Posts by Bonsai

182

The Case for Theism

by FusionTheism in

"theism" here means "belief in a god" or "the worldview that an intelligent designer created the universe and life.

" ("god" here means a being with a mind who initiated and/or wound-up the universe, and designed life on earth)the most common claim that i see atheists making on twitter, is that "no evidence" exists in support of belief in a god.this post will remove any excuse atheists have for claiming "no evidence exists" in support of an initiator.

atheists can still reject this evidence as "weak," but they cannot truthfully say it does not exist.now, it is true that we do not have "observable, repeatable, falsifiable, empirical, scientific" evidence conclusively proving that an initiator exists, but we do have many lines of philisophical, experiential, and logical evidence.and... here... we... go:1:) many leading scientists, including stephen hawking, say that the space-time-matter universe had a beginning at the singularity/big bang.

Bonsai

FusionTheism,

I think we both can agree that: either a god or deity exists, yet doesn't care about humans at all. Or, there is no creator, initiator or alien race that seeded the planet. Either way, why should we care? What is the difference between the two realities? Neither reality is going to change the fact that my loved one who is being eaten away by cancer is going to die and in all likely-hood, stay dead. If there are any initiators/creators, they clearly do not seem to be interested in being discovered by humans.

90

After 2 years my parents make contact. The end result is that I promise them to cryogenically preserve ONLY their heads

by paulmolark in

it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.

i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.

a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.

Bonsai

indoctrinated mothers say the meanest things don't they? I put up with a lot from my mother, too. It's funny to be judged by her while she herself is hanging on to "the truth" by a thread. It seems the only thing that keeps her going is personal appearances in front of her friends and her social status.

I am a fourth generation witness and my child was briefly a fifth generation. Alas, it will die out with us. We looked at the carrot that was dangling in front of us, that we couldn't ever reach, and smoked it with a twelve gauge shot gun!

No more false promises... No more guilt... No more being judged and criticized for every little thing we do...

35

Do you consider this site Godly or Ungodly

by Truthexplorer in

over the years, i have seen a change in heart with the country i grew up in and the general view of what they perceive as how everyone should view things in relation to morality.

a strictly religious country for centuries now forever changed within a short number of years.

i have also seen the viewpoint on this site gradually change in many ways.

Bonsai

I now feel this ever since a certain event took place that absolutely confirmed everything I need to know that this world is now completely gone mad.

"A certain event"? Please. How so conveniently vague. What event?

Your final post exudes frustration and arrogance. Maybe you're frustrated because you can't stone an apostate who disagrees with you, or maybe you'd like to have some domestic slaves to help with the house work? Or maybe you want to sick your pet bear on the next door neighbor's kid because he calls you "baldy"?

Welcome to 2015 buddy (put the rock down)! Thank goodness we have constitutions and laws to protect us from religious nut jobs! The world has gone mad, and yet, religion seems to be the worm in its brain driving it to its madness.

86

What are you gonna do when the existence of god is disproved?

by Doltologist in

in 1897, j.j. thomson discovered the electron.

this was the first constituent part of the atom which, for 2,000 years, was thought to be indivisible.

today, we know of 18 elemental particles following the recent discovery of the higgs boson, the so-called god particle.. back in 1897, most people believed in god because there weren't even any theories as to how the universe came into being.

Bonsai

What am I going to do when the existence of God is disproved?

Not a damn thing different than what I'm doing now. Try to contribute to making the world a little bit better than when I came into it. Continue to support and love my friends, neighbors and family. Continue my friendship (in moderation) with my good friend Jim Beam.

53

Apost8News: "Return to Jehovah" Official Literature Release Video - 2015 Convention Lowlight

by cappytan in

again, thanks to wifibandit and pixel for their work behind the scenes.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwzviu3jfko.

Bonsai

Sorry Anthony Putin. I must repent in sack cloth.You really helped me to see the error of my ways with this 30 minute gem. To think, I had left so that I could work more and be able to afford a big fat gold ring on my fat finger like yours, so that I could wear a 300$ suit like yours and live in a state of the art pension and travel all over the world like you do.

