Posts by no-zombie

31

Loss of a Jehovah’s Witness who I considered a friend

by Fallen_Winter in

jw
friends

i have known a jehovah’s witness for approximately 15 years and i have considered her a friend although i know that jehovah’s witnesses cannot have friends who are not jehovah’s witnesses.

approximately two years ago, i was going through a very difficult time and i asked my friend if we could have bible study.

she said yes and we have been studying the bible since.

no-zombie

Most Jehovah's Witnesses are good and kind people. And as a result (as she genuinely believes that she is trying to help you) her motives should be seen as coming from an honest place. However, Jehovah's Witness are also strictly loyal to the Organization that directs the preaching work and as such, she will follow the instructions to terminate a 'unproductive' study. Like disfellowshipping, even this is seen as a kindness, as the shock of loosing your study is viewed as a last chance for you to change your mind, so that you recommence it with more vigor and commitment.

Sadly, under the current Governing Body, witnessing and conducting Bible studies is not about spreading Bible truths, no ... is only about conversion. And when it is not happening, Witnesses are told to move on to a more deserving souls.

Sorry.

5

WHAT DOES THE NEW LIGHT ON THE UNITED NATIONS REVEAL ABOUT THE WATCHTOWER

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/8p5z-acq8yi?si=zs5r75kguxkk1woc.

so what you are about to watch is the 3rd adjustment that was introduced in the annual meeting by geofftey jackson and it has to do with the their new understanding on the united nations, so here is the verse revelation 17:12 :"these have one thought, so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.

" so they used to believe that the "one thought" in this verse was the one thought to destroy babylon the great but that has now changed to one thought empowering the united nations with more powers to carry on god's will and bring armageddon.

no-zombie

I don't know why people here get so excited about the UN. History has proven that no matter what is says, it is just as effective in preventing international problems and gathering international coalitions as it predecessor the League of Nations.

Like any political group it needs to stay in the public eye and so it will often come out with catchy "peace in our time" messages. Yet the reality is that its bordering on insolvency, crippled by its own veto laws and directly attacked by member counties.

It took me about 2 minutes for find these references to everyone to consider ...

https://www.globalissues.org/news/2024/02/16/36006

https://truthout.org/articles/israel-injured-un-peacekeepers-in-lebanon-with-white-phosphorus-report-finds/

https://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/looking-backward-into-the-future-why-the-united-nations-has-failed-to-prevent-genocide/

13

Does maths prove the bible is wrong?

by joey jojo in

there might be a few that find this post boring, because, you know - its maths.. i like maths but im not a mathematician or condsider myself any type of expert on the subject.. there is a branch of maths called propositional logic that is used widely in computers and computer programming that allows computers to make decisions based on certain conditions.

for example: if a condition exists, then do something.

like: if the a button is pressed, then the letter a will appear on the screen.

no-zombie

While I understand logic based reasoning reasonably well, the problem most people fall into is when they make their statements too open.

For example, we have the common logic statement that goes like ... as most serial killers play violent video games, there is a high chance that playing violent video games will turn you into a multiple murderer.

However, we all know in reality that there are other factors behind every supposed causality concept, like this.

Thus trying to boil God or the Bible down into a simple logic based diagram, will not be that helpful to the reader, as the truth of a matter often is more nuanced ... just as it would be, if we tried to analyses you and your life in the same way.

39

THE PROBLEM WITH THESE 2 NEW GB MEMBERS APPOINTMENTS

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/rjr0ugtu6zu?si=d3zsz20ee33gytxi.

these new appointments are troubling, to say the least, especially considering the factors surrounding their selection.

these appointments raise key concerns about leadership, experience, and what is happening behind the scenes at the organization's headquarters.

no-zombie

I wouldn't worry about radical changes occurring within the Organization due to the appointment of Jedele and Rumph because Fleegle and Winder have now been with us for two years, and its still been 'situation normal'.

This is due (in big part) to the fact those in power generally appoint like minded replacements and never push radicals high up the decision making ladder. Its just human nature.

Of course in time Jedele and Rump may tinker around the edges of the Society, but its going to take some time to acclimate into their new roles. But once they begin to feel the power and prestige of being a GB member, I'm sure that they will think quite hard about decisions that could erode their own authority.

39

THE PROBLEM WITH THESE 2 NEW GB MEMBERS APPOINTMENTS

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/rjr0ugtu6zu?si=d3zsz20ee33gytxi.

these new appointments are troubling, to say the least, especially considering the factors surrounding their selection.

these appointments raise key concerns about leadership, experience, and what is happening behind the scenes at the organization's headquarters.

no-zombie

Once a person understands that the Organization isn't really governed by the Holy Spirit, then it become quite easy to see how these kinds of appointments are made. And I wouldn't be surprised if these recent GB additions aren't part of the power-block politics that exist in congregational Elder bodies.

But yeh ... I'd be bummed if I was a long time Helper, and saw those newbies fast-tracked in front of me.

