Posts by FayeDunaway

24

Your thoughts on the Libertarian party

by James Mixon in

jw
friends

i really like what governors w.weld and g. johnson bring to the table.. not familiar with the libertarian party and will do some investigation,.

but any thoughts on this party..

FayeDunaway

Republicans are more likely to go libertarian than democrats, and with this election in particular, whatever gets people to not vote for trump, I'm all for it. It just means Hillary wins. So you would be making a statement against trump, yet not outright supporting Hillary. I say go for it.

My view of libertarians tho is this: former republicans who have decided they are more accepting of other people's definition of morality and believe strongly in freedom....yet they still don't give a crap about helping people, either internationally or within their own country. I may be a little wrong because I really haven't given them the time of day, despite being a political junkie.

16

I need a little help

by Darryl in

my story is i've been df'd for about 20 years.

a couple years after i started attending church and found it to be a tremendously uplifting experience.

from the people to the music, message everything drew me in.

FayeDunaway

Darryl I couldn't make peace with the Trinity either, until I dug deep and researched. Then I learned how hard the witnesses worked to make the new world translation all twisted around to support what they wanted to believe. Every single scripture about Jesus' position to the father has been twisted. I still believe the father is given the respect a father deserves. But Jesus is the only begotten son of God. Man begets man, God begets God. The Trinity was meant to reconcile how there can be only one God but Jesus is called God so often in the bible. The Holy Spirit is also a person but more mysterious...I actually do not quite believe he is also God, but there must be a reason a sin against the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin. While not fully believing every aspect of the Trinity, I definitely have made peace with it and believe most of it. Research. Witness deceptions are the reason you can't fully move on, Darryl. As regards heaven, I believe that we do dwell with Jesus when we die, but that eventually the tent of God will be with people, and there will be a new earth. Many Protestant churches teach this as well.

22

How would the world be different if there were no JWs?

by JW_Rogue in

i think this would be a great question to ask active jws.

they love to say how the world would be so different if everyone was a jw.

however, what if we flip the question and ask, would the world really be much different if the jw faith never came into existence?

FayeDunaway

Yes, more trees. But also, a few more Mormons, Church of God evangelicals, and a couple more Jonestown victims. People who would have joined the witnesses would have chosen another cult/fundamentalist religion. Others might have taken that college scholarship or opportunity to train for the Olympics.

Tho they are barely a blip on the world scene, it still feels like there would be a lot more acceptance and a lot less judgmentalism if they never existed. But people that have that need in their blood could have easily chosen a similar theology.

67

Recent mistakes of the Governing Body contributing to the decline of JWs

by slimboyfat in

they have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.

some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of jws:.

1. elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the jw meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among jws.. 2. policy of consolidating kingdom halls.

FayeDunaway

Great thread, sbf. My thoughts:

Not keeping up with the times. Doggedly sticking to fundamentalism and being anti-science/education. While most other churches have found a way to incorporate evolution in their beliefs, witnesses continue to deny all of it. Science is proving otherwise. Just how deep can witnesses bury their heads in the sand, and for how long? I think they've got to come out with some balance soon. Evolution is being taught at younger and younger grades in school.

Also, they better teach some tolerance of homosexuality soon, they are starting to sound like the KKK. Even if they smooth over their condemnations in literature, taking the hatred out at the local level will take some training and work. Kids today are very sensitive to inflammatory speech and bigotry. Even traditional gender qualities are no longer easily defined. How can it be ok to not let women hold a microphone or have leadership roles anymore, when countiries like Sweden are not even using the gender specific 'he' or 'she' but inventing gender neutral pronouns?

28

Do JWs believe they will be the only people saved at the "end"?

by LaurenM in

the answer posted on jw.org: "no.

many millions who lived in centuries past and who weren’t jehovah’s witnesses will have an opportunity for salvation.

additionally, many now living may yet begin to serve god, and they too will gain salvation.

FayeDunaway

The website is trying to make their religion look a lot more accepting than it actually is. There's a reason witnesses say you will be blood guilty if you don't go door to door...they think everyone who doesn't become one of them will be destroyed.

18

For JWs..Jesus, The Way, The Truth, The LIfe.

by somebody in

jw
friends

· for what reasons does jesus have the formerly demonized man tell others about what jesus did?.

but jesus tells the man: “go home to your relatives, and report to them all the things jehovah has done for you and the mercy he has shown you.”—mark 5:19.. .

(mark 5:18-20) .

FayeDunaway

I find this interesting because I didn't think the witnesses inserted "Jehovah" into Jesus' words in the Greek scriptures before. Was this in the NWT too, or just the revised NWT?

Blatant changing of the original text tho, for sure.

12

Something's Gotta Give

by pale.emperor in

i've been 100% alone since my df last month.

i'm dead to my family now, unless i return to their cult - so i recently made contact with 3 former jw's that were in my cong when i was in my youth.

to my surprise, they all had exactly the same doubts and reasoning i had and said even though they've been out 6-7 years they "still feel tied to it in some way" and "feel guilty celebrating xmas or birthdays".

FayeDunaway

Smiddy I would add a third reason some people don't do research: they think that it would be purposely exposing themselves to apostates, which to them is like stepping over the line, making the choice to turn against Jehovah. It might feel too "unfaithful" or "evil" to do. They've been brainwashed this their whole life. Turning against that is hard. For me it was only my newfound love for Christ and realizing by reading the bible on my own how twisted the witnesses viewed the scriptures that let myself admit they were not correct. This was a different form of research, before I ever let myself look at anything from former witnesses.

12

Something's Gotta Give

by pale.emperor in

i've been 100% alone since my df last month.

i'm dead to my family now, unless i return to their cult - so i recently made contact with 3 former jw's that were in my cong when i was in my youth.

to my surprise, they all had exactly the same doubts and reasoning i had and said even though they've been out 6-7 years they "still feel tied to it in some way" and "feel guilty celebrating xmas or birthdays".

FayeDunaway

It's true, gulf coaster. No matter if we do find out for ourselves that it's all a scam, we are forever affected by it. I unfortunately live with the sadness of a distant relationship with my nuclear family as well, and many regrets about my life, that I had control of or didn't have control of. The ones who are with the witnesses for a relatively brief stint, without growing up with it and without family in it, are lucky and might possibly be unaffected. The others of us, all we can do is live each day grateful that we currently are not under the control of the cult and cultivate new friendships that can feel like family, and give our kids better childhoods than we had.

31

JW's opinions on bunker video

by neat blue dog in

the so called bunker video isn't just getting attention here but among jws as well.

i've heard a fair share of cracks, some half joking half serious about the prospect of the video playing out in real life .

but something else i've heard is that the video was meant to be figurative, an illustration representing the 'interior rooms' prophecy..

FayeDunaway

Gosh. As if the GB "knew" anything at all, ever!!

19

spiritual

by stan livedeath in

i read the word "spiritual" sometimes on the site.

what exactly do the jw's mean by it ?.

FayeDunaway

Spiritual to a JW means exactly the opposite of what spirituality actually is. They have taken something that is unseen and made it purely material. It's actually ridiculous when you think about it.