Posts by ilikecheese

10

Important scripture about the Faithful and Discreet Slave

by Crazyguy in

its been mentioned here before that the governing body almost never mentions the verses in luke about the faithful and discreet slave.

one reason is because the scriptures are more in detail but could this also be the real reason they don't mention these scriptures.. .

luke 12:41new international version (niv).

ilikecheese

Julia, here's a link to the various translations of it... http://biblehub.com/luke/12-41.htm

I went to JW.org, and it says, " Then Peter said: “Lord, are you telling this illustration just to us or also to everyone?” "

108

"Jehovah ALWAYS had/used an organization". How would you reply?

by EdenOne in

in a recent meeting with elders, an argument was used to the effect that jehovah has always [= throughout history] used, or operated through, an organization; therefore, the wts must be that organization today, since god must be using one.

naturally, i know what arguments i've used to counter that argument.

but i'm interested in hearing yours.

ilikecheese

When my boyfriend says something like that, I just ask him who his organization was for the nearly 2000 years between the deaths of the apostles and the start of JWdom.

I also think a good point is when Paul said, in one of his letters, that certain people were following Cephas, Apollo or him, when they should all just be following Christ. The whole point is following Jesus, not any men who tell you how to find him.

3

If JWs were around in the time of Jesus...

by ilikecheese in

jw
friends

how do you think they would have treated him or responded to him?

you know, apart from shunning him due to his blasphemous facial hair..

ilikecheese

How do you think they would have treated him or responded to him? You know, apart from shunning him due to his blasphemous facial hair.

29

If there's anything that convinces a Christian the Bible isn't infallible...

by ilikecheese in

jw
friends

it's got to be reading the old testament.

that is some messed up sh!t.. .

your choices are basically to think it's based on things that happened but men's version of events, there is tons of allegory, that it's just a bunch of made up nonsense, or to rip those parts of your bible out and pretend they don't exist.. .

ilikecheese

It's got to be reading the Old Testament. That is some messed up sh!t.

Your choices are basically to think it's based on things that happened but men's version of events, there is tons of allegory, that it's just a bunch of made up nonsense, or to rip those parts of your Bible out and pretend they don't exist.

I am a Christian, but it's pretty hard to reconcile the two parts if you don't drop the "it's infallible" idea. The whole bit should drop a healthy sense of skepticism into your noodle. I know it does for me sometimes.

33

33 percent of Americans reject evolution

by Simon in

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57616373-71/33-percent-of-americans-reject-evolution/.

that seems to be a disturbingly high number for a western / educated / developed nation.. does this have anything at all to do with america slipping behind in the sciences?

it seems hard to imagine they could not not be linked somehow.. no surprise that the jesus party (republicans) reject evolution the most.

ilikecheese

I tend to go to churches that are a bit more conservative about their faith, even though I am totally not haha, and most of the under-40 crowd believes in theistic evolution. I think if you take away the older religious folk, the number would be much lower. At least I think so. Most Christians don't take the Genesis account literally these days.

If you are a Christian and happen to say that you believe in evolution to a super-literal Bible thumper, though... Watch out! You will learn how much "Satan is working on your mind."

58

The truth about Hispanic JWs in the United States

by Hecce in

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i will like to share some facts about the spanish congregations in usa.

ilikecheese

"The growth in the Spanish Congregations is stagnant, it was massive during the 90s but for the last few years mostly children and relatives of the publishers are coming in as new publishers."

My boyfriend is Mexican American, and he sometimes goes to the Spanish congregation when he's busy during his regular meeting time or sometimes just to work on his Spanish. (It needs lots of work... I speak it better than he does and I'm whiter than a Brooks and Dunn concert. :P ) He said the English speaking ones have actually added loads of new people in the past year or so, but the Spanish one hasn't grown much at all in several years.

