Posts by Half banana

53

Crisis of Conscience where to find?

by Jules Saturn in

does anyone know where i can get a pdf version of this book?

i’ve always wanted a physical copy but those seem really hard to come by, and if you look online they’re super expensive.

thank you.. -jules.

Half banana

Gone awol, I was only sympathising with window cleaners-- having been one myself.

Today's prices on Amazon-- Crisis of Conscience , Raymond Franz... hardback £539.80

paperback; a snip at £188..... Gordon Bennett!!

12

if jehovah is a “ perfect “ god and our everlasting life is in the balance - why then does a perfect god give us a very imperfect guide book “ bible “ one that is open for interpretation hundreds - or more - different ways.

if you look at it as an instruction book , it most likely is the worst written instruction book in mankind’s history.

i cannot interpret an instruction book on “ flying a plane “ , it only has one interpretation as your life depends on it , but alas it was written by imperfect men.

Half banana

It's just a superstition that the Bible is God's word. A lucrative superstition at that-- very useful for religious leaders.

Otherwise it has atrocious morals and appallingly bad advice. One which springs to mind is:

"You must be perfect as I am perfect".

This inhumane instruction is designed to fill psychiatric wards with neurotic believers..

Just stop believing that the Bible is useful to you, there are infinitely better sources of sound information based on solid evidence.

53

Crisis of Conscience where to find?

by Jules Saturn in

does anyone know where i can get a pdf version of this book?

i’ve always wanted a physical copy but those seem really hard to come by, and if you look online they’re super expensive.

thank you.. -jules.

Half banana

I suggest time travel. I bought the book for about £5 ($6.50) about four years ago in UK. I looked online a couple of days ago and the prices were too much for anyone except the super rich. Not an option for window cleaners who are waking up to TTATT!

Sorry I can't really be of help but you could scour the shelves of very large second hand book shops.

22

The real reason the Watchtower Magazine is studied

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower study is not real bible study.

it is a study to introduce wtbts beliefs,doctrines, and practices.

just think for a moment!

Half banana

"By directing interested people to our official websites, we are connecting them with the one true source of spiritual food, 'the faithful and discreet slave.'"

That is a cult classic Listener!

What bunch of pea-brained popinjays could tell the world that God has chosen them alone as his channel? Who is it who spouts this drivel and expects to get away with it? Only JW cult leaders!

I am at the same time both nauseated and glad for the cheek of this statement by JW org. Nauseated because it is so far removed from reality, (they are unfaithful and indiscreet) so pie in the sky that it will become easy to see the absurdity of it. Since when have they had the slightest evidence of divine approval? They have ALWAYS proved to have been WRONG in their interpretation of prophecy!

I can imagine how individual GB members, with the exception of Tony Morris, might privately be harbouring a dilemma of conscience and thinking; I wish Armageddon would hurry up, I can't believe this nonsense myself for very much longer.

They must know its baloney . . . and that makes them all the more culpable for the damage they cause to their flock in depriving them, amongst other things, of their birthright to a normal life of their own choosing.

28

What do I do ?

by jdash in

hey guys, this is my first time posting on here but lets get started.. so i'm a 17 year old boy who currently attends meetings at a congregation in indianapolis.

i live with my grandparents, on my father's side, because my mother died in 2010. i been attending meetings since i was 10. my mother got into the religion but then got disfellowshiped.

my dad is on and off, he currently just got reinstated.

Half banana

Welcome to the site Jdash!

I echo Pale Emperor's thoughts that it's great that you have woken up at a young age. Well done!

The practical things about leaving the cult are a bit more problematical but will only last for a short while. Can you simply lie low and do the absolute minimum before you leave home and avoid preaching. Really--how can anyone be forced to preach something they don't believe in?

Are your grandparents reasoning people or just dyed in the wool JWs? Could you perhaps agree to just go to one meeting a week for their sake? But don't get involved in doctrine or say anything against the JW org; it will only get you disfellowshipped. Whatever you do prepare for college and try and get a part time job to support yourself. College education, especially in the humanities, is the antidote to JW fantasies and eventually whatever you study, it will prove be a sound investment to pay you your living expenses in the future!

Friends are very important, make friends with sensible non JWs whose company will further your college interests.

And do keep in touch with us.

22

The real reason the Watchtower Magazine is studied

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower study is not real bible study.

it is a study to introduce wtbts beliefs,doctrines, and practices.

just think for a moment!

