Posts by ShadesofGrey

44

It is SO depressing when you just can't get through to someone

by ilikecheese in

jw
friends

i have been hitting a brick wall trying to pry my boyfriend away from this stuff.

it just makes me cry that it's so obvious to me how wrong it is, and he's not even batting an eyelash.

he knows about all of the scandals, all of the false prophecies, the coverup of sexual predators, that elders tell abuse victims to stay with their spouses, that they dishonestly use sources, and he just doesn't care.

ShadesofGrey

Everyone is different. If it weren't for Christ I would have never left the cult.

I would like us all to help you. There are experts on this as well, of course. The minister who runs JWinfo.net helped me the most. So far witnessing to family is going well but only because I do as I am told. God has directed me to certain ones and not others, etc.

Are you praying for him? Is God directing you to try to help him? Have you read Christian books on the topic? Have you told him what is wrong with the JW Lord's Evening Meal and why?

And yes... there are some that we aren't going to reach. They aren't reachable or not ready.

45

"Extreme physical abuse" only grounds for separation, NOT divorce.

by cedars in

forgive me if i'm a bit slow with the title to this thread.

the true absurdity of the cult that robbed me of my intellect for so long is still beginning to dawn on me.. i'm doing more research into domestic violence as part of a response to the notorious "wife beating" article in the feb 2012 watchtower.. i was shocked to find a question from readers in the w75 5/1 p286-288 which basically said that a battered wife would not be scripturally free to divorce her husband.

my first reaction was that this stance must have changed since 1975, but then i dipped into my own memory from serving as an elder, and of course, adultery (including porneia) is given as the only scriptural grounds for divorce down to this day.. please can somebody correct me if i'm wrong, preferably with a reference?

ShadesofGrey

Christians are not under law, therefore we need to look at Christ's example and personality and the principles behind his actions. I know Him. I do not believe that Christ would really ask someone to remain with their spouse (or remain separated and alone for the rest of their lives) in these circumstances.

We run into a lot of problems when we try to apply black and white laws to every situation without seeing any shades of gray.

Was Jesus addressing every possible scenario when he said that a man should only divorce his wife on the grounds of fornication, or was he addressing a certain viewpoint from a certain group of people? If we want to get picky, was he only saying that husbands shouldn't divorce their wives? If we want to make laws out of it, then yes... he said nothing about wives divorcing their husbands... so does that mean that wives can't divorce their husbands or does it mean that wives have more than one reason to divorce their husbands, but husbands have only the one?

And yes when my spouse committed adultery it really didn't affect me much at all. He had already hurt and betrayed me much worse before that point. Even now when I think of our past, his act of adultery doesn't even come to mind really. No one understood that until I spelled it out to them.

128

Mickey Mouse thinks religious belief is.............

by wobble in

mickey mouse, our very own treasured poster, not the cartoon character, thinks that religious belief is both rational and intelligent.. do you ?.

ShadesofGrey

rigorous skeptiscism

and logic

But, say you have a benign belief in god, the divine, the spiritual world, whatever, can you claim that particular belief is rational and intelligent ?

Interesting question. I would say that my belief is rational and intelligent now because I have experienced God with my own senses. When did that change though? It seems that at some point faith is irrational.

Another thought: God is eternal. That seems irrational, doesn't it?

IMO many aspects of naturalistic origin theories require irrational faith as well.

18

Should Smoking Be a Mortal Sin?

by skeeter1 in

jdubs hang their hat on the fact that the wts was right about not smoking.

(the jdubs forget that the wts did not get it right on vaccinations or organ transplants...but that's for another post).

granted, saying "no" to smoke was a good, healthy decision.

ShadesofGrey

also nothing mortal sin because we are imperfect born with sin, it is not our fault, it is that you are trying to do what is right is the key

You make some good points. It is more accurate to say that all sin is mortal sin and none of us are free from sin.

67

Read S. Hassan's Book: Do JW's really fit the cult mold?

by simon17 in

first time i got a chance to read his book, "combatting cult mind control" and was interested to see if jw's fell into the cult mold.

my opinion after carefully reading and having left the witnesses after almost 30 years is... no, they don't.

however, i would add that they wish they were but are simply too big and unwieldy to really pull it off.

ShadesofGrey

They are a destructive cult. They use mind control techniques. They cause phobias. They destroy families.

