Posts by losthobbit

8

What'd I miss?

by fade_away in

jw
friends

i turned my back on this site for one day and when i come back everyone is saying sparlock this and sparlock that.

what is a sparlock?

i can tell it's a wizard character but is it a toy or a cartoon that the wt is bashing?

losthobbit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxfuPD89Wxs

Nice idea for a facebook profile pic.

40

The significance of Sparlock

by botchtowersociety in

the watchtower has depicted sparlock as a commercial plastic toy to be thrown into the garbage with impunity.. i submit to you all that he is something far greater.

sparlock represents all the hopes and dreams of jw children everywhere.

he is the magic of childhood.

losthobbit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxfuPD89Wxs

40

How can I convince my mother the JW's are wrong?

by schnare in

this is probably going to be a long post, since i am going to be added some parts of our conversations on facebook.

my mother has been involved sort of with the jw's, since she was younger.

so she's always kind of believed in their stuff.

losthobbit

Thanks Hubert :)

Schnare, I found an interesting post on this site, which hopefully will inspire you.

It's posted by HB at http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/206833/3/Hello-to-everyone-and-could-I-ask-a-really-basic-question-here-please

"... I now know that to start with, (being very ignorant about JW beliefs at the time), to my great regret, I was reasoning with my friend in completely the wrong way, attacking her belief in Jehovah directly rather than getting her to question for herself the basis of JW teachings but I didn't realise this until later.

Once I joined this forum and started learning what the Watchtower Org is about, several people gave me good advice but particularly a poster called 'Mr Majestic' who emailed me regularly and taught me how to behave and react and drip-feed information to my friend without setting off her 'apostate' alarm bells.

It took some time and ingenuity, but I eventually managed to get Mr Majestic and my friend together (long story). He used the bible and the WT Societies' own literature to open her eyes and thereby restored her sanity and returned her to her grateful family. As a JW she was constantly fearful and depressed but now she has a life and a future. (She will be in London auditioning for the X factor on Monday!) Another success story thanks to this website. She posted on here as 'Blooming Marvellous' a few times.

She and Mr Maj are now best of friends which is great, especially in view of the fact that when they first met, she acted as if he was the devil incarnate..."

25

Do you now have a customized religion?

by losthobbit in

i was never a jw.

i was a member of the church of christ.

i didn't jump from christian to non-believer, but rather went through a transition period, and i'd guess that all of you did the same,... changing beliefs bit by bit until you believe what you do now.. when i first realized that there were logic problems in the bible i started to find excuses for those problems.

losthobbit

Joey Jo-Jo, interesting point. My mom still believes the bible is entirely true... when I ask her which translation, or which manuscript is true (the manuscripts do differ) she still sticks to her belief. Of course, besides not knowing much about the copiers, translators and the people who chose which books to put in the bible, we don't even know the people who originally wrote them. But somehow it's entirely true, and you better believe it or we'll burn you at the stake, heretics... :)

22

I AM THINKING OF BECOMING A CULT LEADER- ANY SUGGESTION?

by Mr Facts in

i am quite impressed at the power the gb wields globally and it prompted in me the strong desire to start my own religious cult.

i wouldnt any hurt anyone though, my goal is just to experience the privilege that power and authority gives and in the process grow financial empire.. i am presently putting down some strategies down in paper and i have been watching many videos on youtube and accessing cult-related materials, learning from cult leaders arround the world and observing their modus operandi.

please if you do have any suggestion, freely offer it, i will appreciate it so much.. .

losthobbit

Start by predicting the date of next apocalyptic event... when it doesn't occur, make an excuse. Repeat thirteen times. After a hundred years you will have seven million followers.

25

Do you now have a customized religion?

by losthobbit in

i was never a jw.

i was a member of the church of christ.

i didn't jump from christian to non-believer, but rather went through a transition period, and i'd guess that all of you did the same,... changing beliefs bit by bit until you believe what you do now.. when i first realized that there were logic problems in the bible i started to find excuses for those problems.

losthobbit

NewChapter, I agree.

