Posts by Half banana

37

How were God’s true worshipers to determine virginity of pagan girls?

by Ireneus in

in the genocidal instructions supposedly given by god we find this interesting command: “now kill all the boys.

and kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.” (numbers 31:17, 18).

in the midst of killing and plundering, how were the israelites to determine whether each girl “has slept with a man” or not?.

Half banana

At the time of writing Numbers, the Jews, just like most of their neighbours were Iron Age peasants living a simple desert life using social values which favoured patriarchy. The archaeology of Israel seems to indicate that their material culture was rather behind the times in its primitiveness.

The fact that these objectionable regulations were projected on to their Idol Yahweh just shows how the prevailing human mores were used to describe their totemic god. If a compassionate and all powerful intelligent god truly existed, surely he would have enlightened them with more compassionate and intelligent ideas? But no, the Bible only reflects the contemporary base human values of perpetual warfare and territorial gain, men first and girls as commodities, slaughter all those who don't believe in your god. The Bible is uninspired.

51

Why go back to the Old Testament?

by Lost in the fog in

why do jws insist on still quoting from the old testament to back up some of their wacky ideas?

such as on blood, beards, abortion, tattoos, etc.

surely if the mosaic law code was nailed to the torture stake all of its parts were cancelled.

Half banana

It is because most people in history, those not in authority, were illiterate so that those who could write told the peasants that their written word was sacred...........what a con trick!

For example who says that the law was hung on the torture stake?

Well it was written by the leaders of the early Jesus cult which was in the process of adopting and adapting all forms of religious belief to create is own orthodoxy. This included apostate Jews who had fallen for the latest "Christ" story fictions, by bishops who wanted numerical support for their movement--because more members made for more money in the coffers and lots of money meant political power.

Remember that the early Christians met not only in houses but in temples and used exactly the same hierarchical orders and religious organisational methods as the groups who were later to be condemned by the RC Church as "pagans". The Bible gives an extreme partisan view of Christian events in the early centuries including a conjectured account of the Christ hero, magical happenings and a sanitised account of its own history with the emphasis on divine blessing for itself and a bunch of failed prophecies.

The legacy of which is a devilish distortion of reality in the minds of millions right up until now!

28

Great news!

by Half banana in

it's a case of two down and one to go.

my darling daughter has announced to the extended family that she has left jehovah's witnesses!

deep joy!.

Half banana

Thanks good people for your comments! I am of course delighted with my daughter's decision to leave and the great thing is that she is also.

I have not gone into detail with her on the whys and wherefores since I don't want to look like an interrogator at a jc! I am not talking religion with her at all, it is not the issue now-- but I am enjoying the fact that she actually answers her phone when I call her as well as responding to text messages.

My daughter has had a really difficult childhood emotionally, all bound up with JW imperatives imposed upon her by her mother and it was her private awakening to the realisation of this history that has to do with her exit from the org.

Maybe I could elaborate at a later date but for now I'm so happy that she is happy and part of my family once again.

18

Bad teachings for kids

by Freedom rocks in

during my time in the cult i sometimes sat during a talk thinking why on earth are they talking about topics like this with kids in the audience.

talking about sex and masturbation was probably the worst one i heard and my daughter was only 5 at the time.. what inappropriate talks or comments have you heard over the years that children should not be exposed to really?.

Half banana

Why is the JW org so insensitive to the feelings to their audience being notably indifferent to sexual content with young children present? No other group that I know of would be so lacking in compassion and understanding of their listeners.

The first thing it says is that the content of the material is so important that however disgusting to normal ears it must be transmitted at all costs. This is a fallacy of cult leadership and their prideful sense of self importance.

How many times did we have to sit and listen to uneducated zealots spinning the Watchtower line using malapropisms, irrelevant illustrations, fairy tales read as if they were fact, inappropriate sexual material for children, portentous events to come which never did etc.-- and to an audience which was groomed not to question the authority of the speaker?

Jehovah's Witness are an ABUSIVE cult, it's just as well their influence is declining.

68

Cart work faces headwinds.

by lastmanstanding in

my little bethel bird has whispered in my ear some encouraging news.

it has been reported to the canadian branch that some witnesses doing cart work had police stop them from carting in public parks.

the direction sent to the southern ontario congregations is to cease carting until further notice.. this is no joke.. have a jw-free day..

Half banana

I was in Berlin last week and saw one cart without people taking notice of it and the same a few days before in Torun in Poland. However outside of my favourite haunt in London at the British Museum there were Chinese JWs flogging their message at a cart stand with several curious Chinese tourists. Mind you the Borg will have to work fast to go witnessing to 1.4 billion Chinese before the imminently promised Armageddon strikes most of them dead.

