Posts by Anders Andersen

30

I'm 90% PIMO but events in Russia made me stop and think maybe Jehovah is real and helping

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

i'm at the stage where i'd love a big scandal to come along showing clearly that the j.w's are not the true religion, but sometimes i get touched inside by various thoughts or events, the russian court trial being one of them.. i mean, j.w's are understandably fixated with attending the memorial, so why didn't the court say it will resume on monday or tuesday, instead setting wednesday 12 april as the date?

part of me believes the comments from pro-j.w's that jehovah moved events so they could attend the memorial.. it seems the j.w's will not be banned, which makes my mind and heart wrestle between thinking jah's behind it, or maybe the ministry of justice is just woefully prepared compared to the superb australian royal commission team who did their homework.

it surprises me the russians seemingly haven't done any homework..

Anders Andersen

Logic fails me here.

Religion is about to be banned.
Trial is set for some date.
Date is after a random religious event.
God did it.

Questions and remarks:

If God is so concerned about the JW, why does he allow them to be threatened in the first place?
Maybe the JW get banned the day after the Memorial. Apparently God 'moved events' so the memorial could be held. Never mind next years memorial.
If JW got banned before the Memorial, pro-JW would claim that this targeted persecution proves Satan is aiming his arrows at JW. They must definitely be God's chosen people.
If trial got postponed to after summer....thank God for allowing the convention to be held....etc.

Please snap out of it. Your emotional attchment and fear blur the facts you see. JW doctrine is false in so many ways, no amount of interpreting random events as divine action can fix that.

3

Position of responsibilities

by bola in

i remembered a time i read in the forum that it is better (especially for men) to seek positions of responsibility in the world than to seek positions of responsibility in the jw organisation.

please i do not understand that stance.

explain..

Anders Andersen

Do you remember who wrote it?

Can you copy-paste a link to that forum thread?

Without context your guess is as good as ours.

Although generally it's better to be responsible for something useful (e.g. in a company or charity) than be responsible for leading people in a useless cult...

9

Papal Bulla - Latest Metal Detecting Find

by cofty in

i was out detecting this evening for an hour after work and found this amazing bit of history.. it is a lead seal that originated on a document from pope martin v at some time between 1417 and 1431. these official documents were called papal bulls and were dispatched to all the parishes in the medieval empire.

this example has later been made into a spindle whorl which is why it has a hole through the centre.

lead whorls were used before spinning wheels were invented to make yarn of sheep's wool.. the inscription "spaspe" stands for "sanctus paulus sanctus petrus" and the two busts are of paul and peter.. the reverse has "martinus pp.

Anders Andersen

Nice find!

21

I need your opinions and recommendations please.

by bola in

after my exit from the watchtower shunning cult, i have received tons of invitations from different churches.

but because i am aware of religious cults, i need recommendations of churches that are not cults at all.

after exiting the watchtower cult, i don't want to fall into another religious cults.

Anders Andersen

Religion may not even be for you. Take some time to just breathe. Armageddon isn't coming. You don't need to be saved because you're a sinner. You don't have to believe in God. It's okay to just be you.

I am an atheist and I approve of this message ;-)

Seriously though, David_Jay you never cease to amaze me with your well thought out answers, balanced viewpoints and in-depth knowledge. If only all humans would display the tolerance you spread here...

It's even more amazing considering the shallow, judgmental and black-and-white fire-and-brimstone type of thinking our former cult bestowed upon us.

How did you manage to shed all the narrow thinking? Were you always as wise as I perceive you to be?

Anyways glad to have you (back) on board...

More on-topic: if I were ever to seek out an other religion, it would probably some godless (as in without deity), non-controlling, do-good-to-everbody type of thing. Maybe Buddhism? Or Atheistic or Rationalistic Satanism (not devil worship!)? Or maybe even Unitarian Universialism? But for now I'm just fine without any god, religious creed, church or whatever. If I ever need the company of such a group, I'll contact the Sunday Assembly in my area

19

Russian BOE - congregations told to stop using the New World Translation

by OrphanCrow in

it appears like the wt's bible is no longer to be used in russia.

king james version only.

from this forum: .

Anders Andersen

My Russian isn't very good but from the original forum I'm quite sure this is an April fool's joke...

