Posts by Half banana

20

Russian gunman raised in JW family

by Alex Bogdanov in

jw
friends

the link bellow is sort of ok. i could not find a decent article in english language about this, but russian media is exploding.

2 days ago a teenager killed 19 people and injured dozens and committed suicide.

he was raised in a jw family.

Half banana

Often people join the JW religion because they come from a dysfunctional family.

It is the dream of paradise sold them courtesy of the Watchtower which gives the false hope for a better life. The youthful gunman may have decided to kill whether he had been exposed to JW ideas or not. Nevertheless, surely it is better to be nurtured in a caring family without experiencing JW style conditional love?

I knew a hard line bro, son of the cong overseer who said back in the seventies that if Armageddon didn't arrive by 2000 he was going to leave the org. I wonder if he (or others like him) did?

Isn't this the way JWs want to talk among themselves speculating on a date for Armageddon with thoughts such as "well at the very outside it must come by 2014"? Seeing a disaster coming down the pipeline the GB introduced their totally unconvincing overlapping theory preemptively in 2005. However the flock will still have been harbouring the popular consensus thought of "2014".

3

Nothing unusual to see here, I think

by Doug Mason in

in my slow but relentless foray into the “second temple period” i have marked up a few pages from one more source.

it does not contain anything that is extraordinary, i think.. http://www.jwstudies.com/reading_romans_in_context__intro__marked_up.pdf .

doug.

Half banana

Continuing your thought of Biblical "adoration", I think this is the biggest hurdle to scale in attempting to get an accurate picture of historical times and events of the period it covers. The sacralising of texts in the fourth century by the Catholic Church has formed an overwhelming tradition for an unthinking high regard for the Bible.

Darwin's biological evidence in Origin of the Species (1859) shocked the Christian world for its blow to Bible literalism. Yet nearly one hundred and sixty years later people still parrot "the Bible is God's word" and because people take things on trust, few find out for themselves how unreliable and misleading it really is.

The Holy book is nothing like divine wisdom, like Brighton rock the Bible has human frailty written though its length; savage retribution, nationalism, power along with fawning servility, conceit and hopeless dreams are its core material.

I agree with you DM, once we understand the Bible as human in origin we can then see how certain peoples thought in the past and note that in the 21st century we have at least made some progress towards democratic civilisation.

3

Nothing unusual to see here, I think

by Doug Mason in

in my slow but relentless foray into the “second temple period” i have marked up a few pages from one more source.

it does not contain anything that is extraordinary, i think.. http://www.jwstudies.com/reading_romans_in_context__intro__marked_up.pdf .

doug.

Half banana

One problem here is the reference to Biblical accounts as if they are historical, such as things to do with the first temple, which mainly was a glorious but imaginary structure from the 10th century from a time period where archaeology shows no evidence for such building and that the inhabitants of the land would have been incapable of constructing it due to lack of resources.

The two Jonathons, Linebaugh and J D Worthington seem to be teachers of religion rather than secular academics. Without a dispassionate and critical appraisal, no progress can ever be made. Naturally they concur with the historical date for the destruction of Jerusalem but invoke divine prophecy at the same time.

Have you had a look at the books on biblical text and history by Thomas L Thompson?

Nevertheless well done for your determination to get to the root of things.

6

The Murderous Rule of the Hasmonean King (and High Priest) Alexander Jannaeus

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

alexander janneaus ruled (and also served as high priest) in jerusalem between 103 and 76 bce.

the books of maccabees provide information for the start of this historical period, brought to an end by herod the great now archaeological evidence has emerged in jerusalem of his murderous reign.

this times of israel article diuscusses the evidence and how the story was put together.

Half banana

Thanks for info FTS, how tragic that human leaders even in this more enlightened world still resort to killing people if they disagree with authority. When will humanity finally stop this savage mind-set?

9

Epiphany #2

by Solzhenitsyn in

so after much emotional struggle out into the open comes why my dear wife continues to want to stay with the wt organization.. i simply couldn't understand why someone so intelligent would suffer from such confusion wether to stay active or fade away when she has faced and accepted the anti-jw facts.

simply put: she was raised with such sick instability that jw life was the only thing that provided stability, the only thing she felt she could count on.

to this day this remains the primary reason she stays "in".

Half banana

JWs are brought up to be totally dependent on the cult leadership for everything except money.

Being a JW involves sharing a particular identity as it has developed over the years within the org. This involves acting, speaking and thinking like a JW and avoiding breaking the club rules. The trade off for believing the JW nonsense is that you get the false hope of everlasting life and a bunch of like minded friends.

However paranoid and unreasonable the organisation is, this completely human need for identity and belonging is largely fulfilled by being a JW and that's why so many are bamboozled.

So Solzhenitsyn, I suggest you might look at helping your wife discover her real self and get her to know her own potential.