Half banana

The efforts of the JW org governing body is for one purpose only namely to keep their religion as a viable business with themselves at the helm.

It has never been observed that Watchtower literature ever did an objective examination of anything. It would surely fail as a business if JW org stepped outside of its indoctrination patter and began a disinterested scholarly investigation of Christianity and the origin of Bible texts.

So the Watchtower study is pure coercive indoctrination to foster brand loyalty and to keep the flock shut firmly in the JW compound. This is the bread and butter of cult activity.

10

Natural disasters cause the most grief and misery today

by nowwhat? in

its not wars caused by satan and man.

its hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and tornadoes!

so the logical question is jesus showed he can control the weather when on earth.

Half banana

Venus, by mentioning "past regression" we are discussing a personal mental experience of yours not a familiar event for most people. The private course of one's imagination is no evidence for determining anything concrete to others.

22

It’s My Anniversary!

by jp1692 in

today is the four year anniversary of the last time i set foot in a kingdom hall.

it was the day of the kool-aid issue of the wt!

“at that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint.

Half banana

Kairos, I exited two decades before I saw the quotation but it still made my heart sick nevertheless.

It encapsulates the fatalism which is the mark of a doomsday cult.The governing body were defiantly reserving their right to demand life threatening obedience from their flock. This is truly frightening for people used to wholeheartedly trusting their religious leaders.

For a believer with a less than robust mind it creates the unnerving idea that some dangerous instruction will come which they must obey without question.

It is the very potency of this announcement which will instill fear and loyalty. Thinkers on the other hand like JP and bigdummy will leave.

Many happy returns of the day JP!

5

Healing

by AllTimeJeff in

jw
friends

among the many ways that jehovahs witnesses leadership strangle a person is primarily through the taking of your identity.

for cults and high control groups, of course this is how it's done.

but once you leave, finding out who you really are, and living a life of authenticity is usually quite challenging.. i have learned since my exit in 2006 that it is healthy to learn about who you are.

Half banana

Well said Jeff, knowing who you are is a significant matter for those leaving the all too embracing tentacles of the cult.

GB rhetoric stresses being humble and subordinate because, for goodness sake, they only want unthinking drones in their cult. People who question the rightness of seven overfed and undereducated clowns to rule over them are not likely to receive any JW favours. It's docile, brainless sheep who are the most useful to the org, those who enjoy being told what to do.

So it's a big step for the escapee to find themselves, to learn for the first time perhaps, who they really are and what their real potential is. I suggest reading Jung if you have the inclination for psychology/psychiatry and learn what he means by "individuation". Look the definition up anyway. Jung says that happiness and freedom only arrives when people have determined their self identity and begun to live it. I'm inclined to agree, by contrast look at all those beholden to others willingly or otherwise who are unable to simply be themselves like JWs.

My thoughts are, whatever you do as an ex-JW, take stock of what it is which you think is the essence of yourself, learn what your best qualities are, and find what you can do well. . . develop a vision of yourself as a free individual and go for it!

10

Natural disasters cause the most grief and misery today

by nowwhat? in

its not wars caused by satan and man.

its hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and tornadoes!

so the logical question is jesus showed he can control the weather when on earth.

Half banana

A bunch of uncritically informed assumptions here Venus.

"With the measure you use, you will be measured". You cannot quote Biblical sayings as if they are actual truth!

They represent the precepts and injunctions of leaders of the christ cults from the time of writing and this one is clearly false. Kind and generous people are just as likely to be struck by lightning or a bus as any criminal is.

You talk of heaven as if we all come from there, you might for all I know! except my experience tells me that there is not one ounce of evidence that anyone ever had any pre-existence nor any after life, as much as these popular rumours have for millennia pervaded religious minds. Evidence is required.

Flowers, flower scent and coloured fruits function as attractants to insects, birds and animals for the sake of perpetuation of their own life forms. The species which fail to attract or reproduce simply die out. It could hardly be said they were created for humans because flowering plants evolved during the time of the dinosaurs and all plant families had appeared before hominins did in the Late Pleistocene (i.e. geologically recently). The Rose family for example including herbaceous plants, apples, pears, plums etc developed in the Eocene Period (following the dinosaur extinction) which began 56 million years ago ending 33.9 million years ago.

It is anthropocentric to imagine they were created for our pleasure.