Posts by Anders Andersen

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

Another one here....wife still in and we're in a sort of a truce too...we don't ever talk religion, but soon we'll have to discuss how to raise our child when issues like birthdays etc. come up.

Anyway right after I dropped my TTATT bomb (yes, I blurted it out all at once) I haven't been to a single meeting. I envisioned going with my wife for a couple of weeks just to get her used to the idea of me not being a JW anymore. But she insisted I didn't come, as she thinks that would be hypocritical.

I went for years not going to meetings but she had a nervous breakdown a few years ago and basically begged me to go with her.

The KH: the happiest place on earth with the best people in the world around her, and the most powerful force in the universe to support her.....and she can't go alone???

Maybe it's time for her to follow her religion by herself? Or would she come with you to an apostate meet up to support you?

I'm not saying people shouldn't support their spouse, but this is something she could do alone (or quit). There no need to enable people to continue self destructive behavior like being addicted to alcohol, drugs, or being in a cult.

A disadvantage is that you also have no idea how the local dubs are trying to influence her if you're not around.

19

Should Blood Transfusions be forced?

by Fisherman in

1.there are times when a doctor decides that the only life saving medical treatment -short of a miracle- is a blood transfusion.

in such a case, what should be done when a person refuses treatment on religious grounds and why?.

2. should a person be allowed to "mutilate" his body and why?.

Anders Andersen

People should be allowed to make their own informed decisions.

Unfortunately some people (JW) have been force fed with misinformation.

JW also seem to (be coached to) decide long before any medical professional has properly informed them on the specifics of their situation.

315

Atheism = self defeating.

by towerwatchman in

atheism = self defeating.

first may we define our terms.

the word atheism comes literally from the greek, alpha the negative and theos [for god], therefore “negative god” or there is no god.

Anders Andersen

So much words and I still don't believe in any gods.

You got your definition of atheism wrong and are thus creating a straw man argument. Only by coming up with your own (false) definition of atheism, you can make your argument. However, almost all of the people who call themselves atheist do not claim to know there are no gods, they simply do not believe in any gods. Your argument applies to almost nobody. Redefining the label I apply to myself doesn't suddenly change my (lack of) beliefs into a claim of knowledge.
There is no such thing as a-NewYork-ism or a-moon-ism. Why not? Because there is a lot of evidence to suggest New York and the moon actually exist. If there were evidence for any god's existence, you wouldn't be here making empty arguments.

Some interesting reading for you: https://www.quora.com/topic/Atheism

If you would browse the topic, you'll notice your argument has been proposed and refuted many times. But that's okay, yours is a rookie mistake (I hope....)

Nice try.... ;-)

17

Emotionally very ill but can't face consequences of leaving

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

i'm a new member so wanted to say 'hi'.

i live in the u.k, was born in, fell away as an unbaptised publisher, got baptised in my 30s for reasons i'm retrospectively unsure of, and lost my faith about five years ago around the time of the original a.r.c.

now, being unable to leave is making me physically, emotionally and mentally ill.. i'm not strong enough to da and live with the family consequences, and despite having several good friends outside the faith, none of them could support me in an active way as such.

Anders Andersen

Wtf I didn't even do 2 hours a week when I was an exemplary and 'active' brother.
Granted, I didn't make MS because of low hours....but for goodness sake!

Simply stop going out in FS and hand over a 4 hours faked time slip every month?
Try to take charge of your own life little by little?

Hang in there!

52

Australian Congregations announce Child Safeguarding Policy is available upon request

by wifibandit in

this week all congregations in australia have been instructed to make the following announcement:.

if a member of the congregation would like a copy of the child safeguarding policy of jehovah’s witnesses in australia, please see the coordinator of the body of elders or the secretary.. .

childsafeguardingpolicy-eau.pdf.

Anders Andersen

Stuckinarut,

Great plan!

52

Australian Congregations announce Child Safeguarding Policy is available upon request

by wifibandit in

this week all congregations in australia have been instructed to make the following announcement:.

if a member of the congregation would like a copy of the child safeguarding policy of jehovah’s witnesses in australia, please see the coordinator of the body of elders or the secretary.. .

childsafeguardingpolicy-eau.pdf.

Anders Andersen

This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

JW pride themselves in having a website in 20 gazillion languages.

The JW library is available to all and contains all (recent) literature.

Their ridiculous songbook is updated every 5 seconds.

Their FAQ lists all kinds of questions so people can easily find (misleading) information to questions the JW deem important.

But somehow all that infrastructure and their capabilities are completely unused when distributing information about how to keep children safe.

Every sports club, every youth organization, every decent church and their mother has a child protection policy published on their website.

But not Watchtower. Two reasons: they're not decent, and they refuse to really acknowledge they are just like any other club or church, with the same problems. Publishing a child protection policy for all to see would mean acknowledging the human - not divine - nature of their cult.

A one-off announcement and a hidden policy. Way to go. Boo Watchtower.

10

What Irony! Another Hall Closure!

by freddo in

jw
friends

note these excerpts from awake!

articles: (bold italics mine).

*** g93 9/8 pp.

Anders Andersen

There were a few groups interested in it. We had favour with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They wanted to give it to a faith-based organisation.

WTF?!?!?! Either the buyer is making stuff up, or Watchtower again spinned their story...

21

TIL - 537 BC is in the Bible - and more

by berrygerry in

from an apologist site:.

http://thirdwitness.com/607_bce/www.jehovahsjudgment.co.uk/607/realissue.html.

hence, counting back from 537 bce (the year the bible says the jews returned home) for a full seventy years, we arrive at the year 607 bce.. .

Anders Andersen

21

TIL - 537 BC is in the Bible - and more

by berrygerry in

from an apologist site:.

http://thirdwitness.com/607_bce/www.jehovahsjudgment.co.uk/607/realissue.html.

hence, counting back from 537 bce (the year the bible says the jews returned home) for a full seventy years, we arrive at the year 607 bce.. .

Anders Andersen

Hence, counting back from 537 BCE (the year the Bible says the Jews returned home) for a full seventy years, we arrive at the year 607 BCE

The real question is:

Why do Jehovah's Witnesses choose to accept 537BC and count backwards, instead of accepting 587BC and counting forward?

The evidence for 587BC is much stronger than the very credible evidence for 537BC. If you have to pick only one, it would make sense to pick 586BC and count forward.

Unless of course you have based your entire theology and claims of authority on 607BC and 537BC....

18

Dutch Elections

by Yesu Kristo Bwana Wangu in

voters are going to the polls in the netherlands in the first of three crucial eurozone elections this year.

.

the voter turnout might set a new record.. what do you hope will be the result?.

Anders Andersen

@Gorbatchov,

Yes, it is for someone who suffers from choice paralysis, is not well-informed on the subjects at hand, and normally tries to look at both sides of an issues.

Random example: should the age to qualify for state pension go from 67 back to 65?

Sure I'd like to have that money earlier, but a choice made on that now will probably not help me in 30 years. I also think it would be cool for other people to get it earlier. But someone has to pay for it. Who will that be? Would I like that?

Because I'm ill-informed I don't know the consequences. And because I don't know the concequences I'm not willing to choose a side (yet) on this issue.

Repeat this process for most of the topics that the political parties present in their programmes, and it becomes clear that many parties would be equally good/bad fitting my lack of opinion.

Choice paralysis then prevents me from picking one over the other. And I refuse to vote based solely on how friendly a politician's smile is (or isn't).

Probably next time, after I have had additional time adjusting to the real world.