Posts by Xanthippe

57

Please Welcome me

by Sofia Lose in

jw
friends

have lurked here for many, many years.

female, latina, middle-aged, born-in, 3rd generation jw, northeast usa.

my fate is to continue to play the game 'till death do us part because the very strong and tangled web of friends, family, business, etc.

Xanthippe

Hi Sofia. Looking forward to hearing your ideas. We could do with a few more women around here.

26

What did you become after leaving Jehovah's Witnesses?

by Garrett in

jw
friends

hey guys,.

so, since my leaving i have been doing so much research on so many topics that it's been extremely enlightening.

not only have i learned a lot about the organization and what motivates it, but i have also learned a lot about the bible, god and most importantly, myself.. currently, i'm not quite sure where i stand, but i'm having some real issues with the bible and god.

Xanthippe

Hi Garrett. My husband and I left twenty-six years ago. We were Christians for two years but not churchgoers. Then my husband did lots of research on evolution and he even wrote a book about it. The publisher said he needed a science background to publish a science book so he started the physics degree he had always wanted to do.

I started a degree in European history. Within a year we had both stopped believing in God. My husband became a chartered physicist but dropped the book idea because it was based on theistic evolution.

It was in his will he wanted a non-religious funeral, he died at age fifty-four six years ago. I am an atheist but I think there is a lot of evidence for conscious existence after death. We got here without a god so I don't think any further stage of evolution has any need for a god or anything supernatural. This was something I first started reading about 23 years ago when I came across a book about it in a second-hand book shop, much to my surprise. I am still open-minded, nothing is set in stone.

59

Asshole Atheism – Not for me, now or ever.

by donny in

to start off with let me clarify that by asshole atheism i am not referring to strong atheism or any other type of upfront atheism.

what i am referring to is the belligerent, hateful atheism that smacks of trolls and other types who want to derail conversation or comments at any cost..

i enjoy hearing comments from both sides of the subjects of theism, nationalism or politics, especially from those who have intense opinions.

Xanthippe

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/283202/question-athiests?size=10&page=2

Viviane this thread is an example of a poster asking why some atheists seem to want to convert people to their way of thinking. I grant that the OP is not very clear but the question regarding conversion to atheism is.

Some posters reply with understanding that the topic is asking why some atheists seem to devote so much time to persuading people to move away from a belief in God while other posters seem merely to want to argue that you cannot convert to atheism because it is a lack of belief.

The latter are not engaging with the OP regarding why try and convert others to atheism. In other words why not live and let live, why care what others believe if they are not hurting anyone. They are being pedantic.

This is what I was referring to and I have come across it many times. Fortunately not very often these days as we do not have the endless atheists versus believers threads that were prevalent a few years ago. You only arrived a year ago so I suppose it is understandable that you haven't seen them. I take it this is why you asked for an example, I hope you weren't accusing me of lying.

78

Governing Body Member Stephan Lett Lies On JW.TV

by Finkelstein in

i thought it would be important to clearly point in the recent talk by governing body member stephan lett, that he did in fact deliberately lie concerning what he described as lies and false information by apostates, concerning the organization being permissive toward people in the organization who had been involved in pedophilia.

the truth of the matter is thats exactly what the organization has been doing and perhaps for a long time.

the recent candace conti law suit where she was awarded 28 million dollars was levied against the wts for its irresponsible behavior by the elders who gave no notification of the accused jonathan kendrick that he had been charged with pedophilia and spent months in jail for his actions .

Xanthippe

Anyone watch "Lie to me"? Care to analyze this expression?

Very odd. His mouth looks angry but his eyes are full of fear. What do you think DD?

59

Asshole Atheism – Not for me, now or ever.

by donny in

to start off with let me clarify that by asshole atheism i am not referring to strong atheism or any other type of upfront atheism.

what i am referring to is the belligerent, hateful atheism that smacks of trolls and other types who want to derail conversation or comments at any cost..

i enjoy hearing comments from both sides of the subjects of theism, nationalism or politics, especially from those who have intense opinions.

Xanthippe

Some people have strongly didactic personalities. They were preachy JWs and now they have a personal mission to convert the world to atheism.

Now one of them will indignantly tell me atheism is not a religion and therefore people cannot be converted to it. Lol. A singular lack of interest in the arts makes some incapable of understanding the use of poetic licence as an art form.

48

If this isn't the truth, then what is our hope?

by Gigi2121 in

i'm new here but not new to researching and questioning the jw beliefs.

i have quite a story.... one that's been haunting me for awhile... but first, i'd like to hear what people have to say about this topic question, please.. -gigi.

Xanthippe

My hope is that humans will grow up and stop hurting one another for a belief or cause or difference of race or whatever. Peace on earth...maybe one day...

35

Do you feel bad throwing away literature?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

so do you feel bad throwing away your old literature?.

what about your old song book or bible from your early days in the org?.

if so, is it because of sentimentality, monetary cost or because it might be 'sacred' ?.

Xanthippe

No I enjoyed chucking out the rubbish. Still have two WTS bibles. One is that thick green one with all the cross references in which is quite useful when someone quotes from the NWT on here.

I have a lot of different translations of the Bible which I keep just for reference. We kept them because we saw those books as where we have come from. We didn't want to throw away our entire past as if it was worthless.

I don't believe them any more than I believe in the Homer on my bookshelves but both are symbolic to me of the journey of ancient humanity and the religious mythology that was our 'childhood'. I don't hate that journey either, it's where we have all come from.

14

Living in the era of "Generation Me"

by campaign of hate in

jw
friends

this really got to me today at the wt study.. i am not ashamed to admit, i am part of that "generation".. you get one role of the dice in this life, you got to take what you can now, in order to have a good quality life later.. i agree, we need to help and show love to our fellow man.

but, not when this becomes the priority above our own needs, wants and aspirations.. welcome to "generation me" wt, this is my time.. peace out..

Xanthippe

It has been the theme of many religions since the beginning of monotheism. The priest class used peoples' fear of death to make them give up on this life and strive for the next one. Which meant don't look out for yourself but bring all your healthiest animals, extra harvest, cash crop, time and money to the temple. Who benefited? The priests. If you don't give you are selfish, deserving of death without reward. Boring old theme from self- serving religious leaders.

30

Introducing myself

by maksutov in

my name is russ, i'm 40 years old, from the uk, and i left the jws nearly 5 years ago.

i've been a member of the yuku board throughout that time, so there are probably some on here who know me already.

there seems to be more activity over here at the moment, so i thought i'd pop in and say hi.i was raised as a jw, started questioning it when i was 16, but there was no internet back then (well, no www anyway) so i got sucked right in and got baptized when i was 18. auxiliary pioneered on and off for a couple of years, then became a ministerial servant.

Xanthippe

Welcome Russ. I'm in the UK too.

24

would it have been different if we knew why?

by sowhatnow in

i always took issue with the idea of no one knowing why a person got df.. i know im not alone.. i complained to my mother about this when i was younger, explaining that how do we know what it is that gets a person df if no one knows what they did?

my moms answer was , .

'if people knew a persons personal faults and what they did , others would not be so forgiving when they were reinstated, because we'd always view them with that view, so in other words, if when so n so, committed fornication, and the whole cong would know it, if they announced from the platform then his/her reputation would be permanently stained' .

Xanthippe

Someone was disfellowshipped and condemned to death at the big A for being a hoarder????

Can't even process that! Surely it's a sign of mental illness?

Just noticed hoser said the same, I wish I could read