Posts by problemaddict

never was a jw, but been here long enough to have made some friends and respect opinions.. retired in 2004, lived in cyprus 2005-2010. back here in wales since then.. just back from a holiday in france (most recent of many).

love the country, the lifestyle, can get by in the language.. just seen an advert for a country estate (british-owned) they want someone to live on site, do a bit of handyman stuff, etc., look after (mainly brit) holiday visitors in return for zero rent (only utitlties).

family would be abe to come and stay for free.

problemaddict

Did you say cheap cost of living?

44

I now have a law degree!

by digderidoo in

jw
friends

hi guys, i don't really post on here much anymore, having been on here since 2001. this site helped me out in the early days and has been a great support system for all of my past jw issues.

like many others i was discouraged from an education so that i could window clean and pioneer in my youth during the 80's.

having spent many years post my jw exit in alcoholism and periods of drugs, i decided to clean myself up 7 years ago by attending aa, i was still a window cleaner ... at the time i wrote extensively on here about my issues.

problemaddict

Way to get an education. And even thoguh you decided to be a lawyer......looks like you might be on the path to doing something worthwhile with it. :)

44

That's it......

by whathehadas in

this might be my last post.

i've had quite a few things on my mind over the past few years, mainly my belief in god.

i've tried to move on from the jw past but that's really being foolish.

problemaddict

What part of the world are you in?

70

Jehovah told to Moses: "....kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man"

by opusdei1972 in

in numbers 31 we read the following:.

jehovah then told moses:2 take vengeance for the israelites on the midianites.

afterward you will be gathered to your people.3 so moses spoke to the people, saying: equip men from among you for battle against midian and to execute jehovahs vengeance on midian.4 you should send 1,000 of each tribe of all the tribes of israel into the army............ 7 they waged war against midian, just as jehovah had commanded moses, and they killed every male.8 along with the others slain, they killed the kings of midian, namely, evi, rekem, zur, hur, and reba, the five kings of midian.

problemaddict

Does God (if there is one) have to be Mr Benevolent to qualify to be God?

Great question. Its great you are at where you are, allowing yourself to ask questions and consider different viewpoints. Just aquick side bar. I was at dinner with some (new) friends who are also former JW's. One of the people there was a devout BA christian. We had a respecful conversation, where we saw the world differently, and expressed our own thoughts, without thinking others had to share them or we couldn't be friends. It was awesome! It was brand new for me! How silly, that communication regarding something ambiguus or that isn't universally agreed upon at a dinner table used to cause so much panic and frustration. I was dragged before the elders because I referred in the open once to the WT being an "editorial on scripture". Seriously!

More to your thought, I agree that to read history and consier it barbaric isn't always fair. If you lived then, you would think of things a certain way, and it would be normal. You would have owned slaves in the 1700's, would have sacrificed humans in Mayan civilization, and would have castrated children in Greek culture. I'm glad we have come so far, and no doubt people will look at some of our actions as interesting as time moves on.

BUT......that doesn't apply here. The bible says it is an account preserved by the power of God of his peoples exploits. In this particular exploit, instructions are being given by God (supposedly). Now why would God condecend to the brutality of the culture he was dealing with, if he extends beyond time and space?

My thought on your question is that a creator God doesn't have to be anything to exist. But the bible paints him as the personification of love. Both cannot be true I think.

44

That's it......

by whathehadas in

this might be my last post.

i've had quite a few things on my mind over the past few years, mainly my belief in god.

i've tried to move on from the jw past but that's really being foolish.

problemaddict

FEELING weird.....isn't actually weird.

JW "stuff" will always come up. Its part of how you ended up how you are. At 26, you have a massive life ahead of you. Dont' force things, accept them as they come. There is no normal. we are a collection of strange people, with different degrees of coping.

You are young, you were raised a certain way. Now take the good it did and use it, and take the bad it did and learn from it.

42

2014 MEMORIAL ATTENDANCES FOR REST OF THE WORLD

by steve2 in

the october kingdom ministry for the united states reported the 2014 memorial attendances for the us branch office that has subsequently been well discussed in a separate thread.

in that thread, a poster asserted that in some parts of europe the attendance had been higher than last year - but to date no source evidence has been provided.. so, have memorial attendances for other parts of the world been reported in any of the publications such as kingdom ministryyet?.

if so, could you direct me to the source(s).

problemaddict

I wonder if the population of the Netherlands grew more than .0004%

70

Jehovah told to Moses: "....kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man"

by opusdei1972 in

in numbers 31 we read the following:.

jehovah then told moses:2 take vengeance for the israelites on the midianites.

afterward you will be gathered to your people.3 so moses spoke to the people, saying: equip men from among you for battle against midian and to execute jehovahs vengeance on midian.4 you should send 1,000 of each tribe of all the tribes of israel into the army............ 7 they waged war against midian, just as jehovah had commanded moses, and they killed every male.8 along with the others slain, they killed the kings of midian, namely, evi, rekem, zur, hur, and reba, the five kings of midian.

problemaddict

millie210,

Your post is interesting to me. I can appreciate the need to want to feel as though there is "better" in the world than that which you have rejected. That being said, there are plenty of believers and on believers on this site. I am starting to lean to the agnostic side myself personally. But none of that matters.

Opinions that vary, do not an absense of critical thinking skills make.

In this scripture there are certain things that are clear.

1) Yes it should be considered in the context of the time it was written in.

2) The God that oversees the wrtting of the bible does so outside of time, and the contextual cultures of men at various stages.

3) God told his people through Moses to kill an entire group of people. The reason is irrelevant since it included children.

4) When children were brought back to the camp, for the sake of slavery, and Moses told them to kill all of the boys, are we really to believe that the young 2 year olds, 5 year olds, and infants were spared? What did that look like? Gods annointed presided over this, and no peep of correction.

5) The women who were not virgins could have been identified throguh clothing, a certain age, and more......but does it matter? Imagine the 13 year old who hasn't had her period. Her father killed, her mother killed (because she had her and was no longer a virgin), and her 2 year old brother was just ripped from her and slaughtered. Now she gets to be given to some dude as his 3rd wife or whatever.

I think the moral dilema rests with the person that thinks there is a good reason for taking the concept of a loving benevolent creator God, and mixing it with his approval of situations like this. This much more just reads like the musings of an ancient people that are throwing their God in the mix to justify their actions.

As far as your comments regarding hate......I don't know if anyone here has expressed hate. That is a jump that might be from your past programming. everyone that left is bitter and hateful and rejected God (which some have, so what), etc... You feeling better or worse by it isn't really the issue is it? When others beliefs have no effect on your own feelings and emotions, that is when you know you have made real progress. :)

9

does the BORG follow OSHA standards at KH/ASSEMBLY builds?

by goingthruthemotions in

jw
friends

had a discussion with my wife about kh/assembly hall builds and i told her i don't believe the watchtower society follow osha standards on there build sites.

she trumpted it up that the borg follows stringent pratices and there standards would be more strict.

i laughed and said....ya i don't think so.

problemaddict

Black mold......is not neccesarily toxic cult be gone.

But still, who knows if they were treating it right. i doubt it.

I'm just saying, I think they are pretty much on par with normal construction sites, if not a little better because of the morbid fear of lawsuits and lack of proper bonding and insurance that a contractor would provide.

Did I mention I am a contractor?