Posts by soft+gentle

59

FOR ACTIVE WITNESSES ONLY - PLEASE!!

by The Searcher in

this is a sincere request to any brothers or sisters who are fearful of websites such as this; .

please imitate the beroeans who carefully examined the scriptures to see if what the apostle paul said was the truth.

they were described as being "noble minded" for doing so!!.

soft+gentle

neonMadman - sorry, I was just picking up on searcher's question and adding my tuppence.

hey shelby - we understand each other

110

greetings everyone.. just wanted to say hello to everyone, being a new member from western europe.. some may know me from another forum (eden, from e-jehovas-witnesses.com), but most don't, so this is my little intro.. male, in my early 40's.

still an active member in good standing of a jehovah's witnesses congregation in my country, and honestly not planning to change that status, despite my unorthodox beliefs.

sometime i will elaborate the reason why i don't feel i must leave.

soft+gentle

edenOne - welcome

your research sounds interesting and i hope to take a look at your webpages soon.

47

CO disfellowshipped, Central Coast, Australia

by WinstonSmith in

hi guys,.

i was just looking through www.reddit.com/r/exjw and there is a thread that was posted about four hours ago with the title "so our circuit overseer just got disfellowshipped" and there some basic details in their op.

the location is given as central coast, australia, which is north of sydney.. there aren't many more details other than "it has sent shockwaves throguh the congregations" and a query on the protocol in situations like this.

soft+gentle

I'm so glad CO's are setting the lead in seeking out disfellowshipping. more need to do so

59

FOR ACTIVE WITNESSES ONLY - PLEASE!!

by The Searcher in

this is a sincere request to any brothers or sisters who are fearful of websites such as this; .

please imitate the beroeans who carefully examined the scriptures to see if what the apostle paul said was the truth.

they were described as being "noble minded" for doing so!!.

soft+gentle

hey searcher I am a semi active witness and want to have my say about this

2. If "all Scripture is inspired by God", why does the Insight Book 2 p. 130 state "Luke's presentation of this incident evidently is not in strict chronological order" - thereby discrediting Luke's inspired opening statement at Luke 1:1-4, where he states that although many had compiled facts about Jesus and his ministry, he (Luke) had done so with accuracy, and in logical order!

Firstly, according to present WTS understanding Luke was not a member of the faithful and discreet slave class, only present day governing body members are. Secondly whereas Luke was writing to and for Theophilus the GB/FDS are writing to and for the whole world of sheeplike ones. They are superior to Luke and can say that evidently Luke made a mistake and that he was not as careful with the facts as he says he was.

At Luke 1:1-4 Luke seems to emphasize that others had composed declarative (oral) narratives whereas he in contrast was putting the facts in writing. Thus Luke empasizes his own painstaking research before committing his account to inspired written factual form. So how can the WTS take issue with Luke's facts? They evidently can because they have been appointed over all Jesus' earthly belongings and have more authority as channels of communication between Jehovah and the world than Luke who was only a 1st century writer, was not a member of the FDS and was writing for a smaller readership. So his written account is worthy of discrediting by the faithful and discreeet slave.

135

I Think My Marriage Is Over...

by cognac in

jw
friends

i know exactly what happened... he thinks i'm going to die at the big a and wants to be with someone he can live forever with.... we have two girls, ages 3 and 1... i really thought we'd make it despite the religion, now i really don't think so... not sure what to do... .

soft+gentle

cognac I am so sorry about this.

has your husband meditated on the scripture that says his unbelieving household are sanctified by his faith and that nothing is impossible for the holy spirit?

259

The Gentile Times Reconsidered (607 B.C.E.) -Part A1 - Jeremiah 25:10-12 Reviewed

by FaceTheFacts in

during the last three to four months, i have spent a great deal of time sinking my teeth into various critical biblical commentaries and lexicons.

naturally, after beginning to research "the truth about the truth" one of the most commonplace yet controversial arguments revolve around the "gentile times" doctrine (i.e.

the application of the seven times of daniel 4 from 607 b.c.e.

soft+gentle

omg ftf, macho

Sidenote: FaceTheFacts here. Apparently I was banned in the middle of having a debate (what a shocker!). Ive come to realize this forum has no value for me, since the people dont even read your arguments but would just like to believe what they want. Thereare far BETTER, scholarly, debate platforms out there. This site has deteriorated into an intellectual waseland and is simply a daycare for scared adults too weak and powerless to deal with their own problems.

If anyone is interested, TheologyWeb is where you should go. I'll be posting under the name Agnosco and we can continue the discussion there.

quite insulting arn't you, facethefacts, macho or whatever you are calling yourself. there is a lot more going on on this site than "scholarly argument" where everyone is supposed to agree with you. is that what you mean by scholarly argument?

If you accepted that we all have different perspectives on the debate instead of insisting on your own then you may be allowed to stay. As to "scared adults who are too weak and powerless to deal with their own problems" ----- come on now. we have all won and are winning against the WTS and we don't rest on our laurels but continue to strengthen our instincts. as you can see you have been sniffed out and shown to be a charlatan.

