Half banana

Joined

• started 79 topics
• posted 3,096 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Half banana

• 
  16

  Wow what do you think true story

  by poopie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is an actual case.

  a jw was recently disfellowshipped heres the reason.

  he was and elder and regular pioneer at the time baprized 40 years he decides to rent a room from a women who rents rooms out to singles ,he moves in and there's another guy there also renting a room he happens to be disfellowshipped .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  Which congregation, when, and what are their names?
• 
  54

  Survey: Are you Agnostic or Atheist or Christian?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am agnostic.

  i will count how many agnostics, atheists and christians that are reading this forum regularly.

  please answer my question.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  Martian
• 
  64

  Mass JW exodus

  by stockholm_Syndrome in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe there will be a mass exodus from jws when thinking people read feb 2017 watchtower telling them the governing body stuff up, shouldnt expect correct/ perfect information and basically make up guff as they see fit.....ya reckon?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  It's the true zombie Witness sentiment as you say Pale emperor:

  "Its such a nice way to live your life".

  If niceness is what you want in life; indeed a contrived niceness does exist in the JW cult--- as long as you praise the leadership and permanently concentrate on maintaining the pharisaical boundaries set up by them.

  Something which is much better is to live in freedom outside of JW thought control, in the real world where people make their own decisions based on weighing evidence and take their own responsibility for what they do.

  As delightful as a mass exodus would be the best we might hope for is that many will take their cue from the Watchtower and think, Wait a mo! why should I do what they say, they are not inspired?

  But then again some people, probably because their own family didn't provide it, just hanker after the lazy comfort of "niceness".
• 
  17

  The Story of My Sister - Lurkers: Is this logical?

  by Funchback in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my sister got baptized at 17 or 18 years old in 1983. she was ripe for the jw picking as she was shy, quiet, naive and with low self-esteem even though she was tall and beautiful and she attended one of the best high schools in philadelphia.. she wasn't outgoing and she only went out on a couple of dates prior to her baptism.

  she worked at a day care center.

  she loved children and animals.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  Funch you put the case very well for the distortion of human values in the JW world.
• 
  64

  Mass JW exodus

  by stockholm_Syndrome in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe there will be a mass exodus from jws when thinking people read feb 2017 watchtower telling them the governing body stuff up, shouldnt expect correct/ perfect information and basically make up guff as they see fit.....ya reckon?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  However, the subliminal message is:- (if I may resort to London vernacular) the GB are no longer the dog's bollocks!
• 
  22

  Who would vote to disband the JW organisation?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from their history, it is evident that jehovah's witnesses are just another doomsday cult.. cults are run by autocrats.

  on purpose they are ideologically fixated and they demand that their devotees hold the same absolute certainty of belief without regard for evidence.

  the suspension of critical thought is encouraged and by focussing on the objectives of the cult belief in a like minded community, it gives both a sense of direction within a sort of ‘family’ and a hope of paradise perfection.. the leaders have everything to gain by controlling their followers; all the income goes in their direction.. democracy has strictly no part in a running cult.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  I was thinking that the JW org is so last century, well actually so very 19th century---and it is honour bound to continue with its primitive Bible based rhetoric.

  The time is coming however when JWs will be so at odds with real normal modern life, that they will eventually come under government scrutiny as an unhealthy force in society.

  As some have mentioned there are damaging things which they demand, shunning of family members, disapproving of education, not allowing children to develop naturally. JWs stifle the life spirit in young people. JWs grow up with a distorted view of the world etc.

  Of course this old Bible cult is very rich and even when in terminal decline for many years it will be able to appear functioning normally because of its accumulated wealth. But the time will come when being so unaccountable and mentally and emotionally hurtful to its members they will be exposed as a cult. Financial losses will continue and it will be necessary to downsize and radically modify their approach.

  It will be the GB who will have to vote as to whether they continue or disband. Or I suppose in extremis they may turn to the rank and file?