And there's some anecdotal evidence from me because you know how reliable anecdotal evidence is. ;)

18

Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT "Neutral'

by metatron in

when a debate arises between a witness and a non-witness, "neutrality" is often used as the trump card, a final.

argument that can't be overcome: "we're the only group that is neutral in worldly affairs", they say.. but are jehovah's witnesses really neutral?.

consider that witnesses will teach the following:.

ilikecheese

What I wonder about this whole not being associated with governments thing is this... How do they explain the fact that God used people in governments? There was Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Matthew was a tax collector, etc. Do they even consider this, or do they choose to ignore it? Or do they think Joseph, Daniel, and Matthew were serving Satan?

139

Ever consider joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

by rawe in

has anyone here left jehovah's witnesses to join the churuch of jesus christ of latter-day saints?

what was your motivation for doing so and how has it worked out?.

if you haven't joined the lds or considered it, as an ex-jw, what is your general view of the lds faith?.

ilikecheese

Never a JW, but I went to high school in LDS land. I did track and the entire team was basically Mormon haha, so most of my friends were of that faith.

They're some of the nicest, most family-oriented, and educated people around. You'd be hard pressed to find an LDS kid who wasn't a scholastic overachiever at my school. My graduating class is only in our mid-20s right now, and a ton of them already have pretty fantastic careers set up for themselves. This includes lots of the girls. They're also really charitable. I know the education and charity are stressed by the church. It may be so that they can roll in the moolah, but oh well.

I would never become one, though. It's already strange enough that I believe an undead Jewish man can give people everlasting life; the Mormons take the even nuttier cake. My favorite thing was that when they built a temple in my high school town, they were giving tours of it during the summer when I was home from college. Everyone was allowed to look at it, but they needed to "purify" it after all the nasty non-Mormons had their tours. After the purification, no more unbelievers! Plus, there's a reason Victoria's Secret doesn't have a line of holy Mormon underwear. :P It sounds dreadful.

I do like the missionaries, though. Even if you tell them you're not interested in their religion, they ask if they can help with anything. And if you ask, they'll do whatever. Well, they might not help if you look at them suggestively and say they can help you get your pants off, but that's about it. ;)

Oh, and they believe EVERYONE goes to heaven. The JWs would be horrified. I also don't know of any of my ex-LDS friends having a bad relationship with their families. They're still tight. Again, JWs - horrified!

17

I hate watching this religion screw with my BF's mind

by ilikecheese in

jw
friends

cheese lover here.

i don't post much, so refresher course: i've been dating an unbaptized jw for years.

he's not super into jwism and probably never will be because he thinks a lot of it is a pile of poo.. .

ilikecheese

I've been pretty busy, and I just now got to replying to this. Sorry. Thanks so much for all of the helpful posts!

Sizemik, I definitely try to "subtly" put the fear of the pool into him. Sometimes it's as subtle as a mountain lion attack, though. It depends on what kind of mood I'm in. :P I also know that time can slip by before you know it. I have no plans to be arguing religion with a fence sitter before I put my teeth away for the night. At some point, I'll just have to move past our relationship if he stays this way or goes to the dark side. Love can make you stupid, but I have JUST ENOUGH of a lack of stupidity to be realistic. Just enough.

JWfacts - I try to influence him to spend time with his non-JW peeps as much as possible. Also, your website is AWESOME. Thanks for such a fantastic place to find good info. :)

ABibleStudent - He has two really good friends who aren't JWs. I'm always talking about them and asking when they're doing lunch again next to try to get him to spend more time with them. I especially like it when I find out they've done something unwholesome... like playing violent video games! The horror! I'm also really trying to get him to get another degree in an area where he's been showing lots of interest. (He has a degree in something that's very related to it, so it wouldn't take him too long to get this other one.) Sometimes I feel like a school guidance counselor. He'll be reading a magazine, and I'll say, "Oh, you're reading. You know, you could be reading books about ______ at so and so university. They have a fantastic _______ program!" Yes, I'm very subtle.

Designs - I know that having to find other groups of friends is important if someone is going to leave, so I keep doing things like trying to get him to get a gym membership with me so we can take classes together and meet some other people. It's a good reason to join a gym, other than the standby," If we work out, we can eat lots more!"

jgnat - Thanks so much for your work on that! It's really informative. Those are really good points about God taking criticism and asking more questions. I sometimes do appeal to the "Hey, I go to another church. Do you think I'm one of Satan's minions?" argument. I'm also a more liberal-type Christian, so he can even see that people who don't think the Bible is infallible and who think it's okay to avoid stoning gay people are okay.

