aboveusonlysky

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Posts by aboveusonlysky

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  52

  Is shunning unscriptual?

  by MrTheocratic in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  international version 1 cor 5:11. but now i am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler.

  do not even eat with such people.. if shunning is wrong.

  .how does one explain this scripture?.

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  aboveusonlysky

  Great comments sanchy and dontfitin, let's face it you could write a list as long as your arm of scriptural contradictions to the way the Borg applies 1 Cor 5 & 2 John vs 10.

  Interestingly 2 John is talking about the antichrist and here is the meaning of the word antichrist according to the NWT -

  Antichrist. The Greek term has a twofold meaning. It refers to that which is anti, or opposed to, Christ. It may also refer to a false Christ, one in the place of Christ. All people, organizations, or groups that falsely claim to represent Christ or claim to be the Messiah or that oppose Christ and his disciples can properly be called antichrists.—1Jo 2:22

  I'm pretty sure we can justify shunning WT literature and leadership on the basis that they have put themselves in the place of Christ with their never ending list of ridiculous rules.
  

  
  
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  8

  Jehovah`s Witnesses ,/ conditioned to speak with anyone ...except any who are knowledgeable about JW beliefs .Why is that ?

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  recent experiences on here about cart witnessing when an ex jw engages them in discussion , it`s not long usually before the jw excuses themselves packs up and moves on .. if they really believed they have the "truth" they should be confident enough to win their argument/discussion.and stand their ground.. obviously they aren`t.. if we believe the bible jesus and his apostles never shied away from talking to / engaging in discussions with the jewish religious leaders of the day.?.

  not so with jehovah`s witnesses they are instructed not to engage with ex jw`s , people who know what jw`s believe inside out.and can effectively refute their arguments.and point to their failures.. if their faith is that shallow that talking to an ex jw will weaken their own faith , then they really do not have a very strong foundation of their own faith do they.. smiddy.

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  aboveusonlysky

  The book 'reasoning from the scriptures' presents beliefs other religions have and then shows why those beliefs are wrong. Do the same thing with jw beliefs (sooo easy!) and this is classed as apostasy.

  Some may see that as a bit hypocritical.

  Just saying.
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  8

  "Happy" bethel music dance video....and what bethel is REALLY like!!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i think the "happy" dance bethel video is the best thing to come out of bethel in 100 years.

  sure many were told off for this.

  i cant believe so many were convinced to go alittle "worldly.

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  aboveusonlysky

  007 I had a similar experience at our bethel. My wife and I took a sister to bethel to meet up with her bethelite friend, I was working that day so I didn't have a suit on but knowing how strict they are about dress I told the guy on reception I was happy to sit outside in the car. He was really cool with the fact that I was wearing jeans and just told me to take a seat in the reception.

  I was just sitting in reception reading a watchtower and 3 sisters in a row approached and asked me what I was doing! The 3rd one said 'you have to understand this is bethel and we can't just have anyone walking around here!'

  At that point my wife got mad and told the sister that our contributions were keeping bethel running and she shouldn't be so judgemental. There's nothing 'happy' about that place.
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  5

  "It's Like North Korea..."

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "it's like north korea..." is a phrase i use often to describe this life to outsiders.

  think of the situation in north korea, sound similar?

  in north korea:.

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  aboveusonlysky

  From the economist.com

  "The men of North Korea have been under orders to mind their hairstyles since 2005, when they were berated for their messy barnets by their leader, Kim Jong Il. A television campaign entitled “let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle” warned men that long hair could sap their brains."

  Sounds like early Watchtower logic, North Korea and the Borg have a lot in common.
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  16

  Running ahead of Jehovah can be done with a slow walk.

  by donny in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a few days ago i read a post of someone who has recently awakened to what the watchtower bible and tract society really is.

  in their comments, they stated that they had been accused of "running ahead of jehovah.".

  "running ahead of jehovah" was a statement levied at me many times during my convoluted journey through that organization.

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  aboveusonlysky

  Great example about their ever changing rules on pornea and homosexuality and subsequent punishments.

  If you follow the same reasoning any church could justify torturing and killing people for heresy over the centuries, they were all running ahead of Jehovah. Tyndale ran ahead of Jehovah by wanting to make the Bible available to everyone.

  Jesus was killed for questioning the Pharisees (God's org) way of doing things so I suppose he ran ahead of Jehovah too.
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  26

  Questions for JW's from Christians

  by Perry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm thinking of printing a tract with some simple but thought-provoking questions for people to use when jw's come to their doors.

  questions from christians.

  bible-believing christians appreciate the moral values of jehovah’s witnesses in their communities but have several questions that somehow seem to escape us when we are caught unexpectedly at our doors.

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  aboveusonlysky

  3 questions about JW's damaging teachings.

  1) Lev 11:39,40 Why did the mosaic law have a provision for eating blood?

  2) Mark 2:16 Does Jesus eating with 'sinners' contradict Paul's counsel at 1 Cor 5:11?

  3) Rom 13:1 Would you agree that obedience to the superior authorities must include reporting serious crimes (like child abuse)?

  Then let them do the research.
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  71

  Confusing Opinions with Facts

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a discussion about the best flavour of ice cream everybody's opinion is equally valid.. in a discussion about the shape of the earth or the origin of species everybody's opinion is equally irrelevant.

  only objective facts and evidence matter.. confusing these two categories is a common feature of conversations in this forum.

  people deserve respect, errors do not..

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  aboveusonlysky

  Good point Simon, really what we often forget is that it doesn't really matter what we believe, all that actually matters is what is true.
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  57

  RUSSIA: Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2181.

  24 may 2016. russia: jehovah's witnesses face possible liquidation.

  by victoria arnold, forum 18. if prosecutors proceed with their threat to liquidate the jehovah's witness headquarters near st petersburg, thousands of local congregations across russia could also face prohibition of their activities and individuals could be vulnerable to criminal charges for expressing their beliefs, forum 18 notes.. the jehovah's witnesses' principal body in russia is under threat of dissolution as an "extremist" organisation after the deadline in an official warning from the general prosecutor's office expired on 10 may, forum 18 notes.

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  aboveusonlysky

  I think it's a bad idea, if anything it's harmful practices that should banned or prosecuted, not entire religions.

  They could make organizationally mandated shunning illegal or bring in more laws against homophobia, not just for jw's, but for any group. To simply ban an entire religion will only drive them underground and make them more extreme in their emotionally abusive behaviour.
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  12

  Are there more ex-witnesses than current witnesses?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for years the society has said that over 40,000 a year are disfellowshipped.

  add to that the 10's of thousands who simply disassociate or fade.... so by that logic, would it be correct to assume there are actually more former witnesses on the earth than the number of current active witnesses ?

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  aboveusonlysky

  Great thread by the way.
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  12

  Are there more ex-witnesses than current witnesses?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for years the society has said that over 40,000 a year are disfellowshipped.

  add to that the 10's of thousands who simply disassociate or fade.... so by that logic, would it be correct to assume there are actually more former witnesses on the earth than the number of current active witnesses ?

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  aboveusonlysky

  A while back my dad who is service overseer was putting together a list of everyone in his congregation territory that doesn't come anymore whether df'd or not to try and visit before the memorial.

  My wife had lived in that town for most of her life and helped him put the list together, between them they came up with a number that was about 20 more than the current congregation.

  Different places will have different statistics but I think in the more developed countries with good internet there is probably more out than in, especially if you count faders.