servant and was told i was appointed to be an elder.

i told the brothers i was not ready for that assignment.

Half banana

Welcome Doctor Who and glad you have surfaced and can drink in the pure air of reality.

Surely very few Jdubs know about CofC otherwise they would be out also? Perhaps we are missing a trick here...all JWs should be acquainted with Saint Ray Franz's masterwork! So how do they get to know of it?

43

Why are extraterrestrials pictured in ugly form in movies?

by abiather in

humans have produced many movies on extraterrestrials.

yet all of them are shown in ugly form.

why cant we depict an et more beautiful/handsome than humans.

Half banana

Sounds like enormous fun, can't wait to join!

Do they also supply you with a mallet so that you can repeatedly hit yourself on the head?

15

Sketches of Revelation, this and that

by TerryWalstrom in

i've been rummaging around on bart ehrman's blog and such and managed to distill six cogent views about.

the book of revelation, i thought i share for whatever it is worth.

1. parts of the book of revelation could scarcely be explained if it were written by jesus own disciple, john.

Half banana

Terry, I haven’t kept up with Erhman’s ”beliefs” as opposed to his knowledge of Biblical texts. Is he still a believer?

I would normally suggest people avoid ”Biblical scholars” since their partisan beliefs and faith interfere with objective evaluation of texts. Has Bart E made the change to the disinterested academic approach or is he still hanging in there as a believer?

18

What's the mechanism?

by Half banana in

i am perpetually challenged by the fact that most jws are completely duped by the propaganda pumped out relentlessly by the borg.

even intelligent ones; they unwittingly grovel to the gb decisions and follow the party line.

they do this for a number of reasons..

Half banana

Too true Mak! (Good to see you here!) The psychological push to like and be with the people you admire is very relevant. The enthusiastic (but delusional) ‘friends’ who cheerily study with you and bring you hope, it’s a way out of real life problems, the talk of paradise, fairyland forever! No worries, no mortgage payments all you have to do is sell your soul to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society...you never need to have to think again...what a relief!

Like to elaborate on "spent cost fallacy" Eyefell4it2?