freshcrepes

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Posts by freshcrepes

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  10

  Have You Ever Seen A Pedophile "Letter of Introduction"? What was written in your Hall?

  by BucketShopBill in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  how did the secretary introduce a sexual offender or a repeated pedophile to your kingdom hall?

  i saw two different "letters of introduction" that really depressed me because i knew both of the victims and their side of the story was not reflected.

  how were those letters you read and did they reflect anything or describe the conduct of the sexual predator?.

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  freshcrepes

  Is this in South Buckinghamshire by any chance?
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  44

  Drinking at meetings / assemblies / conventions ... who's done it?

  by HarryMac in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for me .... 1).

  last district convention after having 'read up' (took some family to it).. 2).

  last 'meeting' to watch step-father-in-law finally get his and get disfellowshipped for molestation.. ...both were taking vodka shots in the bathroom.. i'm sure there's lots of good stories out there..

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  freshcrepes

  At Coventry a few years ago, I poured a generous helping of vodka into a coke bottle and sipped away during the afternoon session. Made the whole thing a lot more interesting!
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  'The Land of Decoration' by Grace McLeen

  by freshcrepes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i did a search for this author and book on this forum but couldn't find anything, so apologies if this has already been posted.

  i'm surprised it hasn't got more attention here.. this book was published last month in england - i heard about it on the radio where it said that the author is an ex-jehovah's witness.. i haven't been able to confirm this anywhere else except to say that the author grew up in a fundamentalist religion.

  on reading the book, while not explicitly stated, it's quite clear that the main character is a witness.. i highly recommend it - it's a novel about a child who creates a world in her room made out of various objects.

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  freshcrepes

  I did a search for this author and book on this forum but couldn't find anything, so apologies if this has already been posted. I'm surprised it hasn't got more attention here.

  This book was published last month in England - I heard about it on the radio where it said that the author is an ex-Jehovah's Witness.

  I haven't been able to confirm this anywhere else except to say that the author grew up in a fundamentalist religion.

  On reading the book, while not explicitly stated, it's quite clear that the main character is a Witness.

  I highly recommend it - it's a novel about a child who creates a world in her room made out of various objects. She starts to believe that things that happen in the fake world have effects in the real world.

  Familliar Witness doctines & practices are tightly tied in with the story, it's not just incidental that the child is a witness.

  I think many of you would love the book - it's beautifully written. I identified with the main character a great deal and found reading the book to be quite cathartic. I don't think I've ever identified so personally with a character. Since witnesses are not mentioned directly it doesn't feel like an 'expose' or a memoir of an upbringing in the religion. It gave me the sense of seeing the phrases and doctrines from an outsider's perspective, which makes them seem very, very weird. Early on the child is talking about how happy 'the brothers' were after they built their 'kingdom hall' and it just sounds bizarre, like something from Dan Brown!
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  17

  The Last Days and the Bible's Responsibility to Prove Itself

  by freshcrepes in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the watchtower's interpretation of the bible, we live in a time of unprecedented importance.

  the current system is likely to end in our lifetime, and as the end draws closer the need to for the world to accept the bible becomes more urgent.. we are also in a unique time in that billions of people have the risk of eternal destruction upon death.

  as i understand it, the billions who have and will die before armageddon will get an 'auto-resurrection' after armageddon (save a few in god's bad books) but those who die at armageddon are gone forever.

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  freshcrepes

  Larsinger58, thankyou for taking the time for such a detailed response. Unfortunatley I found it completely impenetrable. Would you mind answering this question - Which single scripture or chapter in the Bible could NOT have been written without divine inspiration?
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  17

  The Last Days and the Bible's Responsibility to Prove Itself

  by freshcrepes in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the watchtower's interpretation of the bible, we live in a time of unprecedented importance.

  the current system is likely to end in our lifetime, and as the end draws closer the need to for the world to accept the bible becomes more urgent.. we are also in a unique time in that billions of people have the risk of eternal destruction upon death.

  as i understand it, the billions who have and will die before armageddon will get an 'auto-resurrection' after armageddon (save a few in god's bad books) but those who die at armageddon are gone forever.

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  freshcrepes

  According to the Watchtower's interpretation of the Bible, we live in a time of unprecedented importance. The current system is likely to end in our lifetime, and as the end draws closer the need to for the world to accept the Bible becomes more urgent.

  We are also in a unique time in that billions of people have the risk of eternal destruction upon death. As I understand it, the billions who have and will die before Armageddon will get an 'auto-resurrection' after Armageddon (save a few in God's bad books) but those who die at Armageddon are gone forever. The people alive right now are quite literally in the most precarious position of any people who have ever lived. They need to accept the Bible more than any people who have ever lived.

