Posts by trevor

54

Finding Faith

by Ima Apostate in

how many of you ex-jw kids were able to believe in mainstream christianity after leaving the borg?

within the last year, i have opened up to getting to know god again.

what's funny is that when i prayed for truth and to know god, i knew and had a real feeling in my heart that i was getting closer to something real, but there was still a voice going, "hey, it's me jehovah, and you have rejected me!".

trevor

We are so programmed to view God in some narrow way and see him as an angry punisher such that it is difficult to even speak to Him in an open way when we part. It takes a long time to shake off the programming.

To shake off such programming it is necessary to shake off many passages in the Holy Scriptures that explain the God of the Bible and his propensity to vengeance and punishment.

If we shake off the Bible account of this angry God then his son disappears too and we are left with a Bible that is no longer the Holy word of God. Jehovah's Witnesses have based many of their beliefs on such Bible passages. Modern Christians like to cherry pick the verses that they find acceptable and reject the 'nasty bits.'

To be free such tyranny we need to be intellectually honest and cast the Bible out with the bath water.

42

Mid-life crisis experiences please.............

by oompa in

jw
friends

do share please...oompa needs to know if he is mental, or just experiencing really difficult adjustment feelings about being lied to his entire freaking life, and having some difficulties with being so alone after having a freaking worldwide bruddahood of friends........................thanks...................oompa.

i really, really, really wanna get away..........far far away............and think it may help for a total fresh start.......older kids though, and a jw wife...this is going nowhere isn't it.

trevor

How can anyone know if they are in mid-life until they know how long they are going to live. We can only know when mid-life was for us as we gasp our last breath.

I had a good friend who died when he was just 34. For him mid-life was 16. He went through mid-life without knowing it!

The reason I say all this is because attaching any unwanted feelings to the fact that we are a particular age is misleading. Some people expect to have problems at a certain age and magnify their difficulties due to their expectations.

Enjoy every moment - this is not a rehearsal.

trevor

43

What are some of your memories pre 1975?

by karter in

going to an international assembly 1974 and one of the gb leo greenlees saying"this will most likely be the last international assembly this side of armageddon".. poeple selling their houses.. storing up food.. wondering what went wrong on dec 31 1975!.

trevor

The Society did nothing to discourage the excitement that swept through the movement. Far be it for them to tell its members what to think.

The fervour that followed had to be experienced to be believed. At a series of conventions around the world in the summer of 1968 a new book was introduced, “The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life.” It has since sold over one hundred million copies!

I sat transfixed in the London assembly at Twickenham Stadium, as the speaker explained the reason for the book’s release. This small book had been designed so that a weekly study of just one hour covering one chapter a week would complete the book in six months. All other Society books used in Bible studies with interested people were to be put aside.

This was now the book to use. If those we studied with did not show definite signs of getting baptised after six months we were to forget them and move on. Why? Because time was running out - so many people to save and so little time!

trevor

94

Where do atheists' morals come from?

by dorayakii in

many theists believe that atheists have no morality at all.

they argue that because atheists dont believe in the laws, limitations and boundaries that god has set up for us, there's nothing stopping them from becoming violent, lying thieving sociopaths.

there have been many stories of people who have "found god" and changed their life, giving up drugs, repenting for past crimes.

trevor

People always focus on the big and obvious but morality is, for the most part, a subtle code of conduct that is demonstrated daily in the small things.

What is considered moral, varies greatly from one country to another and from religion to religion. Things that are morally indefeasible have been carried out in the name of religion under the excuse of carrying out 'God's will. '

There is no evidence of a fixed moral code that has been passed down from an invisible being. Even the God of the Bible regularly changed his morals as he saw fit. That is if we are to believe the only book he ever wrote?

Each society has always adopted morals that suited its needs. What is right and moral in society regarding, for example sexual conduct, can change with time. An underpopulated world desperate for population growth may adopt different morals to a world that is dangerously overpopulated.

Society in general, is self regulating and morals evolve and change with time as do all living things.

trevor

33

Automatic reinstatement if teaching gets reversed?

by Fatfreek in

let's say your spouse admitted to having sex with animals, you went to the elders and they told you that you were not free to remarry -- but you went ahead, divorced the scumbag, and remarried someone else.

you, of course, got disfellowshipped.

since then, the society reverses its position.

trevor

Bestiality and pedophilia are not such serious offences in the world of the Watchtower.

Expressing concern about a weird teaching, or forgetting to underline your Watchtower, are far more serious offences and few ever return to the fold after such breaches of protocol.

trevor

80

God mauls little children with bears. (2 Kings 2:23,24)

by easyreader1970 in

23. and he proceeded to go up from there to beth el.

as he was going up on the way, there were small boys that came out from the city and began to jeer him and that kept saying to him: "go up, you baldhead!

go up, you baldhead!

trevor

belbab

You have provided a fascinating example of how the human mind is capable of analyzing, rationalising and justifying every atrocity ever carried out, or alleged to have been carried out.

May your gods go with you...

You need help!

14

What is the "world" we must not love?

by Awakened at Gilead in

john2:15-17)15 do not be loving either the world or the things in the world.

if anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him; 16 because everything in the worldthe desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of ones means of lifedoes not originate with the father, but originates with the world.

17 furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of god remains forever.. how do you understand this scripture after leaving jws?.

trevor

I think garybuss summed up the contradictory nature of all things written in the Bible.

Most scriptures mean whatever you want them to mean. In fact the verses that made it into the final compilation we call the Bible, only got there because they appeared to suit the intentions of the powers that compiled the Bible.

There are far better books to read. Why waste time on the Bible.

28

If The Gov't In Myanmar Refuses Relief Assistance Should We Invade To Help?

by minimus in

jw
friends

personally, i think it's not our job to make sure aid is provided for humanitarian needs.

if the government refuses the help, why should we force aid?

trevor

Bu**er the help - America should just invade.

It does not need an excuse - it has never needed one before!

80

God mauls little children with bears. (2 Kings 2:23,24)

by easyreader1970 in

23. and he proceeded to go up from there to beth el.

as he was going up on the way, there were small boys that came out from the city and began to jeer him and that kept saying to him: "go up, you baldhead!

go up, you baldhead!

trevor

Real one: Trevor, the reason I asked this question was because if you are not a believer then how do you determine what love is? God sets righteous standards for us to live by so how do people who don't worship him come up with righteous standards?

When I read your comment, I was for a moment speechless but have found my tongue. What your saying is that people who don't share your beliefs can not determine what love is, or live by righteous standards.

I would suggest that those who understand love, do not need righteousness in order to live a moral life.

You seem to be confusing love, decency and morality with the worship of an angry Deity.

trevor

80

God mauls little children with bears. (2 Kings 2:23,24)

by easyreader1970 in

23. and he proceeded to go up from there to beth el.

as he was going up on the way, there were small boys that came out from the city and began to jeer him and that kept saying to him: "go up, you baldhead!

go up, you baldhead!

trevor

Even if it was one child it is appalling.

On the thread Atheist or Agnostic, talking of the God portrayed in the Bible, I said:

'How can mature people have a relationship with an immature petulant thug who is driven by wrath rather than love?'

Real one asked me, 'What are you talking about?'

I never replied but I hope this thread offers a clue.

trevor