Posts by Ucantnome

96

Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?

by nicolaou in

seems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.

maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.

many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.

Ucantnome

Being held responsible for taking correct measurements with a ruler does not entitle a person to define the ruler ( how long should an inch be .)

If my father asked me to take a measurement and my three brothers offered their six inch rulers and after a while I came to realise that they were all slightly different rulers I would have to decide as best that I could which one I was going to use or whether I would average it out as best that I could so that I didn't end up with something that was longer than it should be,

With that in mind. When I was a Jehovah's Witness there came a time that I had to decide whether I would continue joining those who had identified themselves as Christ's brothers in the preaching work or not.

I didn't feel that my conscience would permit me to do that. In coming to that decision although still holding to the my faith in Christ, his death and resurrection and living a Christian life I was not really a Jehovah's Witness.

When I was a small boy and was calling door to door with my father he had a long discussion with a woman who attended the local church. One of the points he discussed was the generation that is mentioned in Matthew and how close the end, Armageddon was. She responded that this was his JW interpretation. He responded that the bible interprets itself.

My father I believe was engaged in the declaring of the good news of Jehovah's newly established kingdom and there was a message of judgment. (Rev 19:17) He understood at that time from his study of the bible with the aid of the Watchtower publications that the Tribulation had started in 1914 and very soon Armageddon would come. In the Watchtower of April 1 1966 page 216 it mentions that 'persons who belong to a religion of Christendom should give more than the usual attention to this good news of the Kingdom being preached. That reason is that there is a judgement message that accompanies the good news.'

My father is now dead.

However some Witnesses came to my door shortly after and had a similar message.

One an elder said that it didn't matter if it was 1914 the Messianic Kingdom was born or some later date and the other one although raised as a witness hadn't in my view led an exemplary life having been disfellowshipped at one time and married a few times.

Standing on my door and effectively telling me that my family, one who attends church, needs to 'give more than the usual attention to this good news of the Kingdom' (as the previous Watchtower stated)unless the message has changed, based on Revelation 19:17.

The one who attends church is a doctor of theology and was raised with an understanding of Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs. So I think more that the usual attention has been given. However this one feels that they could not support 1914 and by the sounds of it the elder on my door was having a difficult time himself. This one has also led a good Christian life.

So I questioned them on who may survive Armageddon but they said they didn't know.

"Only Jehovah's Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the "great crowd," as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil." Watchtower 1989 Sep 1 p.19

With this in mind I feel that our conscience must decide what we believe is Christian.

96

Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?

by nicolaou in

seems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.

maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.

many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.

Ucantnome

Fisherman are you a JW?

43

when you went to an "assembly" did you wear a badge?

by greenhornet in

jw
friends

it embarrassed me.

when i was young my folks made me wear one and i opened it up and took the paper out making it look like it fell out.

after my folks ask what happen i said i dont know.

Ucantnome

Only when I was a small child.

96

Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?

by nicolaou in

seems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.

maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.

many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.

Ucantnome

Fisherman, I think our conscience must play a part in how a person defines Christianity as I believe we are individually responsible before God.

96

Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?

by nicolaou in

seems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.

maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.

many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.

Ucantnome

Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?
Call yourself a Christian? Then the Jehovah's Witnesses are still your brothers and the rest of your journey is still in front of you.

I think i am right in saying that JW seem to be more Arian in their theology and view of salvation. Arianism being deemed a heresy at one time and therefore I believe would be opposed to mainstream Christianity. In that light I think I could conclude that it would be inferior.

Also due to this and particularly the salvation part of my last statement I don't think JW would consider someone a brother who was not part of their faith and regularly preaching the Good News that they share.

I call myself a Christian but feel your opinion of who my brothers are or not, maybe true in a loose definition of brothers.

The rest of my journey is probably still in front of me as I still hopefully have a few years left.

35

Dear Jehovah's witnesses, a question....

by punkofnice in

dear jehovah's witnesses and on-the-fencers.. isn't it even a little bit obvious that the watchtower organisation doesn't have jehovah's blessing?.

if it did, why are your leaders, the governing body, asking you for your money and assets?

surely, jehovah would provide for the organisation without having to use your hard earned money and assets?.

