Posts by TheLiberator

18

Do JWs ever doubt that the end is really coming?

by dogon in

as a former dubber i had many occasions to doubt that the end was coming.

i was told it was ok to doubt but not to think about it too much and wait on jehovah.

that bull shit lasted until they changed the meaning of generation in 95 and that was the end of that bull shit for me.

TheLiberator

Some (even hard core), are conscious that the end could come, but it is not there focus. They do not run with all the 1914/generation crap. Some are in it just to serve Jehovah and the Watchtower is just the vehicle.

I was one of those. Back in 1988, I wrote to the society, asking if 1914 generation teaching was similar to the trinity or hellfire, in that we will receive no new light. I never seen the letter, but the elders received it and sent the secretary to talk with me. He said: "TheLiberator, we serve Jehovah forever."

I said, "but the generation of 1914.....

Secretary: "We serve Jehovah forever"

I said, "but...

Secretary: "TheLiberator, we serve Jehovah forever."

That conversation made me happy. Nobody wants to get there hopes up. I knew then that things will change. Timetables always bothered me. I wrote that letter because I was working rural territory and I had mentioned that I don't have to worry about many things since I would never get that old. And the presiding overseer's wife said, "that's what we all said" with a sarcastic laugh. My mother in law made the same comment a few years ago. So I believe many don't feel it is coming in there life. Younger ones might, since they feel life is this long, long journey. Not.

8

Psalm 23

by Truthexplorer in

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TheLiberator

Never appreciated this Psalm as much as I do now. Very personal.

14

Outstanding new book out today for you atheists, agnostics, humanists, naturalists and free thinkers

by Cornbread in

i just got back from the bookstore and i can't wait to sink into it based on all the reviews and press it has been getting.

it's called the big picture - on the origin of life, meaning, and the universe itself by sean carroll.. “weaving the threads of astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy into a seamless narrative tapestry, sean carroll enthralls us with what we’ve figured out in the universe and humbles us with what we don’t yet understand.

yet in the end, it’s the meaning of it all that feeds your soul of curiosity.” —neil degrasse tyson, host of cosmos: a spacetime odyssey*publishers weekly #1 most anticipated science book of spring 2016*"already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, sean carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on higgs bosons and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions.

TheLiberator

Psalm: 103:15-18

"As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone. Its place remembers it no more. But Yahweh's loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children's children; to those who keep his covenant, to those who remember to obey his precepts."

54

God's Word and Modern Man

by TheLiberator in

i have drawn the conclusion that when god speaks, he is using the language and the concepts of the time.

he is not revealing a new scientific understanding when he speaks.

that would be distracting from the point being made.

TheLiberator

What keeps people trapped in the Watchtower, are the few truths they have. These serve as bars on the cage and the gb know it. Thus, "Where will you go?" Mainstream churches don't have anything in common with those few truths. So it takes some research to see if anyone else teaches similar. But, the differences that I have discovered make what I believe 100% different from the Watchtower.

1) I partake of emblems. Thus, God is my father. Not friend.

2) No one is going to heaven

3) Christ did not preexist

4) Read the Bible literally, unless it is clearly an analogy or it clearly allows for difference (such as creative days)

5) No one is a master of my faith. Conscience matters are just that.

Those differences are huge. If you say they are not, I guess taking a hydrogen atom out of a water molecule is no big deal.

P.S- My point earlier was that no matter what you experienced later as a religious person, you still speak ignorantly. As if you never experienced anything.

54

God's Word and Modern Man

by TheLiberator in

i have drawn the conclusion that when god speaks, he is using the language and the concepts of the time.

he is not revealing a new scientific understanding when he speaks.

that would be distracting from the point being made.

TheLiberator

Cofty: One thing is very clear: You were NEVER a Christian. You speak as an outsider to Christianity. You reason like an ignorant person who is clueless about faith. Did you ever meditate beyond the pages of a Watchtower? It is obvious you did not. Reading your words is like reading a science article in the Awake! Total ignorance. You were nothing but a Watchtower slave. Some of us were Christian at heart. We wanted to be Christian, but didn't really know what that meant. Now, some of us became true Christians. You have NO idea what that is. Stop talking like you do.

