Posts by Stephanus

32

Why are the JW's so bad?

by DF in

jw
friends

i've been studying the bible with a jehovah's witness in my town, and i'm rather enjoying it.. but why do so many people hate the jw's.. i've researched on my own and have come to the conclusion that they are right on most accounts including the trinity, blood, nationalism... etc.... and the more arguments i hear against the more i'm drawn into believing what they stand for.. and every argument i've seen in support of the things jw's are against the more i think the jw's are right.. so why are they so bad?

Stephanus

1. How is DF unfortunate.

On this forum it's shorthand for "disfellowhipped". Oops! Meant "disfellowshiped", but the typo is good - I'll keep it

2. I know for a fact they don't make you cut contact with non-JW friends because the person doing the bible study with my has introduced me to some of his friends and many of them aren't even JW's.

You're drawing a broad conclusion based on one person??

3. From what I can see they don't try and encourage you to take low-paying jobs, there's one JW at the Kingdom Hall I've been going to and he owns a construction company, another is a computer teacher.

There'll be exceptions of course, but you only have to read the experiences of those on the board to find that my generalisations tend to pan out.

Besides, I don't know why you are asking this stuff - you seem to have your mind pretty well made up. Perhaps you're here to try and get someone to confirm that you're doing the right thing - perhaps there's a tiny, nagging voice deep inside you that doesn't quite agree that everything the Dubs are telling you about your new life in Paradise is Kosher.

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

48

Reply to AF-Part I

by dunsscot in

jw
friends

:: he didn't merely suspend it -- he substituted another for it.

in our case here, therefore, god's telling abraham to kill isaac was by definition not murder.

: first, i am not sure what i believe in this case.

Stephanus

You see, his agendas are based on a technique I'm sure you've heard of. It's called "lying".

Only too true! He had the temerity to say he's never sold magazines from door to door! He also tries to give the impression that the elders in his KH see him as a wise scholar, rather than as just another unpaid saleperson doing the rounds.

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

32

Why are the JW's so bad?

by DF in

jw
friends

i've been studying the bible with a jehovah's witness in my town, and i'm rather enjoying it.. but why do so many people hate the jw's.. i've researched on my own and have come to the conclusion that they are right on most accounts including the trinity, blood, nationalism... etc.... and the more arguments i hear against the more i'm drawn into believing what they stand for.. and every argument i've seen in support of the things jw's are against the more i think the jw's are right.. so why are they so bad?

Stephanus

"DF" is an unfortunate acronym to use in this forum!

As for this post, I've got a feeling you're trolling here, but if you are genuine, I suggest you worry about not the doctrinal issues, but the organisational culture. The culture which will first persuade you to cut all contacts with non-Dub friends and family and then reject you and cut you off from all your new family and friends for any of a number of things they deem not to be fitiing in a Dub. The culture which protects paedophiles and further victimises their victims. The culture which will encourage you to give up all personal ambitions for the furtherment of the Organisation, such as asking you to pioneer rather than get a tertiary education or will encourage you to take a low-paying jobs with flexible hours rather than obtaining a rewarding long term career.

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

25

A Nice Experience I Had on Sunday

by dunsscot in

jw
friends

dearest mum and others,.

an elder approached me after the meeting on sunday and said he wanted to ask me a question.

his query dealt with john 1:1. .

Stephanus

Well of course I go in service and offer life's water free, if that is what you mean. But I've never sold any magazines.

Hmmm. It looks, walks and quacks like a duck, and yet you're saying it's not a duck...

You got to watch Duns' enigmatic locution.

"Meat in due season", perhaps? You one of the annointed, now Duns?

You guys and girls stimulate my intellect, but the price to stay here may be too high.

If your loving elders find out, you mean!

He should be hung by his testicles until the word ouch! is heard emitting from between his lips...

I'm reserving that particular punishment for Fred, now that he's started making light of the whole institutionalised paedophile protection thing.

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

25

A Nice Experience I Had on Sunday

by dunsscot in

jw
friends

dearest mum and others,.

an elder approached me after the meeting on sunday and said he wanted to ask me a question.

his query dealt with john 1:1. .

Stephanus

I have never sold magazines from door to door in my life.

Funny, you've got to count your time somehow to stay in good standing. Discussing Greek inflections with elders doesn't count, IIRC.

It was a nice and upbuilding experience because I often crave some type of intellectual stimulation within the congregation.

Although "gold is where you find it", I'd go to a known gold bearing area if I was looking for gold than somewhere where gold had never been found. Similarly, were I looking for intellectual stimulation, I certainly wouldn't head to the local KH (I doubt you are part of the Bulli congregation, Dunsscot, and you're the only Dub I've known to show even a vague interest in Biblical Greek).

And no, I don't read Origen if I can possibly avoid doing so - the guy was a nutcase - had himself castrated to stop being distracted from the "more important things" and regretted it forever after. So, what did he say?

