Posts by OHappyDay

25

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 8-31-03 WT Study

by blondie in

8/15/97 wt p 14

6/1/52 wt p. 340

2/1/96 wt p. 19

OHappyDay

Our congregation has evening witnessing. It is used primarily by the young pioneers to date one another. It bothers me to call on someone who has just had a busy day at work, a hard or harried commute home, family responsibilities to care for when they get home, and expect them to listen to something they have already rejected many times before.

I think the problem is not that we call at the wrong time. Whenever we call, the majority are not interested. They are satisfied with what they have.

If we are really lovingly concerned with individuals, why not respect their right to be left alone? We demand religious freedom for ourselves, why is it so hard to extend the same to others?

Oh, I forgot...we have the "truth" and they do not. But it is a "truth" that is always changing and being corrected...

9

israel/judah the split, will it happen to wts?

by the mole in

just as israel and judah split the org will also split.

it is time for those who love real truth break away.

can reformation happen?

OHappyDay

I don't see anything happening until either: (a) Someone in authority gets tired of the hypocrisy and the hubris and leads the others into some common sense and real compassion for the rank-and-file, or (b) Some ordinary but well-respected person(s) with nothing to lose rises up and 'speaks truth to power,' like Martin Luther (celebrated in the latest Watchtower magazine), come what may. The Society uses disfellowship as a bludgeon to beat thinking people into silence. If enough were willing to take this heat publicly for the sake of real truth, there might be a "Reformation" for JWs.

29

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 8-24-03 WT Study

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 8-24-03 wt study

wt article quotes are in

yes in their day 1914, 1925, 1975 were also "now so near" and it is 28 years after 1975.. wait with "holy acts of conduct".

OHappyDay

It's a shame, but you have me reading my Watchtowers with a more critical eye now. I find myself arguing aloud with the statements and reasonings, then I remember that the writers are probably living an ivory tower life far removed from everyday human reality.

The Apocalypticism should stop. We should be encouraged to serve God because we love him, not beat to death about giving up everything beacause Armageddon is coming "soon." Every time I see the word "soon" in a WT publication I cringe, because the meaning we give it has no connection with what the word really means.

But take away the prophecies and the End Times stuff and this Millerite religious descendant, the WT Society, has no message. William Miller and the Second Adventists were wrong, and so are their lineal descendants. In the past, I remember Witnesses laughing about the story of Miller's followers gathering up on some hill in the 1800s waiting to be lifted to heaven, only to be disappointed. Yet Charles Russell and his followers were heavily influenced by other adherents of Miller, and have given out their own dates for the End, only to be similarly disappointed, as recently as 1975.

As the title of a popular book goes, "Just Give Me Jesus." I can do without all the speculations and the Society's "traditions of men" that invalidate the word of God.

18

Younger generation lnot reaching out and quitting the truth

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i was recently reading some old posts, when i came acoss one of maximus' posts about children leaving the truth.. link is here for anyone who wants to read it... http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/10417/1.ashx .

it has been roughly two years since the last post on this.

any ideas as to the percentage of children/young adults leaving?

OHappyDay

It is not surprising that younger ones are not reaching out but are quitting when they see how shoddily their parents are treated by the Do More Society and the hypocrisy among us.

Many of the older ones have given their all to the WT, only to have to feel guilty now that they can only do so much.

Others have put off careers, marriages, children out of the vain hope of Armageddon Yesterday!

And other youth have found "worldly" people to be just as moral, fair, and good as many Witnesses, if not more so.

Young people don't appreciate double-speak and hypocrisy, and react negatively to it.

28

JW and Christianity..

by cutenconfuzed422 in

hey, i'm new to this site, but i'm looking for the big differences between christianity and jehovah's witnesses.

i would like any information you have, and references to it if you have references.

thanks a lot.

OHappyDay

And there are some here who are still Witnesses but who are now aware that not all is well with the Society's soul.

But a sick person is not necessarily sick unto death, unless there is no improvement. No doubt those of us who remain Witnesses see some good in the people, if not in the organization, and hold on for that reason.

