Posts by I Want to Believe

65

TO ALL LURKERS: the WTS approves of parents humilating their children!

by Chemical Emotions in

jw
friends

no person can escape rendering an account to god.

5 after showing that children are not free from rendering an account, the apostle paul goes on to stress the obligation of the parents before god: "and you, fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of jehovah.

since parents will render an account for the way they bring up their children, the question arises: what is jehovah's discipline?.

I Want to Believe

"It begins with right parental example. Jehovah sets the perfect example..."

Jehovah: Sent other nations against Isreal to drive them off their land as punishment. Lesson for parents: If your kids disobey, send the neighbors after them to beat them up and kick them out of the house. Don't let them back in for 70 days.

Jehovah: Killed that guy for touching the Ark. Lesson for parents: Keep your grubby hands off Daddy's stuff, or it's the belt for you.

Jehovah: Goes hundreds of years between communications and then only speaks through a few prophets. Lesson for parents: Only communicate with your kids via a single e-mail several years old; even if you have 10,000 children be sure to only talk to one of them.

Jehovah: Gives 10 commandments, the breaking of which means death. Lesson for parents: Lay down laws and if your children disobey, kill them.

Jehovah: Promises peace for his followers by means of Armageddon. Lesson for parents: Create a better world for your kids by killing the neighbors and taking their stuff. (see also Promise Land/Canaan)

23

I Pads at Meetings

by seenitall in

jw
friends

i know a boe letter just came through approving use of electronic devices (ipads) at meetings for the wt, bible, cd-rom.

anyone care to post the original letter?.

I Want to Believe

6 months ago our substitute CO was reading his talk outlines off an iPad from the platform... I just figured they were always OK.

19

Gossip, gossip, gossip

by time2keepmoving in

even though i've been disfellowshipped for several months now (looking forward to my 1 year anniversary).

i did have a brother contact me about one of my siblings who is still "in" and ask me personal questions about them.

he also shared with me a lot of personal info about my sibling that i did not know, obviously my relative shared this information with this brother in confident.. i felt like if my relative wanted me to know they would have told me.

I Want to Believe

Gossip is also a byproduct of a culture that expects everyone to snitch on anyone doing something they see as wrong, often being told to be wary of bad association even in their own midst. The first thing guests do is look through the host's CD/DVD collection. There's a high level of paranoia is the organization; I don't see how anyone could consider it an upbuilding place.

43

What changes have you noticed in the Witness

by d in

i have noticed are more angrier then when i was a child in the 90's and that they seem more uptight.what changes have you seen?.

I Want to Believe

"Witnesses don't witness anymore. When I came in, early '70s, knowing your beliefs and being able to explain them, using your Bible, was emphasized. At some point, during the 80s as I recall, it began to change. Extended conversations at the doorstep were now discouraged. Witnessing became more of a 'let the literature do the witnessing' kind of job."

I don't think it was an early '70s thing, just a matter of when you came in. When I was pioneering in the late '90s I still used my Bible. I went toe-to-toe with a minister once, and another time had a half-hour cold-call discussion about the Kingdom as a real government, both times using only the Bible. The problem is once they start changing your beliefs it becomes impossible to defend, because I'd have to use the literature just to remember what the lastest understanding was. The longer you're in the harder it is to defend because you just can't keep track of "current truth" anymore and eventually just give up.

82

Are you attending the Memorial this year?

by XPeterX in

jw
friends

dunno about you but i'm going..

I Want to Believe

I'm being forced to go. My wife says she has to go, just to see if she feels different. I warned her that I might go all MST3K during the talk, might partake, won't sing and such but she's still determined. The only consolation is that we're skipping our cong (even she wants to avoid that hassle) and going to a former branch office, which I remember has a nice library. The thought of getting some first hand scans is the only thing keeping me from letting her go alone..

11

Which 'THIS' generation will by no means pass away?

by ThomasCovenant in

i know this has been said a thousand times already but oodads posting reminded me of when i got to thinking about the generation teaching at a family get together we had a couple of months ago with some witness relatives and so much wanted to ask this question at the table.

imagine it is the year 1914, and jesus walks into the room and sees these four generations of males.

he says ''this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur''.. which of the four generations is he talking about?.

I Want to Believe

The real kicker is realizing that Jesus was talking to his apostles, and thus to their generation. He didn't say "when these things occur that generation..." but was speaking to this generation, the one right in front of him.

17

I Quit Preaching The "Door To Door and Tract Work" No Time For March 2012.

by Creep Side Congregation in

jw
friends

why i have stopped preaching door to door, inactive now for march 2012!.

i can't participate in the door to door ministry anymore, how can i guarantee my bible studies won't experience the "dark side"?

are we providing a spiritually safe environment for new believers, free of sex offenders, thieves, gossiping bitter old women and "rock throwing hypocrites"?

I Want to Believe

"Would you like to:
1. Learn the current, but ever-changing, truth about God?
2. Become a better, less-educated, lower-income person?
3. Find the best type of conditional and superficial friends?"

Fixed.

Welcome to the board!

48

Matrix moment - what was it and when did you share it?

by MMXIV in

for those of you who had a moment like that from the matrix when you realised what you'd believed was fundamentally flawed or a lie - what caused that defining moment and how long was it before you could share your thoughts?.

mmxiv.

I Want to Believe

Mine's similar to NewChapter; there was a kangaroo at our State Fair, and for days afterward something was bugging me about it. Then suddenly penguins. The impossibility of such rapid evolution and transcontinental migration of so many unique creatures hit me, and when I tried to research the WT Library for answers all I found was an article where they actually endorse the Pangaea theory -- which, of course, doesn't work with the flood model. After that, my doubts started overlapping and the "truth" started collapsing faster than a magically-suspended vapor canopy.

The ironic thing is, the ONLY full public talk I ever gave as a MS was on Noah's flood and how it was possible. Just shows you have to be mentally ready before you can get to that moment.

4

bible symbols

by serein in

jw
friends

i found this site as i was looking up what clouds mean,.

as when it says jesus will come in the clouds,.

i wanted to know what others thought it ment,.

I Want to Believe

Maybe earthquakes actually refers to the rumble produced by the prophesied steam locomotive.

18

Why?

by bushido8000 in

so after 18 years (since the age of 5) i have converted from the jws to protastant christianity.

i have been biblically shown what i believe to be truths about the trinity, hell, and heaven (ideas that i debated against classical christians for many years) since i left the witnesses.

i read a lot of things on this site (as well as others) that really confuses me.

I Want to Believe

One of the things that led me to question my faith in the first place was seeing all the evidence of how the global flood was impossible. Sometimes to destroy a structure it's easiest to take out the foundation; knowing that the Bible can't be taken literally made it so much easier to reject 34 years of programming, and once the logic ball starts rolling it's hard to stop (I mean, transubstantiation makes less sense than anything JWs ever came up with).

I'm not an athiest though, more like a agnostic deist (at least at this point).