60

Genesis 3:16 - As to ALL Women... or One Woman? A Favor, Please...

by AGuest in

may you all have peace!.

so, as some of you might know (or discern)... or not... i am not your usual submissive/in subjection kind of girl.

given what some apparently expect of women... as wives, daughters, female friends... and in general... i was curious about the greater fulfillment of genesis 3:16, because many are of the belief that it applies to all women as to all men... (including those that aren't their husbands)... and not the just one being addressed at the time (eve as to adham).. personally, other than paul's position on women teaching in public (which was borne of what was occurring in the region at the time, due to by-then jewish culture and roman occupation)... and peter's admonishment for wives to submit themselves to their own husbands... that i know of nothing that validates a woman being in subjection to anyone other than her own husband, and even then such "subjection" is not puerile or unrestrained (so as to just be a given), but borne of love and respect for her husband (in which case it should not be difficult)... who is obligated to honor her, as well.

soft+gentle

shelby i must tell you about an experience i had recently with the elders of my congregation.

you know I have a sick friend and both my husband and myself have been totally flat out supportive with our time and energies. AT the same time a pipe had burst in our home and my husband was trying valiantly to fix it over the weekend. An elder from another congregation had been ringing repeatedly during the week to speak to my husband and i had been taking the call as my husband wa either at work or at the meeting or we were helping my friend - all of this I patiently conveyed to this persistent elder. After all this he also rang saturday morning whilst my husband was on the ministry. Well he finally also rang sunday evening when my husband was working on the burst pipe.

I took the call again but this time I told him very firmly to ring one of the other elders or better yet deal with the situation himself with his own elder body. He did not like this and told me he was shocked. So I told him twice to grow up and put the phone down on him.

My husband is a very kind man and knows that i am under pressure so he texted our PO to deal with it. AT the next meeting all of the elder body very pointedly refused to speak to me, they would not even meet my gaze but were very friendly towards my husband while I was standing right next to him. Generally they smile and say hello (their wives continued to be friendly except the PO's wife - she kept looking round at us during the meeting). Usually I answer up at the meetings when I attend - this time my hand was not taken even when I was the only one who had raised her hand.

In the distant past this sort of behaviour would have had its coersive customary effect on me. But now it just makes me smile inwardly and I will simply carry on as if nothing has happened, in time the elders will get over it just as I expect them to and just as they have done in the past, customarily that is. My husband did not think I had done anything wrong and indeed he had been trying to avoid speaking to this elder as he did not want to get involved and was going to tactfully say so anyway.

You may be wondering what the point of my sharing my experience is - well my conclusion is that custom can work against one and it can work for one when dealing with authoritative use of force to bend others to one's will as the WTS teaches its elders. i am a great fan of Pascal. edit: he said "Custom is our nature. What are our natural principles but principles of custom?"

259

The Gentile Times Reconsidered (607 B.C.E.) -Part A1 - Jeremiah 25:10-12 Reviewed

by FaceTheFacts in

during the last three to four months, i have spent a great deal of time sinking my teeth into various critical biblical commentaries and lexicons.

naturally, after beginning to research "the truth about the truth" one of the most commonplace yet controversial arguments revolve around the "gentile times" doctrine (i.e.

the application of the seven times of daniel 4 from 607 b.c.e.

soft+gentle

9

Celestial chariot or broken down cart? Judging the agility of the organization...

by cedars in

i've just uploaded an "end of year" article to my blog.

you can read it on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/why-is-gods-earthly-organization-so-slow.

in my article i explain how 2012 has taught me something i didn't know previously about the watch tower society - that it is painfully slow at responding to important developments.. i cite examples of three recent developments where the society has been slow to respond, or get word out.... the candace conti verdict - media blackout for six days following the judgmentthe appointment of mark sanderson - no official confirmation for months after the appointment was announced at morning worshipthe "new light" on the faithful slave - over a month before officially confirmed on jw.org, and a further month before the information was available in other languagesi then go on to look at the recent video about the watchtower sign and make the argument that, far from being comparable with a lightning-fast celestial chariot, the society has grown slow and cumbersome in responding to developments because it is essentially in love with itself - as per the greek mythological character narcissus.. anyway, take a look at the article when you get a moment, and let me know what you think!.

soft+gentle

perhaps the chariot is waiting for the echoes to subside or for the wind to pick up

112

JW.org reports on the Sandy Hook shooting...

by cedars in

jw
friends

from the official jw website.... .

school shooting in connecticutdecember 17, 2012 | united states.

on friday, december 14, 2012, a shooting took place at an elementary school in newtown, connecticut.

soft+gentle

scotoma - I appreciate your input on this thread and you make some excellent points.

Imo the brief jw.org report is not as suggestive of the points you are making cedars but I don't object to your activism or to your contextualisation. Imo the statement on its own doesn't reflect self absorbtion but reflects more what scotoma is saying - connection. The fact that JW.org says that initial reports suggested that there were 2 jw children who were at the school but who were not injured makes the shooting more personal for jehovahs witnesses whilst they absorb the greater tragedy which can seem like mindless, wasteful loss of life when contextualised by newspapers alongside other shootings or alongside gun control debates for example (not saying it's wrong to do so btw).

Other religious bodies are doing the same as Jehovahs witnesses - trying to help their own people to make a connection and also then thinking about how they can help the community which is what the jw.org report also does.

But I am not trying to dampen your activism (or anyone else's) as we xjws are aware of the spin Jehovahs witnessses will put on this event a spin with which we have had a connection and which we want to air. so kudos to you for doing so. But this does not mean dismissing scotoma's view.

edit: why don't you just ignore him? I like his comments and yours too so I will ignore neither.