Posts by Garrett

75

Having Faith in the Bible

by william draper in

i know many on here have lost faith in the bible , is it possible that is because ones do not have the right perspective regarding it .

we have usually been taught by bad teachers , or ignorant .

i believe if we take an honest look at the bible , we will see that it gives us the best answers to crucial matters , it gives us some amount of bearings ( understanding ) , which without having such knowledge we would all be more like walking zombies in amanner of speaking , we would be lacking hope in something better , for surely something better is to come , how can we be sure , .

Garrett

I will agree that the bible does have some good in it, especially the New Testament, however, you cannot ignore the fact that the bible has bad in it as well such as those that were mentioned by some of our fellow members. Yes the New Testament has some good morals in it such as the golden rule, but frankly, we are all born with the same moral compass. For example, a person not raised in a religious household will have the same moral code as a Christian. They will know stealing, killing, lying, etc is wrong.

Now let me ask, what makes the bible any different from the holy books of other major religions such as Islam, Hinduism, taoism, Sikhism etc? What if you were born in a part of the world where the major religion was Hinduism? Would you have the same view of the bible as you do now? Would you not hold the view that your religions holy book is the truth and the bible is not?

Lastly (Going a bit off topic) every holy book claims divine authorship, just like the bible, so without thoroughly looking into all those how can you know for sure that your book is the truth? I mention this because I assume you're a theist who believes in the Bible. The points you make are the same points people all around the world make to defend their beliefs just like you are doing.

Hopefully that made some sense, I just woke up :p

Peace,

Garrett

75

Having Faith in the Bible

by william draper in

i know many on here have lost faith in the bible , is it possible that is because ones do not have the right perspective regarding it .

we have usually been taught by bad teachers , or ignorant .

i believe if we take an honest look at the bible , we will see that it gives us the best answers to crucial matters , it gives us some amount of bearings ( understanding ) , which without having such knowledge we would all be more like walking zombies in amanner of speaking , we would be lacking hope in something better , for surely something better is to come , how can we be sure , .

Garrett

Double post :(

48

Struggling

by Alive! in

i read here regularly and although i haven't joined in, i really appreciate all the wonderful contributions from those who are willing to share their experiences.... .

i was a convert.

i won't go into the whole history ( perhaps another day) - my story could easily be recognised in the small town where i live, with my husband.. so, we stopped going to the meetings around a period of time when we were going through severe emotional difficulties - at that point, we needed unconditional family love - the hectic, forced jw dinner parties and social occasions gave no real comfort.

Garrett

Hi alive,

I'm so sorry to hear about your terrible experience. I completely understand what you're going through because I, and numerous others have gone through it as well.

my lowest point in the organization came when I became very depressed and suicidal. I asked for help from the elders but got ignored. They never seemed to care about y mental health even hough they very well knew what was wrong with me. Ghosts when I finally decided it was over and I left never to return.. Do you know how I feel now after leaving? My depression slowly went away and has not returned. I have never felt more free and mentally clear!

this is going to sound harsh, but I've found out the hard way that life is harsh. After deciding to stop going to meetings, you need to be able to live with knowing that your so called friends will never look at you the same way again. Most of the relationships they have are superficial, hardly anything is ever real.

what I recommend is this, instead of being cooped up in the house or doing what you would normally do everyday, I recommend you go out and find something that you and your husband enjoy doing. Find a group that you guys can join or a club. For example, when I left, I started taking a martial art. Something I've always wanted to do but couldn't due to the restrictions put in place by the organization. Maybe you have something you always wanted to do but couldn't because of the org?

if your husband left with you and you are both out together, that is wonderful. Many here don't have that luxury. I say, take full advantage of it!

im a young guy with a third of your experience in life, but I will say that it slowly will get better, I promise :)

peace and love,

Garrett

11

DOCUMENTS: Candace Conti v Watchtower – Court of Appeal Decision - April 2015

by jwleaks in

jw leaks has published the court of appeal decision and documents relating to conti v watchtower, including appeal documents and jury trial transcripts.jw leaks | conti v watchtower (court documents).

congratulations candace on your win and thank you for proving watchtower was negligent in your suffering and in not protecting children.

one person can make a difference.

Garrett

REKT!

11

Do Kingdom Hall congregations communicate with each other?

by Faithful Witness in

when asked, my mom denies that they do.... do local congregations pass along gossip or reports on householders in the area?

specifically, i am wondering if they might report on (unbaptized) family members that live in other towns?.

since the abrupt ending of my bs with miss k, i have not heard from the jw's at all.

Garrett

I believe it depends on the congregations and the people in them.

where I'm at, it's all gossip and many of the friends in he different congregations know each other well,Mao word gets around quite fast.

6

First time they publicly admit this or not?

by TimDrake1914 in

i came across this on the newest wt study edition for 7/15/15 pg.

9 par.

14:"they remember when congregations had a congregation servant rather than a body of elders, when countries had a branch servant rather than a branch committee, and when direction was given by the president of the watch tower society rather than by a clearly established governing body of jehovahs witnesses.

Garrett

Im pretty sure you can find this information in the big green proclaimers book but I may be wrong.

33

Is door to door activity over?

by badcompany in

jw
friends

just curious about others experience.

i've been living just a few miles from a kingdom hall for 9 years.

i've been called on 0 times.

Garrett

In my part of the world, it's still around, but is being taken over by mobile stand witnessing.

as for you not being called on... You may be on the DNC list. If this hall was your old hall or if it is close to your old hall, then you will be on it. If not, then there's a problem with them.

45

Hold Me, Thrill Me

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

i'm going to be honest and from the heart when i say that for 40 years in the jw religion i was very happy in my ignorance!

man, what a trip it was.

i loved every minute of it but then i was absent the bad in my religion.

Garrett

Hi and welcome :)

regarding your comment about flaws. My thoughts:

first, the Israelites didn't listen to jehovah and what happened in the end? Jehovah disowned them.

second, using jw logic, all religions other than the organization belong to satan, so does every government, thus of course they would be flawed, however, we are talking about a religion who is supposed to have gods backing 100%. Do you think we would be seeing things such as failed end of the world predictions, child sex abuse issues, new light over important issues with explanations that are very difficult to grasp, etc from an organization that had jehovahs blessing and and his holy spirits backing?

Did the apostles in the first century have new light and did they make false predictions?

lastly, you say there aren't any options out there. I ask, do you need options? Do you need religion to worship jehovah?

i wish you the best and apologize if I've repeated anything anyone has said,

Garrett

12

National Sibiling Day and Jehovah's Witnesses

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

in most of the usa and canada april 10 is national sibling day.

the witnesses are all in a frenzie actually celebrating this in my area.

yet in a few months these same people will shun mother and father's day.

Garrett

Why do they shun Mother's and Father's Day again?

11

Is This a JW on The TV show called Horders?

by greenhornet in

http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/video/stacey-roi.

this is the link.

however it may not work because i am logged in on my account.

Garrett

I knew a VERY bad hoarder who was a witness with a mental illness. She used to hoard animals and was taken to court for it. Her house was seized and she decided to go to the press to try to get everything back... Unfortunately it backfired. I was looking forward to finding out whether or not it was her, but sadly, I can't watch the video from where I'm at in the world... Sigh