Ucantnome

If I was still a JW I would just think it shows how near to the end we are.

15

We are living in the 21st Century , When , Are We Going to Bury Religious Superstition ? Once and for all ?

by smiddy in

the christian bible / cannon is different , depending on what religion you profess ,around the world.. russian orthodox ,greek orthodox ,christian gnostics ,roman catholics , polish national catholics ,c.of e , etc,etc,.

the very many christian bible translations that exist today differ according to different interpretations of the translators.. the jewish translators of the hebrew scriptures add a whole new concept to the traditional interpretation by christian translators of the old testament... throw in the mix all of the fundamentalist religions that have sprung up these past couple of centuries including the j.w.`s , s.d.a.`s , mormons , t.v.

evangelists , etc, etc,.

Ucantnome

And of course if such a being GOD even existed why so silent for so long,

I think there is a theory called block time. where the past, present and future all exist at once. So maybe God if he has spoken in the past it still exists today. It's all relative to where you stand.

12

Share Your Personal Experiences Please!

by LaurenM in

so since leaving the borg i've made quite a few stupid mistakes, hurting myself a lot..but i finally feel like i've learned and i think, in time, i'll find my happiness again...even more happiness that i could've ever had being a jw.. but my question to you guys is, what was your experience like leaving the borg?

did you struggle at all?

how long have you been out?

Ucantnome

But my question to you guys is, what was your experience like leaving the Borg? Did you struggle at all? How long have you been out? What is your life like now? Is it happy?

I find my life very similar to when I was a Witness but without the meetings and field service.

When I left I wouldn't really describe it as a struggle. It was over twenty years ago. There were times when it was stressful. I think that there was an inevitability to leaving, although at first I thought I would be able to continue going along as I had previously done. Probably mostly due to having to change some things in our lives, particularly work with the new view that had emerged for me with my study of the Watchtower. These changes altered meeting attendance. Which I think altered the brothers view of us. Which made meeting attendance less likely.

I sought the advice of a careers counsellor and had a few options. We made choices based on what information was available. Other things unknown at the time have had an effect on those decisions, not to our benefit.

Coming on this site I have found has helped me to sort some things out in my mind and to understand more clearly the reasons why I left. This has been good for me.

Happiness? Some things I think are difficult to change. I have found that the Great Tribulation not starting in the time that we were taught by those who claimed to be the faithful and discreet slave class has made my life more difficult. I cannot regain those years of my youth and do the things I should have done and some times when an opportunity has passed you don't get another one therefore I wouldn't say I am happier or less happy since leaving.

76

What is your relationship with ALCOHOL?

by nicolaou in

here in the uk new drinking guidelines have been issued which suggest "no more than 14 units a week - equivalent to six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine.".

another piece of the advice which is getting a lot of attention is that "if people drink, it should be moderately over three or more days and that some days should be alcohol-free.".

already people are making cries of "nanny state!

Ucantnome

I enjoy a drink, mostly spirits. I try and apply the advice given. I had a relative die as an alcoholic. I don't think he was a drain on the NHS. He paid his taxes and I took took him to the hospital when he couldn't walk anymore for his final visit.

still had his sense of humour and we had a laugh

24

General health after learning TTATT

by Darkknight757 in

4 months ago i was conducting the watchtower study along with a long list of responsibilities that come with being an elder in a very goofy congregation.

during this time my health was going down hill.

i've always had a low blood pressure,(102/65 or abouts) but for the past year it had creeped up to 135/90 range.. so 2 months ago after learning ttatt, i'm still considered an elder because the brothers won't let me step down, but i haven't done anything in that time except comment once at a meeting a few weeks ago.

Ucantnome

So has anyone else experienced better health after mentally/physically leaving the Org?

Yes. For many years I had a lot of indigestion that would wake me up at night and had a large bottle of tablets at the side of my bed. This disappeared and I never have indigestion. I don't have any tablets in the house.

No. A few years after leaving I had what the doctor said were panic attacks. Most were at night. Very cold, unpleasant thoughts and shortness of breath last an hour or so. I think it was possibly related to leaving. Occasionally I will wake and feel one coming but have learnt to stop it.