  The Bible has an enormous responsibility here. It needs to convince people in the 21st century that it is the inspired word of God. It didn't need to convince anybody in the 5th, 12th or 16th century since they will be resurrected anyway. If we accept Daniel's prophesy then we accept that the Bible knew exactly when the last days would be. It's not a huge leap to posit that the writer of the Bible, God, would have been aware of the huge amount of scientific knowledge we would have in the 21st century. He did, after all, predict the formation of the UN, an organisation which would be tricky to set up without intercontinental communication and travel. How does the Bible try to convince the scientifically literate people of the 21st century, the people for whom its message is - for the first time ever - life and eternal death, that it contains knowledge that could only come from a divine source? An allegorical foreshadowing of evolution? The exact distance to the nearest star? Complex mathematical proofs hidden in the page numbers? No - 'the circle of the earth' and 'hangs upon nothing', concepts quite common at the time of composition. The Bible really does let itself down here. You'd have thought it would have tried harder! I'd never thought about this problem before. Can anybody here put on their witness hat and come up with a response?
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  30

  New one

  by freshcrepes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been lurking on this forum for over a year, and i thought i'd say a quick hello.. .

  i was raised as a jehovah's witness and managed to endure past the encouragement that one receives from age 16 onwards about what is holding me back, and never got baptised.

  i figured that making one of the most important decisions of my life requires a lot more thought than people seemed to be giving it, and shouldn't be based on emotion as is quite common.. .

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  freshcrepes

  P.S. It wouldn't cause me any trouble.
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  30

  New one

  by freshcrepes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been lurking on this forum for over a year, and i thought i'd say a quick hello.. .

  i was raised as a jehovah's witness and managed to endure past the encouragement that one receives from age 16 onwards about what is holding me back, and never got baptised.

  i figured that making one of the most important decisions of my life requires a lot more thought than people seemed to be giving it, and shouldn't be based on emotion as is quite common.. .

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  freshcrepes

  Hi James,

  I'm not sure yet. At the moment, learning is my priority (so much to catch up on!) so I spend a lot of time reading. I'm not sure what a university education can give me except a certification confirming that I've learnt something. The information is more important than the certification to me at the moment. What do you think?
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  30

  New one

  by freshcrepes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been lurking on this forum for over a year, and i thought i'd say a quick hello.. .

  i was raised as a jehovah's witness and managed to endure past the encouragement that one receives from age 16 onwards about what is holding me back, and never got baptised.

  i figured that making one of the most important decisions of my life requires a lot more thought than people seemed to be giving it, and shouldn't be based on emotion as is quite common.. .

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  freshcrepes

  Thanks everybody for your warm welcome. I'm very familiar with some of you through your posts.

  ABibleStudent - I don't really see it like that. I see it as a restriction that they have. I feel sad for them that they are not free to listen to all sides of the discussion, and I keep quiet as I understand how scary it can be to hear an opinion from a source that you have been warned to avoid. I'm in love with somebody who doesn't judge me and I'm free to share my opinions with, and I'm grateful for that.
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  30

  New one

  by freshcrepes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been lurking on this forum for over a year, and i thought i'd say a quick hello.. .

  i was raised as a jehovah's witness and managed to endure past the encouragement that one receives from age 16 onwards about what is holding me back, and never got baptised.

  i figured that making one of the most important decisions of my life requires a lot more thought than people seemed to be giving it, and shouldn't be based on emotion as is quite common.. .

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  freshcrepes

  Hello everybody,

  I've been lurking on this forum for over a year, and I thought I'd say a quick hello.

  I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and managed to endure past the encouragement that one receives from age 16 onwards about what is holding me back, and never got baptised. I figured that making one of the most important decisions of my life requires a lot more thought than people seemed to be giving it, and shouldn't be based on emotion as is quite common.

  I'm very glad I never took the plunge, and I've managed to convince my parents that they should be glad to. I've pointed out that had I been baptised and reached the position I'm at now (agnostic to be specific, but atheist to be useful) then we would not be able to even have conversations with them about religion, or anything else.

  I feel a bit like an imposter here - many of you have lost contact completely with friends and family whereas I'm just viewed as slightly peculiar. I dont share my views often with witnesses, although I think about what to say a lot. I do find it quite baffling that any of them believe what they do, but I think the best approach is to remain respectful and ask pertinent questions to make them think. I'm very lucky that I have the opportunity to be open with my parents should I choose to be.

  I like reading threads here about the logical backflips that witnesses have to go through to believe what they do. It fascinates me when they say that I don't have the right heart condition, or that Jehovah will reveal things to me in time, and I (gently) call them up on it when they do. My view is that nobody should have a fear of information or opposing points of view, indeed it's essential to solidifying your worldview. And they are free to reject any information that they don't agree with. I think that Raymond Franz's books should be required reading for every Jehovah's Witness, and the avoidance and even more so, the non-acknowledgement of the existence of these books exposes a fatal insecurity.

  Thankyou everybody for your helpful experiences over the past year.

  Fresh Crepes x