Posts by Anders Andersen

150

I'm getting baptized

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

i know i've started similar topics before but this time i'm serious.

my parents have been constantly pressuring me and after yesterday's watchtower study they asked me if i was going to be baptized this summer... and i said yes.

i probably should have thought about it more before making a final decision, but they're pretty much forcing me to do it anyway.

Beliefs About What Caused the Universe

by Perry in

the universe can be observed to be expanding.. an expanding universe must have had a beginning.

whatever begins to exist had a cause.

therefore the universe had a cause.

Anders Andersen

This one is for you, Perry

Today I was reminded of a comment I wrote someplace else, responding to someone coming up with the 'a house in the desert must have been designed and built'-analogy:

About that building in the desert...
No doubt you would be confident, without a shadow of a doubt that someone constructed that house, and put the food there.

Who would you think built it?
Camels? Martians? Humans?
Probably you would say the latter.
Why?
Because you know camels can't do that, you have no evidence martians exist, and every similar building you have ever seen was built by humans.

Not so with God as the creator of the universe.
Like with martians, you have no evidence he exists.
And since you have not seen any other universes being created by God, you don't know whether universes are normally created by Gods.
So looking at the universe, you have no reason to assume it was created, and you don't know who did it if it was.

But let's just assume God exists anyway.

If you and I were in that desert and we found that building, we might quickly agree on it's builders being humans.

Evening falls, you are playing some guitar, and I am writing a letter.
When I'm finished, I hand it to you.
The letter states this:
This building we just found, it's awesome. You can see the intelligence of it builders.
There were 15 of them: 9 men and 7 women.
Their leader is called Erwin, he is 162 years old, lives in London, loves garlic and salmon. He hates flowers and cucumbers. Since we should be so grateful to him for building us this awesome shelter, we should thank him by having garlic each breakfast, and destroying all flowers we can find!

Would you believe my claims?
There are contradictions and unlikely claims in the letter.
Also, like you I just got there, wondering about the building. I don't know anything more than you.
The claims are not supported by any evidence.
I think you would not accept my claims.

Well, accepting that the universe has one or more creators is already not supported by evidence.
But claiming all kinds of knowledge about this unseen creator is just foolish.

And yes, in this illustration my letter is any document claiming knowledge about god (Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, Gilgamesh epos, Ayyur Veda, etc.etc.)
These books all contain claims not supported by any evidence.
Their writers were humans who just got here, wondering about the universe. They didn't know anything more than anyone else.

Since you are dismissing all Holy Books but one, apply the logic you use for dismissing most of them to your own Holy Book.
If you're honest, you'll be surprised what happens.

18

Regional Convention

by raven in

so how many are not going to the regional convention this year?

it will be my first year not attending as part of my fade.. i remember going for all of my childhood into adult hood, participating in stage parts even.. however, last assembly i was already mentally checked out.

i remember looking around and seeing all of people bobbing & nodding at the program talks that had been previously repeated time and time again.. almost seemed like hypnosis.. i also had a hard time with the fact that we're all supposed to be "friends" and everyone had always seemed to be so judgmental.. especially at conventions & assemblies.. things like who had the best outfit for the days, who looked the prettiest, who can snag the single ms brother.. who took the most spiritual food out of the program, how many times can you tally mark jehovah's name.

Anders Andersen

After 35 years of conventions, including one national, 4 international, and one in a wall-less assembly hall across the world from home, this will be my first time not attending.

But probably I'll go there during lunch to see some friends, kiss my wife, and have a totally crap reason to ride my motorcycle.

3

Jehovahs Witness Child Custody Brochure

by What Now? in

does anyone have a link or pdf copy of this?

i have a disfellowshipped friend who shares custody of her daughter with her witness ex-husband.

she is starting to have a lot of issues with the arrangement - her ex-husband and extended family (all witnesses) are constantly undermining her, bullying her daughter into changing her mind about certain decisions that they had already made together.

Anders Andersen

http://www.mediafire.com/?fai2abvd6z7uvvs

That one?

