Posts by AlainAlam

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.

AlainAlam

Magnum, thanks for your input. These are helpful techniques. I'll keep the "is there an opening?" factor in mind.

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.

cyberjesus, even if I try to show them the truth, it would be a calm, constructive discussion. Not attack or criticism. But no, now I'm not talk about someone who has questions. I'm talking about someone I'm in contact with but who doesn't have questions. I can decide to slowly lay the ground for more, or just let him/her be. I'm wondering what factors to take into consideration.

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.

AlainAlam

Hello everyone! I'd like to ask for your help with something. 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. But I don't believe in the Bible anymore, and would particularly appreciate an answer from atheist/agnostic/theistic/deistic exJWs.

I have conflicting feelings about this. On one hand, I've always had this feeling that "truth is always best". Even before becoming a Witness, I never (or perhaps very rarely ever) lied. It would follow that I believe leaving the JW would also be the best thing to do. I'm no longer religious about this "clinging to what is right" thing though, although I still care about authenticity.

On the other hand, some Witnesses are now are very happy "inside". This includes my (soon-to-be-ex-) wife. She's benefited a lot from being a Witness, and is blossoming "inside". She benefits from her relationship with God (as non-existent as he might be). She's very happy to learn about a god who understands everything about us, is slow to anger, appreciative, bigger than our hearts, to whom we can always turn for comfort or guidance, whom we can praise for all the beautiful things in life, etc. She finds real relief in the ransom and in thinking there's a basis upon which her sins (of which she is very aware) can be forgiven. She loves the publications and the advice they give; she feels safe knowing she can find guidance on almost anything. She's also in a an amazing, extremely loving congregation. The elders there are real shepherds, and the brothers and sisters. And, as you might have noticed, she is a very fragile person. So I can't imagine stripping her of both her faith in God/the ransom and the congregation's support. I think she would just die. But then I wonder if any system that is wrong can really be helpful. And then I think, well, maybe, everything in the world is messed up anyway.

I'm trying to express the conflict inside... Can anyone relate? :(

So, back to the subject. I've met some Witnesses who had serious doubts about "the Truth" - I didn't hesitate to offer help. Some Witnesses have contacted me inadvertently after I apostatized - I've told them I left because I'm no longer convinced this is the truth; I want them to see there is such a thing as a happy, friendly apostate. I'm still in contact with one Witness I work with - today he actually sent a personal brief message, and I replied cordially; the minute he indicates he might be curious about knowing more, I will talk. But in other cases, like my wife's, I'm really not so sure.

So, how do you determine whether to "preach" to a JW or not?

Note: Some might not be happy I said positive things about JW, turning to Jehovah, the publications, the elders, the congregation my wife is in, etc. I generally don't mind criticism and personal attacks, I've had my share of it when I was a Witness and grew thick-skinned. But please spare me the trolling, just for this post.

38

Evidence of WT bad intent - How they handled changing the meaning of "porneia"

by AlainAlam in

sorry, long post :) i'm considering evidence that at least at some point, the gb/watchtower had bad intentions.

i would like to share the following: *** w74 11/15 p. 703 questions from readers ***do lewd practices on the part of a married person toward that one’s own mate constitute a scriptural basis for the offended mate to get a divorce?there are times when lewd practices within the marriage arrangement would provide a basis for a scriptural divorce.. based on this, some jw chose to divorce.

but then:*** w83 3/15 p. 30 honor godly marriage!

AlainAlam

JWTom, thanks for bringing this up. First time I hear about it. As far as I know, the oldest reference to pornography and disfellowshipping is the '06 QfR. What did the elders use to do before that? Were there any instructions? I tried to look up letters to the elders online, but I couldn't find anything relevant.

38

Evidence of WT bad intent - How they handled changing the meaning of "porneia"

by AlainAlam in

sorry, long post :) i'm considering evidence that at least at some point, the gb/watchtower had bad intentions.

i would like to share the following: *** w74 11/15 p. 703 questions from readers ***do lewd practices on the part of a married person toward that one’s own mate constitute a scriptural basis for the offended mate to get a divorce?there are times when lewd practices within the marriage arrangement would provide a basis for a scriptural divorce.. based on this, some jw chose to divorce.

but then:*** w83 3/15 p. 30 honor godly marriage!

AlainAlam

TD, you're right. I just watchtowered it:

*** w58 9/15 p. 575 Questions From Readers ***
● Are we to consider the injection of serums such as diphtheria toxin antitoxin and blood fractions such as gamma globulin into the blood stream, for the purpose of building up resistance to disease by means of antibodies, the same as the drinking of blood or the taking of blood or blood plasma by means of transfusion?—N. P., United States.
No, it does not seem necessary that we put the two in the same category, although we have done so in times past.

