Half banana

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Posts by Half banana

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  30

  How Could We Have Been So Heartless?

  by BluesBrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am addressing here those who, like me, spent decades in the organisation that we called “the truth”.

  perhaps like me you were brought up in it from an early age.

  looking back now i wonder that i could have been so heartless as to believe that the mass slaughter of billions of people was “good news”.

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  Half banana

  Anna, this scripture Matt 6:14,15 could be the basis for 'new light' justifying the removal of the shunning doctrine. Shunning says: "We don't forgive you".

  Could come in handy for the GB when membership numbers start to plummet.
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  24

  Bringing Reproach on Jehovah's Name

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  all my jw life i was reminded constantly about the importance of not bringing reproach on jehovah's name.

  decisions on whether or not to disfellowship an individual often turned, not on the seriousness of the sin, but on whether the incident was public knowledge and had resulted in bad publicity for the congregation.

  i recall a middle-aged lady being reported to the elders for shoplifting a sweet worth less than £1- and the elders' insistence that a judicial committee must be formed because the store manager and staff knew that she was a jw (i successfully argued that all she needed was support for her dreadful family life, but that's another story).

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  Half banana

  Agreed Vidiot, the GB are now into salvage work which means maintaining the illusion of divine blessing for those still emotionally dependant on the cult.
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  7

  Australian JW's and child abuse redress scheme

  by Tantalon in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  hi fellow apostates, here is a link about the redress scheme from the arc into child abuse and jws refusal to participate.

  enjoy; https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/01/six-groups-fail-to-join-australias-national-child-abuse-redress-scheme.

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  Half banana

  It makes me wonder whether the GB's digging their heels in attitude will be death of them?

  Instead of thinking of how they might help the abused young people their response is there must be "two witnesses" ....because that's what it says in the Bible.

  If this heartlessness is what it means to be a believer, should it not wake up all concerned, GB included, that something is seriously amiss with Jehovah's Witnesses?
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  28

  Rolf Furuli New Book

  by dozy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those who haven't come across furuli before , he is a 77 year old norwegian professor and is ( or was ) one of the few "scholarly" jws used by the society and used as a source on various matters ( especially 607 bce ).. however recently he has fallen out with the gb and has published an interesting book - like many recent scholarly apologists , he seems to be going down the road of disagreeing with the authority of the gb but still holding that the jws is the one true religion.

  kind of "lions led by donkeys".

  whether this view will continue is anyones guess.

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  Half banana

  It is a good thing that Furuli has broken with the WT. This hurts them more than anyone else since there is now no boot licking academic to 'confirm' their fantasy historical dates!

  Another consequence of the downfall of Furuli will be the increased animosity towards academic sources by the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses, the very source which normally arbitrates factual understanding in this IT driven world. It is quite possible that the gulf between JW Bible teachings and evidential reality will increase and I see them being proud to deny scholarly input.

  Furuli's opinions can hardly be of use to the rest of academia who would refute his assertions, assertions driven by faith in his beloved Watchtower religion.

  Perhaps his next book will be "Why there is no god"? But can the guy be trusted anymore than the JW org can? Better to ignore both parties, neither have anything useful to teach.
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  21

  Why do Jehovah's Witnesses avoid examining their own religion? An interesting read from Scientific American Magazine.

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for a long time, i thought pimi (physically in, mentally in) jws were unique in their inability to simply type and read the latest "google" news results about "jehovah's witnesses " or "watchtower".

  however, it appears it is not uncommon for a large portion of the population purposefully to avoid facts...on purpose!

  "why do people avoid facts that could help them?.

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  Half banana

  I agree, I don't think JWs are stupid by nature, although poor education levels discourage inquiry.

  Having intelligence is not the same as using intelligence. Many JWs are capable like a computer is capable but it depends how you use it.

  To think like a JW is like having the wiring of the brain altered to admit only positive information on a subject. Like it would be possible to have the register of a computer modified only recognise things favourable to the JW belief system. Witnesses only regard favourable evidence for their version of WT "Truth" and ignore the overwhelming negative evidence which denies it.
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  77

  A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

  by Giles Gray in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

  i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

  i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

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  Half banana

  I find Splane’s explanation fantastical. The only persons who could believe that the Biblical word “generation” means “overlapping generations” would be brain dead zombie JWs who will die rather than disagree with the WT.

  There are two groups within this cult who refuse to think; there are the administrators of the religious racket whose existence depends on the mass of believers. They have gladly inherited their roles and job number one is to shore up their own rights to control the larger group. Their function is to make their religion credible and to retain the confidence of the followers. The second group who are duty bound not to think, are the true believers who are led by the GB. (Misled is probably a better word!)

  A common thread within the JW org is the normal and unquestioning practice of belief in fantasies.

  For example the stories about Biblical characters are dredged up in the Watchtower all the time as examples of faith. Who is there among JWs who would stop for a moment to consider whether these men and women were real? The WT gaily trots out names such as Noah, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Isaac and Jacob, etc, as if they lived! They are archetypes or mythical persons often borrowed from other cultures but given new Hebrew names -- they are all non-historical literary personages. Once a believer has swallowed the bait of Bible faith -- anything goes, anything is possible and anything can be believed.

  Once in the JW mindset, it is not difficult to shut down critical thinking, living for paradise is the goal and that means, at least in the mind of the true believer, obedience to who they are taught to respect as “God’s anointed”.

