Posts by Bonsai

69

Why Me?

by John Aquila in

do you ever wonder why out of all the witnesses, you are the one that woke up?

i wonder many times why me.

i know many men and women that are much, much better persons than me; either they are much smarter, more humble, kinder, more successful, or just better persons all around.

Good points Caleb. Survivor's guilt plays all kinds of roles in us waking up. I always questioned myself, as a witness, why I had "the truth" and was in line for survival when there were others on this planet who were much nicer, kinder, smarter and all around better people than I. Yet 98% of those people were in line to be destroyed at Armageddon because they couldn't accept our teachings of the bible.

That bothered me to my core. Why should I survive and rebuilt a paradise over the corpses of better people, people MORE deserving of life than I was? I could never understand how witnesses could be so content to believe that this incoming genocide from heaven was just,right and rational. To me, this world is like the modern day Nineveh. The majority of humans on the planet (or actually all of them) do not know their right hand from their left in regards to what is supposed to be the ultimate spiritual truth.

I dont know if you felt the same way as a witness John, but I did. I asked, why me? as a witness and why me even now.

90

The Org is terrified of apostates

by SecretSlaveClass in

i knew apostasy was a serious concern for the org, but until i watched this video, i had no idea how afraid they actually were.

all this guy wants is to do is not turn in his fs hours and immediately they (elders) set about drilling him about who are what influenced his decision, as if he was incapable of making his own (which as the elders confirm, in the org is highly discouraged).

they are convinced he has been communicating with apostates or visiting apostate web sites.

Bonsai

Instruction of GIVING. Matthew 6:1-4....What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms, which would having nothing to do with reporting the field service.

You're right SimonSays. Giving alms is, at least, doing something. Going out in field service and also reporting your time is equal to giving nothing. It literally doesn't benefit people at all. JW's do nothing for anyone. Good point!

8

Mr. Geoffrey William Jackson = Humpty Dumpty

by kepler in

when i use a word, humpty dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, it means just what i choose it to mean neither more nor less.. .

the question is, said alice, whether you can make words mean so many different things.. .

the question is, said humpty dumpty, which is to be master thats all.

Bonsai

8 A. So, your Honour, you will notice there is an asterisk

9 there on the term "rod", and you see the footnote.

10

11 Q. Yes.

12 A. "Discipline or punishment". So in the application of

13 this, the term "rod" is used as a symbol or a metaphor to

14 indicate the authority to give some punishment. For

15 example, in a modern‐day setting, my father could say to me

16 I don't go to the movies because I had broken some of the

17 rules of the home.

18

19 Q. So it's not about inflicting corporal punishment,

20 then?

21 A. It absolutely is not about inflicting corporal

22 punishment.

23

24 Q. It would have been when first written, wouldn't it?

25 A. How people applied it back then, at that time, of

26 course is open to question.

There is no way in hell that when Proverbs 13:34 was written, "rod" was metaphorical in nature. We are talking about a culture that actually stoned disobedient ones.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ESV

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Would it be far fetched to believe that those who would willingly stone someone for their rebelliousness would not also unleash the rod on their children as well?

Nice try GJ.

39

Are There Good People Out There?

by LaurenM in

even though i'm no longer mentally a jw (i still technically am) i do recognize that there are some benefits to being raised one.

for example, the first (and only so far) wordly guy i was involved with had to smoke weed every day and got drunk all the time and that was his idea of fun.

i couldn't help but feel bad for him.

Bonsai

I agree to an extent. I am thankful to have met my loving wife through the religion. Ironically some of the qualities that we strive to find for a mate are the same qualities that caused her to leave the religion. It's good to find someone who is honest, open-minded, unassuming and for the most part, unconditional in their love and affection for their friends and family.

Most religions strive to teach the same basic set of morals. You can find good people regardless of background or religion, What they care about is a very telling factor. Do they have a substance abuse problem? Do they come from a generous family? These are all good things to research about the person.

52

Court seizes over one million Jehovah's Witnesses brochures brought into Russia

by StarTrekAngel in

http://red.theworldnewsmedia.org/index.php/en/forum-home-page/jehovah-s-witnesses/93-court-seizes-over-one-million-jehovah-s-witnesses-brochures-brought-into-russia

Bonsai

It's amazing what a difference a year makes. Last year I would have been so angry with Russia and its overhanded tactics. Now I just feel apathy towards what they are doing. The Russian people have enough to deal with right now. They don't need the added guilt, fear and obligation dumped on them from some American sect. Also, they have their own KGB, they don't need to compete with the seven (k)GB in NY.