That's it. No apologies there.

30

A chance for the unrighteous?

by AlainAlam in

the witnesses teach that the "unrighteous" are brought back to life in order to learn about god during the 1000-year reign.

i don't think that's a bible teaching, for the following reason:.

1) no verse says that.

AlainAlam

Vanderhoven7, are you still discussing this thread's topic (biblical evidence that the unrighteous will get a chance to learn the truth and change) or are you discussing something else?

16

How can I change my avatar?

by AlainAlam in

on my profile, under "update avatar", i click on "upload avatar image" and choose the picture i want, but it doesn't work.

i know it says there may be a slight delay but i've been waiting for more than 12 hours so i'm wondering if there's something wrong with the site, or if i'm missing something..

AlainAlam

I did, but it didn't work either.

38

Evidence of WT bad intent - How they handled changing the meaning of "porneia"

by AlainAlam in

sorry, long post :) i'm considering evidence that at least at some point, the gb/watchtower had bad intentions.

i would like to share the following: *** w74 11/15 p. 703 questions from readers ***do lewd practices on the part of a married person toward that one’s own mate constitute a scriptural basis for the offended mate to get a divorce?there are times when lewd practices within the marriage arrangement would provide a basis for a scriptural divorce.. based on this, some jw chose to divorce.

but then:*** w83 3/15 p. 30 honor godly marriage!

AlainAlam

Hello Nitty-Gritty,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and for the effort you're putting into being objective. This shows your genuineness :) I noticed two persons disliked your comments, don't let that bother you :)

Allow me, however, to answer two points you mentioned.

The first is that the "misinterpretation was a mistake and not done out of malice". I believe I agree. I have a hard time thinking these men would actually *want* to cause unscriptural divorces - particularly given all they've done, like promoting communication in the family, for example. But that was not my point. The fact that they didn't even admit responsibility or apologize for such a mistake is the problem. I can't understand how someone repentant would go on with his life without saying "here's my mistake, I'm sorry about it". It's like John Baptist said: produce fruits that befit repentance. Where are those fruits?

The second is "The marriages were already broken if there existed sexual disharmony among the marriage mates". Well, no. A problem between me and my wife doesn't break my family. We can work through it. If we accept the biblical perspective that divorce is only acceptable in cases of immorality outside marriage, then one mate's abhorring lewd practices inside marriage is not grounds for divorce. If a spiritual authority tells me such a divorce would be acceptable in Jehovah's eyes, and I choose to divorce (inside of working to salvage my marriage) based on this authority's assessment, then that authority played a direct role in the breaking of my marriage. I think that's obvious.

Please do let me know if you think I'm missing something!

Alain

38

Evidence of WT bad intent - How they handled changing the meaning of "porneia"

by AlainAlam in

sorry, long post :) i'm considering evidence that at least at some point, the gb/watchtower had bad intentions.

i would like to share the following: *** w74 11/15 p. 703 questions from readers ***do lewd practices on the part of a married person toward that one’s own mate constitute a scriptural basis for the offended mate to get a divorce?there are times when lewd practices within the marriage arrangement would provide a basis for a scriptural divorce.. based on this, some jw chose to divorce.

but then:*** w83 3/15 p. 30 honor godly marriage!

AlainAlam

waton, aha, got it :)

38

Evidence of WT bad intent - How they handled changing the meaning of "porneia"

by AlainAlam in

sorry, long post :) i'm considering evidence that at least at some point, the gb/watchtower had bad intentions.

i would like to share the following: *** w74 11/15 p. 703 questions from readers ***do lewd practices on the part of a married person toward that one’s own mate constitute a scriptural basis for the offended mate to get a divorce?there are times when lewd practices within the marriage arrangement would provide a basis for a scriptural divorce.. based on this, some jw chose to divorce.

but then:*** w83 3/15 p. 30 honor godly marriage!

AlainAlam

Hello Atlantis! I just read your post there. I don't know how it was then, but it is my understanding that a JW can disagree with Watchtower teachings as long as he does not promote dissent within the Organization - at which point he would be disfellowshipped for stirring dissent, not for merely holding a different opinion. When I was a Witness the BoE knew I disagreed with the explanation of the generation, aspects of the ransom, aspects of the issue of sovereignty, and quite a few other WT teachings. But I remained a Witness and kept my privileges.