Posts by Island Man

38

Is There Any Thing That Would Make A JW SERIOUSLY Question Their Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i realize that jehovah’s witnesses have been dumbed down for long time now.

.

still, i think there must be something that would make them really question their beliefs, even their life.. i think that if witnesses were told they could take blood or that disfellowshipping was unloving, they might stop and take a hard look at everything they have sacrificed their lives for.. i know the organization has muddled these subjects before but the i think even die hard witnesses might start to second guess the governing body..

Island Man

I will say that for the overwhelming majority of JWs, only a very negative, disillusioning personal experience in the religion, will get them to seriously question their religion.

Very few will seriously question after hearing TTATT. Most dismiss TTATT as being nothing but "apostate driven" lies.

JWs have been carefully trained to dull their own rational, logical and critical thinking skills in favor of gullible emotional thinking that blindly and naively laps up rose-colored, self-serving, emotive Watchtower propaganda and super cynically and prejudicially dismisses all negative information just because it is negative, without any regard whatsoever as to testing out its truthfulness. In fact, many JWs will outright tell you they do not want to hear it, if they know you're about to share negative information with them. Classic burying the head in the sand!

40

Faced with the reality of mortality

by stuckinarut2 in

how have you all coped with facing the reality of our mortality?.

most of us were raised to firmly believe we would never get old or die... so here we are now having to face the reality that are getting older... we are going to die.. sometimes it really pisses me off that we were never helped to comprehend this most basic of facts.

we were given a utopian dream as a "fact", and hence never taught how to face our inevitable futures.... thoughts?.

Island Man

How have you all coped with facing the reality of our mortality?

I remind myself that I was dead once before - before I was conceived. I think of my future demise as simply a return to my non-existent state before conception. I do not grieve the time I did not exist before conception, so why should I be grieved about the time I will not exist when I die?

I will not miss out on anything when I die because I will be unconscious. To miss out on something you have to be conscious of the fact that that thing exists and you're not experiencing it. So I know I will not be missing out on anything when I die because I will not have the consciousness required to experience loss and missing out. We only think we'll be missing out because we look at our death through the eyes of the living. You have to resist that temptation and look at your death through the eyes of the dead.

The worst part about dying could be that it happens painfully. But don't we experience pain when we get sick but do not die? Haven't you been sick before, in pain? So why should the pain of dying be dreaded any more than the pain we have already experienced without dying?

Death does no harm to the dead. Death only grieves the living. Don't grieve over your own death. Grieve over the death of a loved one.

If there is any religion I will get behind, it's a rational, non-theistic religion that focuses on this subject of coping with our own mortality, overcoming the irrational fear of death. I believe that once we sit down and meditate carefully on what our death actually entails and how it actually will not affect us in any way, much of the irrational fear and anxiety surrounding our mortality disappears.

13

Asexual dating?

by purrpurr in

for those who don't know, asexual is someone who feels no sexual desire for other people.

they may often want the companionship of a relationship but with no benefits.

what would the jws view be of a jw dating an asexual worldly person?

Island Man

JWs are all about appearances. So even though the person is asexual they will say that your actions still go against the spirit of the scriptures and sets a bad example that others in the congregation may choose to follow if you're not dealt with. They'll also say that even without the illicit sex, there's the matter of bad association. JWs aren't supposed to have unnecessary association with worldly persons, such as going out with them on a chaste date.

26

Male Martyrs can expect to find 72 virgin maidens, what can female suicide bombers expect???

by James Mixon in

female martyrs will be chief of 72 virgins the fairest of the women, and plus she will made beautiful , happy and without jealousy .."whoopee" their paradise is worst than jw's paradise..

Island Man

72

Stay alive till 75!

Stay true for the 72!

89

Do you believe in god?

by freakyAL in

i used to be a staunch believer in god.

maybe its technology and science advancing so much thats got me doubting idk.

do you believe in god?

Island Man

No. There is no sound evidence to support the idea of a god.