What was I thinking? I'm hurting Jehovah. He wants me to support you so that you can live the high life ( after all, you are real, talking, walking royalty). We are just stupid, lost sheep who should know our place (in the field chewing on grass), while you are sipping martinis, yupping it up with your pinky ring buddies and being idolized by your 8 million adoring fans.

That's it. I have seen the light! I'm going back to my nearest Kingdom hall right now! I'm going to stuff all my savings in the contribution box and see if I can make a "bid on heaven", too!

15

Just how is JW org doing?

by Half banana in

i started posting on the ex community about five years ago since two of my children have remained under the jw spell.

back then i had little tangible hope of seeing the downfall of the org.

i now see evidence of big cracks forming in their hermetic carapace..

Bonsai

I think about all the atrocities the Catholic church has committed in its long existence. The JW pedophile problem pales in comparison to the Catholic priest problem (at least media-wise). Yet, there are currently an estimated 1.2 billion Catholics still practicing today. Religions find ways to survive, and there will always be suckers to fill their pews/seats. I think the JW religion will long outlive all of us. I do think that eventually, years from now, the blood doctrine and the df'ing arrangement will be watered down to the point of not being enforced at all. I agree with maksutov and done4good. Ever so gradually they will go mainstream to remain relevant.

36

Gods name

by Mr.logic in

jw
friends

what is the correct spelling of gods proper name"yahweh or jehovah"?

if the jw's maintain that yahweh is more proper, why do they misspell it "jehovah"?

if the name of god is so important, then you should not only pronounce it correctly, but spell it correctly too.

Bonsai

I think it very much is a big deal! I was trained to go to people's door's and tell them that they couldn't have an acceptable relationship with god unless they used the name Jehovah. No wonder the Catholics and Protestants laughed at me when I said that. The majority of Christendom doesn't use the name because its a hybrid, man-made name. The real name is unknown. "Lord" or "father" is sufficient as Jesus set the example in calling him those titles.

It ticks me off that those little details were never taught to me in Pioneer School or the thousands of meetings that I have been to in my life time. Just because the society acknowledged it once in an obsolete publication in the early 70's doesn't make them transparent and up front about the problem of using Jehovah and calling it the only true name of god. The majority of witnesses today have no idea that the name is a mistransliteration and the product of a 13th century monk's imagination.

If people want to use the name Jehovah or Yahweh, that's fine. But they should know and teach the truth about the origin's of the name.

10

I Went Into "Cult Mode" The Other Day..

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

if you recall, i'm just coming to grips with ttatt and atheism after a few years of doubts.

made a long post around here, a while ago, talking about the very subject.

but, anyways.... so the other day, my wife was telling me how she was just exhausted and "peopled out.

Bonsai

The guilt wears off (and thus the power of the cult) after about two months of missing meetings. I don't even think about it being a meeting day/night anymore. I went cold turkey last fall and stopped all "organizational activities". I was in good standing but just could no longer take the mental raping any longer. Ironically, the last meeting i went to was when we were covering Deuteronomy 18 in the weekly bible reading. I read Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and right then and there I decided I was done. The wife was pretty pissed by my attitude, but she eventually reached the same conclusion that we both could use a little livin' without all the guilt and pressure to please the "mother" org.

If the meetings make you feel better then you got to do what you have to do, but if they make you feel like vomiting in your mouth, then it's time to stop swallowing the F.O.G.(fear,obligation,guilt) poison.

19

New to the site

by LexIsFree in

jw
friends

my name is alex.

i have been a reader/lurker of this site for over a year now.

first time i am posting.

Bonsai

Bienvenido mi amigo. Thanks for sharing your life story! May the sun shine always upon you, the rain fall always behind you. May the wind blow at your back helping you wherever you may go.

52

Writing Department Interview on "The Generation."

by cappytan in

jw
friends

a member of the writing department was gracious enough to allow me to interview him about the "overlapping generation" doctrine.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eo1o5qmagu.

Bonsai

Oh man. I needed that laugh. Thanks man! You just made my morning. Cheers!