the "what does the bible really teach?
" book says we cannot speak to the dead (page 64) and that the dead do not hear (page 58) but on page 68 the book has jesus talking to a dead man and the dead man apparently hearing and responding.
the same thing happens on page 69 when peter talks to a dead woman and the dead woman apparently hears and responds.
The Bible itself contains 100 x 100 contradictions. I have been listen to Prof. Bart Ehrman sometimes and and his lectures are mind blowing. Here is an link to´one of his lessons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nEBLbNfcoo
Unfortunately JWs are not allowed to listen to this...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/when-is-a-religion-extremist_us_590de8e3e4b046ea176aeb98.
tim rymel, m.ed.. governments who support “religious freedom” over the equal human rights and dignity of others condone, and even endorse discrimination.. 05/06/2017 11:27 am et | photo – flickr/ justin kern .
government endorsement of any religious ideology creates religious extremism.
AndersssonInfo
I think that your post is one of the most interesting I have seen here lately. In fact I would like to read a whole academic essay on the subject. Can you make one? I would gladly by a copy. I think it is true that some religions encourage their believers to violence. Jainism is probably the only I know who doesn´t. Even Buddhist monks in certain area advocates violence in order to correct those who do not accept their belief system. And I think you can find individuals in almost every religion that thinks he/she will do God a favors if he beat/kill torture an defector or disloyal. It´s the personal mindset of the individual person that makes the Muslims, the Chatholics , the Jeevwish, the Pentacostal and all other religion dangerous. I my self has certainly seen JW,s with a mindset that doubtless could be very dangerous if some , charismatic leader pulls the trigger. Wasn´t the Oklahoma bomber a KKK? Breivik from Norway killed about 72 people whit shotguns because he had Nazi ideas. In Sweden we have had a number of “normal” white Swedish guys that that thinks immigrants are dangerous and grabbed a gun going out and shoot them…
It is not your religion or the color of your skin that makes you dangerous, it is your mindset and weather you some sort on mental diagnose…
when i was a kid and even in my adult life i believed in demons.
the demons were always around.
we had to be careful that we didn't do anything to upset jehovah or else the demons would make their way to us.
My wife (still in) still believe in demons. When she was young she thought that she know the art of presage. After marrying me 42 years ago….she has not been able see one single demon or even giving tomorrows weather forecast. Am I a bad influence?
i read on another thread how this site has helped another user and that for them it has been a form of therapy.. for me yes, jwn has most certainly been a form of therapy.. i recall the days i first came to jwn (in 2004) and couldn't believe i had found people who were of the same opinion as myself in regards to the society.
it was this site that led me to reading ray franz's book 'crisis of conscience' which i read twice within a week.
it also led me to jw facts that goes into every nook and cranny regarding the society's teachings, policies and history.. note: i also visit many other sites and watch you tube videos a lot, but gravitate here most of the time.. coming here to express my inner most thoughts and feelings has helped me no end and allows me to overcome my frustrations.
Yes of course. Coming from an organization that claims they have “the truth”, and as an single individual understanding that this is NOT the truth….makes you very weak. Finding other people that have discovered the same, strengthen you. You realize that you are not alone.
i think this will interest quite a few here.
in an announcement sure to spark a firestorm of controversy, researchers say they’ve found signs of ancient humans in california between 120,000 and 140,000 years ago—more than a hundred thousand years before humans were thought to exist anywhere in the americas.. .
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/mastodons-americas-peopling-migrations-archaeology-science/.
In Sweden most science are skeptical. The proof are not just good enough. They are looking for DNA and verified carbon dating and Helium Argon dating... and that is very difficult to make...
good morning, all.. it is good to be here.. thanks to all for your contributions.. love and blessings.
sylvia.
Good evening snowbird..
not taxing churches is taking as estimated $71 billion from our economy every year.
watching one of the late night talk show and the host mention how much dough we could have to help the poor if the churches were taxed.
i check to see and i b-damn, mormon church spends 7% of its annual income on charity, the average for churches are 29% to help the poor.
In Sweden most of the parties claims to be “non religious”, this is but one. The one that claims to be founded on “Christian base”… have less than 3% of the voters. In fact It looks like most of the higher ranked Politian’s are scared of saying that they have some sort of a religious mind or idea. There are examples that ministers and other “high ranked” Politian’s have been found to go to mosques and other Muslim (not extreme) organizations, just to win votes from the more 750.000 Muslims that live in our country. They have been removed from their positions by their parties. This is how it is to live in an extreme secular state. If you search for a job in Sweden, do not ever mention that you are member of a church, specially JW,s….This contrary to what the WBTS tells us on assemblies.
over many years i have been pondering how mental illness has impacted upon jw's due to the effects of indoctrination.
in my case; when i was 21 i had a breakdown and was hospitalised for 6 weeks.
i was diagnosed with anxiety tension state disorder.
Tallon
I think you are right, but I also think that you are only seeing the top of an iceberg. There are some scientifically studies on the subject JW/mental illness, but they are very small and not properly done. But from my own experience the rate of anxiety, mental illness and other disorders within the JW are very much higher than in an average population. I myself have suffered from anxiety and in such high degree that fainted and was taken into hospital for observation for a whole week. The doctors ordered me to slow down and resign as an elder….
how many times did you hear that gem?
it often went along with "the truth is a protection" which is their way of saying "living a moral life is good for you ... and you can't do that without us".. but think about what people are really saying.
i think the real message is "i know it's not the truth, but i chose to follow it anyway".. it seems like a pre-emptive argument because they know they can't defend it as "the truth" so instead they switch to defending it as a lifestyle.. of course any kind of lifestyle that has a decent moral ingredient to it, respect for law and order, discipline etc... probably increases people's chances of doing better in life, but they don't have a monopoly on it.. so just remember, next time you hear someone saying "even if it's not the truth" what they are really admitting is that they already know it isn't..
Rainbow-troll
I like the way you take up the “problem”. I think in fact that our brain capacities are so limited that we cannot actually decide who is right and who is wrong. That is up to every individual “in their own mind” to decide. Meaning that no one really can criticize other human’s decision. Your mathematical discussion is however the only way to make some sort of a logic about it. But it doesn´t tell us what is the correct or not correct decision ethical in our moral compass…. That is yet to be discussed. And it has been discussed, by Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard and others for several hundreds of years. Another discussion is, if it is right or correct to assume there is a GOD and that he has a wholly scriptures that everyone is obligated to accept, and if everyone must obey the interpretations that their local priest give them on their Sunday service? I have been wondering a numbers of years on these questions and never come to a final answer…
i salute you.
many of you, like me, are probably under enormous emotional pressure, whether from a lingering false sense of guilt from your indoctrination, whether from "invitations," and assumptions that you'll naturally be coming, or whether from outright emotional blackmail, even begging and pleading.
i am thinking of you whoever you are, all of you, even though i don't know you in person.
I haven´t attend any memorial or other meeting for over 10 years now. During the first years with my absence, a few attempts was made to invite me, but the discussions that followed made the elders think it was much better if I stayed at home. My wife however still goes to every meeting, the time I got free, I used to read your comments here….much more spiritual….
