Nathan Natas

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Posts by Nathan Natas

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  10

  Starting a 'Bible Study' - The Basics

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i never was a jw.

  i was brought up in a fairly fundie sect (pb) and have been for many years an interested atheist.

  i am an admirer of the work of bart ehrman (and recommend his blog).. from time to time, jws call at my door and invite me to partake in a 'bible study'.

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  Nathan Natas

  I _like_ the idea of giving the presumptive "Bible teacher" a little quiz first, it's diabolical, and these "experiences" are very entertaining.
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  19

  What if all JWs had put off having children?

  by keyser soze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  could the religion have survived?.

  i know it was never forbidden, but i remember growing up, how we were encouraged to put it off until the new system, and instead focus on a career in the full time service.. can you imagine if every young jw had chosen to follow that counsel?

  it's difficult to imagine the religion being sustainable without the next generation of born-ins..

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  Nathan Natas

  I would offer that, as originally conceived (pun unintentional), the JW religion was NEVER INTENDED to "survive"!

  C. T. Russell thought his job was to gather "the elect" out of apostate Christendom so they could be joyously joined at the hip as The Bride of The Christ.

  As time passed and the CASHFLOW possibilities of the Brooklyn Org were realized, it was still thought that JWs would remain a minority religion until their loving YHVH killed 90% of humanity. THEN the faithful dubs would be vindicated and the entire planet would become of one mind with the rest of the Universe.

  Today, however, the prophetic failures of the WTB&TS have given the leadership a rude wake-up call. They NEED to keep the CASHFLOW going; they NEED their phony-baloney jobs and their submissive flock! How else could they survive with a résumé that says:

  "1878 to Present: Failed Prophet"?
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  6

  The Earliest Printed Book Still in Existence - the Buddhist Diamond Sutra

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the british library has a copy of this important historical work (dated to may 868 ce), and has been working to conserve its copy.

  this film made by the international dunhuang project (formed to conserve relics from the silk road (the east-west trading network) backgrounds the sutra's story:.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgn5hqxtlmc.

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  Nathan Natas

  "Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:

  A star at dawn,

  A bubble floating in a stream,

  A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,

  A flickering lamp,

  A phantom,

  and a dream."

  More TRUTH here than The Watchtower ever dreamed of.
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  21

  Millions now living will never die (orginally "may" never die) was the WTS lying

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this was first said in 1918 and adjusted to "will never die" in 1920. of course, the wts taught that the anointed had to die to go to heaven; but there was no great crowd teaching then, so they were talking about all non-anointed people on earth.

  the wts members were known as bible students then and had been expecting the end in 1914 and it was adjusted.

  one date that was stressed at that time was 1925. so i think they idea was that people living in 1918 would be alive to see the end in 1925, which of course did not happen.

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  Nathan Natas

  "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." -- HPL
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  24

  Hello - New Member

  by NotAnointed in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just wanted to intoroduce myself.

  i have been lurking for some time and finally decided to register and hopefully contribute to this great forum.. i am in my mid 30s and have never been in the truth.

  my wife became a jw several years ago and since she is a (mostly) stay at home mom my two boys are also jws.

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  Nathan Natas

  Welcome!

  As an non-practicing atheist, I weep into my pillow that you cling to your imaginary invisible friends. I will pray for you.
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  5

  Most Horrible Murder Done by JWs in Rep of Korea...

  by intropist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/08/113_212343.html.

  korean ex-jw brothers contacted the police and hinted to them that this murder could be related with wt's evil policy of shunning because.

  father was an elder (ministerial overseer).

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  Nathan Natas

  What not to post

  We want visitors to enjoy reading and using the Forum so we ask that posters abstain from certain types of posts. If you are interested in posting outside of these rules, there are numerous other places where you can post such messages instead. We encourage you to leave. Please. Right now. Posts that are prohibited include:

  • Unreadable, non-english or gibberish / nonsense

    Sorry, we do not have the capability to translate and moderate non English content.

    Nonsensical posts that have nothing to do with the topic, repetitive diatribes posted to multiple items, off-topic posts that hinder discussion, and responses to those posts. We ask readers to ignore such posts. It’s hard to keep the comments clear of them if several people respond to them and responses mix with actual commentary.
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  98

  Steve Hassan. Can some one verify if this is true.

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://culteducation.com/group/1289-general-information/8227-disclaimer-regarding-steve-hassan.html.

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  Nathan Natas

  Did you think that Steve Hassan made his living selling hot dogs from a cart?

  THIS is his career!

  I am constantly AMAZED and AMUSED by the number of whining freeloaders who think everything should be given to them for free. They expect boneless BBQ'd chickens to fly into their mouths!

  Well, time to pay the piper, crybabies! FREEDOM ain't FREE!

  And for those who complain that the deprogramming sessions were ineffective: that just demonstrates how "devoted" (aka fucked up) you cultic family member is! ...and you're blaming the deprogrammer for that?

  Investigate any of the other anti-cult practitioners out there and tell me if you find ONE who is a totally beyond reproach. They are the "Yin" to a cult's "Yang."
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  33

  "You Can Do Just Enough Ministry To Dislike It"

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  when you were "in" did you ever actually enjoy the ministry?

  and i made no secret about it.

  instead i would joke about me feather knocking, and made sure i had my bible in hand so as they come to the door they know what im about so they can shut me down before i even start.. i always wondered how or why there were people who enjoyed it.

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  Nathan Natas

  Deep, deep within me sleeps the dessicated ghost of the "Dub of Witness Past" that I once was.

  I was taught Watchtower Crap & Pablum since I was about 8, I was dunked under the [ha ha] "old covenant" baptismal oath in 1964. I didn't need college because I read AWAKE! magazine.

  Reading your opening post raised the hackles on that dessicated decrepit ghoul within me; to think that ANYONE would speak openly of finding no joy in the D2D work! HOW DARE YOU!

  Of course from where I am now this honesty is welcome, refreshing and fully justified, but there was a time...
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  8

  The End is near!..for my great, great,great grandfather...

  by TTWSYF in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so it occurred to me how crazy the wts is and has been.. if i am 25 years old and my parents had me when they were 25, my grandparents were 25 when they had my parents, and their parents were 25 and so on and we were witnesses, what would we think?.

  my point?.

  my great, great, great grandparents were around 25 years old when the judge was promoting the end of times in the 1870s.

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  Nathan Natas

  "when the Judge was promoting the end of times in the 1870s."

  You really owe it to yourself to get a more accurate grasp of JW history; lest you sound silly.
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  27

  Will the UN turn on Religion?

  by no-zombie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as all witnesses know, the opening gambit of the great tribulation will occur when the united nations turns on organized religion to devastate them and leave them naked of people and resources.

  however, as jehovah's judgement day has been spoken of as being "imminent", the question that can be fairly asked ... 'is the united nations organization actually in a position to act as god's destroyer of false religion?

  while i have no doubt that most within that organization had in the past tried to make the lives of the desperate better, the united nations has unfortunately now become a weak and underfunded political eunuch.

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  Nathan Natas

  Given the record of The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society being 100% WRONG with their "Bible-based" speculations, what justification do you have for suggesting they might be RIGHT about this speculation?

  I'll say it now, in plain language: there will NEVER be a "Great Tribulation;" there will never be a "not-so-great tribulation."