Congrats on being accepted, and kudos to you for having such a wonderful plan of using your future time, energy and knowledge to help people!
Anders Andersen
JoinedPosts by Anders Andersen
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Some Good News About Me (Although Anthony Morris Will Be Furious)
by pale.emperor injust wanted to share with you some good news i'm really excited about.
i have been accepted for university to study psychology and counseling.
my goal is to become a counselor and, in time, to specialize on treating those who have left high control relationships/groups like we all did.. it'll take a few years before im qualified but studying in university has been a dream of mine since i was 12, which was systematically dashed to pieces by watchtower.. .
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Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?
by unsure indo i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
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Anders Andersen
A very on-topic video by ThereminTrees: https://youtu.be/QRbnws-zITg
Btw all his videos are well worth watching for recovering ex-cult-members.
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Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?
by unsure indo i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
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Anders Andersen
@unsure,
What the (i)F ;-)
In this thread you have mentioned several times that you 'what-if' everything until you exhaust yourself.
But do you really? And should you?
As for the first question, I assume you really don't what-if everything until exhaustion.
- What if Zeus and his homies really exist?
- What if Jehovah is the deceptive and evil one who has labelled the True God as Satan and makes Him look bad?
- What if the spirits of my ancestors will get mad at me for not offering them food?
- What if leprechauns can really give me a pot of gold?
- What if the Thetans are really? Should I join Scientology?
My guess is that there are enough topics where you don't what-if too much at all, but reject the claims as baseless or nonsense quite quickly.
It looks like you're hung up on the Biblical/Christian what-ifs. Imagine you were raised in a strict Muslim cult, you'd be having the what-ifs on Quran/Muhammad. It's your background and past that give an air of credibility and validity to your many what-ifs. Change the topic to Mormonism, Islam or Scientology and you're quickly done what-iffing.
Now to the second question: Should you what-if ad nauseam?
Of course you can, but it's a waste of time and energy.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
We do this all the time. Doing the opposite would be unworkable. So up to and until you have seen some credible evidence wrt the foundations of your what-ifs, there is no (logical) need to entertain them. But it may be a psychological process that helps you break free from the Watchtower chains....
Good luck!
- What if Zeus and his homies really exist?
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119
Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?
by unsure indo i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
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Anders Andersen
@Unsure
Lately I've been reading a bit about communication, and (the difference between) abusive and healthy relationships.
Except sometimes I think, what if this draw I have to Christianity is Gods way of drawing me to them? That God, Jesus love me, you know the same tired explanations you hear all the time. What if?
You ever tried to be in a relationship with someone who didn't straight up made clear what they wanted by telling you, but tried to make you do it by 'giving hints'? Or worse, they became grumpy or gave you the silent treatment without you even knowing why?
It doesn't work, does it?Why would an intelligent, loving God use freakin' hints (like 'drawing you with a feeling') and get angry when you don't get it? Doesn't sound like a healthy relationship to me!
Yes it doesn't make sense, but what if the same old tired explanation of Divine Will cannot be understood by imperfect minds is true? My issue is that I always "what if" each side.
Well if we are incapable of understanding God's will, it would be quite unfair if he would hold that against us, wouldn't it? Like punishing a two year old child for failing to pass for a college exam.
Or maybe God should try harder at explaining his will to us?It's really not that hard for him. Write it in the sky. Or make everyone hear his voice at the same time. Whatever. As long as the message is clear and available to everyone.
Imagine you'd communicate with your colleagues the same way God supposedly communicates with humans. You'd be fired within a week.
Hopefully, if there is a God, they do not fault me for not ignoring my own logic.
If he would, he wouldn't be worth worshiping anyway. And the very fact that you have no idea whether any gods actually exist, nor what they want, and may or may not punish you for being you...shows that either they don't exist at all, or don't really care what you do and think, or they do but won't punish you for it. Or maybe they would because they're like any other abuser: fault you for breaking rules they never even told you about.
Ah well, my religious feelings are long gone. They were probably already gone when I was still a JW. I never 'felt' God either. Maybe I'm the defective one :-D But at least I'm not doubting, feeling guilt nor anxious. And if whatever type of god wants to have a conversation, my conscience is clear.
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119
Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?
by unsure indo i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
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Anders Andersen
The fact that you are even having these questions may be an indication in itself.
If those questions were really, really important - say a matter of eternal life and death - shouldn't the answers have been made abundantly clear to everyone millennia ago?Would any loving God leave people in doubt about if the answers made the difference between 'salvation' and 'destruction'?
Do the many people in countries with a non-Christian culture (like China, India, etc.etc.) have any chance a finding these questions, let alone the answers? They may never even meet a Christian or see a Bible in their lifetime...
Or...what if it's the Christians who are mistaken, asking the wrong questions - about Jesus - therefore never finding the true way to salvation?
So many questions, and the lack of answers from above is both overwhelming and convincing...(at least to me)
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We are like pet dogs that run off with wild dogs...
by dubstepped in...and need a bullet to the head.
my wife found a post on instagram where some jw nutter claims that either lett or morris said this in a talk.
any confirmation or video of such?
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Anders Andersen
We could easily change the narrative just a little bit and get a completely different situation:
A slave owner had a slave....
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June 27, 2017 TO ALL CONGREGATIONS Re: Donations to Regional Conventions Using jw.org
by wifibandit injune 27, 2017 to all congregations in britain and northern ireland re: donations to regional conventions using jw.org.
june 27, 2017 to all congregations in ireland re: donations to regional conventions using jw.org.
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Anders Andersen
How is Watchtower assuming the JW want to hand over their money a 'provision'?
These guys have no idea what words mean....
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June 28, 2017 TO ALL BODIES OF ELDERS Re: Important Reminder—Volunteers
by wifibandit injune 28, 2017 to all bodies of elders re: important reminder—volunteers.
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Anders Andersen
Dear brothers,
Apparently the Holy Spirit doesn't make sure the godless, unclean and unqualified (I.e. didn't write enough service hours) are not used to move Holy Furniture. (Do the have the Ark of the Covenant in there?).
So please cover for the Holy Spirit and update the privacy-sensitive data we have collected on our cult members in a timely fashion.
Cheers!
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Anders Andersen
Well at least Watchtower acknowledges that their behavior is anything but normal.
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Watchtower teaches that Jesus dying on the stake is no longer certain
by Listener inthe watchtower has held for many years that jesus died on a stake and held strongly to this teaching.
w 1951 3/15 the above agrees with the new world translation of the christian greek scriptures in its appendix, page 769, in saying that the instrument upon which jesus was nailed was a stake without a crossbeam, and not the religiously represented “cross”; and that the greek word used for that instrument in ancient time meant a “stake” and not the conventional religious cross.
they are no longer certain on this point.
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