13

Elder doesn't know difference between new moon and full moon

by hoser in

jw
friends

today at the service group the elder leading couldn't figure out which was which.

he was trying to convince us that the memorial was at the new moon.

.

Anders Andersen

Yeah well I dunno bout it either.

At one place Bible says the moon will be forever (you know, because it's made of diamonds or something?)

At another place Bible says new heaven will come. Probably new moon included?

New covenant. New heavens. New moon. Makes sense, right?

205

Mathematically Measuring Evolution.

by towerwatchman in

mathematically measuring evolution.. when judging relationships in terms of morphological characteristics we will always be bound by the subjective.

morphologically one cannot exactly measure the distance between two organisms strictly in mathematical terms.

using the standard method of taxonomy we cannot quantify the difference between a horse and a mouse, or know which is closer mouse to cat, or mouse to fish.

Anders Andersen

For those who want a quick impression of the 'Evolution in crisis' book:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution%3A_A_Theory_in_Crisis?wprov=sfla1

19

Are people free to leaving the Witnesses, and shunning.

by ThomasCovenant in

is it true, as bro jackson testified to the australian royal commission, that people can leave the religion freely?.

in my own case, yes.

i just stopped going and was never announced as ''no longer one of jw's''.

Anders Andersen

Is it true, as Bro Jackson testified to the Australian Royal Commission, that people can leave the religion freely?

No, absolutely not!

Jackson led his audience to believe that JW members are 'free to leave', but what he actually said was 'you're free to become inactive, and you'll still have to obey our rules for some years or we'll take away your friends and family.

'Free to leave' includes:

Free from fear of repercussions
Free to officialy resign from the religion without punishment
Free to do as you will after leaving, without having someone tell your family they can't have any contact with you.

With fading, none of these conditions are met.

Are you really free to leave if you can't openly celebrate you birthday or Christmas a year after leaving?

Of course it depends; someone who has no JW family and friends anyway after leaving is more likely to be left alone. But those who maintain a close relationship with their JW family or friends after leaving will be held to JW rules.

JW is like Hotel California...you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave (unharmed).

205

Mathematically Measuring Evolution.

by towerwatchman in

mathematically measuring evolution.. when judging relationships in terms of morphological characteristics we will always be bound by the subjective.

morphologically one cannot exactly measure the distance between two organisms strictly in mathematical terms.

using the standard method of taxonomy we cannot quantify the difference between a horse and a mouse, or know which is closer mouse to cat, or mouse to fish.

Anders Andersen

Following the evidence, this disproves common ancestry

I'm sure you can point us to at least one peer-reviewed article, written by an expert in a relevant field, and published in a reputable scientific journal, that supports this claim?

Or is it just wishful thinking by people who don't really know what they're talking about?

22

Those married to "still in" JWs

by NikL in

jw
friends

kind of got into it with my jw wife last night for the first time in a long time.. i try to not engage in conversations about doctrinal matters unless she asks me which she did.. anyway, i wont go into details but of course i am "not going to change her mind" and "why is it that you can't see when very smart people can?

" yada yada yada.

you probably can imagine.. it makes me so depressed.

Anders Andersen

A male UBM needs to understand his wife's need for emotional security. That means 15 - 20 hours a week of quality time together. (Depending upon what you read)

One of the most odious thing about the JW faith (IMHO) is that it sabotages marriages by robbing couples of that time. It's like withholding water from a plant.

A JW woman's desire to have her husband with her at the meetings is far more about watering the plant than it is about religion.

I heartily agree that couples need to spend quality time together. The spouses do need the reassurance that us 'leaving Jehovah' doesn't mean we're going to leave them too (this seems especially true when it's the man finding TTATT).

But sitting next to your wife, grinding your teeth, watching her being fed lies by a cult isn't quality time in my book.

An alternative to dragging yourself to meetings is making yourself very available outside meeting times. Plan the things you do alone at meeting times, do things together at the other evenings.

My wife and I do a language course together, we dance together, and on Saturdays we go for longs walks. When she is at a meeting, I go for a run, watch a TV series she doesn't like, or do computer stuff. This way our quality time together is maximized and I don't have to sit through cult meetings.

And even with all that there's always the wedge between us that Watchtower crafted artfully...