Posts by TD

19

Lingering doubts and internal debates

by Huxley1979 in

jw
friends

hello, i am in the beginning stages of a slow fade.

over the years i have become more and more dissatisfied with the beliefs, teachings, and organizational practices of the organization.

i no longer have faith in it.

TD

That being said, I do still have a constant debate in my mind. For example, with everything that is going on right now (the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket) it seems like it could be a really bad time to be leaving on the off chance that they actually are right.

That is an instinctive human reaction to the uncertainty of the future. None of us can predict the future, so we, "What if" as a basic survival mechanism.

It's a very powerful tool in the hands of any high-control group.

The JW's went bonkers during the Cuban Missile Crises. They went bonkers when Kennedy was assassinated and during the Vietnam War and during the race riots of the 60's. Life went on.

Regardless of what the future holds, we've reached the point where time has simply run out for the JW's. The clock started ticking when the great crowd was identified in 1935. That was 85 years ago and these people were not children at the time.

In retrospect it is painfully obvious that these people were not even prospective members of that group, given the fact that you have to live to see the great tribulation to have any hope of surviving.

This might seem like a minor problem until you stop and consider that growing old, dying and being resurrected is not a Christian hope in JW theology.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

TD

I was waiting to pick up a daughter at a light rail station a few weeks ago.

A group of about 15 people who were dropped off late by their bus crossed against the traffic light to make their connection with the light rail

Two Tempe police officers singled out the only black man in the group and cuffed him

---For J-walking for Christ's sake

Kinda changed my attitude a bit

40

Resurrection, Reconstruction? What is it? It never made sense to me. Your opinion.

by Wasanelder Once in

i never had much faith in whatever resurrection was.

what appealed to me about jw doctrines was the rejection of the "it's a mystery" defense of the indefensible.

when i would ask how going into non existence could be reversed when all the atomic parts of who we are had been scattered for thousands of years, the answer was "jehovah can do anything".

TD

I wasn't talking exclusively about ethnicity, but more about religious conviction

Then the word I think you were looking for was "Judaism," as in the faith instead of "Jew" as in the ethnicity.

But even that is something of a misnomer, as there was no single form of Judaism at the time. It was split into a number of very different sects with different beliefs.

Jewa became Christians too.

That's kind of you...

Christianity began in Jerusalem as a Jewish movement.

Everybody involved, from Jesus on down were Jewish.

Jesus explicitly stated that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel

Early Christianity was simply acceptance of Jesus fused to a full observance of the Law

James the Just, Jesus' brother and leader of the Jerusalem Church was a life-long Nazarite, who did not cut his hair or eat meat

The line between Pharisee and Christian was semi-permeable at first, which set the stage for the Jerusalem Council and the Apostolic Decree on circumcision.

Gentiles eventually became Christians too.

62

Organized Rioting Across America Due To A Black Man’s Death

by minimus in

jw
friends

cities across america have been pillaged and destroyed these last few days.

a white policeman has been charged with murder of a black man.

protests have been organized across major us cities and horrible riots have occurred.

TD

Dude....

The police did not kill Rodney King. He died in 2012.

SARS-CoV-2 is not the common cold

Nobody is going to microchip you

40

Resurrection, Reconstruction? What is it? It never made sense to me. Your opinion.

by Wasanelder Once in

i never had much faith in whatever resurrection was.

what appealed to me about jw doctrines was the rejection of the "it's a mystery" defense of the indefensible.

when i would ask how going into non existence could be reversed when all the atomic parts of who we are had been scattered for thousands of years, the answer was "jehovah can do anything".

TD

Don't forget it was the Jews that wanted Jesus gone at all costs, regardless of any miracles or resurrections. After Jesus' death they would have strongly denied any powers that Jesus had...
....It was the Christians that went out and told people what really happened. And the Romans who believed, became Christians.

So out of curiosity, what ethnicity was Jesus again?

What about the 12 Apostles?

How about the 70 disciples sent forth in twos?

With the possible exception of Luke how about the writers of the NT itself?

62

Organized Rioting Across America Due To A Black Man’s Death

by minimus in

jw
friends

cities across america have been pillaged and destroyed these last few days.

a white policeman has been charged with murder of a black man.

protests have been organized across major us cities and horrible riots have occurred.

TD

I'm curious - were any improvements or changes made in the policing methods as a result of the chaos and mayhem?

No, the mayhem is both destructive and pointless and the underlying problem continues to fester.

I pointed out farther up this thread that the police have been filmed deliberately shooting at reporters and that instead of helping, this only fuels the perception that that they are abusing their power.

At least three people didn't like to have that elementary cause and effect relationship pointed out, so for their benefit:

Here's independent photojournalist Linda Tirado (Minneapolis)

Here's CBS sound engineer John Marschitz (Minneapolis)

Here's KPCC reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez (Long Beach)

Here's Los Angeles Magazine's Samuel Braslow (LA)

Again, any person in full possession of their faculties should be able to grasp why this is wrong.

(Unless of course they're confused over some of the basic differences between the U.S. and Russia...)

62

Organized Rioting Across America Due To A Black Man’s Death

by minimus in

jw
friends

cities across america have been pillaged and destroyed these last few days.

a white policeman has been charged with murder of a black man.

protests have been organized across major us cities and horrible riots have occurred.

TD

In addition to the rioting, which is certainly upsetting enough all by itself, I'm disturbed by the number of reporters who have been arrested even after identifying themselves and sometimes on live camera.

At least half a dozen have been shot with pepper balls, and soft bullets, again with credentials displayed, microphones out and 500 feet back, sometimes on live camera

A female independent photojournalist is now permanently blind in her left eye after having been shot in the face and a female Swedish foreign correspondent was shot in the hip, which is something much of Europe is trying to wrap their minds around. (Non-lethal projectiles in both cases.)

If as some suggest, the protests are part of an organized effort to destabilize and create civil unrest in the U.S., the indiscriminate heavy-handedness of the police is certainly not helping.

40

Resurrection, Reconstruction? What is it? It never made sense to me. Your opinion.

by Wasanelder Once in

i never had much faith in whatever resurrection was.

what appealed to me about jw doctrines was the rejection of the "it's a mystery" defense of the indefensible.

when i would ask how going into non existence could be reversed when all the atomic parts of who we are had been scattered for thousands of years, the answer was "jehovah can do anything".

TD

Was it a problematic doctrine for you?

Yes. Extremely.

The JW explanation was disappointing at a very visceral level.

If resurrection is simply recreation of an identical body and the implantation of your memories, then what is there to stop God from doing it while you're still alive if he wanted to?

Would the resultant copy be you? If you pinched yourself to be sure you weren't dreaming would both of you feel it?

A very similar concept was explored in the Schwarzenegger move, The Sixth Day, where the clone truly believes he's the original. It always makes believing JW's uncomfortable when he realizes he's only a copy.

40

Gorby's question about current US situation

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

from the peacefull netherlands i have a question about the current situation in the us.. is a civil war possible?.

g..

TD

Civil unrest was many times worse in the 1960's. We worked through it.

37

Why is this an APOSTATE site?!?

by LaraK in

i made a big mistake when signing up at this supposed website for jehovah's witnesses.

after reading some things on this site it has become apparent to me that this site is nothing put another pathetic site for apostates: people who betrayed jehovah, left the truth, and are so bitter about their experiene in the truth, and they are angry just like satan because they know they will very soon be dead at jehovah's hand!.

this website should be renamed something more fitting like "satan's playground" or a similar name that would get across the message of your site.. sincerely,.

TD

Blast from the past. I wonder where Lara is today....