watchtower's ignorance around the historical background to many biblical directives has had a very negative effect on the lives of witnesses.. for instance paul said women should cover their heads because in corinth prostitutes walked the streets plying for business with their heads uncovered.
hence head coverings were never a symbol of headship but a directive very specific to that period, as was the blood directive!!.
watchtower leaders have been lawyers, businessmen, civil servants and door-to-door book salesmen, never, ever historians or biblical scholars.
When I was in India I was interested to see that women wearing saris would use the veil to protect their heads when it got really hot.
I realised that Hindu women have used the veil either with the sari or chemise and trousers for protection from the hot Indian sun centuries before Islam arrived on the scene and made it mandatory for women to cover their heads.
Perhaps it was like this in the middle East and Asia minor too. Why then did it become a rule?
i kind of like the 50’s and early 60’s because of the innocence and “happy days” outlook by that generation.
it seems most people were pretty innocent and real.. would you rather be living in a different era or is this century working for you?
?.
About 200 years in the future. Don't get me wrong I studied history I know how far we've come, how wonderful life is now for many of us compared to two hundred years ago.
I just think, apart from the obvious, that I'd like to see everyone having enough to eat, access to medicine and clean water, other things are missing.
We've lost our way somewhat in the West. I can't work out if it's the need to replace religion with something meaningful. That atheism just isn't doing it for many people. ( I am an atheist). People seem rudderless, without meaningful direction.
I don't know the answer but I hope we find it. I hope we don't destroy our home or our souls through mindless pursuit of materialism and status symbols.
'If man is still alive' in two hundred years as the song goes and we've found our way again I kinda envy those people.
two days ago, i experienced a spiritual epiphany while visiting the library of a catholic university: i was shocked to find thousands of religious literatures produced by the catholics and protestants in the last few hundred years.
someone could easily spend a secluded lifetime trying to read them all.
for years, i was told by my religious leaders (jws) that the catholics and other religions did not provide spiritual food to their members.
Good thread Stephane. I realised after leaving that the JWs have taken the Catholic and Protestant beliefs and simply called them different names.
So the doctrine of Redemption became the Ransom, Easter became the Memorial. They knocked a bit of wood off and the teaching of the Crucifixion became the torture stake.
Original Sin became Imperfection and a stupid allegory about an electric fan!
The clergy laity divide which they deny exists is obviously the elders and the r+f. We know who the pope, cardinals, archbishops are!
They copied Christendom who they criticise and then made themselves stand out by dropping holidays and refusing blood transfusions.
interesting to see how they home in doctrines that are impossible to defend, even solely from a bible point of view, and state them as facts that only satan would question.. no same sex marriages - really?.
don't celebrate christmas and birthdays - really?.
refuse a life-saving blood transfusion - really?
All smoke and mirrors as usual. The point they really want to make is don't talk to your disfellowshipped loved ones in case they tell you the truth.
zeb -- (from a snap em) quote.
on wednesday, august 14th, new york will open a one-year, one-time-only period where victims can file lawsuits against their abusers and the institutions that harbored them, regardless of how long ago the abuse took place, and even if the statute of limitations is long expired.
this window of opportunity is short, and may never come again.. if you were abused in new york, this one-year window of opportunity is a potential chance at justice.. make no mistake, the litigation process can be long and difficult.
Thanks Zeb. Waiting to see what happens, but it might take a year or more to come to light.
alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.
this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.
it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.
He lovingly guided me like a father would and was patient and merciful,all I can say is what he has done for me
Alex Williams, do you need someone to guide you? Why? Does your actual father tell you what to do? Would you let him? Are you still a child?
is this a bad joke or "fake news"?.
nbc new york is claiming "attorneys are expected on monday to announce the filing of lawsuits in king's county supreme court against eight members of the governing body of the jehovah's witnesses for alleged child sexual abuse claims.".
eventhough i would enjoy to see this happen i am very suspiciouse concerning nbcs reliability with this case.. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/happening-today-nj-water-cosby-appeal-epstein-probe-536740491.html.
........so far to date.
you've been warned....https://youtu.be/jjjnt5l5ts0.
Oh come on....... you have to see this for what it is, an AMATEUR production by a local congo
Exactly BB. How long before these very ordinary, naive people have their hall sold from under them and the money taken by the GB to pay for children's abuse court cases? It's just a vale of tears, this whole organisation.
heyo, my name is damien, i'm a trans teenager, and i'm a non practicing jehovah's witness, or deist.
i came here to find other people like me and also to ask if i can be a practicing jehovah's witness and be trans?
or would i have to say i'm cis and hope they believe me?.
Hi and welcome to the forum Damien. I assume you're a born-in JW because you no longer believe it, being a deist? You can't be a JW and trans as TWSYF says.
Don't get baptised or if you already have, make plans for your education so you can be financially independent as soon as possible. How do your parents feel about your choices?
the gb members are finally going to be named as individual defendants in child abuse cases.. read more about it here: reap it you vermin!.
Attorney Zalkin works with Barbara Anderson on WTS child abuse cases. I'm sure she has clued him in.
Thanks Blondie I was racking my brain as to where I'd heard that attorney's name before. Barbara has done amazing work, she's a remarkable woman.
