Posts by smiddy3

12

The Extremes of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Scoiety

by The_Seeker in

i have been reading through the posts over the last few days and something occurred to me, an epiphany, if you will.

people don't leave the jw's, especially those raised in the religion, simply because it is easier for them to continue to believe a lie even when faced with the truth.

the ability to think critically is something that most jws lack, we all know this to be true, but i truly believe many of them are simply too lazy to try anything different.

smiddy3

I believe you have a valid point The seeker.

They are so accustomed to having someone tell them what to do in every situation that they do not want to have to make decisions for themselves.

And that`s because they are so indoctrinated to do so when they had the book study and the Watchtower study whereby you were asked the question and the answer was already for you to just repeat .

repetition,repetition,repetition,over many,many ,many years is indoctrination,which is in turn brainwashing.

That is also why so many who leave the religion never shake off the chains that bind them to the religion .

In one sense they leave the religion and they may outwardly seem to live a normal life (do things that would get them DF if they were still attending but because their not they rationalize it ) however the religion never leaves them because of their indoctrination and they may not even be aware of it.

28

252 Congregations have closed in Germany since 2015

by LevelThePlayingField in

this is a video from down with the tower.

it's excellent.

enjoy.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0lvvy2qurm.

smiddy3

As much as I would love that to be true I would like to see verification of those numbers ,it just doesn`t sound right.

I hope I am wrong.

43

Independent Catalonia

by mikeflood in

it's a deja vu from matthew..."for nation shall rise against nation.....".

it seem that periods of instability occur around the world periodically.

since the arab spring to brexit and trumpism people want change.

smiddy3

Isn`t self determination what most ethnic communities want ?

And the powers that be are generally reluctant to give it ?

Granted it will be interesting to see what develops here and to what effect it will have on other communities wishing to self Govern .

12

The Unforgivable Sin (LOL)

by Cimarrona in

i remember my mother teaching me that a conscience was like an alarm in my head that would warn me when i'm on the verge of doing something immoral.

if i ignored the beeping, the batteries would run out.

i'd lose my moral compass.

smiddy3

My question to the WTB&TS is or any other denomination to define what the unforgiveable sin is ? it was never spelled out to me in my 33 years as a JW.

Is it a specific act or is it just denying what a Christian religion says is the "truth" ? and isn`t that subjective ?

Why doesn`t the Bible define what in simple terms what the unforgiveable sin is ?

Why is it left to humans to give their interpretations of it.?

21

Is the Bible truly inspired?

by MrRoboto in

so i was reading the book of daniel, starting with chapter 4 (nebuchadnezzar's famous tree chopping/banding dream where the 7 times is introduced) but i noticed that when you don't cherry pick verses and just read straight thru - it really seems like some children's book that was poorly written.

even though the borg says that this book as written by daniel, chapter 4 is clearly written by "king nebuchad·nezzar to all the peoples, nations, and language groups dwelling in all the earth" after the tree chopping business.

) of the rest of the chapters seem to be written in 3rd person (odd, if you are writing about your experiences).

smiddy3

How about the axe head that floats on water.? 2 Kings 6:5-7 WTF ?

The list of the World powers in Daniel ? The G.B.of Jehovah`s Witnesses thought they had that right back when ?

What about now ? I bet they now disown the Green book about Daniel "Your Will Be Done On Earth "

The Bible being inspired is always Dependant on the interpretation of the examiner and the believer always goes for the affirmative.

47

Outside JW World They Barely Exist

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
friends

is anyone else staggered by the fact that outside of the organization most of the general public seem to know very little or nothing about jw’s?

when i was in i was led to believe that 99% of the worlds population had been giving sufficient warning, knew what it was all about and were stubbornly sticking to their immoral ways.

the reality seems to be that the entire jw universe is barely noticeable to the masses.

smiddy3

Their have been a few posts about how ineffective the preaching work by JW`s has been considering the claim they have witnessed in all the inhabited earth which is an outright lie.

They have done no such thing.

In reality they have grabbed hold of the shirt tails of Christendoms religions and followed in their footsteps poaching off members of Christendom in one land after another.

