Posts by FayeDunaway

48

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

by John Aquila in

jw
friends

hey everyone, this is my first post.

i was contacted by the witnesses in1965, baptized in that same year at age 15. i was appointed an elder in 1975 and served as an elder for 20 years..

it hasnt been long since i learn ttatt and when i totally woke up.

FayeDunaway

Hi john, nice to meet you! I'm new here too. I feel bad for your tranny friend, it's a rough life. I just hope he remembers his own problems and is a little nicer when judging others, tho. Maybe running into you will help him remember that. At that moment you had a lot more on him than he had on you!

5

Questions from a non-catholic

by Sir cid fatos in

hello guys.

since i have few jw friends i thought a lot of jehova witnesses.

they are all nice guys.

FayeDunaway

I think that everyone who accepts the New Testament accepts that with Jesus came a different way of thinking. The Mosaic Law was from the Old Testament and included a lot of rules about how the Jews were supposed to live. The Pharisees were the religious leaders of that time, and over the centuries expanded this list much more than was written in the Bible we see. By the time Jesus came, he became disgusted with this set of rules, and tried to tell the people they did not have to be so strict. Many of those rules were about the Sabbath and what constituted Work. The Pharisees followed Jesus around and tried to catch him doing something wrong on the sabbath. When he healed people on the sabbath, for example, they got very upset and called it work.

The Old Testament applied to a different time. After Jesus came and died for us, people no longer had to make sacrifices at the temple. Jesus sacrifice was once for all time, all the forgiveness we would need, if we just believe in him. Many of the rules they used to follow took early Christians a long time to let go, including that it was ok to eat pork. people who were not born Jewish were becoming Christians, and these people ate other kinds of meats, and since no one needed to be under the old Hebrew rules anymore, they did not have to stop eating them. You should read in your Bible starting at Matthew, and if you are very interested in this particular subject, skip to Acts.

So yes, Christians accept both old and new testaments, but we realize there have been many changes since the old, including a relationship with God based not on works and if we are following the rules carefully enough, but thankfulness for his love to us. Check out some other Christians besides the witness friends you have, because witnesses are nice people, but how they interpret the Bible is more focused on the Old Testament based on rule following and their love for him is often genuine but a little messed up and confused by men telling them what to believe and how exactly to do everything they do.

I'm really sorry about the loss of your grandfather. Grandfathers are wonderful. Sure wish I still had mine around.

18

Propaganda vs Bible study

by Clambake in

is it just me or is the wts increasingly just becoming more about watchtower propaganda.

every week it seems to be about killing your children over blood transfusions or worshipping the magical men in brooklyn or the loving provision of shunning or the magical power of the elders or some brother in far off land who is in jail because he cant stop handling out magazines he doesnt understand to people who dont want them.

try and get a jw to explain the gospels or the book of the romans and what was significant about the book of acts...........................no clue.

FayeDunaway

But at least their focus on the Bible kept people in, made people respect them. Without that, ...well, for me it would have been easier to decide to leave.

for some reason it IS scary to me they are getting away from the Bible. It's just wrong. I know all along they've pulled scriptures here and there out of context and applied them to eachother...and you can make people believe anything doing that....but something about them neglecting it more and focusing on their rule system and reverence for themselves, is scary...more cult like than before.

71

TO THE STUPID ATHEISTS:

by atheist_R_stupid in

being that this is not "ex jws" and in fact, more driven by atheists talking a bunch of crap, im not even going to address you people like you know anything about jws because you dont.

nor am i going to assume you know the bible because none of you do.. and yes, im speaking down at you all because you men have actually went out your way to make a site to speak down at an entire group of people.

yet i bet you cant even handle a single uswer talking down at you, like you talk down about jws can you?.

FayeDunaway

Honey you are so angry! Get some sleep. Eat more sweets. Get a massage. Read more Psalms.

Everything is going to be ok.

I'm Not going to try to convince you I was a witness for 40 years, that I'm not English, that I love the Bible and God. All those things are true. But really, you should do more things that make you happy. This is no way to spend your life, you will get high blood pressure.

28

A Mind at War

by cappytan in

right now, i feel like my mind is at war with itself.. on the one side is reason, logic.. on the other is tradition, hope and fear.. reason and logic are challenging life-long beliefs.

they are telling me, "is this any more believable than the story of the lord of the rings?".

certain doctrines of my belief system are crumbling.. my mind still wants to hold on to the belief in a creator, his son jesus and the bible.