  Back on the theme of Biblical words, Jesus explained clearly and unambiguously how long a generation was: namely the lifetime of a group experiencing one event. Mark 8,38 - 9,1.

  Yes, as the outcome (or lack of outcome!) of these words show, the "JW generation" is just a fantasy built on top of another Bible fantasy.
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  8

  FATHER OF ABUSE VICTIM CONFRONTS WITNESSES

  by ThomasCovenant in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i missed this when it first came out.

  .

  it's so sad to realize that i was part of the behaviour shown by the witnesses in the video.. this is my neck of the woods, and i recognize some of the yellow vested attendants that control the situation.i used to play football with the big french brother named guy.. if only they could see.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukiqqgfngxk.

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  Half banana

  The monster episode was interesting in its crude observance of symbols but not grasping the real issues..... both on the part of the org. which created it and the witness who was interviewed (if it wasn't acted).

  The bro, the psychiatric community nurse (who I knew well forty years ago!) spoke the legal viewpoint correctly. The organisation now indicate you should contact the police but JWs pride in their loyalty to this half baked religion will inhibit them from doing so.
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  20

  This Cult sucks, I loath it. I don't understand Why my wife will not leave

  by goingthruthemotions in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i loath this cult!!!!!!!!!!

  why won't she leave?.

  she knows about the australian royal commision, the united nations, failed prediction dates etc...., i have crisis of consciene and she know, it is visiable that she could see the book everyday.

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  Half banana

  "Lett be true" Good twist of the quote Anna Marina!

  @goingthruthemotions, among JWs the greatest thing in life they possess is the prospect of everlasting life in paradise. This hope, courtesy of the WT org, has cancelled common sense and clear thinking.

  The JW hope is false, no religion can offer everlasting life, there is no sound basis for it. One hundred and forty one years on, and still no one has benefitted from the showman's spiele "roll up roll up, live forever in paradise with the Watchtower organisation". But people want to believe, people above all things want hope so millions of them have fallen into the WT hope trap, millions are prepared to shut down their reasoning faculty and simply "believe''. We did once before we woke up -- or did we grow up?

  So we are are not able to reason with our family members on the matter of belief, facts don't cut the mustard with believers, with them it is a matter of heart not mind, emotion not brain.

  I lost my attractive intelligent wife to the cult, it was a great loss, perhaps foolishly I left her with the the children (it was a terrible experience) she would have crumpled without them but even so I could not live on JW terms and I would say my life has gone well since having cast off the religion and unfortunately wifey too.

  I hope in your situation you can work something out. For her to leave, it will take a lot more patience and eventually an understanding from her that what she wants is actually not available -- everlasting life in paradise is something no one has enjoyed or will ever have, it is simply too good to be true, it is a dream.

  Yet to tell a believer this, is to attack them, to dig right into their heart -- and the response of the believer is to repel the idea, attack the speaker and deny any possibility of being mistaken.

  What is at stake for your wife is her attachment to the illusory rock on which she is emotionally anchored. For her to let go will take enormous courage, the new and realistic vision of life needs a helping hand and a constant companion to reassure her during the the waking process, I do hope that you are the one to help her through it.
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  3

  Why people chose a certain religion!

  by eyeuse2badub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  not sure if i posted this before but it's so damn interesting, i'll do it again!.

  by yoginder sikand.

  03 april, 2012

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  Half banana

  Eyeuse, you have found a good assessment of the effortless coercion of children in religious families. This is an important dynamic in holding irrational beliefs.

  "Yeah! but I believe that my truth is truer than your truth 'cos my parents said so. . ."

  For a child it would be biting the hand that fed it to disagree. Better to go along with what mum and dad say. The result is ethnic divisions with fierce religious loyalties, each faction believing their version is the supreme 'truth'.

  The JW cult must now be considering drawing its horns in, creamiing off capital from their takeover of KH ownership worldwide and protecting its own decline by securing the loyalty of its core members -- those true believers who will stay in spite of everything. By having a membership of mainly "born ins" who are culturally acclimatised to JW ways, it could be easier for the GB to control. Marrying "only in the lord" would keep numbers up even without preaching. Other weirdo religions survive this way such as Plymouth Bretheren. The way forward GB!
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  35

  Noah’s flood

  by dothemath in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a few years ago at one of the conventions, there was a talk on gods remarkable creation.

  one of the slides showed a giant sequoia tree, approximately 5000 years old!.

  later another talk was about noah etc.

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  Half banana

  The article on redwoods is out of date, inaccurate and misleading. It is just as unscientific as Splane's ramblings. If you want scientific information go to scientists and their data, not religious writers who cannot conceive of a world outside of their Biblical faith.

  One can add dendrochronology to the list of evidences for disproving a global flood. The creationist in the redwood article foolishly implies that sequoia trees took a beating 3200 years ago as if this is some sort of proof. Dendrochronology works by building up a year by year climate analysis from myriads of overlapping tree ring records of from the last 11,000 years -- and no global flood event anomaly shows up.

  When considering any serious information it is necessary to determine the integrity of the writer and their intent. Creationists happily deny factual evidence.

  As for Noah's flood, if you cannot distinguish between what is a myth and what is factual, you have a lot of growing up to do.