Posts by Bonsai

28

Question for believers, heaven or earth?

by Tornintwo in

just trying to figure out what i believe in the wake of leaving the borg.

jesus message appeals, of course.

i just wanted to ask believers, christians, on this forum if you think the hope is heaven or earth.

Bonsai

You forgot the third option for believers: HELL

39

Are You Easily Offended? 😠

by minimus in

jw
friends

i'm sick and tired of everyone claiming to be "offended".

if you are not politically correct, you will need to apologize for some perceived slight.. when i was an elder, i purposely avoided as much as i could, anybody that got easily offended.

.

Bonsai

I'm sick and tired of people who are sick and tired of those who are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

183

JWs have more good points than bad

by lsw1961 in

1) many who were on the destructive path have been transformed by their teachings (this includes me who was once vicious, and presumptuous and atheistic).

2) equal monthly pay to all members of the bethel community regardless of whether they are bc members or sweepers.

this is something that still remains as an unattainable dream for the world.

Bonsai

this is the reason why I adopted a different strategy—I support JW for their good, but secretly disapprove their failings, thus avoid the heart-break of losing my loved ones.

Confrontation is not a good idea always. Not giving your heart to things you do not approve is a sweet rebellion with no possibility of ever being noticed/punished.

Isw61,

I totally understand that you have to keep up pretenses for your loved ones. I know other witnesses who are in the same unenviable position that you are in. If you can stomach the mental torture, then stay in and try to change things from the inside. Don't just secretly disapprove of their failings. Inaction from those still in like you will only prolong the injustice and pain that is being inflicted on your fellow brothers.

But be warned, sooner or later reality will catch up with you. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. It will get ripped out from your hands because the whole organization is trained top to bottom to spy on each other.

40

Greetings

by Pioneerbot in

wanted to say hi.

i've been lurking for a long time.

i also spend time on other forums.

Bonsai

Nice to meet you. Congrats on your success with the family.

25

3 local needs parts on service meeting.

by hoser in

it is scheduled on our service meeting next week to have 3 local needs parts.

local needs 1 , local needs 2 and local needs 3.

Bonsai

1. Give us more money or Jehovah will kill you.

2. Stay loyal to the FDS or Jehovah will kill you..

3. Give us more money and go out in service more or Jehovah will kill you.

183

JWs have more good points than bad

by lsw1961 in

1) many who were on the destructive path have been transformed by their teachings (this includes me who was once vicious, and presumptuous and atheistic).

2) equal monthly pay to all members of the bethel community regardless of whether they are bc members or sweepers.

this is something that still remains as an unattainable dream for the world.

Bonsai

Recently all the JW apologists have disappeared from this forum. Now all we get to enjoy are the occasional one-and-dones. I think more could be done to avoid scaring them away so quickly. Considering the fact that they are coming from a position of ignorance, I think we could be more patient and go easier on them (Myself included).

To the OP:

Thanks for your thoughts. I think almost any religion has some good points about it. Unfortunately, the things that you downplay such as the shunning policies are hurting a lot of people. It's sad because many people who are disfellowshipped left for valid reasons. Nobody deserves to be cut off from their loved ones. Nobody deserves to be treated as the living dead when they enter a kingdom hall to fight a weakness or try and makes things right with their god. Repenters should not have to suffer cruel and unusual punishment.

51

One Year Later - A Thank You to Tony Morris.

by cappytan in

jw
friends

dear anthony morris, iii:.

i wanted to send you a note of "thanks" on this special day.. why is this day special, you may ask?

one year ago today, you, tony, woke me up to the fact that the governing body could not have jehovah's blessing or direction.. last year, on november 8th & 9th, 2014, the united states branch visit was broadcast to over 1,000,000 jehovah's witnesses across the country.. as i sat at the kingdom hall listening to the "historic occasion," i was ignoring certain doubts that had surfaced in the few months prior.

Bonsai

Yeah. That speech was epic - epically stupid.

32

Hi First Post Here

by Distracted in

jw
friends

just wanted to break the ice and write my first post here and also talk about some things that are bothering me.

i don't go to meetings anymore and i have become inactive for years now.

i don't believe the witnesses have the truth more than any other organized religion.

Bonsai

Welcome Distracted. I can relate so well to how you are feeling. It's like we are stuck in between two worlds and don't seem to fit into either one. I also can relate to family members trying to guilt trip us, using fear-mongering tactics, to get us back into the organization. It's an uncomfortable time of transition, but it does get better as you make new friends and throw all that Fear Obligation and Guilt (mind FOG) manure out to pasture.

9

Does growing up in a religious family make you MEAN?

by Divergent in

jw
friends

yeah, i was mean.

could it be that i was not encouraged to have non-jw's as friends, so i viewed them as insignificant?

could it be that i found it difficult to live up to "christian standards" and took it out on others?

Bonsai

It made me mean that's for sure. I treated my disfella-shipped siblings like crap. I made fun of Catholics, Mormons, any pagan religion. I even told classmates that God was going to destroy them if they didn't become J-dubs. It's gonna take years to undo the damage that I have caused.

Interesting study results.

71

Which bible character do you hate the most?

by Bonsai in

the more i think about it, the more i feel an extreme dislike for the apostle paul.

he was on par with hitler in his treatment of the jews before he "saw the light".

he replaced jesus teachings of love and mercy with a more legalistic, pharisaical concept of devotion to god.. any evil person can come to believe in god and worship him if the scales were literally and miraculously removed from his eyes.

Bonsai

Truthexplorer,

Every good story has to have a super villain. But I don't think the buck stops with just Satan. How about the fact that God doesn't do anything for anyone when they need clear answers for the severe problems or crisis of faith that they are facing? All we have to work with is a vague human sacrifice that supposedly happened in some remote place two millennia ago. Then we have a bunch of confusing, poorly written scrolls mashed together to make the modern day bible. I'd say there is plenty of blame to spread all around. I don't see god spending much time clearing up the confusion (unless it's to help someone find a roof leak so they can attend a convention).

Also, I agree with everyone's thoughts on David. I liked him as a kid because he slayed a giant. Nowadays, I'd bet killing a giant would get you disfella-shipped, or worse, put you away in a maximum security prison for a very long time.