Posts by Half banana

64

Was Sin Inevitable?

by Parker in

i was wondering about this question and wanted to ask: was sin inevitable?

also, i had thought about past watchtower articles or publications related to this topic and did some research and found this from our readers ask if adam was perfect, how was it possible for him to sin?.

well, then, did god create adam with a moral weakness, so that he lacked the ability to make sound decisions or to withstand temptation?

Half banana

"Sin" and its partners "perfection and "imperfection" are religious constructs.They are key parts of the control apparatus to put worshippers under obligations.

They only exist in the minds of believers.There is no way of measuring or quantifying sin, it is a mythical explanation for not being perfect when a perfect mythical god supposedly created humans who supposedly became imperfect.

One of the joys of waking up from this fallacy is the realisation that we are not made imperfect from an ancestor's misdeeds and we do not wear the burdensome cloak of guilt, unless of course we deliberately harm others or break the law. Neither do we need to grovel to an invisible god to get a pardon through human sacrifice.

Religion and its insistence on sin infantilises us putting us back to the helplessness of childhood and dependency on others. Christian religions in effect teach that we are all naughty children.

Was it inevitable? It doesn't exist.

14

So according to wt. Doctrine, If you die one day before Armageddon...

by nowwhat? in

you will be resurrected.

but if you live one more day when armageddon starts you will die a horrible death with no chance of a resurrection.

makes sense to me!.

Half banana

If gods existed, would they be bothered with mere doctrines made up by men?

21

No, They Will Never Notice!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

since the watchtower has already made this bible public, i can put a link out here.. no, the rank & file will never notice the words "governing body" have been inserted into acts 15: 1-35 in the 2019 new world translation, matthew to acts.. click the image to make it larger if need be.. https://postimg.cc/sqvdl10w petra!

Half banana

The scripture at Acts 15, not written by Paul, represents one particular contemporary strain of Christian thinking from among those who were conscious of the non-Jewish converts who wanted clarification on doctrine.

Christianity from the start was diversified and full of divisions because even before the invention of the Roman Church, which really did universalise belief through force, there were many sects developing and diverging. What appears in the final Roman selection of scripture in Acts, is an almost democratic mission to sort out a problem of teaching. There is no mention of a supreme authority as there came to be in the fourth century under Imperial Rome.

Rome had absolute control but the leaders of the JW organisation function in a solipsistic bubble, collectively they have Solipsism syndrome.

"This refers to a psychological state in which a person feels that reality is not external to his or her mind". That is; only what we think is right....is right. It includes the inability to see that others could be right with an alternative viewpoint. It is an essential defect for leaders of a religious cult. Democracy in any form is the death of this type of autocratic leadership.

For one hundred and forty one years seeing themselves as privileged members of the governance of the Watchtower, the GB imagine they are the apple of God's eye, the very focus of his attention!. They are a collective of narcissists who are even prepared to alter the Bible to favour their own role as divinely appointed leaders and credit their own work as ordained by scripture.

What hubris!

It can only lead to their downfall.

10

Netherlands: sexual abuse report can stay online judge rules

by yalbmert99 in

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/08/jehovahs-witness-sexual-abuse-report-can-stay-online-judge-rules/.

Half banana

The Dutch Government recognise that the JW organisation publishes lies, namely that they give pastoral care to the victims when in fact they certainly do not..

JW "pastoral care" consists of this remedy: read the WT literature and keep preaching.

This is wholly self interested, misguided and uncaring not to say desperately wrong. The abuse problem until now has been concealed for the sake of bad publicity. The self esteem of abused person just withers away. People lose the will to live when those in authority who claim to care just ignore the plight of those who have been sexually abused.

21

The mormon church(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

by asp59 in

anyone here thats a former mormon?

a person in the internet wrote abouth them.

that community could not be more impressive in its cohesion, sincerity, benevolence, decency, patriotism, and faith.. i seen mormons go from house to house before the convid virus.they always seem cheerful.