Unfortunately, it seems that the leaders are not aware of their diseased condition, and refuse to be told.

49

Good Experiences as a Jehovah's Witness

by minimus in

jw
friends

instead of bringing out the negatives about being a witness, let's relate some good experiences!

i'll start.

i remember a sister that brought up all her kids up in the "truth" and her husband was very opposed but later he started studying and he even got baptized.

OHappyDay

I remember best those brief, ill-fated days when there was the barest opening toward humanizing the Organization, being more concerned with people than with counting time, and when "sacred service" was broadened to embrace more than merely knocking on doors. Sadly, unfortunately, it was not long before that bright light was snuffed out and strict devotion to the Organizational treadmill was reinstated.

28

JW and Christianity..

by cutenconfuzed422 in

hey, i'm new to this site, but i'm looking for the big differences between christianity and jehovah's witnesses.

i would like any information you have, and references to it if you have references.

thanks a lot.

OHappyDay

There are paradoxes in religion. One of the reasons I am still a Witness is that, though in my heart I am Evangelical in believing in salvation only by Christ, not by a Governing Body, there is no way I can believe in the Trinity doctrine. Or a literal Hellfire. Or everlasting torment of souls. Trinity is not even a Bible word, and Hell and damnation go against God who is Love.

So right now, I am really the only known member of my own religion.

16

Sept 15th 2003 Watchtower Page 26-30

by stillajwexelder in

just read this article about martin luther -- the wtbts state -- luther recognized that god's favor cannot be earned.

rather , it is granted to those exercising faith romans 1:16; 3:23,24,28 .

these days i do not go to meetings very often so i do not know what is new light and old -- and have read in r. franz coc similar material with ed dunlap and commentary on letter of james.. this implies salvation can not be earned (i.e.

OHappyDay

We are a works-based religion. There's no getting around that. As it was explained to me long ago, 'How can you be a Witness if you don't witness?' And if you are not a Witness, you cannot be God's friend and be saved, the party line goes.

Nearly every Watchtower and Kingdom Ministry beats the drum for field service! And yes, there is talking out of both sides of the mouth. On the one hand we are told that Jehovah accepts the best we can do according to our circumstances. On the other hand, we cannot define what our "best" is, the Society determines that. If we aren't preaching, and reporting it, we are nothing.

Strange, there is not one mention in the Bible about Jesus and the apostles "counting time" and turning in reports....

For the elderly and infirm, there is now the concession that they will not be labeled as "inactive" if they can turn in 15 minutes of service per month, and if the Service Overseer approves.

This whole scenario is just one more rut that the Governing Body has got us in. There's nothing Christian about it.

21

Another Deception: Are Negroes Still Sold at Auction?

by metatron in

once again, i find myself fulminating in a kingdom hall, listening to a brain-dead, intinerant.

spiritual predator( i.e.

a circuit overseer) ramble on with society-approved lies about the outside world:.

OHappyDay

Impossible! There are no Negroes available today.

There can be no finger pointing for responsibility for American slavery, yet it is true that there is no supply without a demand, and the demand was for slaves in the Americas. Without the demand, the supply would have dried up, or have been reduced to indentured servitude.

There are (too) many kinds of slavery in the world today, and all of them are bad.

3

questions.

by kilroy2 in

jw
friends

has anyone ever sat down and made a series of questions that we can print and hand out to the people we know,.

so that when the dubbers come to the door they can ask the right questions to make the little buggers scurry for cover.. i have made a couple and it does work.

but if we could all put our minds togeather we could make a very concise to the point question sheet that is easy for non former cult members to understand and use.

OHappyDay

Ask, "Do you have the holy spirit within you?"

If they say "No," since only the "anointed" have that privilege according to our doctrine, ask: "If you don't have the holy spirit within you, why are you preaching to me?"

In the New Testament, Christians are said to have the holy spirit within them, not merely to be "guided by" the spirit. It is an indwelling that Witnesses allow only to their "anointed." But the New Testament does not make such a distinction. In fact, the Bible says that Moses had the holy spirit within him, and Moses was not a member of the 144,000. So how can we say that only this group has the holy spirit within them?