Posts by Ucantnome

133

Why Are You Here?

by Believer in

i'm wondering why believers remain members of this forum which is clearly hostile to believers.

as one member said, nonbelievers pounce on any semblance of belief like piranhas on prey.

as former jws we should have had our fill of judgmental know-it-alls, but here we are.

Ucantnome

it helped me sort out a few things. Like 1975.

in some way it helps me think i think.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

Ucantnome

how have I managed to keep my faith? I suppose nothing changed as to the reasons I had my faith it was just that the reason I was going door to door preaching was no longer clear and so i stopped.

why i choose to believe is for a variety of reasons probably the primary reason is experiences good and bad.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

Evolution is a Fact #38 - The Origin of Complex Cells

by cofty in

in 1966 microbiologist kwang jeon was studying a population of amoebae in the lab when they began to die off unexpectedly.

he noticed thousands of tiny dots in the cytoplasm of each individual which turned out to be a bacterial infection.

most of them weakened and died but surprisingly a small percentage recovered and seemed to be back to normal.

Ucantnome

I thought the orangey picture was a mistake it looks like a man's nose

20

Differences Between Ex-JWs

by David_Jay in

we are not all the same--a real "duh, david!

so i figured if i didn't feel that sense of solidarity that seems missing among the debating, then i was part of the problem.

i'm responsible for making this place feel like a support and place of solidarity, just as much as anyone else.. but approaches i tried didn't work until i shut up for a while.

Ucantnome

"Born into the religion, if that is you, is very different. You were made to do this. You may have liked it or parts of it or you may have hated it all, or a mixture of this. Your being baptized as a JW was not a choice, not like it is for converts. You were not necessarily searching for what the JWs claimed they had. This was probably expected of you. Leaving means leaving life as the only way you've known it. You are more likely to be done with all things religious after this because your only experience with religion was so distasteful. For all I know, it took you more courage and effort to leave than it did for someone like me."

My parents were baptised when I was very young and so I was raised in the religion. I don't think I ever liked the religion. I pioneered but the influence was my brother. I always felt I was lucky that my parents had accepted it as I would never in a million years stepped in a Kingdom Hall and as for field service and givin talks, reading the Watchtower etc. that would never have occurred at all had it not been for my father. However baptism was different, the only thing that I had reservations about was having to accept privileges after, which came almost immediately, opening prayer at the meeting, opening the service meeting. I remember sitting there at the hall and thinking, one day I'll have to be an elder, it felt like a death sentence.

When I was in my early 20's I seriously thought about leaving but I reviewed everything that I believed and why and felt I couldn't. I always felt I loved God and not the org. I visited a couple of Bethel's and thought rather them then me. My brother at one point was going. I felt sick at the thought.

I don't think my belief in God was tied to the religion that much and so I still have faith in God but yes I was surprised when I first visited this site and found so many different views.

26

Are the witnesses really False prophets?

by MrTheocratic in

when you read the following statements from the wt.

organization... do they satisfy you?

or better stated...... should you be satisfied by there answers?.

Ucantnome

In the book the Nations Shall Know that I Am Jehovah-How? (WT 1971) It says page 56

'The fact that Jehovah appeared to Ezekiel in vision and spoke from his throne on his celestial chariot and directly sent Ezekiel on a definite mission with a definite message proves that Ezekiel was a true prophet, sent by God, and that what he spoke under inspiration was the real word of God.'

It also asks the questions in reference to Ezekiel 24:24

'Since Ezekiel himself was a "portent" or "sign" (AV) of someone to come, and since he was not a type or prophetic figure of Jesus Christ, whom did the prophet Ezekiel typify in carrying out his divine commission?'

and page 61

'Whom could the real "chariot" of Jehovah's organization roll up to and confront that He might bestow upon this qualified one the commission to speak as prophet in the name of Jehovah?'

The answer appears to be on page 66

'Jehovah has found and commissioned his modern day "Ezekiel." It is a composite Ezekiel. It is composed of those dedicated, baptized proclaimers of God's kingdom, who have been anointed with His spirit for their work.'

The book then tells you this was in 1919 that they were commissioned to speak in His name to all the nations and 'Thus, like Ezekiel, they became Jehovah's Witnesses'

Also with regard to a modern fulfilment of the prophecy in Joel 2. which I believe is mentioned in Acts 2 the Watchtower comments

'The dedicated believers had been anointed with holy spirit to prophesy and to preach.' (WT 1966 page 690)

I would think it was the anointed JW that were the prophets

Having said that I think that maybe by looking at the message/the good news that was preached it can help to understand why as you say,

'just amazes me that many Jdubs put complete trust in every word they read from this organization..and then proceed to make life altering decisions based off these "published ideas".'

26

Are the witnesses really False prophets?

by MrTheocratic in

when you read the following statements from the wt.

organization... do they satisfy you?

or better stated...... should you be satisfied by there answers?.

Ucantnome

outlaw's post mentions the watchtower. Once my father had a discussion with another elder regarding who JW are. I believe he understood when he was baptised that JW were the anointed.

26

Are the witnesses really False prophets?

by MrTheocratic in

when you read the following statements from the wt.

organization... do they satisfy you?

or better stated...... should you be satisfied by there answers?.

Ucantnome

Mr. Theocratic you say you are amazed by people putting trust in every word. I think this is faith.

147

Challenge to Creationists

by cofty in

in response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.

predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.

entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.

Ucantnome

I didn't spend pages preaching I made a comment and you wanted more. I declined for good reason and you talked about moral cowardice and then insulted me

147

Challenge to Creationists

by cofty in

in response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.

predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.

entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.

Ucantnome

I believe it is an insult that questioned my masculinity and had nothing to do with ridiculing belief