20

Perfection? Ponder this...

by OverlappingGeneralizations in

hello all- nice forum.i have been contemplating a fade for a while, and i have been reading various sites such as this one.

i have seen all kinds of things that have made me think.

but something came to mind lately, and i wanted to throw it out there-satan was cast down to the earth, and he is supposedly the cause of all imperfection.

Bonsai

I'd like to see a perfected version of Lett. Will he gesture less? Will his facial expressions normalize? Will god let him in to heaven with that pinky ring? How about our big brother Morris? Will that perpetual scowl disappear from his face? As my big brothers pave the way for my perfection over the 1,000 years, are they gonna help kick some ass when the beast is unleashed from the abyss? Or will they be a big no show like Loesch was when summoned to court last year?

I don't think moving to a new planet would help. Satan can still shoot beams of perfection busting particles from the surface of the earth to zap you of your immortality. Lets consider too that all these spirit creatures have had millions of years to plot and plan the fate of humanity. I would think that Satan knew beforehand which planets closets to the earth were the easiest and most likely to be colonized, so he set up some traps, temptations and perfection busting shooters on each of the planets near us.

Also, when man began to build civilization up and mass together, god got angry, stepped in and confused all with languages to divide and scatter the smartest and most capable people. What makes you think he would allow humans to colonize planets without stepping in and disrupting them?

Nice thread and welcome to the forum!

579

Won't get fooled again ...Moon Landing.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

so i was fooled by the witnesses.

what can i learn from that?

not to accept things at face value but to seek out opinion and different view points.. hence my question " do you believe man landed on the moon?.

Bonsai

"Noooo waaay! That's great. We landed on the moon!" - Jim Carey ( Dumb and dumber)

You want to say there is no Valhalla, Yahweh or Santa Claus? Fine. But don't take away my awe of us landing on the moon!

46

JWs nearly killed my mother

by cookiemaster in

the past week has been hell for me.

my mother started feeling ill and we went to seek medical assistance.

we live in the mountains and the nearest large hospital is about 150 kms away.

Bonsai

My thoughts echo everyone else's here! Appreciated the happy ending. This story has made my day as another potential human sacrifice was avoided..

21

i made my sister cry :(

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

so lately i've felt so frustrated and overwhelmed that i had to tell someone how i felt.

my parents were gone so i decided to talk to my sister.

we've always been close so i thought i could trust her because we have talked about it before.

Bonsai

It disgusts me how this religion keeps children locked in a prison of fear and superstition. Their only thought is to escape this system and get into paradise. So many children growing up in this environment are forced to live in small isolated little worlds that prevent them from contributing to society and harnessing their innate talents for the benefit of others and for themselves.

Is your 14 year old sister baptized? If/when you leave, it seems very likely that she will zealously shun you. For the sake of your relationship with her, I'd help her little by little to expand her mind and see that not all is truth in WatchtowerLand before it's too late. If she wants to continue as a witness then that's her choice, but it would be advantageous to you if she was a "flexible" witness so that you can keep your relationship with her even if you leave.

30

Life after the witnesses, friends, faith etc

by Theburstbubble in

jw
friends

hi everyone, this is my first post so go easy on me :) i have been a witness all of my life (i'm 37) and truly believed it until 3 years ago.

my husband and i had become spiritually weak and over time i began to question more and more until i came to the conclusion that the witnesses were not the true religion but just one of many religions and that if god is there then there are many paths to get to him.

anyway, i've battled with keeping going as my husband still believed and i didn't want to be in a divided household as we have a young daughter and thought it would be very confusing for her (and us).

Bonsai

Welcome. I hear what you are saying about things becoming complicated when a little child is in the picture. Your religious views are evolving, but love for your child should not be affected by the changes in your life. If your child can feel the unconditional love from both her parents, then it's very likely that all the other changes will have very little effect on her. I have a little girl, too. i think we are doing them a favor by leaving this "captive organization" and the conditional human relationships that it offers.

I am a fourth generation witness, and I have seen how this religion has influenced and screwed up/divided four generations of my family. The cycle ends with me!

Making new friends can be a tough hurdle for some (like me). It's hard to trust again. But if you put in the effort and take the initiative to start new hobbies or volunteer work friends will start coming out of the wood work.

Wishing you and your family the best!