Posts by Anders Andersen

5

"How Did You Come to the Conclusion That Your God Is Moral If You Can't Make a Moral Judgement."

by WeatherLover in

i love the atheist experience show on youtube!

i just re-watched this video and it's one of my favorites.. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mlakj_z_cgk.

Anders Andersen

Wow....that blows my mind!

How do you know someone else has a perfect measuring tape, if you yourself can't tell a foot from an inch?

You only have that other person's claim to go on. Their measuring tape may be as bad as yours....or worse.

We have to go on the results then.

Results for God:

Kills everyone with a devitating opinion. Killing to be escalated 'soon' in Armageddon.
Allow slavery and objectification of women and children.
Did not use his power or knowledge to cure disease, stop famine, improve living conditions.

Results for humans:

Slowly but steadily moving away from absolute rulership to societies where devitating opinions are respected and seen as valuable. Diversity becomes accepted and even celebrated.
Abolished legal slavery almost everywhere. Working hard to decrease 'modern' slavery.
Promote respect for women and children as people, not being in subjection to or owned by men.
Work together to slowly but steady improve living conditions for all, cure diseases and decrease famine and poverty.

Well....my measuring tape may be crooked or off....but I'll take the human results any day!

35

Matthew 24:34 not fulfilled in the first century

by Jules Saturn in

i was discussing with an elder the generation teaching and telling him when jesus christ says in matthew 24:34 “truly i say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things happen.” he was referring to the generation from the first century in 33 ad and these events that were to take place took place with the destruction of jerusalem in 70 ad.

now the elder tells me to go back to a few verses to from verses 29-33 which read: .

“immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened,+ and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.+ 30 then the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief,+ and they will see the son of man+ coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Anders Andersen

That's the beauty of prophecy: they're vague enough to be applied in retrospect to many events in history, and if no event fits the vague description believers can continue to point to the future.

Instead of admitting that Jesus' prophecy failed, believers can now claim that there has to be future fulfillment. Because there's always the future. And nobody can prove evente won't happen in the future.

Believers love ideas that can't be disproven. It means they don't have that uncomfortable feeling you get when ignoring facts.

10

The Netherlands: Minister for Legal Protection wants Jehovah's Witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse

by jochie in

meanwhile in the netherlands:minister dekker: jehovah's witnesses must review abuse policyin order to protect children better against abuse, the jehovah's witnesses must look back on catholics, according to minister dekker.

but abuse victims think that this approach will not work.. minister sander dekker for legal protection wants the jehovah's witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse within the community, just like the catholic church.

this is stated in a letter he sent this week to the parliamentary committee for justice and security.

Anders Andersen

Hoi jochie,

Thanks for sharing, and thank you and the other brave volunteers of Reclaimed Voices.

Know that you are making an impact, changing lives for the better!

10

The Netherlands: Minister for Legal Protection wants Jehovah's Witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse

by jochie in

meanwhile in the netherlands:minister dekker: jehovah's witnesses must review abuse policyin order to protect children better against abuse, the jehovah's witnesses must look back on catholics, according to minister dekker.

but abuse victims think that this approach will not work.. minister sander dekker for legal protection wants the jehovah's witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse within the community, just like the catholic church.

this is stated in a letter he sent this week to the parliamentary committee for justice and security.

Anders Andersen

I think it's awesome that the Dutch government told the JW to look at and imitate the process the Catholic Church (in the Netherlands) went through.

That's a big burn right there...

44

Things You Still Agree With The JWs On

by Fred Franztone in

aside from obvious things that most people agree on, like theft being wrong and the importance of family, i can't think of a single thing i agree with the jws on, nothing that's specific to their religion anyway.

do you have any?.

Anders Andersen

I'm with RedPillTwice here.

I also heartily agree with what Russell wrote in the very first Watchtower:

We should learn to love and value truth for its own sake; to respect and honor it by owning and acknowledging it wherever we find it and by whomsoever presented. A truth presented by Satan himself is just as true as a truth stated by God.
[...]
Accept truth wherever you find it, no matter what it contradicts [...]
Be not content with one flower of truth. Had one been sufficient there would have been no more. Gather ever, seek for more.

Full text of the article here

24

The speed with which I exited!!

by joe134cd in

i was just thinking at how quickly the process was from pimi - pimo - pomo.

i must of spent about 10 years trudging along in the organization very unhappily.

but from the initial stages of learning ttatt to physically walking out the door the process took about 18 months.

Anders Andersen

It took me 6 weeks.

I started a project to find proper evidence for all I believed. Within 6 weeks I became convinced there is no reason to believe in God, a divine origin of the Bible, and found the JW religion dishonest and despicable.

That last week I appeared on good ol JW on Tuesday, told my wife on Saturday, and never went back to another meeting (thanks to my wife insisting I wouldn't join her to meetings as that would be hypocritical.

Or maybe it took me 30 years...I was born in, always believed....but my heart was never fully in it....as if my subconscious knew something was wrong.

Anyhow, speed isn't too important. Mental health and happiness are.

