'The archangel' or 'an archangel'.
'The God' or 'a god'.
Potatoes, Pothetoes.
i'm reading a book called "what to do when they knock" that goes over the jw book "what does the bible really teach?".
it points out that the "bible really teach" book, on page 218, makes a bit of a point about there being only one archangel.
it says michael is "the archangel" and emphasizes that "the" means only one.
'The archangel' or 'an archangel'.
'The God' or 'a god'.
Potatoes, Pothetoes.
if you had the ability to know what the future held would you use this ability?.
jws say that jehovah can see the future but he just choses not to.
which never made sense to me, as if he did use that ability then a lot of the stuff that went wrong could have been avoided.. it never made sense.
Yes, of course.
Everyone and (especially) their mother agrees that it's wise to apply the knowledge that you have, and to make use of knowledge that's available to you.
Someone who could know everything if he only looked, but chose not to look, is a dumb-ass.
It's by definition being willfully ignorant. Now I suddenly understand where fundamentalists get that feature....
paul has allowed me to write up two articles for jwfacts: iglesia ni cristo, and why russell was not a mason.here is my iglesia ni cristo article.
“we believe that there is only one true god, the father, and no one else besides him”.
thus, faith alone is not enough.. about baptism.
...and instantly that fucked up but really catchy children's cult song of INC pops in my head:
Always submit to the church administration
For they were placed by God over His nation
Well at least they're honest and straightforward about it. Watchtower cult leaders try to say the same, but a little more obfuscated.
just your thoughts....i've been all over this site, everyone says, that if jehovah was backing the org.
then why so many things happen in the org.
child abuse, shunning, and so on....but my question or thought is why is the banning of witnesses all over the media, but the arc isn't wasn't picked up in the media, like this (oh little leaks here and there, but nothing major) nothing like the nyt or any major media venue where the friends would see it and couldn't deny it, even if they wanted to....why does the media care more about banning witnesses than child abuse...i know even if the arc was exposed many of the friends would stay, but would be shamed, because they talked about other religions...or maybe jehovah is bringing the org.
mrs phizzy and myself will be eating out, sure in the knowledge we will not have jw's using the same restaurant.. i may have a cigar along with my brandy at the meal's end to celebrate my (our) freedom..
You are evidently of the mistaken view that Jehovah's Witnesses do not and are required to not speak to disfellowshipped persons. You are free to believe what you wish, but many spiritually-mature persons (e.g., elders and their wives) have conversations with disfellowshipped persons. I suppose it's possible that many of the things you believe to be true are not true at all.
Normally, a close relative would not be disfellowshipped for associating with a disfellowshipped person unless there is spiritual association or an effort made to justify or excuse the wrongful course." Pay Attention to Yourselves and all the Flock p.103
Conclusion: anyone having 'spiritual association' - which includes discussions on Biblical and religious topics - with a DFed person, set himself up to be DFed too.
Wt literature even claims saying 'hello' to a DFed person is an act of disobedience to God.
I'm also quite sure there has been at least one reference in JW literature that not even elders are to talk to DFed person unless the body of elders sent them on a mission, for example to try and reactivate the DFed person.
And here you are saying something like 'Elders do it so I can disobey Gods guidance too!'
Geez you don't even know the rules of your own cult.
so many evolutionist's on this forum are upset at the terror attacks in europe such as recently in sweden.
it is just a logical step in the evolution of the human race.
should you not rather be celebrating the great changes taking place right before your eyes and constructing detailed explanations of the cell structure and dna development in the human brain.. you can't eat your cake and still have it.
The evolutionist would argue that the lion had no choice in its behaviour.
The creationist would argue exactly the same. After all, most God-believers claim that free will is a feature given only to humans, not other animals.
But it's the creationist who believes it's possible for an all-loving God to create animals that can only sustain themselves by killing other animals.
Apparently God had no other option to create a world full of specialist killing 'machines' and the poor animals preyed upon?
So much for love. Your God is either incompetent or an asshole. Or maybe your claims are nonsense...
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..
Logic fails me here.
Questions and remarks:
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.
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..
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...
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.
Nice find!
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.
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