And interestingly you admit that you get your intellectual stimulation here, even if it's rowdy, while its occurrence at your KH is few and far between:

It was a nice and upbuilding experience because I often crave some type of intellectual stimulation within the congregation. For once, I did not have to come and holler at youse guys to get it!

Just think Duns, if you leave us, you'll miss us when we're gone!

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

13

Cooking the Books

by individuals wife in

jw
friends

mulan and seeker4 got me thinking in the previous thread called 'what did you do first?...'..

they both made the point that they were turning in reports when not going out on field service (tsk, tsk!

) and i remembered the times i 'cooked the books' a little and rounded up the figures, fiddled my time a little, counting time when it was not proper ministry.

Stephanus

Why don't you do what Fred does, NYT, and count your time spent here?

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

Reasons Why...

by Stephanus in

jw
friends

in my early years as a christian, i was exposed to many teaching on the end times whereby the proponent of that teaching had very sound reasons for why we were in the last days.

there was hal lindsey with the late great planet earth, salem kirban with 20 reasons why the earth may not last another 20 years and barry smith ( http://www.barrysmith.org.nz/) with warning.

i believed all this stuff for some time but it soon became apparent that all their "biblically derived" end dates were both wrong (they came and went) and contradictory.. a good book i read on the subject was 99 reasons why noone knows when christ will return by b.j.

Stephanus

In my early years as a Christian, I was exposed to many teaching on the end times whereby the proponent of that teaching had very sound reasons for why we were in the last days. There was Hal Lindsey with The Late Great Planet Earth, Salem Kirban with 20 Reasons Why The Earth May Not Last Another 20 Years and Barry Smith ( http://www.barrysmith.org.nz/) with Warning. I believed all this stuff for some time but it soon became apparent that all their "biblically derived" end dates were both wrong (they came and went) and contradictory.

A good book I read on the subject was 99 Reasons Why Noone Knows When Christ Will Return by B.J. Oropeza. Here is an extract from page 19:

When my doorbell rang, I opened the door to meet two women who said they were from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. One of the first questions they asked was whether I believed we were living in the last days. I told them yes (even though I knew my interpretation of "last days" contradicted theirs). Our conversation then gravitated toward 1914, when, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, the Second Coming took place. Christ returned that year, but no one could see him because his returm was invisible.
I asked the elder of the two women, "what objectively happened in 1914 that should make everyone believe Jesus Christ returned?"
She failed to give me a direct answer. She only affirmed that we are living in the last days according to Scripture and that therefore Jesus Christ had returned in 1914.
The Bible never gives a date for the return of Christ. The Jehovah's Witnesses could offer no biblical proof text even from their own distorted New World Translation - there is no text that says, "Jesus will return in A.D.1914." In general, date-setters must go beyond any plain reading of Scripture in the attempt to unearth some hidden date for the Lord's return.

As I said, I come from a religious background where people vehemently cling to particular dates for the end, but there are plenty of them and you can always pick and choose between who you'll listen to or ignore. Therefore I find the power of the "607 BC" thing very interesting. It seems to be a major sticking point for many Dubs in a way I just can't identify with. Just how heavily is this date hammered and how important is it really? It would seem to me that neither 697BC or 1914AD would be as important in Dub chronology as 1919AD (when the Judge was supposedly found to be the only true friend God had on Earth) - can anyone explain this and how it all works in Dubdom? (fairly simply if possible )?

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

10

The story of Brent Craft and Carol Keener

by Kent in

jw
friends

this is another story of a jw - and a story i think you should all read!

there is many victims out there - and here you can even write to the congregation, and to a criminal - asking them what kind of people they are!.

the story is documented with police reports, the lot!.

Stephanus

So who's sent letters so far? I'm looking at doing so later today - an air mail letter from Australia to Ms Keener should get her attention! LOL

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

12

Where Would You Live?

by Stephanus in

jw
friends

thought sparked by another thread where i said i'd move to the us if i won the lottery: if you could move wherever you liked in the world (in this fantasy, all your material, intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs are taken care of so that you can make this move), where would it be, and what would be the basis for your decision?.

q: how do you know a dub loyal to "jehovah's organisation" is lying?.

a: their lips are moving.

Stephanus

Joelbear: Do you do vindaloo?

bboyneko: It wasn't supposed to be that sort of fantasy! LOL

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.

19

Lurkers Ask yourself this ??????????

by JT in

jw
friends

http://www.wwwddd.com/bible/secrets/home.shtml .

why is it that the wt society not the done above?????????.

now think about it esp when you consider the role that the net has played in getting info to millions with the click of a mouse.

Stephanus

We don't lovingly call you apostates. The Bible does. There is never any need for disfellowshipping if one is humble and follow Jehovahs path.

Pity you don't follow the Watchtower's path, GR. You're here associating with apostates, against the Society's will. That makes you an apostate, just one who hasn't been caught yet. Just remember, Jehovah sees in secret and rewards in public.

Q: How do you know a Dub loyal to "Jehovah's Organisation" is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.