54

God's Word and Modern Man

by TheLiberator in

i have drawn the conclusion that when god speaks, he is using the language and the concepts of the time.

he is not revealing a new scientific understanding when he speaks.

that would be distracting from the point being made.

TheLiberator

Cofty: Not true one bit.

54

God's Word and Modern Man

by TheLiberator in

i have drawn the conclusion that when god speaks, he is using the language and the concepts of the time.

he is not revealing a new scientific understanding when he speaks.

that would be distracting from the point being made.

TheLiberator

Was Dawkins raised an atheist?

54

God's Word and Modern Man

by TheLiberator in

i have drawn the conclusion that when god speaks, he is using the language and the concepts of the time.

he is not revealing a new scientific understanding when he speaks.

that would be distracting from the point being made.

TheLiberator

I have drawn the conclusion that when God speaks, he is using the language and the concepts of the time. He is not revealing a new scientific understanding when he speaks. That would be distracting from the point being made. Hence, we read of earth as having a foundation or the pillars of the heavens. How would he speak to researchers and scientists of more recent times? Here's a few.

Stephen Hawking : "Where were you when I suspended the darkness itself among the strings of the heavens? Tell me, if you do have understanding."

And to Georges Lemaître: "Whose hand placed the the very particles of the earth from it's beginning? Will the earth itself say, "I appeared out of nothingness"?

Concerning the Steady State Theory: "Like the stars of the heavens whose life is from everlasting, so will my blessings be to those seeking my face."

To Hubble: "Like stars drifting from there days of origin , so my people have left me in order to raise up idols for themselves."

To Einstein: "You who say, "Will God be a refuge for us?" Do not fear. Just like the days of old, will my word prove to be. Woe to the one who is asking, "Does God play dice?"

To Darwin: "Will an upright man look into the face of a wild chimp itself and say, "You are my master"? Yet, that is what you men have done. Thus, like a zookeeper, I myself shall release the wild monkeys from there habitats. They shall indeed put you men to death. Your women and your children will be taken captive, and you will indeed call him master."😄

25

Raising kids in a split faith household

by rathernotsay in

jw
friends

hi guys, don't know if this is the right place to ask but id like to hear other peoples experiences with raising kids in a household with split faiths.

just for a bit of a back story, my wife and i have been married for comming up 6 years.

we have 3 kids, 2 boys aged 5 and 3 and a 8 week old girl.

TheLiberator

I know this is not comforting. I am in the same position with two children we adopted. For me, it is a two edged sword. I hate to say this, but the youngest boy would be unbearable if he didn't have the strict control and his mom taking care of that end of things. Family life is quite manageable right now. Because my mom has stopped talking to me, I often will ask the kids when the opportunity arises, "How would you feel if your mom stopped talking to you? It wouldn't be loving would it? Well, your grandma stopped talking to me because I am not a Jehovah's witness. But I will always talk to you, because the Bible tells us to show love."

But now, I worry that while things are calm now, (sorry, this is due to the cult), how will they feel later when they discover why dad is not a witness? I fear that they will despise there mom. One reason for that, is that I feel that my wife knows that I am not messed up. I have shared TTATT in the very early part of my departure. So, my plan is to ask her, "how will she feel when the kids learn what I know later down the road? You may be sincere, but kids will not see it that way. Do you want them to harbor bad feelings towards you?"

I am sorry that I am a straight shooter in my approach. That is not the way for some. But the pain will come now or later. I would rather get it over with. And while it would be nice to get the kids out now while they are still little, some things you can't control. Worrying will not fix it. But if you get them out later as teenagers, that is better than nothing. I know my 20 year old is very happy I saved him at 19.

I wanted to add, that I don't feel, regardless of what I believe, that simply showing the kids science and evolution will change things. Many kids will not connect the dots. Simply, because these things are "bad". But kids do see hypocrisy. They understand concepts of love. They do know what a lie is in the context of the organization.

160

Beliefs About What Caused the Universe

by Perry in

the universe can be observed to be expanding.. an expanding universe must have had a beginning.

whatever begins to exist had a cause.

therefore the universe had a cause.

TheLiberator

Hi Perry. I was just reading some newer articles.

http://m.phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-universe.html

http://earthsky.org/space/what-if-the-universe-had-no-beginning

Not saying it is true. Just ironic.