Posts by MYOHNSEPH

12

What does this mean?

by MYOHNSEPH in

jw
friends

i've noticed that the friends forum on this board gets about twenty-five times the number of posts as forums such as bible research and beliefs, doctrines & practices.

do you think that says something about most of the posters here?

if so, what?

I've noticed that the Friends forum on this board gets about twenty-five times the number of posts as forums such as Bible Research and Beliefs, Doctrines & Practices. Do you think that says something about most of the posters here? If so, what?

38

HONESTLY, Do You Consider Yourself A Nice Person?

by minimus in

jw
friends

do you really feel that you are a nice person or an unlikeable one?

when you were in a congregation, did you tend to get along with people?

were you contentious?

MYOHNSEPH

You better believe I'm a nice person! And if you don't believe it, you can go #%*! yourself!

Just kidding, of course. I'm too nice a guy to really say something like that! The real answer is, "I don't have a clue!" I perceive myself to be a reasonably nice person, but perception, especially self-perception, is not always truly objective. I try to be as fair and objective as I can in dealing with others, but I'm sure I don't always succeed. I want to be a nice person! Do I get any points for that?

22

Ozzie's Weekend Poll #24

by ozziepost in

jw
friends

what a week it's been, eh?

a new empress, a new jedi princess, so many new appointmnets.

it just goes to show how blessed our group is!

MYOHNSEPH

G'day yo ownself, Ozzie:

I moved around a bit. When I was very young we lived in isolated territory in Mississippi. Then a congregation was formed in our little town when I was about ten years old. Over the years after that I was associated with half a dozen different congregations, so the answer would vary from congregation to congregation. I've known "shepherds" in all the positions you name who were sincerely compasionate and caring and I've known some who were on a power trip or simply had their own agenda and some who were outright assholes. But when I think of the most caring and compasionate JWs I've known, some of the most outstanding were never elders. A good number of them were sisters. Of course they didn't make shepherding calls, but a few in particular I recall were always there to assist anyone needing a ride to the hall or in field service or to the grocery store, or just needing a little personal help or encouragement. They always had a bright smile and warm greeting when I walked in the 'Hall' and when they asked how I was, I knew they really cared. I always admired them because what they did was so genuine. Under the organization's "theocratic" structure, they knew full well they could never hold any kind of "position" in the congregation. They, and a few otherse like them, are about the only thing I really miss about my JW days.

14

Its got me beat !

by redorc in

jw
friends

redorc from australia here.

i was raised as a jw but from about 8 years of age i left at the age of 18 having never actualy believed anything about what i was being taught , that was about 28 years ago.

my mother is still one of them so i guess its never completley left my thoughts.

MYOHNSEPH

Greetings Redorc,

I too was raised a JW. When I was about twenty-five, everything I thought I knew was absolute truth. Today, at sixty, Ive learned to be cautious about being too dogmatic about anything. Ive learned that looking at all sides of an issue, regardless of how absurd they may first appear to be, can be very enlightening. Just because we broaden our vision doesnt mean we have to accept everything we see, but once in a while it will give us a little flash of clarity.

As for as the existence of God, I no longer believe in that deity of wrath and vengeance depicted in the Bible. But at the same time, my old pea-brain just wont accept the idea that the universe is the product of a pure accident. I can accept the idea that it has come to be what it is through an evolutionary process, but I cant accept the idea that there was no design or implementation involved in that process. As to exactly who or what that designer or implementer is, I certainly dont claim to know with absolute certainty. However, it makes no sense to me that, whoever or whatever that entity may be, he, she, it, would be so insecure and paranoid as to demand from its lowly creation ritualistic expressions of devotion, in order to avoid their horrific execution in a fit of its awesome wrath.

But, thats just me.

15

Why we should stick together.

by Pleasuredome in

jw
friends

there's that wonderful quote by a guy called pastor niemoller, who was arrested in germany by the nazis and thrown in jail, where he said: .

"first they came for the communists, but i was not a communist, so i said nothing.

then they came for the social democrats, but i was not a social democrat, so i did nothing.

MYOHNSEPH

I have hope of the WTS changing! About as much as hoping a donkey would become a grape! I feel certain the "society" will go on changing their interpretation of scripture and any policy which might threaten the grip they hold on the faithful. Change is an integral part of the very nature of the organization. Continually changing the doctrine is one way in which they endeavor to avoid accountability for failed predictions and erroneous interpretations, before those become too obvious to the general membership. But for them to ever decide to be open and forthright with their followers, admitting they quite obviously have no exclusive franchise on God's direction, is just not in the nature of who they are.

7

HOW WOULD YOU KILL YOUR CHILD?

by MYOHNSEPH in

there's a question which has puzzled me for many years, especially when i was a jw.

i always liked the analogy of the creator as being a loving father.

i have four daughters and i consider myself to be a loving father.

MYOHNSEPH

You know outcast, I think you're right. I probably do think too much! Why, I'm also still trying to figure out how winning a bet with Satan could justify God permitting the murder of all the children of an innocent man, the destruction of all the personal property and livestock he's worked for and then allowing him to be struck with a disgusting and humiliating disease. I guess I just need to get my mind right!

7

HOW WOULD YOU KILL YOUR CHILD?

by MYOHNSEPH in

there's a question which has puzzled me for many years, especially when i was a jw.

i always liked the analogy of the creator as being a loving father.

i have four daughters and i consider myself to be a loving father.

MYOHNSEPH

There's a question which has puzzled me for many years, especially when I was a JW. I always liked the analogy of the creator as being a loving father. I have four daughters and I consider myself to be a loving father. But suppose one of my daughters did something so vile and so evil - you know, like talking to a disfellowshipped person or celebrating their child's birthday - that they were deserving of death! And suppose further that it was up to me to see that they were executed for these heinous crimes. If I had my choice of any means whatsoever to put them to death, what would I choose? Would I drown them? Would I rain down fire and sulfur on them? Or maybe, would I would just have the earth open up and swallow them? I guess I could have a tall building fall on them and crush them! Actually, if I found myself in such a far-fetched scenario and I absolutely had to do this deed, I believe I'd try to find the fastest, most pain-free and least horrific means at my disposal.

Now if the creator of the universe found it necessary to kill thousands of his children to, you know, settle this universal sovereignty thing, and He has any and every imaginable means at His disposal, what possible purpose would it serve for Him to take their lives in some horrific display of His awesome power, terrifying the #*!& out of them, just before they take their last breath, never more to know or remember anything? Or, if we are to believe the Bible record, what purpose has it served, as in the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc...? Am I missing something here? Why not just let them go night-night and never wake up?

Any thoughts?

44

JW's Should Start Their Own Country!

by nonjwalltheway in

jehovas' witnesses are an interesting group.

they enjoy the freedoms and liberties that they receive by living in the united states, but at the same time they refuse to partake in voting, national celebrations and have basically created their own nation within a nation.

i find it hypocritical for them to act in this manner and believe that they should gather from around the world and all go and live together on some island.

MYOHNSEPH

Island? Hell, they've already got their own planet! They're just waiting for the rest of us scumbags to be zapped into oblivion when the big A comes to town! (And it's just around the corner, you know!)

2