73

JWN, 23 years posting Blondie

by blondie in

jw
friends

can i call you friends, i think so after 23 years posting here.

i am dismayed how jwn is being "dominated" or taken over by a few posters, peppering the comments.

in the past, the admin did not approve of this and did remove some posters from jwn.

no-zombie

Sadly I must agree with Blondie's comments too.

This place (as I understood it to be) was basically a forum for recovering Jehovah's Witnesses. A place where one could vent and feel free to ask questions once again. But all too often these days, more than a few posters have become highly aggressive when their particular views were not accepted. Others (people who I wager have never been Witnesses) have used this platform to directly and clearly 'witness' to a large audience. Still others have made this place an American centric, socio-polical fight club, to constantly rehash conspiracy theories, that non-Americians see as quite childish.

All this is what I wanted to leave behind ... and quiet frankly, I think is discouraging newer members from participating.

164

How did JWs arrive at a clearer understanding of what the Bible teaches than other Christian denominations?

by slimboyfat in

for jws who believe that jehovah had a hand in reviving the truth in the nineteenth century this is enough explanation for how jws managed to achieve a closer approximation to early christian beliefs and practices than other groups.

but is there an explanation for this phenomenon that doesn’t rely on supernatural intervention?

new testament scholar james dunn explains the difficulty of interpreting the biblical texts in this way:.

no-zombie

Whether Slim is or isn't is a matter for himself, however I still think that there is value in trying to salvage a spiritual life from the wreckage of our past experiences.

164

How did JWs arrive at a clearer understanding of what the Bible teaches than other Christian denominations?

by slimboyfat in

for jws who believe that jehovah had a hand in reviving the truth in the nineteenth century this is enough explanation for how jws managed to achieve a closer approximation to early christian beliefs and practices than other groups.

but is there an explanation for this phenomenon that doesn’t rely on supernatural intervention?

new testament scholar james dunn explains the difficulty of interpreting the biblical texts in this way:.

no-zombie

While I believe that your comment (Fatboyslim) is true, our Governing Body did not go far enough in trying to return to first century Christianity and as I mentioned in a past post, they became too heavily invested in the value of old Judaism.

However a deeper study of how early Christianity was practiced is still valuable. For I think that if God blessed the first century church, then what they believed and how they REALLY got on with their lives, could be useful to base our own faith upon.

For example, most never personally saw or heard more that a few letters from the Apostles, which is interesting to contemplate when we compare that fact with how much the GB bangs on about the essential nature of our 'spiritual food'.

Similar, all meetings were held in 'home churches' ... very much like our old Bookstudy groups, with most first century Christian never meeting others outside of that small circle. Which is again, in contrast to the message we get about our assemblies and conventions.

Finally (for the sake of brevity), there was no 'Organization' in the first century, which is quite contrary to the story we are told to support the legitimacy of the 'Faithful Slave' doctrine. And yet Christianity overcame hatred and REAL persecution, to spread throughout the known world, without one.

Yes, while things did became more dogmatic and rule based by the beginning of the third century, previous to that a person's individual conscious formed the basis of The Way ... a way of living, in stark contrast the violent and hedonist lifestyle of the average Roman citizen ...

53

WTS 2024 Annual Business Meeting ...

by careful in

... is just three weeks from this saturday.

the org has been tight-lipped, really, successfully secret about advance info on these in recent years,.

now that these relatively recent changes on dress and grooming, reporting fs time, judicial matters, etc.

no-zombie

Just remember ladies and gentleman, that the Governing Body does not care for the thoughts and feelings of the rank and file any more. Nor do they feel remorse or regret, over their past failings. Thus if they want to push out some 'new light', regardless of how upsetting it might be, they'll just do it.

They are just in a risk mitigation, numbers game now.

62

Ten reasons Jehovah’s Witnesses have the true religion (plus a bonus one)

by slimboyfat in

thinking back when i was a true believer these are probably the top ten reasons why i believed jws are the true religion.

1. they show love among themselves by not going to war.

not killing your fellow believers in any circumstances, including war, would seem to be a very basic requirement for true christianity.

no-zombie

To Silmboyfat

I was going to make a larger post on the topic of Jesus' presence in congregational meeting parts after the Annual Meeting, but I might as well say something now.

I must confess that once I learnt about the Jesus mini series and heard our Christmas song, I had hoped that it might be the beginning of a pivot back to CT Russell's teaching of learning the fruits of the spirit through Jesus' personal example.

Sadly after seeing the first episode (and listening to the talks around it) at the convention, I realized that it was just an exercise to appease those on the outside, who correctly claim that Jesus is invisible to the consciences of modern Witnesses.

But what is worse (depending on your perspective), is that one of the few opportunities to save the Organization from extinction, was lost. For instead of reforming the Church into a non-prophetic Christian based faith, one that would have a more attractive message to the world, the Governing Body weakly decided to spend millions on a white elephant project that would solve none of its problems. Proving once again how reactive instead of proactive, they really are.

And as the Bethel speaker noted, as we are slotting to see one new episode per District Convention, I strongly doubt that the Faith has another 15 years of business as usual, before the series wraps up.