Posts by NeverKnew

51

Christmas - love it or leave it?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

i am just watching my neighbours across the road putting up christmas lights while their children run around bursting with excitement.

i am feeling all christmassy now.

can't wait for my daughter to come home from uni next weekend so we can go and buy a tree from the garden centre.

Christmas - love it or leave it?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

i am just watching my neighbours across the road putting up christmas lights while their children run around bursting with excitement.

i am feeling all christmassy now.

can't wait for my daughter to come home from uni next weekend so we can go and buy a tree from the garden centre.

There actually are families that decorate, celebrate, but don't exchange gifts. Here in my area, there was an industry that employed probably half the men in the community. That industry's failing affected just about every head of household in my extended family. Given each family's economy, a decision was made to NOT exchange, but to enjoy the season with multiple pot-luck dinners. The host family provided the meats but the side dishes were provided by the attendees. Those were the best memories. No stress whatsoever. Tradition is part of what connects us.

I am absolutely sure it's not the case with all JW families, but I can think of four that seem to have no real meaningful connections to extended family outside of being JWs. God, don't be an ex-jw for they're most likely not even invited to the house. If extended families do not attend the same KH, they seem to get together for religious conventions, weddings and funerals. That wraps it up.

As an outsider, it's hard to watch.

34

I know TTATT... so why do JW apologists still scare me?

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

another of my rants.... .

why am i still scared when i read something that the jw's have written?

why does it still upset me to read jw literature?

NeverKnew

I'm a non-jw who started researching the history and evolution of the denomination and became fascinated. To be honest, I was probably more effective in communicating TTATT before I started studying the deconstructions of the dogma. After reading the deconstructions of "The TRUTH," I was totally lost. Discussing anything with a JW became a monstrous task because I was challenged with attempting to remember constructions AND deconstructions.

It's enough to know that the interpretations being thrown at the Witnesses has mal-intent. Become confident in your understanding and I suspect the intimidation factor will be reduced. To be fair, I have no emotional scarring to overcome, but whether theist or atheist, confidence seems to be the pattern I see here on JWN as well.

You have a mouth and now you have wisdom. I'm hoping that over time and as you keep reading outside of the WT, you'll become more confident.

Luke 21:14-15

14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

41

Can one find God without studying the Bible?

by Dis-Member in

i don't recall jesus ever once telling people that they should even read the bible to find god.. he said nothing about 'taking in knowledge' either.. .

he didn't encourage people to read the bible because 90% of people in his day couldn't read!

the bible was not read by most people, it was -heard- when someone else read it aloud.

NeverKnew

The answer the Bible tells me is yes. :)

Please remember, in the first century there was no "Bible." There was the Tanakh which contained Nevi'im, Ketuvim and the Torah (aka "the Law and the Prophets" and the Writings to be fair).

Gentiles didn't have possession of the Tanakh so no, they weren't aware of Mosaic Law and all of the rules and customs. "The Law and the Prophets" were Jewish - not Gentile. Paul consistently argued against binding "the Law" onto the conscience of Christian Gentiles.

Stop allowing this man-made organization to choose random rules convenient for their means to your end. Use your conscience as your guide. You know right from wrong.

Romans 2

12For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

This scripture follows what was promised

Jeremiah 31

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

I'm assuming you're a Gentile and not a Messianic Jew. Relax... Just do what's right. Your heart is known. :)

70

JW morale reaching new low

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

many friends i've spoken with are becoming discouraged.

because of this it's becoming tempting to privately share my views with friends, but i know this is still too dangerous.

most witnesses in my circle are intelligent free thinkers.

NeverKnew

Jake,

You may be one of very few here who would understand my need to go to church after indulging my friends by visiting their KH. Church becomes therapy on those mornings.

I think of all those hours my friends spend knocking on doors hoping to get a piece of an ankle to drag to the KH. Meanwhile, people are entering the church's doors in droves, not because someone knocked on their door on a Saturday morning, but because of the warm, sincere, friendly and happy spirit felt throughout the sanctuary and buildings.

It kills me to think of the wasted time and energy.

48

JW's Unanswerable Question & Why Doesn't Everyone Take Them to Task For This?

by Perry in

the one question that is absolutely unanswerable by jehovah's witnesses that actually understand their own doctrines is this:.

can you show me even one new testament scripture that shows how a person can get their sins forgiven while outside of the new covenant?.

most of us are familiar with the one proof scripture that has all the necessary elements tied together into one neat doctrine - matther 26: 27,28:.

NeverKnew

Marking.

8

So what happened, did I stick to my plan, or go to the meeting?

by KateWild in

jw
friends

i went to liverpool town alone.

i went to see the temporary ice-rink to see costs etc, and i saw an alpine bar too.. i decided to have a drink first before ice-skating, no sooner had i walked in the bar , the door had not even closed behind me, there was a gentleman standing right in front of me saying hello.

we had a chat, he is going through a divorce too, he bought me a drink, and we chatted some more.. little did i know, he was there with his new 33 yr old girlfriend, she was sitting down.

NeverKnew

Sam,

I'm a non-JW with very close JW friends. Given my observations at the KH, I totally agree with JGnat in an area I hadn't even considered. Everyone's personality seems the same. It's like a flat line. Everyone seems to laugh at the same things, talk at the same decibal level, and they're all disgusted by the exact same things.

You are entering a place where people have been allowed to be themselves and still find acceptance. Self-regulation is required. Extremists are either avoided, or they find like minds.

Do you have anybody who is a non-jw that you can call a friend?

22

i got a surprize birthday party today

by unstopableravens in

NeverKnew

Congratulations on your 1st birthday party and Happy Birthday!

I hope you appreciated the dropped 2 point conversion in the endzone. THAT WAS MY GIFT TO YOU! (lost my icons otherwise I'd give you a wrapped present icon)

It sickens me that birthdays are demonized. You get 37 seconds of well wishes (in the form of a song) and then everyone gets to share your gift (cake with your name on it). Someone may even have thought a little more of you and spent a couple of dollars to say they appreciate you.

Evil? Seriously?

8

15 People free from the Watchtower because of YouTube videos

by Watchtower-Free in

in just a few months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbnazyb3j1a.

NeverKnew

I know that YouTube videos have put some cracks in the lense of my friend's views. :)

It ALL helps.

35

So what if they were wrong?

by DS211 in

this is a reply ireceived from a poster on another forum.

"actually the vast majority of interpretations of prophecy are absolutely spot on.. .

people harp on over this and that that was wrong 50 years ago, but today jehovah's witnesses have all the bible's prophecies pretty much figured out in their entirety.. .

NeverKnew

Everything in the rear view mirror has become "spot on."

It's that front windshield's view that seems to have some extra stuff stuck to it.