Of course creativity and independence has previously been stamped on by the cult and in most witnesses the 'real person' is suppressed, often living the life of a Watchtower drudge or human doormat. Not suggesting for a moment that your wife is such but this would be the ideal personality from the point of view of the cult leadership.

So how about thinking of ways to help her realise her own dreams? Of course you will probably have to tease them out of her in the first place! There are courses in the UK called Outward Bound for example which help the timid become adventurous and most importantly self-reliant-- which is the very thing the Watchtower doesn't want its followers to be. (You could do something like this together). Perhaps encourage her to take up something she has always wanted to do for which she will receive praise because of her initiative or so that she can enjoy the results of seeing something created by her own efforts.

She needs weaning off the cult fixations and learn to fulfil her own dreams and express her own personality, and as Onager says this will have to be done with love and patience as well on your part.

19

The Sufficiency of Christ - Salvation

by JW Answers in

can we rely solely on christ and his sacrifice for our sins to be forgiven, or do we have to attribute our own works upon his finished work?

this video gives an explanation of the sacrifices made for israel under the law and what it meant at that time, and the sacrifice which christ made for ourselves under the age of grace today.

Half banana

Adam never sinned since he is just a character in an ancient myth that has received too much publicity. Therefore we are not born with sin and we do not need a saviour.

37

Possible leak from Annual Meeting 2018

by Listener in

i'm a member on jw talk (until now at least) and have been regularly checking up on their thread regarding the annual meeting.

there hasn't been a great deal to report on except for this recent post that has been made.

i may get outed but that's no loss.

Half banana

It does make sense for the grubby Russian leadership to ban JWs after receiving from them a starring role in Bible prophecy.

It is absurd to think that the Bible ever had in mind anything other than the political powers of its own time in the second century BCE. Why should we today be the focus of all the attention? it is only our limited view and fear of God which makes us think we are the important ones. However, this tricky scripture in Daniel has led millions of believers to get the prophecy bug and hang on every turn of world events looking for "the great tribulation".

Actually there is a much happier way of life which ignores all this childish speculation. In other words don't get hooked on this Bible mumbo jumbo, it only puts the fund into fundamentalism to keep them deceiving people. (He said crossly)

50

Belief in God

by jdash in

when did you guys start to doubt your faith in god?'.

what made you doubt your faith in god?.

thanks !.

Half banana

I think a problem arises from those individuals who wear the badge of "Believer" and imagine that those who differ must also wear a badge such as "Atheist" or "Agnostic" and similarly fraternise at their own meetings. Of course it's nothing like this. Personally I am without the knowledge of or need for a god, so I think of my self as simply being atheist, as opposed to being an atheist. (Is this too subtle?)

Anyway as for giving up belief in the God of the Bible, I first gave up a belief in the devil because he is a ridiculous characterisation of all that is bad. In fact I pioneered not believing in the devil alias Satan and told other JWs I thought he was just a personification --and nobody complained! So I started doubting all spirit creatures.

Reading philosophy gave me an insight into spotting logical errors and made me realise that truth has to be consistent with evidence and reason-- and there is no concrete evidence for spirits. Then again the God of the Bible is a perfect tyrant. I remember the very moment I became atheist. I was standing, so I sat down and considered the consequences; it meant no more religion let alone no longer remaining a JW.

The relief was enormous, no longer imagining some unknowable and fiendishly powerful busybody permanently breathing down my neck-- and that joy continues!

12

New Ezekiel Book Clarification

by johnamos in

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/pure-worship/summary-of-clarifications/.

is christendom the antitype of ancient apostate jerusalem?.

previous understanding: unfaithful jerusalem is a prophetic type of christendom.

Half banana

The bible has no prophetic value. (Can anyone point out where believing a Bible prophecy has been an advantage?)

Jehovah's Witnesses interpretation of useless Bible prophecy is even more worthless since it wastes the whole of your life and is likely to alienate your family.

Prophecy is for idiots.

7

Is "Independent Thinking" good or bad???

by The Fall Guy in

one source describes independent thinking this way:.

good - w57 8/1 p. 469 par.

good - w72 3/15 p. 170 par.

Half banana

"Independent thinking" is not a common phrase, this is because thinking is normally done independently as a matter of course-- unless that is, you are stuck in a cult.

What cults demand is not to think thoughts other than officially permitted thoughts--this is by any standards a gross violation of human freedom.

Note that the Watchtower quotes are not condemning critical analysis but instead condemning any independent thought, in other words stop thinking for yourself and let us do all the thinking for you.

Really! What authority have these intellectual pygmies at Warwick got to dictate how anyone should think? They have track record of total failure for predicting events from their Bible interpretation and they show not a jot of divine inspiration. Yet they demand your unthinking loyalty and that you hand over your thoughts and even your conscience to them.

Isn't this a prime example of how a cult works? The JW organisation is truly Orwellian!