Half banana

Always be sincere, whether you mean it or not.....

However it's probably easier to swallow ancients Bible myths than it is to believe 19th century fantasies about finding golden tablets bearing the book of Mormon. In both cases, the evidence for the truthfulness of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, is no stronger than for fairies living at the bottom of the garden.

You simply have to want to believe it.

23

The toxic JW Worldview

by TD in

jw
friends

sometimes i forget how small-minded, petty, provincial, mean-spirited ignorant and judgemental it was and still is.... then i sit down with a jw relative, hoping to have a normal conversation and realize there is literally nothing to talk about.. nothing..... current events?

hobbies?

your job?

Half banana

It must be distressing for you Gorby.

It is also very hard to get on the same wavelength with people who have willingly given up their personal choices in life, their career, their ambitions and even handed over their own conscience to eight men they don't even know -- who live in a metaphorical bunker in New York State.

It says something about an individual's view of themselves to want to become a doormat and be proud of it.

39

The Black Goat in the JW Covid-19 Report - 2020 Governing Body Update #5

by Oh-my-God in

did you notice this?

2020 governing body update #5. https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/docid-702020307_1_video.

why do they show the black goat in the picture?

Half banana

Back when I was a member of the Watchtower Voodoo cult, there was a sister who didn't like the bother's house where the grope study was held. To get to the front door you had to pass between a pair of fancy vases on plinths which held geraniums in the summer. The vases had horned goats heads forming handle like projections at the sides and the sister, who was very narrow in outlook but took the memorial emblems, was convinced they were demonic. Yer can't please everyone!

39

The Black Goat in the JW Covid-19 Report - 2020 Governing Body Update #5

by Oh-my-God in

did you notice this?

2020 governing body update #5. https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/docid-702020307_1_video.

why do they show the black goat in the picture?

Half banana

It's just a sculpture folks....there are no ibexes native to Angola...looks like an ibex perhaps a female Nubian ibex ...but the ibex is a goat! (genus Capra)

16

What was Jesus "anointed" as?

by Doug Mason in

it is illogical to say that “jesus was anointed as christ”.

that’s like saying that “jesus was anointed as anointed”.

the question that needs to be asked is: “what was jesus anointed as?”.

Half banana

Quoting the Bible sounds dandy GB but the Bible is not truth, it is not history or factual rather it is what today we call hype!

It was literature for the illiterate, blousy with promises of deliverance from political subjugation, (the Jews were always subject to foreign domination) it was full of hopes for abundance which their desert homeland could not achieve, it extolled the virtue of their pathetic God YHVH whose worth was humiliated by their failure to conquer their oppressors. It revelled in the prospect of a glorious victory, it gave hope and heart to the peasants who lived in Judea and Israel.

These things are at the core of the heartaches and theological recriminations found in Jewish literature, it is the essential pleading of the underdog which the Bible reading masses historically have identified with as as their own predicament in life. This has been one of the strengths of the Bible which have made it somewhat relevant....until now.

As for its prophetic value, it is quite simply hopeless.

12

Another Unnecessary Early Death

by Slidin Fast in

a young man in somerset in england, under massive pressure from financial and relationship issues lapsed into mental illness.

he was unlucky enough to have as his support system the local congregation of jehovah's witnesses.

one of the symptoms of his illness was the use of tobacco.

Half banana

So sorry for the family concerned.

Isn't this a perfect demonstration of what JW "brotherhood" really means? You are only 'permitted' to show love to those as recommended by the governing body, that is those who are loyal to the leadership and who perform the JW rituals.

Jesus however recommended something else. He said that the Jewish law was summarised by love of God and neighbour. Surely the essence of Christiany as Jesus taught, was to love one's neighbour (not another JW) as oneself.

This poor man deperately needed compassion and thoughtful assisstance -- what he got was JW style shunning.

What a mistake it is to turn to the JW organisation for help.