this is my first post after deciding to finally open an account here after months of 'lurking'.. a couple of issues i want to address-.
i have issues with people who go from being a witness to losing all faith in god or the bible which seems to be the case with some members of this site.
i just don't think you can let any religion change how you view god or the bible.. second-i don't feel the gb are bad people, i think most witnesses including them are misguided by something that has been drilled into their heads since they were little and are actually sincere people.
wallievase,
A year ago, I too thought that the members of the governing body were nice, well intended men, who had a screw missing in their brain. As I learn more about them through the Watchtower magazines and their books, more and more I move in the direction of believing that they are evil. I am not quite there yet, but steadily moving that way.
rob waugh yahoo!
news .religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades.. .
a team led by miron zuckerman of the university of rochester found a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity in 53 out of 63 studies.
I knew it. All those "C" in my school report cards and minimum wage jobs that I have held for the last 15 years don't really tell the story about my brain. I am smart. I don't believe in the personal God of the Bible. Thank you , thank you, thank you God
my wife is filipina and i ge the impression they are a bit different from other jws in regard to shunning family - my sister-in-law is df'd but the family does not exclude her but she does sort of oerpate ont eh margtin of the family.
i wonder wheterh there are any differences with filipino jws.
i get the feeling that less of them fade or leave voluntarily once baptized but weopudl like some confirmation of whether that is correct..
I am not filipino, but I know few, an as a Latino can say that Hispanics similarly are not as strict regarding the shunning. It must be the common Latin ancestry of Filipinos and Latinos that keeps the family bond a bit stronger than the WTS would like.
today's high school students in the usa:.
less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.
she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.
Gary Neal,
The video strated well, but ended disappointingly. C'mon. Yes, big business owners have greater influence over politicians. Taller basketball player have also an advantage over shorter ones, and use it too. What do you expect? But to jump from this thought to the idea that business owners "own you" and want you to fail in school. Please.
Who is this cartoonish old man? A Neo-marxist?
Glander,
57 states? Do we have something better than that on Obama? Certainly, then why do we choose to go that petty road? Being tired and replacing 57 for 47 is a very forgivable mistake. The utter ignorance of Sarah Palin and this Australian lady does not compare to Obama's mistakes, even his ignorance.
No, I am not a Democrat, never have, never will. I have more in common with Republicans, but they too are becoming a scary bunch.
i don't really have a purpose in this thread, but wanted to share my thoughts and updates.. fading has, at least for now, totally stabilized.
my jw wife doesn't discuss jw things and, as difficult for me as it is, i haven't been discussing anything directly against jw policy.
oh, i slip in comments when she tries to judge people or groups based on her jw training- things like gay marriage, medical marijuana, pedophile news stories.
OTWO, I agree, I am Mexican and can confirm your statement. It seems that we are more attached to the belief in supernatural forces that are healing us, savings us from accidents and disease, even killing us to be used as angels. That's why when we switch religions we preserve the strong faith and commitment to those supernatural forces. I can also tell you that here in California, there are lots of Latinos wearing their Sunday's best on a Sunday or a Saturday. If I kept record, I think JW's spend only about 5% or less of the preaching time conversing with a potential convert. The other 95% is spent marching, standing and displaying a magazine quietly, or talking among themselves
i live in the uk ,a letter was read as local announcements on thursday about the relocation of london bethel and the need to donate (yes they are blatantly asking the flock )..more money .considering the fact the london bethel is located in one of the most expensive areas of london ,the sale of of these buildings will bring in hundrends of millions of pounds in revenue.there is no need asking for more money .as one poster posted here 11 years ago on the same project that nows seems to be going ahead the conservative estimates are that they will get approx 193.5m for the site (inc bittacy hill) and the new greenfield site (whichever) wil cost less that 35m.
whip up the building committes and up it goes foc (materials are estimated @ 9.23m).that was an estimate 11 years ago..so my question is did you had this letter read in your local announcements recently?
i see a pattern emerging also the sale and relocation of bethel houses build in prime land that are worth alot of money to less expensive areas and the generation of million of pounds in income .so not only makinf money off local refurfrfbrisment projects but milking it off bethel homes sale.
The highly profitable money schemes makes me wonder if we will ever topple this cult. Even with a potentially reduced number of followers and some lawsuits for child molestation, they look in very good economical shape and have a business model that will endure for many decades to come.
i sat in the community garden tonight and talked with one of my neighbors, an old lady in an electric wheelchair.
she was telling me she won't be able to garden next year, it's getting to hard for her since her stroke.
so we talked about her stroke.
Cofty,
Quite easy, theism is accepted by billions, from the most powerful, such as presidents, to the poorest and weakest. Superstition is rejected by most of those billions. And yet they are the same thing. It's semantics.
This thread reminded of my Mom, a catholic who firmly believes that God saved her from an aggressive multiple myeloma. She is still alive and well after the first diagnosis 13 years ago. About a year ago, my sister's in law's mother, a JW, died of breast cancer after only a year of being diagnosed. Plenty of prayers were issued by multiple people in both cases. Should we surmise that God listens to Catholic's prayers and not the JW's? Should we ignore that my mom's diagnose was more timely, her medical care far better --and expensive-- and her oncologist one of the best in the area. I suppose those things don't matter to religious people. It didn't seem to be a major factor according to my Mom.
when i was an elder, most of the elders were pretty independent 40 to 80 year olds.
they had no issue speaking up to the circuit overseer.
i wonder what the average elder is like now.
More an more I see born-ins (between 30 and 50). The ones who got in the cult as adults (usually over 50 now) are leaving the religion or this world.
I think the WT is in trouble, because many born-ins are internet savvy. It's only a matter of time. 3 decades, give or take
i always was a critical jw, now df and agnost.
but still this religion fascinates me.
in my eyes most jw are very sincere, but dumb sheep.. this board is filled with ex-jw.
So many things wrong with your premise. If I can summarize it "Why be bitter, what's the big deal?"
I only got few minutes, so I will deal with the car crashes.
Car crashes for the most part are accidents. The blood policy is not an accident. Retaining the blood policy also seems to be motivated by the fear of law suits (money) and not by principle (try to support blood fraction using the Bible)
All the unnecessary human innocent lives lost to the blood policy are a big deal and completely justify being bitter, even guys like me who have never been a JW.
