Posts by venus

7

Comparing God with Abraham dishonors God

by Ireneus in

abraham was tested by god (genesis 22:1) to know whether he would abandon his attachment towards his son.. attachment is a sign of ego, the fountain head of all vices.

when you ignore all the factors and forces (known and unknown) that are at work behind every happening, you tend to say “i did this and that”thus taking credit for which your part is too negligible.

it is like a farmer taking credit for the agricultural products.

venus

There are cases of Bible writers forgetting/overlooking writings of fellow Bible writers. For example, if a liar is caught, he should be treated as impurity in the society, and should be cut off from the society so that it may serve as a lesson for others: “If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”(Deuteronomy 19:16-21)

According to this Law, it is Satan (not Jesus Christ) that should have been crucified. But it seems Paul went against this Law, and theorized that killing an innocent man would remove the sins of the world.

23

How To Become Who You Are

by Brokeback Watchtower in

being a jehovah's witness for many years has a very damaging effect on becoming who he really are, many of the drives we were born with get subverted to corporation's directives, and we stuff lots of ourselves into our shadow(jungian), as we take on the "new personality" we become an easy to manipulate corporate drone.

in other words we really loose contact with authentic self, and to some extent a little hollow.. a search for our true self will require some alone time and can be scary and filled with some perils.

i did it for some time and it can make you a little odd, and you could wind up doing some crazy shit but over all i will say it was necessary and eventually rewarding, and i gotten quite used to it and now a days i have people around but value my time alone when every i can get it.. anyway this video interest me and i thought i would share.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfyczlbcavk.

venus

JW_Rogue

I do not agree with what you said: “Perhaps there is no true self and self actualization is just a grandiose myth.”

Your true self is more meaningful (like the software of your computer) than your body (like hardware of your computer). Bringing home computer hardware, and dispensing with the software as unwanted makes no sense. I too used to think like you before. But once I tried to go beyond thoughts and asked the question who is creating these thoughts, it made a big difference, as Tolle puts it. “The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.” (The Power of Now, Ekhart Tolle) It is from this “vast realm of intelligence” that dreams are designed. Many scientific discoveries (such as Periodic Table, Aromatic Chemistry, Insulin …) have their roots in dreams. (http://dreamtraining.blogspot.com/2010/12/inventions-that-came-in-dreams-largest.html) Even Einstein’s great invention of Theory of Relativity is connected with two dreams he had. (Einstein: A Life by Denis Brian p.159)

When I was taught in the school that the left side of the brain performs tasks that have to do with logic, such as in science and mathematics whereas the right hemisphere performs tasks that have do with creativity and the arts, I was convinced that brain activity is much more than its material components called 100 billion neurons, and man is made in the image of God which explains why we have a subjective experience and why we love truth, benevolence and beauty….etc.

10

Who was the devil that tested Jesus in the Wilderness?

by Doug Mason in

when i started investigating "the temptations" at matthew chapter 4, i had no idea that i would develop the ideas contained in my study paper.

so it cannot honestly be said that i set out to prove the conclusions i arrived at.. it is available at:.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_devil_who_tested_jesus.pdf .

venus

EverApostate

Using symbol makes it easy. How difficult it would have been If the Traffic Department were to write every road instruction in its details. Instead, they have put RED signal which we know STOP ....etc.

similarly, religious symbols give us quick reference just like Macbeth is a symbol that reminds 'greed means destruction.' Those who follow the symbol benefit themselves and others, those who do not follow, cause wastage.

11

Thank You to all posters...I have not chosen this path

by CovertsadJW in

i wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has posted here as i have been reading all of them.

i have realized that i am not alone in my struggles and the realization that the " truth" is a bunch of crap.

i have been over come with emotion over the last years or so.

venus

There is something funny with regard to those who do not examine the religions they were born into. They are under the impression that their birth determines the truthfulness of the religion. In other words, the religion they are born into becomes automatically true because of their birth into it.

10

Who was the devil that tested Jesus in the Wilderness?

by Doug Mason in

when i started investigating "the temptations" at matthew chapter 4, i had no idea that i would develop the ideas contained in my study paper.

so it cannot honestly be said that i set out to prove the conclusions i arrived at.. it is available at:.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_devil_who_tested_jesus.pdf .

venus

Though Bible writers used poor imagination in creating a setting for the temptation for Jesus, in essence it conveys a profound thought. Just like sea-worthiness of a ship is known when it is placed in the sea and survives a storm (not when it is anchored on the shore), Jesus proved his worthiness through his second “baptism by fire” (Mathew 3:11) which means he was victorious over all the temptations he encountered throughout his life as implied by Mark 1:13 when he said: “He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him” which means he tasted the life as it is with its rough and soft aspects. All those temptations can broadly be categorized in to three:

1) Tendency to use skills and talents for own benefit rather than for others (changing the stones into bread).

2) Putting God into test taking extreme risk (jumping from the top of temple) with an eye on fame through short-cut.