13

Convention Releases 2016 available on JW.ORG

by Designer Stubble in

now available on jw.org the rc 2016 releases (all downloadable movies, no books)for a certainty god made him lord and christhttps://www.jw.org/finder?locale=en&pub=lrc&prefer=lang&srcid=sharehope for what we do not seehttps://www.jw.org/finder?locale=en&pub=dns&prefer=lang&srcid=shareoh jehovah...i trust in youhttps://www.jw.org/finder?locale=en&pub=tiy&prefer=lang&srcid=share

Anders Andersen

By the looks of the titles this more crap to create emotional responses that can suppress reasonable thinking.

Great. Thanks Bitchtower. There's people I love to wake up :-(

37

Jehovah Witness vs Jehovah's Witness

by Simon in

being brought up as a jehovah's witness means you are so used to the term that you rarely stop to think about it.. one thing i've noticed is that people unfamiliar with the religion will say "jehovah witness" (no 's) instead which i always found a bit grating.. but watching the us election, something struck me.

people are often referred to as "trump supporters", not "trump's supporters" and so on.

thinking about other things, people would say they were "united fan's", not "united's fans" and so on.. it seems weird that a group would refer to themselves as though it was someone else talking about them (in the 3rd person, if i have that right).. what do you think?

Anders Andersen

Yeah I have the same.

Long time ago I read someplace that the construct 'I am one of JW' also serves to reaffirm the JW identity every time they say it.

Compare these:

I am a Catholic
I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses

1) implies 'I am a Catholic individual'. I am unique. Being catholic is only a part of my whole identity.

2) implies no individual identity. I am part of a group of identical beings. I am a JW, and nothing but a JW. That is my whole identity.

------------------

In Dutch the official spelling for one of Bible God's supposed names is Jehova (without the last h). That means that most journalists will write Jehova's Witnesses or Jehova Witnesses. And to me that always reaffirmed they were biased against (formerly) us, as they even failed to write the religion's name properly. Yeah, relidiculous, I know...

13

Advice on how to choose a book

by slimboyfat in

i love books; i always have.

they are my life and my livelihood.

and many jehovah's witnesses, when they leave the religion, they think to themselves, "i'd like to read a book".

Anders Andersen

Yes.

20

Courtesy Towards Senior Bicyclists, or First Time Riding in 45 Years!

by compound complex in

jw
friends

greetings, fellow posters:.

i bought a nearly new 7-speed bicycle at a yard sale for $30 last weekend and took it out this morning on our paved local bicycle/walking trail.

the last time i rode was in my early- to mid- twenties when i used a bicycle to get to and from the kh for my pioneer service.

Anders Andersen

Wow that's great, riding a bike is healthy and fun!

Living in a country with more bikes than people it's hard to imagine not riding for so many years...but it shows your courage and agility to start riding again after 45 years :-)

61

Demon possesion, bunch of crap or?

by raven in

i've been using the forum to vent and post a lot more frequently lately as a venting purpose & way to obtain peace of mind with the craziness i've been going through recently as i fade away form the org.

anyways today i'm sitting here at work and thinking to myself about demons... ok i know this sounds crazy but has anyone else out there been traumatized by the thought of demons?

i had a dream the other night, just flat out spooky and i woke and couldn't help but feeling it may have been evil ole' satan and his demons at it again.. i don't want to believe that, (trying not to, & just brushing it under the rug so to speak) but have any of you out there been talked up about demons?

Anders Andersen

Did any of you believe in or even experience personal guardian angels while still a JW?

Many non-jw people do. If you didn't or don't believe their claims of personal guardian angels and dismiss them as wishful thinking, why would you now believe in demons (possibly) messing with you instead of dismissing your own ideas as fearful thinking?

61

Demon possesion, bunch of crap or?

by raven in

i've been using the forum to vent and post a lot more frequently lately as a venting purpose & way to obtain peace of mind with the craziness i've been going through recently as i fade away form the org.

anyways today i'm sitting here at work and thinking to myself about demons... ok i know this sounds crazy but has anyone else out there been traumatized by the thought of demons?

i had a dream the other night, just flat out spooky and i woke and couldn't help but feeling it may have been evil ole' satan and his demons at it again.. i don't want to believe that, (trying not to, & just brushing it under the rug so to speak) but have any of you out there been talked up about demons?

Anders Andersen

Zeb,

Care to elaborate?

(I understand you might not want to risk being ridiculed)

Still, using magnetic fields, low frequency vibrations, drugs, mass 'hysteria' etc it's quite easy to induce demonic experiences l...