Posts by Saethydd

37

What Happens If the JW Beard Policy Stumbles a Person

by Cold Steel in

some of the videos on youtube really make the beard policy look ridiculous.

i wondered what would happen if the jw beard policy caused someone to stumble?

jesus most likely wore a beard, and charles taze russell had a beard.

Saethydd

In that case, it is solely the fault of the person who was stumbled.

116

What is behind your choice of forum user name?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

just curious how we all think.. what prompted or influenced your choice of username for this forum?.

there are some really amazing names, and it would be great to hear the stories behind them.... mine was nothing fancy.

i just felt "stuck in a rut too" along with so many others.

I have a fascination with Welsh culture that was born from reading the book Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead, so I picked the Welsh word for "archer" because my first foray into ex-JW territority was being done cautiously "from a distance" using the anonymity of the Internet.

38

Who is benefiting from Watchtower Corporation financially

by John Davis in

who do you believe is financially benefiting from watchtower business dealings.

i know about the gold apple watch, but that is only a small percentage of the billions that they have.

so who do you think is keeping all of this money.

Saethydd

I personally believe that most of the higher ups at Bethel are simply delusional true believers and are just naively following the public example and teachings set by the conmen who came before them. I don't really see any individual or group who reflect Rutherford in his building of Beth-Sarim.

So, as far as I know, I don't have much reason to doubt that the majority of the money has gone back into either building projects, writing and distributing their literature, and supporting missionaries. However, those are all a waste of money in my opinion since all they do is promote a narrow-minded and in some ways dangerous ideology.

Once again though, most of the dangerous and controlling aspects of the organization where simply inherited by the people who run it today and they are just trying to rationalize it because they truly believe it be God's will.

23

Should a JW accept Veteran payments?

by Tantalon in

hello people,.

i was born in but long time faded.

i think i hold current jws to a higher standard than they now maintain.. here's the thing; my father is very old, in his nineties and been a jdub for over 60 years and even made it to elder till he got too old.on a recent visit my siblings and dad were saying how wonderful that veterans affairs were.

Saethydd

Not strictly on topic, but as I was reading through this I was thinking "Wow! I thought veterans were usually poorly supported in the US." Then I saw that you're in Australia and it all made sense.

3

Cooperation and Conformity

by Saethydd in

a common thing that jws point to as proof of god's blessing is the supposed cooperation between people of many different backgrounds.

however, i think there should be a distinction drawn between collaborations that are performed through true tolerance and open-mindedness towards another's point of view, and collaborations that are the result of a high level of conformity by its participants.. the former sort can be seen, for example, in the un, which while not perfect, i believe does try its best to foster true cooperation between people of all nations.

the latter of sort of cooperation, however, is more akin to the type found in communist dictatorships or countries controlled predominantly by a single religion which doesn't care to protect the rights of those in the religious minority.

Saethydd

A common thing that JWs point to as proof of God's blessing is the supposed cooperation between people of many different backgrounds. However, I think there should be a distinction drawn between collaborations that are performed through true tolerance and open-mindedness towards another's point of view, and collaborations that are the result of a high level of conformity by its participants.

The former sort can be seen, for example, in the UN, which while not perfect, I believe does try its best to foster true cooperation between people of all nations. The latter of sort of cooperation, however, is more akin to the type found in communist dictatorships or countries controlled predominantly by a single religion which doesn't care to protect the rights of those in the religious minority. I hope most people would agree that the former type of cooperation is morally better.

The type of cooperation shown amongst JWs is clearly of the second type because failure to conform to their rigid rulesets or social conventions is rarely met with anything but disdain. Conformity based cooperation doesn't scale up quickly because that cooperation doesn't extend beyond the group, so cooperation amongst different sets of conformists is rare, to say the least. In fact, I think it can be more difficult for a group of JWs to work collaboratively with non-JWs.

Thoughts?

38

How can angels be sexually attracted to women?

by Island Man in

the nephilim account in genesis is utterly ridiculous when you consider that angels are sex-less beings and would therefore lack sex-drive and romantic attraction.

think of how difficult it is for humans with a sex drive to be sexually attracted to animals.

now take away that sex drive and it becomes literally impossible.

Saethydd

I've questioned that particular detail since I was a still-in-the-org teenager, it makes no sense to me that Angels would be any more sexually attracted to human women than God himself would be, (though according to the New Testament he did knock up a virgin) the only thing that kind of makes sense is that they desired to create life, but that still begs the question: why use human woman to do it? They clearly had the ability to create human bodies. So what would have stopped them from making the Nephilim or some other race of beings that is superior to mankind?

16

JWs and Pacifism

by pale.emperor in

pacifismˈpasɪfɪz(ə)mnoun: pacifismthe belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means.. .

one thing that always irked me as a witness was their pacifism.

i totally agree that non violence is a wonderful way to live, but at the same time whenever i'd read or watch something about nazi germany i always thought being a pacifist in that environment wouldn't work.

Saethydd

While they aren't technically pacifists, they may as well be. Because rather than taking a personal stand and fighting for something of value they just believe in letting God handle the fighting, thus "waiting on Jehovah," which if your God is an imaginary coping mechanism, has the same end result as pacifism.

34

Finally ready to join the crowd.

by Silent Knight in

jw
friends

hello, all you damn dirty apostates!

please, allow me to join this community of diseased minds.

i have been lurking here for over 2 years and tonight i decided it's time to come out of the shadows.

Saethydd

Welcome, I hope your fade goes well for you.

27

Day 1: The Night of Anger, Tears, and Pain

by Saethydd in

my freedom came with a heavy cost.

i couldn't stand the dishonesty so when my sister went out of town on a trip i told my parents that i no longer wanted to be a jw.

when my sister got back and i told her she was so angry, said she really wanted to slap me, then she ran off sobbing, a few minutes later she deposited every gift i ever gave her in front of my door.. my entire family has turned against me.

Saethydd

Thank you for all of your support, I'll be sure to keep you informed on how I'm doing. I've got about 90% of my stuff moved into my new place and will be getting the rest this afternoon. I feel so much more at home right now than I have for a long time.

27

Day 1: The Night of Anger, Tears, and Pain

by Saethydd in

my freedom came with a heavy cost.

i couldn't stand the dishonesty so when my sister went out of town on a trip i told my parents that i no longer wanted to be a jw.

when my sister got back and i told her she was so angry, said she really wanted to slap me, then she ran off sobbing, a few minutes later she deposited every gift i ever gave her in front of my door.. my entire family has turned against me.

Saethydd

My freedom came with a heavy cost. I couldn't stand the dishonesty so when my sister went out of town on a trip I told my parents that I no longer wanted to be a JW. When my sister got back and I told her she was so angry, said she really wanted to slap me, then she ran off sobbing, a few minutes later she deposited every gift I ever gave her in front of my door.

My entire family has turned against me. They all feel so much pain over this and from their point of view it's all my fault. Even though I know in my head that it's the narrow-minded shunning policy of the Watchtower that really causes this pain, I can't help but feel guilt everytime I relive hearing my sister crying or my mother's angry insistence that "deep down I know this is the Truth."

This morning I woke up in a home where I have freedom and acceptance. I'm glad I found good friends before I committed to this path because I know that this wouldn't have gone well for me otherwise. I have a long road ahead of me to reach a happy life, and I doubt these scars will ever fully heal, but now at least I can begin to get on with my life.