3) Forgetting the main purpose of life (realizing God as the father of all which helps view to everyone as His child) and getting sidetracked on to the splendor of world’s attractions (kingdoms of world in exchange for an act of worship of Satan, personification of bad qualities, which means enjoying worldly pleasures and powers through unjust means)

Thus, in details the account of temptation on Jesus carries wrong messages such as shape of earth is flat, Satan is a person, Jesus followed Satan to be tempted …etc. But in essence it conveys great truth that man can be victorious over any temptation by changing the thought as Jesus did—he did not dwell on any of them. No one can be tempted without his permission. Satan is personification of evil, and evil is absence of virtues just like darkness is absence of light. When one is tempted, he only needs to bring in the corresponding virtue which means he has conquered the temptation.

1

Comparison of Timelines for World Religions.

by Lost in the fog in

because of the wts focus on their interpretation of bible history i never realised when other religious thoughts were introduced to the world.

even their publication "mankind's search for the only true god" was skewed to show other belief systems in a negative light.

i recently stumbled upon this informative website, and i am sharing the timeline given on it.

venus

Thank you for posting, interesting information.

21

Two Gods seen in the Bible

by Ireneus in

a careful reader of the bible can see depiction of two gods in the bible—one that of a loving father figure, and the other an impulsive sort of who has been copied thoughtlessly from other cultures.. 1) god of love (as seen in genesis chapter 1) who creates humans (men and woman simultaneously) “in his image” (which means he gave the best he can to his children, the potential to become like him) as a crown of creation with a command to take care of all species, and goes into silence unconcerned of mankind’s response [gratitude or worship] to him, yet with a presupposition to “renew” in case humans deplete/destroy the resources (mathew 19:28; revelation 21:1-5).

thus god’s action defines him as “the servant of humanity.” (luke 22:26, 27) this is in contrast to the second god (as seen in genesis chapter 2 and 3 and throughout other books) who makes the planning for suffering and death for humans in co-operation with his adversary.. 2) god of impartiality (deut 10:17; mathew 5:44-48) who asks us to love/greet everyone.

this is in contrast to the second god who commands his worshippers not even to greet those who do not share their beliefs.

venus

Second God’s view of woman is like that of King Henry VIII who had an illusion that only a son will save England. When his wife, Anne, gave birth to a girl, he still tried for more marriages to have a son which set in motion for a series of disasters like beheading of Anne. Yet history showed Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, was one of the greatest rulers of England, despite her not being the son, but a daughter.

Second God treats woman as good for nothing. (1 Timothy 2:11-15) Yet no other book has influenced me like You can heal your life, written by Lousie L Hay, a woman, with an incredible insight into the workings of body and mind. It is a book I read daily, even though I am familiar with its contents.

16

JW compassion?

by William Penwell in

i have a nephew that has just recently being diagnosed with a life threatening disease through bad choices he has made in his life over the last 20 years.

now he has asked myself and my sons to be there for him and without being judgemental we have being up at the hospital every other day for the last couple of weeks.

now this is the part where i am just pissed right off.. one of my nephews other cousins goes to the hospital and starts giving him a guilt trip, saying that this was all his own fault that she couldn't talk to him for the last 20 years and his sickness now is all because he left jehooba organization blah blah blah.

venus

If a farmer says "I produced all these agricultural products," we take it as a joke because we know that he is ignorant about many factors and forces that are behind the production of agricultural crops--including sun with its photosynthesis and greater SUN (God) who is ultimately responsible for the marvelous process called photosynthesis.

Similarly, diseases occur because of so many factors and forces acting together, and the recipient's role is too insignificant.

10

Critique/Rebuttal of May 2018 Watchtower study article - "Know Your Enemy"

by doubtfull1799 in

important note: i am not a theist and this is all meaningless of course from an atheist perspective, but this critique is written from a theistic perspective for those who are interested in picking apart jw theology or are still religious.

if this is not you, please just ignore!.

comments, additions, corrections to my crazy ramblings all welcome.

venus

doubtfull1799,

Every point is better than the other. I especially liked "

“Satan cannot force people to act against their own will.”

Evidence? Actually the writer claimed just the opposite a few paragraphs ago! If Satan can trick people into worshipping demons when they think they are worshipping God, then he is in fact forcing them to act against their will."

When a plane is hijacked, the first one who is held responsible for is the security-check personnel whose negligence is obvious in the episode. Similarly, God could have guarded the Garden 'by placing cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth' against Satan's entry rather than the reentry of Adam and Eve. (Gen 3:24)

Story is full of flaws because it has never happened, it is a poor copying from other sources. Satan is personification of evil, and evil is absence of virtue. Hence writers got everything hopelessly mixed and confused.

8

Most recent JW statistics

by Half banana in

has anyone come across detailed 2017 jw org statistics so we can compare them to previous years?

or are they now obscured in a soapy film of praise to the demi-gods at warwick to disguise the decline?.

venus

According to 2017 Service Year * Report, Number of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide is 8,457,107. If everyone of them is serious and brings one more person every year, their membership would double in every year, as the chart below:

16914214

33828428

67656856

135313712

270627424

541254848

1082509696

2165019392

4330038784

8660077568

And in 10 years, the whole world population would be JWs with no exception.