Posts by Captain Obvious

11

Baptism...a new look at an old subject.

by Chariklo in

fresh onto the forum this morning, i found a post on another thread where whether or not someone is/was baptised was being discussed, and it made me think.. i am in the process of radically re-appraising my attitude to religion and all things spiritual, and realised that this must include baptism.. here in the uk baptism most of the population traditionally used to think of baptism as christening, and it was a kind of official recognising that a new baby was here.

the christening in church, white shawl for the baby, best clothes, family gathering and teaparty, godparents giving presents to the baby, often the starting of a bank savings account...all of that together comprised the baby's christening, and in many cases would be the last the child saw of the inside of a church until the wedding day, and then years ahead the funeral.

hatch, match and dispatch.. baptism is seen and recognised as a sacrament, with a power in and of itself.

Captain Obvious

Very interesting take on the subject, Chariklo

The JW claim is that the water baptism is a public declaration of the dedication of one's life to God. However, in JWspeak it means to promise to do the preaching work the way they want you to. The question about association with "God's bOrganization" came about more recently. Unfortunately in reality, like many facets of JWhood, it means more than they say... But don't you dare say it! An unbaptized person woudn't be subject to the same judicial procedures unless they truly wanted to be recognized as a JW. They could however, make the same "so and so is no longer recognized as one of Jehovah's witnesses" announcement and it would have the same effect.

As far as the significance of the occasion, I think that if one were to put aside the attachment to the bOrg, it would have equal significance to a person who wants to serve God. Either way it is a very important decision for someone who intends to live up to it, organization or not. Which is why myself and many others feel strongly about allowing children and immature younger ones to get baptized just because they can answer the questions in the OM book. I think the feeling among JWs is that to them it is the RIGHT decision, so it doesnt matter if the person making it isn't old enough to fully understand the implications.

Myself, I got baptized at 20 yrs old after being pestered about it by family and friends for years. I kept using the "Jesus didn't get baptized until he was 29"! Excuse. I could BARELY answer the questions in the OM book without help... Very poor instruction as a kid from my folks, and I had learned to tune out the meetings at a very yound age. I did not have the knowledge a person should have when making that decision, despite being a born-in. I had no interest in learning how to explain the doctrine, but there was a very pretty girl who I badly wanted to date (now my wife) and I had to get dipped to make it legit.

Either way, NOBODY ever intentionally dedicated their life to a CULT. And for that reason I dont feel like any JW baptism is legitimate in light of it's actual purpose and significance. They have no business making association with any one group a condition on one's baptism.

9

This form allows brothers to judge "FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT"

by MC RubberMallet in

.

Captain Obvious

Sure it seems lame here, but... I would say showing "fruitages of the spirit" is a better qualification of spirituality than field circus hours or current cult position held.

Jus' sayin

21

Does the GB actually believe it all?

by schnare in

jw
friends

do you guys think that the gb actually believes the garbage that they print?

how could they actually believe their new "overlapping generation" doctrine?

wouldn't they have access to anything ever printed and have knowledge of all the false prophecy?

Captain Obvious

While reading CoC sheds light on the true actual bible knowledge of the GB.. Who knows if GB 2.0 are any smarter/knowledgeable? While it is possible that they may believe, there is no way they can all think that what they teach is 100% accurate. For that reason I find it incredibly difficult to not feel like I have been LIED to my whole life.. To put it as nicely as possible.

8

Has The Prophecy of The Faithful Slave Been Fulfilled?

by Este in

jw
friends

48but if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, my master is delaying,49and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards,50the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know,51and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites.

there is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be.. who is the master of the "evil slave"?

jesus christ is not evil therefore it has to be satan.

Captain Obvious

Read it four or five times if you don't get it at first, brainwashing is a bitch to wash out.

I find reading a different translation helps. It's still tough though you're right. The talks and pubs have been using that book so much for so long, it can be difficult to read it objectively and contextually. Being able to read contextually has been my best tool for flushing out the brainwashing.

8

Has The Prophecy of The Faithful Slave Been Fulfilled?

by Este in

jw
friends

48but if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, my master is delaying,49and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards,50the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know,51and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites.

there is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be.. who is the master of the "evil slave"?

jesus christ is not evil therefore it has to be satan.

Captain Obvious

Two threads huh...

8

Has The Prophecy of The Faithful Slave Been Fulfilled?

by Este in

jw
friends

48but if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, my master is delaying,49and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards,50the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know,51and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites.

there is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be.. who is the master of the "evil slave"?

jesus christ is not evil therefore it has to be satan.

Captain Obvious

Still have some JW indoctrination hanging on do we?

Parables are not necessarily prophecies. There is no indication that this particular one has any purpose other than to make a point.

73

Some "Publisher" Is A Rat Here! The Elder's Are Inquiring If I Am Apostate Material!

by Sunflower Samurai in

i knew this party was too good to last, some inquiring mind is a troll (yes, here on jwn we have moles!

), i think we have a rat here!

i don't feel like "apostate material" and i am not the only one who is going down for this offense!

Captain Obvious

There is only one witness (need two to incriminate enough for a JC) and circumstantial evidence. I would say the odds are stacked in your favour, my friend. Post away.

9

New ASSembly hall and property cost

by sinis in

found out that the land by itself was bought for cash at the tune of $1,250,000.00 - land size is approx 600 feet by 1000 feet - in the desert, small town between two major cities.

no idea what the building cost!

!.

Captain Obvious

Cronyism?? Who knows?

Could very well be, but who know what they are including at that price point. Could be taxes, transfer fees, agent fees, legal fees, surveyor fees, etc. but still if the value in the surrounding area is that much lower... It wouldnt be below them to cook the numbers.

@thetrueone,

Do you remember a the KH rebuild in Vancouver a couple years ago? The property was worth millions, the underground parking lot was something like 1.2, then they actual hall built on top of that was still stupidly expensive. I can accept that the area is expensive and underground parking lots weren't cheap... But damn. They asked all of the surrounding congs to pitch in. We lived 45 mins away, they still asked our hall to pledge a bunch of cash for it. They ended up with way too much money! If I remember correctly they donated the rest to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund.

32

Pioneers and Their Way of Counting "Time"

by Eiben Scrood in

jw
friends

in the congregations in my area there was an expression to the effect that 'there's counting time and then there's the way pioneers count their time'.

the watchtower's guidelines were pretty strict on when time could be counted.

some pioneers followed it and others didn't.. on particularly motivated young man comes to mind, he would work full-time or close to it and pioneer.

Captain Obvious

I used to count time as long as my tie was on.

Now I write whatever number on my report I think will keep the hounders at bay. Almost 3 months now, no actual field circus!

7

unusual hatred and persicution

by john1202 in

jw
friends

.

i got baptized on the 3/12/2011 and i discover that people started hate me without any reason why?.

Captain Obvious

Do you mean dec. 3rd, or march 12th? If its dec. then you signed up here pretty fast after getting baptized.

I agree with the above, could just be the lack of love bombing. That, or they can see that you have learned to think for yourself, and therefore are bad association.