Millions of people in India have never heard of them

Millions of people in mainland China have never heard of them

Millions of people in Muslim countries have never heard of them

The same could also be said of Pakistan and ,Bangladesh .

They would be lucky if they have reached even a third of the worlds population in their 140+ years of witnessing.

And as I have said previously the bulk of their witnessing is in lands that were already Christian in nature by missionaries of the Churches of Christendom and they have just poached their members.

So Farmer Jim 1 you are spot on.

And welcome to the board ,look forward to hearing more from you.

14

One Year Past Disassociation - An Appraisal

by EdenOne in

two weeks ago marked one year over my disassociation.

time for an appraisal.. quick summary of my story for those who came in lately: my mother brought me into the witnesses when i was 4, grew up the role-model jw boy, baptized at 16, married a zealous reg.

pio.

smiddy3

Thanks for sharing EdenOne All the best to you and your family for the future.

4

The God of This System Of Things 2 Cor.4:4 is the same God of Rom 13:1-7

by smiddy3 in

aren`t these two scriptures talking about the one and same god ?.

2 cor.4:4 speaks about the god of this system of things blinding the minds of unbelievers .. this scripture has always been attributed as to applying to satan the devil.

he is not blinding the minds of believers but unbelievers and i think that is a critical point about 2cor.4:4. rom.13:1-7 states that christians should be in subjection to the superior authorities under the arrangement of god and whoever opposers the authority has taken a stand against god.

smiddy3

Drearyweather

It could be argued that Jehovah blinds the mind of the unbelievers in 2Cor.4;4 whereas in 2Cor,4: 6 he is letting his light shine on the believers ?

However as The Fall Guy points out with those additional scriptures maybe the Bible just contradicts itself.

The Hebrew scriptures in many places highlight Gods name as Holy and sacred as defined by the Tetragrammaton JHVH or more correctly as YHWH .

In Isa.62:2 It prophesized that his people would be called by a new name

The Tetragrammaton or it`s equivalent Greek letters do not appear in the Christian Greek Scriptures (NT)

However Php.2:9 God exalted the name of Jesus that is above every other name in heaven on earth or under the earth.

Obviously even above the name Jehovah

Acts 11:26 ..".by divine providence the disciples were called Christians" not Jehovahs Witnesses.

Maybe just maybe Jehovah Jesus and Satan are all part of the same being .

21

Is the Bible truly inspired?

by MrRoboto in

so i was reading the book of daniel, starting with chapter 4 (nebuchadnezzar's famous tree chopping/banding dream where the 7 times is introduced) but i noticed that when you don't cherry pick verses and just read straight thru - it really seems like some children's book that was poorly written.

even though the borg says that this book as written by daniel, chapter 4 is clearly written by "king nebuchad·nezzar to all the peoples, nations, and language groups dwelling in all the earth" after the tree chopping business.

) of the rest of the chapters seem to be written in 3rd person (odd, if you are writing about your experiences).

smiddy3

In 1 Sam.17:53-56 The Bible plainly identifies David as the slayer of the philistine Goliath.

However in 2 Sam.21:19 it states in a war with the Philistines "....and Elhanan the son of Ja-a-re-ore-gim the Bethle-hemite got to strike down Goliath the Gittite the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of loom workers."

On another note according to Genesis the Sun was a luminary for the day and the moon was a luminary for the night.

Granted the Sun is regular as clockwork for being a luminary for the day but the moon as a luminary for the night ?

Many times in it`s cycle the Moon never appears in the night sky because it is on the other side of the earth in the day time and quite visible.

Just saying.

13

A wave of momentum!

by stuckinarut2 in

it certainly has to be one of the most exciting times to live in as an awake ex witness!.

the wave of momentum we are part of as thousands awaken from the hold of the society is a joy to be a part of.

the internet helps us to see that we are not alone.

smiddy3

To borrow a phrase "Theocratic Warfare"

Isa.60:22

may that be prophetic of Ex Jehovah`s Witnesses

And a very warm welcome to all the newbies that have posted on here this past year.

A good post stuckinarut2 for encouraging lurkers and others to share their story`s and experiences while keeping their confidentiality intact.