Some need more time. Some stay PIMO many years too long because they fear their family. In the end it's a big gamble for all of us. Problem is we have just this one life and shouldn't spend too much time trying to please others or spare their cult-controlled feelings on our own expense......

38

How do I handle this?

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

a little advice please.. it's now 7 months since i stopped going to meetings.

we still get regular calls by elders - at least every 2 weeks.

i can handle them.

Anders Andersen

I just want to be left alone but it just isn't happening. Elders visit every 2 weeks, sometimes twice in a week.

Tell the elders what you want. Nothing more, nothing less.

Dear John and Bob, I want you to stop calling me. Don't visit my house either. Bye.

Then hang up or close the door. End of conversation.

That's all. Don't give a reason, not even when they insist. Simply repeat as nauseam the bold part above.

Of course they will try and pressure you.

"Does that mean you don't want to be a JW anymore?"

No Bob, it means I want you to stop calling me and stop visiting me. Bye.

Practice this with someone you trust.

Take charge, don't let fools run or ruin your life and happiness. At least stand up to them to live in peace without being bothered twice a week.

If JW family inquires into any of this, tell them the elders were bothering you too often and you simply told them to stop that.

If anyone wants to make an appointment for you with elders, tell them 'no thanks, I'll call them if I need them. Don't (let them) call me'.

"No" is a complete sentence.

You don't need to DA to get rid of elders, and have your JW to shun you as per JW rules. In most cases it is enough to be clear while communicating with elders.

33

Have you ever thought what the primary teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses is?

by Half banana in

it is not “preach the good news” nor is it “believe in jesus and get saved” neither is it “believe in the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses and get saved” although in practice they do teach this.

no, everything they claim depends on a belief in another doctrine which logic decrees cannot be found in the bible.

the leadership of jehovah’s witnesses put absolute faith in a protestant doctrine which is given a latin name, sola scriptura, meaning “by scripture alone”.. good evidence of the governing body believing in the primacy of this doctrine was when being questioned by the australian royal commission, they resorted to the ‘authority’ of scripture to defend their stance on having “two witnesses” when they are investigating child abuse cases.throughout the hearing they paraded their naive trust in the bible as the highest possible authority proudly ignoring the fact that most people regard it as having been superseded by modern scientific evaluations of what is true.. .

Anders Andersen

Very interesting OP!

It reminds me of what an other user here made me realize:

The different books of the Bible and the Bible as a collection of books are the result of religion. They are not the basis for religion.

Like any other book that describes something, it cannot contain everything there is to know about the topic described.

You can't build New York based on a couple of books describing the city and it's culture.

Likewise, it's impossible to build a complete and true religion from the Bible alone.

Simple logic dictates either tradition or revelation are needed in addition to the writings.

Watchtower has neither, and doesn't even claim to have those either.

Watchtower is building New York from a book.

21

"Are you humble enough to admit you were wrong?"

by stuckinarut2 in

that is a question i want to calmly and politely ask a witness next time i interact with them.

perhaps at a cart.. "the bible says we should be humble.

may i ask, are you humble enough to admit you were wrong on things you believe?

Anders Andersen

Yes, I'm humble enough to be corrected if needed. But the things I believe are true, so no need to be corrected.

After introducing doctrinal issues, they'd go

Yeah, we'll have to wait on Jehovah to clear that up. I'm thay humble!

Poinless exercition concluded. Sorry.

8

Brain tumor causes woman to become JW (4 times!)

by Anders Andersen in

why one woman mysteriously started hearing 'divine' voices.

after doctors admitted the woman to the psychiatric unit of the hospital, they learned that this wasn't the first time she felt a strong interest in religion and spirituality.

she described four previous times in her life, beginning at age 13 and again at ages 23, 32 and 41, when she experienced periods of intense spiritual and religious devotion.during these periods, which lasted about a year or two, she would join jehovah's witnesses and then later resign, when she lost interest, according to the report.as part of her psychiatric evaluation, the woman also underwent an mri.

Anders Andersen

Why One Woman Mysteriously Started Hearing 'Divine' Voices

After doctors admitted the woman to the psychiatric unit of the hospital, they learned that this wasn't the first time she felt a strong interest in religion and spirituality. She described four previous times in her life, beginning at age 13 and again at ages 23, 32 and 41, when she experienced periods of intense spiritual and religious devotion.
During these periods, which lasted about a year or two, she would join Jehovah's Witnesses and then later resign, when she lost interest, according to the report.
As part of her psychiatric evaluation, the woman also underwent an MRI. The scan detected a brain tumor.
It turned out that the tumor — which probably appeared first in childhood or adolescence — was very slow-growing, and likely periodically affected her behavior since her teenage years, Walther said.
Indeed, the doctors suspected that her four previous episodes of intense religious devotion might have been a symptom of the tumor's progression, according to the case report.
The tumor affected areas of the brain involved in processing sound, which is possibly why she may have heard "divine" voices, but it also affected networks that influence a person's emotions, Walther said.
It's not clear why the woman's periodic devotion to religion eventually caused her to experience a psychotic episode in which she tried to severely injure herself.

I wonder how the JW viewed this woman, who hears divine voices and is in and out the JW multiple times....