25

Do you now have a customized religion?

by losthobbit in

i was never a jw.

i was a member of the church of christ.

i didn't jump from christian to non-believer, but rather went through a transition period, and i'd guess that all of you did the same,... changing beliefs bit by bit until you believe what you do now.. when i first realized that there were logic problems in the bible i started to find excuses for those problems.

losthobbit

MrBunyRabit, James Brown and MindsEye,

Thank you for your comments. I want to share some advice and a comment with you:

You don't have to have a label... You don't need to be a Christian, or an Agnostic or an Athiest. A label restricts you, and forces you to be something. Personally, I call myself a truth seeker. That is a label that I think I will always want to be identified as... not as someone who knows that he is right and doesn't listen to anyone else, but someone who always wants to learn, find a better way and do what is right.

"A great nation is like a great man:
When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent teachers."

- Lao-tzu

25

Do you now have a customized religion?

by losthobbit in

i was never a jw.

i was a member of the church of christ.

i didn't jump from christian to non-believer, but rather went through a transition period, and i'd guess that all of you did the same,... changing beliefs bit by bit until you believe what you do now.. when i first realized that there were logic problems in the bible i started to find excuses for those problems.

losthobbit

BlindNoMore, you asked "Can you share more about Church of Christ?"

The thing about the COC is that there are three different ones that I know of... There's the International Church of Christ, the Church of Christ of the Latter Day Saints, and the Church of Christ that I belonged to.

The International COC, is also known as the Boston movement and is considered to be a cult. I don't know much about them, but I think they have some kind of structure where people have to report to someone else. I once met two of them in a lonely part of a shopping mall... dodgy looking people that wanted to preach to me.

The COC of the Latter Day Saints are the Mormons. They're the ones that pop around to your house, just like the JW's, but are all called Elders, no matter how young they are.

Then there's the COC. They're the least cultish of the lot, but still believe they're the one and only true church of Christ, hence the name, which they consider to be more of a description than a name. They believe that the bible is 100% accurate. They differ from traditional Christianity in that they disagree with infant baptism, and insist that people only be baptised out of their own free will... something which makes a lot of sense. They believe that baptism is a requirement for salvation, which they get from Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16. They also believe that musical instruments should not be used in worship (Well, there are some churches of Christ that allow musical instruments, but I think most don't). They don't have any kind of headquarters, because, as far as they believe that Jesus is their head. They avoid traditional things... so for example, Christmas and Easter are not part of the religion, but they don't frown upon anyone that celebrates them; in fact most members do celebrate them.

Writing about them now, I kind of realize that compared to other Christian churches, the church of Christ is pretty good at sticking to what the bible teaches. Of course Mark 16:16 was probably never in the original manuscripts, and if you believe it then you also believe that Christians will survive if they drink poison and can handle snakes (also in Mark 16)... not that they would ever admit to believing that. ... And then there's Acts 2:38, which does say that one should be baptised in order to be saved, but this disagrees with other verses in the bible that say you just have to believe in order to be saved... so the right answer that no Christian admits to is simply that the bible contradicts itself.

Anyway, this is not really what this thread's about, but I thought I'd just answer the question.

25

Do you now have a customized religion?

by losthobbit in

i was never a jw.

i was a member of the church of christ.

i didn't jump from christian to non-believer, but rather went through a transition period, and i'd guess that all of you did the same,... changing beliefs bit by bit until you believe what you do now.. when i first realized that there were logic problems in the bible i started to find excuses for those problems.

losthobbit

garyneal, to answer your question about what the preacher said I must first explain what I believed...

My past irrationality is quite embarrassing now, but here goes... I could not believe in hell, simply because it contradicts God being loving and almighty. Due to cognitive dissonance I made up the excuse that perhaps God was just trying to get people to be good, by giving us something to fear, when in reality, he would probably forgive everyone on judgement day.

The preacher then asked me, "If you don't believe in hell, what is Jesus saving you from?"

My answer was "Nothing"

He explained that since I don't believe that Jesus is my saviour, I am not a Christian.

40

How can I convince my mother the JW's are wrong?

by schnare in

this is probably going to be a long post, since i am going to be added some parts of our conversations on facebook.

my mother has been involved sort of with the jw's, since she was younger.

so she's always kind of believed in their stuff.

losthobbit

One more thought... you might be able to use peer pressure to your advantage, by including other people in your conversations, like if you have a brother or sister or father who cares.