225

Do you hate God

by Star tiger in

jw
friends

i beginning to think that this would be a good way of thinking, a totally righteous being would not let all the shit that is happenning to people prevail, this being cannot have the best interests of man as his first priority, it's all about ego and no matter how the human familty suffers, he hates pretty much everyone, as the tv show says, your fired, let's get a better god, one who at least gives everyone a chance!!.

i welcome comments from god apologists, to at least have an argument as to why they put they're faith in someone that does'nt give a shit about them!.

star tiger.

ShadesofGrey

I don't like it when people (including SA, though I love her) use all caps, various colors, bold and underline in their posts in order to emphasize a point. Especially all caps. But, you know, every once in a while I decide to bold a few words too, so ....

I can overlook it.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you"

Your loving sister, Shades

224

Is the Holy Spirit God Himself or a force like in Star Wars?

by I_love_Jeff in

jw
friends

ShadesofGrey

Oh, and I should also clear up this fact: I am a huge Star Wars fan. I have a Twi'lek costume, and my husband and I have matching wookie hats. My daughter met Darth Vader and R2D2 when she was 2 years old. I just bought myself a Mashter Yoda at Disney Hollywood Studios. Obiwan in armor is seriously hot.

224

Is the Holy Spirit God Himself or a force like in Star Wars?

by I_love_Jeff in

jw
friends

ShadesofGrey

Well, sorry to add to the thread truthseeker, but I have a couple of things I would like to address.

Jesus is not, never was, and never will be Michael the Archangel. Daniel 10:13 then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes,

Hebrews 1:5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”?

And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?

Of course Christ is the Holy Spirit. God is Christ. God is the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:9. However you are in harmony, not with the flesh, but with the spirit, if God’s spirit truly dwells in you. But if anyone does not have Christs spirit, this one does not belong to him.

He is also in bodily form.

Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Finally, we can see that God is The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

Called God	Phil. 1:2	John 1:1 , 14 ; Col. 2:9	Acts 5:3-4
Creator	Isaiah 64:8	John 1:3 ; Col. 1:15-17	Job 33:4 , 26:13
Resurrects	1 Thess. 1:10	John 2:19 , 10:17	Rom. 8:11
Indwells	2 Cor. 6:16	Col. 1:27	John 14:17
Everywhere	1 Kings 8:27	Matt. 28:20	Psalm 139:7-10
All knowing	1 John 3:20	John 16:30 ; 21:17	1 Cor. 2:10-11
Sanctifies	1 Thess. 5:23	Heb. 2:11	1 Pet. 1:2
Life giver	Gen. 2:7 : John 5:21	John 1:3 ; 5:21	2 Cor. 3:6 , 8
Fellowship	1 John 1:3	1 Cor. 1:9	2 Cor. 13:14 ; Phil. 2:1
Eternal	Psalm 90:2	Micah 5:1-2	Rom. 8:11 ; Heb. 9:14
A Will	Luke 22:42	Luke 22:42	1 Cor. 12:11
Speaks	Matt. 3:17 ; Luke 9:25	Luke 5:20 ; 7:48	Acts 8:29 ; 11:12 ; 13:2
Love	John 3:16	Eph. 5:25	Rom. 15:30
Searches the heart	Jer. 17:10	Rev. 2:23	1 Cor. 2:10

70

The world is passing away but He that does the will of God remains forever - 1Jo. 2:17

by mankkeli in

this was taken from the watchtower 1975, august 15. paragraphs 12&13.

12 resources and abilities that we might possess should be used to advance kingdom interests, rather than letting them serve as hindrances in the race for life.

for instance, if you have an extra house, could you sell it and use the money to enter the pioneer service instead of working hard to maintain both houses?

ShadesofGrey

29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Amen. Hallelujah!

Dying system of things pursuing selfish goals?

I think it is foolish to put off having surgery or exercising or dieting because in the new world we will have perfect health.

Improve your life NOW! God wants you to!

224

Is the Holy Spirit God Himself or a force like in Star Wars?

by I_love_Jeff in

jw
friends

ShadesofGrey

Do you know that as a JW I never realized that people in the OT had the Holy Spirit? I thought Christ had to die first. But now I see examples. I was just reading one by David in the Psalms.

I like what your mother said Tammy. I have actually discussed this with my husband. We noticed that the disciples (some of whom were not with Christ) had the power to perform miracles and expel demons when Christ was on earth.

Now I need to read the rest of the thread.