68

Cart work faces headwinds.

by lastmanstanding in

my little bethel bird has whispered in my ear some encouraging news.

it has been reported to the canadian branch that some witnesses doing cart work had police stop them from carting in public parks.

the direction sent to the southern ontario congregations is to cease carting until further notice.. this is no joke.. have a jw-free day..

Half banana

Yes Vidiot, the org is retrenching and shrinking from view.

They used to be always at the door, now hardly ever. (The bulk of the witnessing must be just to their own children?) The carts used to be seen in all the busy parts of London—now not so much if at all in the West end. I used to look out for them to go ‘JW baiting’ but my sport is gone-- perhaps that’s why they have gone!! -- but more likely for breaches of planning and public safety.

The Kingdom Hells are fewer in number and the main profile in the public media now is one of a nasty cult with anti-social anti-family practices—not very attractive!

The bottom line is that as a business, which is what it's all about, you have to make progress or you die. They need the money and without new suckers to support the cult they go down the tubes. And the crunch point will be reached even sooner if they no longer remain tax exempt.

10

New Thoughts on Human Origins.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

this article appeared originally in new scientist (july 4, 2018) under the heading:.

"asia’s mysterious role in the early origins of humanity".

bizarre fossils from china are revealing our species' asian origins and rewriting the story of human evolution".

Half banana

Perry, to quote from Evolution Dismantled as you do, is not the way to clarify complex issues such as the provenance of our ancestral species. The right sources of reference are from the painstaking research and analysis of paleoanthropologists who devote their lives to understanding these things, some of whose words are missapropriated in your copied text.

As for "many prominent Scientists have quoted Homo erectus as Homo sapiens". Firstly, can't you see that it sounds just like Watchtower propaganda? No scientist uses the expression "many prominent scientists" because it carries no weight of evidence. What is critically important is the geology and stratum in which the fossil was found, the detailed evidence of morphology to place it within the existing phylogenetic tree. Not forgetting the multidisciplinary dating appraisal of the soils and rocks as well as the fossil.

Secondly the labelling of species (taxonomy) is a permanent scholarly tug of war between the "splitters" and the "lumpers", those who wish to form new species or genera and those who would place them under existing labels. There are no divinely ordained "kinds". . . So whatever the taxa, habilis, erectus or heidlebergensis as species, it does not deny them being ancestral to sapiens.

The science regarding human evolution has not yet been fully written, there is a lot yet to be discovered and discoveries are being made more frequently than ever in this field. Understandably science is a long way off from having a complete record-- but what the evidence most certainly is NOT showing us, is any basis for a mythical and miraculous creation of Adam and Eve.

25

Am I being unreasonable with my pimo boyfriend?

by Addison0998 in

i was very lucky to have be dating somebody who didn’t run and snitch on me when i started having questions and showing him research i did, instead he listened to me, and after a few arguements, he did wake up as well.

it really didn’t take much to wake him up, and he was more just tired of the crazy witnesses in general.

and now we are planning on getting married and fading together so that our families can at least enjoy our wedding, that special time in life, before we possibly loose them one day.

Half banana

you guys can leave and be boyfriend and girlfriend (outside the religion) for a while and see how that is.

What a good point mentalclarity

25

Am I being unreasonable with my pimo boyfriend?

by Addison0998 in

i was very lucky to have be dating somebody who didn’t run and snitch on me when i started having questions and showing him research i did, instead he listened to me, and after a few arguements, he did wake up as well.

it really didn’t take much to wake him up, and he was more just tired of the crazy witnesses in general.

and now we are planning on getting married and fading together so that our families can at least enjoy our wedding, that special time in life, before we possibly loose them one day.

Half banana

Hi Addison, two people should only get hitched for their own wish always to be together, the wedding should only reflect that-- it won't make anything better if the relationship is not right in the first place. Don't hasten it just to get your family to attend as JWs, your wedding is about you not them.

Are the two of you both on the same wavelength apart from the issue of his lack of emotion over leaving the Borg?

Although atheist myself, I would be wary of someone's motive in taking pride in being one. It is not a cult, religion or identifier, it confers no power and you don't get a badge, it simply refers to the absence of a deity. Just saying...

34

Loose Conduct

by Hangin_on in

my friend has been married 25 years.

he works with another jw.

they kissed and he touched her nipples but did not have sex with her.

Half banana

How crushingly silly! It is no one's business except the people concerned. This is what happens if your life revolves around the instructions of the JW org.