Belief in a god starts with religious indoctrination; is motivated by irrational emotionalism; and endures through scientific ignorance and lack of critical thinking skills.

25

YPA change of picture

by dozy in

anybody got any idea why the cover picture on the young people ask book was changed?

they removed the picture of the boy bottom right & superimposed a different head.

maybe the guy got dfd or maybe it was to change it to an asian guy rather than 2 caucasians?

Island Man

I think the most likely scenario is that he is now an ex-JW. Watchtower loves to stigmatize. They likely stigmatize as "spiritually unclean" any publication the production of which was contributed to by anyone that is now an ex-JW. Remember what happened to all the publications authored by Raymond Franz? When it's a photo appearance, they edit the person out of the photo.

There could also be legal concerns as well. A JW who disassociates might not want his picture to continue being featured in Watchtower literature, giving the impression that he is still affiliated with the organization. Some might threaten legal action if Watchtower does not remove their image from their literature.

50

The wonder of scientific research

by amicabl in

this has possibly been brought up before however here goes.. constant reference is made by many posters to scientific research as being the only way to prove something factual that would otherwise have to be taken on faith.

there actually seems to be "faith" in scientific findings.. my experience over many years is that most scientific research is fake.

nothing oftencomes of the big announcements made to raise more money.. money, prestige, pride, human error, suppositions etc., are rife amongst the scientific community.. i realise that there have been many advances over hundreds of years but humankind is in a mess, although very different to even a century ago.. the medical profession now has vaccinations for everything, antiviral drugs etc.

Island Man

"Most scientific research is fake".

You can't honestly believe that. You sound like Donald Trump. LOL.

14

which member of the GB would you like to see on here ?

by stan livedeath in

if any member of the gb were to turn apostate---and join this site-----who would you like it to be ?

and why ?.

and--least like--and why ?.

Island Man

Most like to see - David Splane. Why? Because he's the doctrinal guy and his defection and criticisim of Watchtower doctrine would do the most damage to Watchtower's claim of being The Truth.

Least like to see - Steven Lett. Why? Because he does far more damage to Watchtower as a member of the GB than he ever could as an apostate. He looks and speaks like a creepy, condescending cult leader. Let him stay with Watchtower to show them up as the creepy cult that they are. If he ever became apostate he would be a liability to the apostate community and could only stand to give credence to Watchtower's claim that apostates are "mentally diseased".

10

Excellent YouTube channel

by Are you serious in

a few days ago, thanks to someone's post on here (sorry i forgot who it was), i found an awesome youtube channel called theramintrees.

the videos this guy has made are amazing!

i'm sure others here have seen some of his videos.

Island Man

That's because the chap behind theramin trees is an exjw

No, he's not. I think you're confusing him with someone else.

27

''This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth FULL STOP''- Matthew 24:14. JW ORG

by ThomasCovenant in

hi.

only just noticed on the jw borg home page that matt 24:14 is quoted with a full stop instead of a comma after the word earth then the closing quotation marks.. isn't that incorrect?.

Island Man

No, it's not incorrect. It's just a partial quote. Ideally, they should end it with ellipses (...) to indicate that it is just a partial quote. But it's not very unusual or unprecedented for famous sayings to be quoted partially with a full stop.

Partial quotes are made to highlight a particular phrase in support of a particular point, without the distraction of the rest of the text which is irrelevant to the point being made. The source of the quote is given so a reader can easily look it up and see the whole text.

My guess is that they quoted Matthew 24:14 partially just to make the point that [they believe] they're fulfilling the prophecy about the good news being preached. The rest of the text is irrelevant to that point. If the full quote were given then it would be less clear exactly which point they're making - that the end is coming; or that they're fulfilling the preaching of the good news of the kingdom; or both? Since they only wanted to make the clear point that they're preaching the good news they quoted only that part. IMHO it's a fair use of partial quotes.

Watchtower does engage in misleading partial quotes where inconvenient information directly related to the point they're making is omitted, but I don't think this is one of them.