  One of my closest friends remains a JW for the sake of family but he loathes the religion. He feels powerless and says that the JW org has been the bane of his life. He must be among many long suffering non-believing JWs who given the chance would vote immediately for it to be disbanded.
• 
  22

  Who would vote to disband the JW organisation?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from their history, it is evident that jehovah's witnesses are just another doomsday cult.. cults are run by autocrats.

  on purpose they are ideologically fixated and they demand that their devotees hold the same absolute certainty of belief without regard for evidence.

  the suspension of critical thought is encouraged and by focussing on the objectives of the cult belief in a like minded community, it gives both a sense of direction within a sort of ‘family’ and a hope of paradise perfection.. the leaders have everything to gain by controlling their followers; all the income goes in their direction.. democracy has strictly no part in a running cult.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  From their history, it is evident that Jehovah's Witnesses are just another doomsday cult.

  Cults are run by autocrats. On purpose they are ideologically fixated and they demand that their devotees hold the same absolute certainty of belief without regard for evidence.

  The suspension of critical thought is encouraged and by focussing on the objectives of the cult belief in a like minded community, it gives both a sense of direction within a sort of ‘family’ and a hope of paradise perfection.

  The leaders have everything to gain by controlling their followers; all the income goes in their direction.

  Democracy has strictly no part in a running cult. The leaders proclaim that the truth is already worked out by them since only they have 'holy spirit' directing them. (or is that pixie dust?) So democracy is out.

  How many are there who have been affected from the fallout from the JW organisation?

  Worldwide there must now be more ex-witnesses than those practicing......................

  What if democracy ruled the JWs?

  Given the chance then, would you vote to disband it?
  
• 
  10

  Will the GB ever humble themselves as Jesus admonished in Matt 20 20-28

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in his book crisis of conscience, raymond franz likened the governing body to the proverbial 'iron fist in a velvet glove'.

  this would seem harsh if it weren't for the fact that there is ample proof that their policies and teachings have caused much pain amongst the friends.

  for example, many families have been torn apart through their shunning policy.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  By humbly admitting to being "blind guides" would destroy the fading illusion that they have any authority at all.

  It's only this aura of divine authority which gives them the keys to the bank vault.

  I suppose they could compromise and admit culpability: "All right, it's true, we were just another doomsday cult. Pay off the court fees and penalties to the molested and make sure they have appropriate psychological counselling, set up an enormous fund from selling off the property portfolio available to all who have been mentally and financially damaged by the Watchtower and JW org, disband the whole organisation and retire (in luxury lakeside appartments) and promise to never deceive people again".

  Some hope!
• 
  12

  Possible new light on 70 years

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i may be reading more into this than is there, but here is what i've spotted from today's watchtower study (oct 2016 study edition) page 14 paragraph 8. concerning daniel it says "thus, some 70 years after his arrival in babylon, he was still known by his hebrew name" referring to an event in the first year of darius ie 539/538 bce.

  however, according to the wtbts chronology daniel went to babylon in 617 bce - more like 80 years earlier.

  could this (finally) be a step towards ditching 607?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  The book called Daniel is a historical fictional novel written in the middle of the second century BCE. Being written in the first person, it convinces the gullible that Daniel was both real and contemporary to the events described. The text takes a spin on events which had already happened hundreds of years before as imagined in Babylon but referred in part to the prevailing Persian politics. The surest way to write prophecy is after the event!

  The JW organisation as 'God's only channel' has had nothing on which to claim divine attention except to predict 1914. It never did foretell WW1 but the year when paradise would arrive, so it is a dishonest boast anyway.

  To expose the faulty basis for 1914 in the Watchtower would remove the only vestige of god-magic it can muster.

  I get the impression that for very many years, among the upper echelons, belief in 1914 whether true or not, is a sort of in-house code for fidelity to the GB, it almost seems masonic.
• 
  21

  The Evils of Aluminum

  by NeonMadman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  aluminum was an issue that became a real “tempest in a teapot” for the watchtower.

  it influenced their teaching for almost 50 years and, frankly, created an impression among observers that their members were off-the-wall fanatics.

  for all those years, the golden age and other watchtower publications took the position that aluminum cookware and utensils were one of the great health hazards of the 20th century.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Half banana

  Well said Scratchme.

  Aluminium is after all the third most abundant element on our planet (by weight) after oxygen and silicon, brought to us lovingly by the same god who thought we would "also enjoy" beryllium, arsenic, mercury and plutonium.