Posts by Anders Andersen

It's sad how JW look down on the traditions and rituals of other religions while they don't understand how much this wine and bread thing is a meaningless ritual according to their own theology.

17

How are they handling the memorial this year with the Coronavirus?

by Mandi in

jw
friends

it’s cognac.

couldn’t sign-in for some reason so i created a new account.

just was wondering what’s going on with the memorial this year cause my kids father wants to have them during that time.

I heard about a single person who asked an elder "how should I go about passing the emblems? Pass the from left hand to right hand? Or?" and the elder told them to stand up and just walk around the table on which the emblems are placed.

Not unlike a Catholic procession or a witch circle lol...

27

Need help - How do you determine whether to show a JW the truth or not?

by AlainAlam in

jw
friends

how do you determine whether to show a jw the truth or not?.

now some of you still believe in the bible.

to you the answer would be obvious - we preach to anyone as much as possible.

Anders Andersen

You can always simply ask them and check their willingness to change their mind:

Is it important to you to believe true things?
Suppose someone is convinced of something that is not true. How can they find out?
Hypothetically, imagine what JW believe isn't true at all, would you want to know?
What kind of evidence might convince you your (religious) beliefs are not correct?
Etc...

Their answers tell you all you need to know.

45

What do you think of the ransom as proof of Jehovah's love?

by AlainAlam in

consider these excerpts from the bible and the publications:.

“no one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his life in behalf of his friends” (joh 15:13).

“for hardly would anyone die for a righteous man; though perhaps for a good man someone may dare to die.

Anders Andersen

As far as I can read from the Bible, Christians are expected to be forgiving, because that's loving. If they would make people jump through hoops before they would forgive them, or if they would demand retribution or repayment, that would not be ok behavior. Being forgiving without hesitation is seen as a virtue. The whole ransom idea makes it appear to me God isn't really forgiving in the way he expects his worshippers to be forgiving? He demands violent repayment from us for something that we didn't even cause. He is unable of refuses to amend his own rules and let love trump legalism. Such a god seems inferior to humans in this regard.

And according to the Bible, death is the proper punishment for being a sinner. That means that after a person died, God could simply resurrect that person as (another) gift of life. After all, the dead have already paid their dues. They are no more in debt than they were before they were born. God wouldn't need really need a ransom to do gift them life again, right?

Here's an interesting scenario that just popped into my mind: what if God would resurrect everyone who died, as a perfect human? No ransom would be needed, nor any kind of Armageddon. Those of the resurrected who would sin on purpose could simply be executed (like, according to JW theology, they will in Paradise).

After a few generations only perfect, God loving people would remain.

I don't see how something that wasn't really that costly to God (except for a bruise on his ego), could be avoided by choosing a more reasonable strategy, and shows an inferior way of 'forgiving' can be called 'the greatest gift'.

(Disclaimer: I answered this with JW theology in mind)

84

Do you have any evidence that the GB had bad intent?

by AlainAlam in

do you have any evidence that the gb had bad intent?

as opposed to blind faith/cognitive dissonance and honest mistakes.. i'm inclined to think they have the best of intentions and are just wrong (primarily because the bible is wrong), but i'm willing to consider the evidence otherwise..

Anders Andersen

13

WT, and more contact, Do you think it is Narc Hoovering?

by Wakanda in

the behavior from the org lately had me a bit confused, as it seemed to fall outside of their norm.

i'm not talking the hardcore armageddon wishers texting each other about peace and security, etc.

* but, the elders contacting people daily, and having extra meetings where they have all their additional rules.

Anders Andersen

Yes, they're trying very hard to make sure the JW are still controlled, kept busy, and given some sort of superficial purpose.

It appears my wife's congregation has setup a schedule (for the sisters) to call each other daily. At least once a day some JW lady calls my wife. Next day another one. It wouldn't surprise me if the callers report back to an elder.

This activity is so good for a high control group:

Both callers and called are kept busy, no time to think or research.
The callers find purpose in 'helping' their fellow victims
The called feel 'loved'
The org maintains control over both.

With no opportunity to reinforce the persecution complex and fill time with preaching door to door or next to a cult cart, this will work very well.

49

I'm interested in discussing basic JW doctrines that you believe are unscriptural

by AlainAlam in

background info: although i'm an apostate, i don't hate jehovah's witnesses, or the organization itself.

actually i find that many derogatory comments here are extremely biased.

i think most of them are amazing people, and i wish more non-witnesses were like them.

Anders Andersen

I think the Bible can be used to support almost any religious idea one can dream up.

So many verses, so many contradicting ideas and phrases, so much 'prophecies' and symbolically phrases that can be interpreted in whatever way and be made to fit any doctrine.

It all depends on what interpretation one fancies, and what verses one weighs heavier than other verses.

9

Memorial 20.20

by inbetween09 in

how do congregations in times of corona curfews handle it ?.

there should be a video of the talk on jw.org for the general public.

are publichers just encouraged to watch it on april 7th?

Anders Andersen

He did not say only the 144,000 anointed ones are only to partake in his remembrance.

Indeed. Those who Jesus supposedly had the first Memorial with weren't even anointed (yet). And most of those who followed him (and according to JW theology have had to be of the anointed) weren't present...

9

Memorial 20.20

by inbetween09 in

how do congregations in times of corona curfews handle it ?.

there should be a video of the talk on jw.org for the general public.

are publichers just encouraged to watch it on april 7th?

Anders Andersen

I remember that there was talk about bull's blood being used to color some red wines and that would never do.

Of course. It would be terrible to use blood to symbolize blood....right?