Iownmylife - Yeah, there is always that fear of him going back if he leaves. Once he makes a decision, though, he's pretty darn solid with it. Apart from these shenanigans, he's not a big equivocator.

Vidiot - He is really a very sweet and wonderful guy. He's got a great heart and he's very honest. He'd make a fantastic husband, apart from the whole whackadoo religion.

Narcissistic Supply - Like I said before, he really is an awesome person. Everyone really likes him. He's worth staying with. And I'm not a codependent. The idea of breaking up with him absolutely sucks, but I can deal with it. Being single is fine... less leg shaving to do!

Rebel - Thanks for the tips. I will check out that link. :)

17

I hate watching this religion screw with my BF's mind

by ilikecheese in

jw
friends

cheese lover here.

i don't post much, so refresher course: i've been dating an unbaptized jw for years.

he's not super into jwism and probably never will be because he thinks a lot of it is a pile of poo.. .

ilikecheese

Cheese lover here. I don't post much, so refresher course: I've been dating an unbaptized JW for years. We're both in our 20s. He's not super into JWism and probably never will be because he thinks a lot of it is a pile of poo.

The problem is that he's scared to leave, for two reasons. The first is that all of the propaganda they spew makes him think all other churches are Satan's minions and that the JWs are still "the best behaved people who love God the most." I'm not sure how to ever dislodge that idea, considering the thought of going to other churches makes JWs think they'll burst into flame or something. Maybe he's afraid at my church, we have orgy Tuesdays. (Little does he know, it's orgy WEDNESDAYS. Tuesdays are human sacrifice days.) I get that he agrees with the core JW Bible teachings... mostly that Jesus isn't divine, there is no hell, and only "special company men who kiss lots of butt" go to heaven. Most people in mainstream Christianity have their own ideas of things, but JWs think free thought in church is more of Satan's minions and Smurf's work. So, there's that. He thinks all of the GB and organization stuff is crap, but he thinks he needs to go somewhere that's unanimous on tricky doctrines. (Which is just a sign of no one thinking or those who do think lying about it.) Basically, he knows the leadership is filled with tricky devils, but he still feels he must follow the tricky devils because they're the least devilish.

I think he'd be significantly more likely to jump ship, though, if it wasn't for the fact that he knows his circle of friends will disappear and that the family that's in probably won't give him the time of day if he left. As much as I tell him that his "worldly friends," his family that isn't JW, and I will love him regardless and not conditionally like the JWs, I know how much the idea of losing all of them kills him. It makes me feel almost guilty, too, because I know I'm basically the only reason he's confronting his doubts. I can't imagine the pain of basically losing most of the people who have "loved" you your whole life in one fell swoop. The organization is cruel and inhumane in that way. People do nothing wrong, they just wake up, and suddenly they're the devil.

I just wish this religion could be a more calm church like most others. Allow some free thinking and no shunning. Things would be a lot easier for its adherents. My heart hurts for my boyfriend throughout all of this. He's only really started being real with debating what to do for the past little while. He likes to shuffle it out of his mind a lot because it's hard being tugged all over the place, so it's taking him a while to figure it all out. He feels like a hypocrite and like God will hate him because he can't make up his mind. If he stays, he'll feel like God won't like him because he's being dishonest, but if he leaves, he'll feel he's left "God's people." I don't know how people don't just start talking to walls and eating paste in this religion.

If he actually decides to finally take the dip into the crazy train pool, it will be time to break up. Don't worry. I just really think he'll finally get the cojones necessary to ditch it all. I'm waiting and hoping he does. And so many kudos to all of you who have gone through all of this, escaped, and kept your sanity. (Or at least some of it... particles anyway.) I'm so glad my parents didn't get involved in a cultish religion. We had a very chill, liberal Christian upbringing. The only time my parents considered shunning us was when my brothers and I found ways to break the same pot that had just been fixed on a weekly basis when we played basketball. Or on every family vacation... ever.