Posts by Island Man

21

Are you "trained" to be loyal?

by DATA-DOG in

i went for the kh today for personal reasons.

it was pretty dumb, but not horrible.

anyway the speaker used a terrible, but accurate illustration in his gb approved outline.

Island Man

The WT study was horrible - filled with hypocrisy.

It talked about not have the superior attitude of my country is best and highlighted other forms of partiality and discrimination that should be avoided. But somehow their own religious superiority complex and bigotry of considering JWs alone to be true and denigrating everyone else as "worldly" didn't enter the picture. Hypocrites!

The part about not getting involved in worldly controversies was almost intolerable. During that time, this quote weighed on my mind: "all that it takes for evil to triumph, is that good men do nothing". I also wanted to scream at the audience:

"Well its a good thing that christendom's abolitionists of the 19th century didn't live by this philosophy of not getting involved in worldly controversies! Because if they did maybe most of us in here would still be on the slave plantations being whipped and treated like animals, there being nothing against slavery in the bible and all! Wake up you insufferable jackasses!"

21

Silly Bible things you notice when your awake.

by Crazyguy in

i sure you guys can list others but here is a thought about the exodus story.

in chapter 1 the pharoah is concerned that the israelites are becoming to numerous.

and just as a side point we can assume pharaohs were not to dumb and even if they were the smart people of egypt studied in the temple 40 years and they studied all things not just religion.

Island Man

Or how about millions of people encamped in what must be a huge compound in the wilderness. But every time you have to go use the bathroom you have to go outside the camp. What a long walk that would necessarily have to be for those in the middle of the camp.

"Shit! I think I have the runs. God I hope I can hold it in for the 20 minutes it will take me to get outside the camp!"

21

Silly Bible things you notice when your awake.

by Crazyguy in

i sure you guys can list others but here is a thought about the exodus story.

in chapter 1 the pharoah is concerned that the israelites are becoming to numerous.

and just as a side point we can assume pharaohs were not to dumb and even if they were the smart people of egypt studied in the temple 40 years and they studied all things not just religion.

Island Man

How about the accounts in exodus of different plagues that each kill off all the animals each time. Can all the animals of egypt be killed more than once in the space of a few hours or days? You would think that you can only wipe out all the animals of a country only once within a few weeks. What's happening? Are the animals being resurrected each time so they can all be killed again?

37

The Loyalty Question

by choosing life in

jw
friends

how many here have been asked the loyalty question by an elder.

i am referring to, "do you believe that jehovah is using the faithful and discreet slave class to accomplish his work?

" or something along this line?.

Island Man

"If you want to ask if I wish to disassociate, then why not come out and ask me plainly? Why do you instead hide behind trick questions like the pharisees did when they wanted to trap Jesus in his speech? Wasn't there a part on this years convention program that said imitate Jesus and not the pharisees? But to answer your question: If I wanted to disassociate myself I would say 'no, I don't believe the governing body is the faithful and discreet slave being used by Jehovah.' But because I do not wish to disassociate myself, my answer to you is 'yes, I do believe that they are'."

7

The Governing Body's Publicity Methods

by John Aquila in

.

Island Man

JWism = Religious fascism.

20

Faulty Reasoning to Promote God's "Name"

by Dissonant15 in

as i am newly awoken, i am daily having epiphanies & revelations now.

i've been casually wondering to myself since the propagandist broadcast about the name "jehovah" if it would be more proper to call him "yahweh" to myself.

well tonight the answer suddenly came to me: it doesn't matter.

Island Man

You are spot on Dissonant15! The JWs focus on the need to use an inaccurate personal name is actually quite petty and silly when you think about it.

They say bible names have meanings and God's name has a rich meaning. But they then turn around and negate that argument about the importance of the meaning of God's name, by focusing instead on the need to use a personal appellation. So which is really important - the meaning of the name or the verbal appellation? Make up your minds already, you blind guides!

If it is the meaning of God's name that is really important then that meaning is already known by christians who study the bible. Also, studying the bible reveals God's name - his character and personality. Thus, whether a christian uses "Jehovah" or not, he gets to know and use God's name in the most important ways that would matter most.

This fixation on the need to use a particular appellation thus amounts to petty superstitious nonsense that only serves to paint their God as a petty snob.

74

That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

by Island Man in

a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

Island Man

Perry, most objective scholars regard the few supposed references to Jesus in writings of old historians to be later fabrications by christians trying to plant evidence of Jesus into secular history.

You quoted an ancient writer who says Christians were named after Christus. However, Christus is not a name of Jesus but the greek word for the title of messiah. It seems like that reference to Christus was a later forgery by an ignorant christian trying to plant Jesus in secular history.

75

Lurker trying to gain clarity

by questioningmyfaith in

jw
friends

hello all, i would like to first say that i am basically questioning my faith in god.

i am not negative towards the wt at all.

so honestly i am to concerned with more ad hominem attacks towards the wt because i still love the organization and the people in it.

Island Man

I just want to mention too that my lack of disdain towards the WT will never change.

That statement is disturbing. It says to me that no amount of facts can change your mind. An honest person who values truth and bases his viewpoint on facts, will humbly change his mind on an issue if he receives new evidence that disprove his prior viewpoint.

An honest-hearted lover of truth would never make such a statement as you made. Yours is the kind of statement that a blindly loyal supporter of a political party or sports team, makes. It seems like you have a blind, tribalistic loyalty to WT and you proudly refuse to let any facts get in the way of it.

74

That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

by Island Man in

a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

Island Man

One other thing, IslandMan, you do know that Jews don't believe Jesus is the Messiah or believe in the Gospel accounts right?
You brought up the gospels and their writers and the claims of Jesus' powers-- you are aware that while we Jews can accept Jesus as an historical person, we don't at the same time believe any of the other stuff?

Yes, I'm aware of that.

74

That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

by Island Man in

a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

Island Man

Interesting experience, Cal.

I don't need Jesus to be a myth. In fact, for a good while I believed he was nothing more than a charismatic cult leader who was later embellished and imbued with godlike powers by the gospel writers. It never bothered me that he may have been a real person, because him being a real person doesn't change the fact that the gospels as written, are obviously filled with myth.

There are just too many examples of similar myths and a complete lack of secular historical mention of Jesus, for me to believe he actually existed as a real historical person on earth.