FayeDunaway

Ttatt it's not just anxiety, it's reality. They're not going to get those childhoods back. It's true he shouldn't make a rash decision, but it's a good time to plan.

cappytan, try to leave before the kids are in school, if possible. Your wife sounds like she's coming along. At the very least, she's a liberal sort of witness and that's a really good start. Maybe the next time the blood issue comes up, express your discontent with it. Ask her if she would let your kids die. Dont be too strong on it, just get her thinking. Your situation looks really hopeful compared to a lot of situations on here.

28

A Mind at War

by cappytan in

right now, i feel like my mind is at war with itself.. on the one side is reason, logic.. on the other is tradition, hope and fear.. reason and logic are challenging life-long beliefs.

they are telling me, "is this any more believable than the story of the lord of the rings?".

certain doctrines of my belief system are crumbling.. my mind still wants to hold on to the belief in a creator, his son jesus and the bible.

FayeDunaway

Nice post ttatt. I would just say, I did not feel I had time on my side. I have children. I knew ttatt and I didn't want them to feel pressured to get baptized. I didn't want them to miss out on the joys of childhood I knew they should be experiencing. If it's just you and the wife, completely do take your time!! It is on your side! But if you have kids, get out, so they can have normal childhoods and not be stuck in this thing possibly all their lives!!

5

Questions from a non-catholic

by Sir cid fatos in

hello guys.

since i have few jw friends i thought a lot of jehova witnesses.

they are all nice guys.

FayeDunaway

You may also be referring to the diet restrictions in the Old Testament, you weren't supposed to eat swine...was it rabbit as well? This was changed in the New Testament with the new covenant with a vision of Peter in the book of Acts. Christians are free to eat bacon!

Yes jw's are usually nice very helpful people! Especially when they are preaching, but usually nice in general.

in genesis there was not a first day until there was an earth. It says God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. Then there is only water on the earth. Then there is light, and that is the first day.

I feel that it was all written from a human standpoint and very simplified, yes. And each creative day was millions or billions of years.

28

A Mind at War

by cappytan in

right now, i feel like my mind is at war with itself.. on the one side is reason, logic.. on the other is tradition, hope and fear.. reason and logic are challenging life-long beliefs.

they are telling me, "is this any more believable than the story of the lord of the rings?".

certain doctrines of my belief system are crumbling.. my mind still wants to hold on to the belief in a creator, his son jesus and the bible.

FayeDunaway

It could affect your faith in a good way!!

29

Meaningful Study

by Awake at last in

i never thought i would be commenting, let alone starting a new topic in the category of bible research and study.

anyone reading my comments on this site would have realised that i am the most unspiritual person to have ever stepped foot inside a kh.

yet for the first time in my life, on saturday night, i did some meaningful bible study/research, on my own without a wtbts publication in sight, except the nwt bible.

FayeDunaway

Rebel8, it can be important for ex witnesses to use commentaries, or they maybe can't get past witness propaganda and twists out of their heads. In other situations I would agree with you that the bible can stand alone!! But these witness associations are pervasive.

Once I had to write a talk and it was one of those without any source material. I couldn't find anything, so googled info on the scripture! I felt bad doing this at the time, you weren't supposed to read anything from other religions! But I found a beautiful commentary that sparked the first truly Christian thoughts I had ever had, made me so grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for us. That talk was the best one I had ever written, and it was'nt too long before I was out of the religion. It was in the back room, second school, but I hope someone was touched by the info as I was!

18

Propaganda vs Bible study

by Clambake in

is it just me or is the wts increasingly just becoming more about watchtower propaganda.

every week it seems to be about killing your children over blood transfusions or worshipping the magical men in brooklyn or the loving provision of shunning or the magical power of the elders or some brother in far off land who is in jail because he cant stop handling out magazines he doesnt understand to people who dont want them.

try and get a jw to explain the gospels or the book of the romans and what was significant about the book of acts...........................no clue.

FayeDunaway

Wow this is all so scary. :( I hope my extended family is starting to wake up. But I imagine my parents are crazy about the jw.tv thing. But my mother loves deep bible and publication study, but then again, never read context much.

I think this spells I'll for the org tho. Without bible knowledge, everything is based on shallow traditions, a foundation that will crumble.