What The_Doctor10 said...
Plus I would add that a God that does not answer prayers is indistinguishable from a God that does not exist.
if you had any doubts about the pitifully poor mental prowess of watchtower and jws in general then i'm sure this week's watchtower study (week of june 15-21, 2015) completely obliterated such doubts.
the study article (watchtower april 15, 2015, page 19: how real is your relationship with jehovah?
) was filled with blatantly fallacious reasoning that were outdone only by the more fallacious reasoning on the part of commenting jws.. the article, in paragraph 2, says this about a relationship with jehovah:.
What The_Doctor10 said...
Plus I would add that a God that does not answer prayers is indistinguishable from a God that does not exist.
this is in the july 2015 monthly program on tv.jw.org cedars wrote about it too.. starting at around 42:30 in the video, morris talks about the child abuse situation for almost 10 minutes.
link to video.
i'm writing a transcript right now.
What flipper said... especially the following:
But by using cartoon characters this is just so destructive and minimizes or makes a joke really out of a VERY serious crime. Shame on the WT Society. Shame on the GB. A criminal organization making light of a very serious crime.
Making a farce of other people's suffering is their bread-and-butter. Whether it's the way they call the out-group "worldly" with contempt, using news on death and violence in society as a way to warm their faith, the way they let monsters lose in the world by not contacting authorities in every case, or a nice WT picture with people dying at Armageddon. All people are to them are bricks for their yellow-brick road. And, I know this, because I used to be one of them.
Here is the shameful and terrible thing. If I was still a JW, I might come up with some brilliant justifications for all of the things that are coming to light. That's not a search for truth. That's the problem with being indoctrinated to be a xenophobe and discouraged to think critically for yourself. And, when you have unquestioning/blind loyalty, it shapes your sense of morality.
I have no doubt that many JWs are seeing the problems, but they seem frozen to do anything about it and have resigned themselves to ignore them.
happy independence day to those in the usa.
i can't help but think of our own personal struggles for freedom today.. "question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."1.
--thomas jefferson.
after mentally awakening to the idea that jws don't have the truth i strangely found myself delving into all encompassing conspiracy theories.
not that i believed them but something about them seemed quite fascinating.
i was especially drawn to the idea of a new world order/one world government.
JW _Rogue - I was reading an older WT the other day and it said "the doctrine of evolution" I thought that was funny. Science doesn't have doctrines and people aren't forced to believe anything without proving it to themselves first. Why such hate and disdain for science?
LOL! And, there is the "doctrine of gravity", "doctrine of heliotropism", etc. I think it is a bit of "psychological projection". All religion require is faith with no evidence and an authoritative figure to follow. Science has neither and I think they often don't know how Science actually works but at the same time expect it to work like religion. When all you have is a hammer, you treat everything like a nail.
It is not until you leave (and hopefully get educated) that you realize how colossally ignorant and intellectually dishonest the Organization is. Why such disdain? Well, let's count the number of times Science has overturned a religious belief. Easy, right? Now, let's count the number of times Religion has overturned an established Scientific theory. Still waiting...
hot topic on topix seems to be candace conti settlement.
but it's all quiet here.
are you guys aware that your hero, who was not in it for the money but to change policies, settled without changing anything?
I will say it again, Candace Conti does not have to explain herself. The people who do have to explain themselves are the people who stay in (or don't speak up against) the Organization knowing full well what is going on. If you know what is going on and stay in, I assure you that history will not be kind to you. History will ask of you "what did YOU do when you learned of this?".
Next time you are sitting around stroking your ego about how you would have been so totally courageous like Jeremiah or some other prophet and would have stood up for what was right and did a "smack down" on God's organization and straighten them out, let this moment sink in. This is your time in history and if you continue to sit on the sidelines there will be no excuse.
sometimes i get a strong curiosity to start dabbling into other religions, other faiths, you know?
really different ones such as islam, judaism, hinduism, etc.. has anyone here looked into something else?
has your spirituality been satisfied by any other than christianity?.
nicolaou said it more succinctly than me. Nicely put.
Sofia Lose, I do not know your life or history, so please bear with me. I will like to share something I wish someone would have told me when I was young...
There are about 7 billion people on the planet, many in thousands of religions, with a myriad of Gods, denominations, holy books, etc. that, through "faith", all think they have the truth. Believing in a God/Religion is ultimately going to come down to faith (e.g. a feeling, personal revelation, etc.). Because faith requires no evidence or critical thinking it gives permission (and often sanctions) some horrible acts in this world.
Before you embark on your next quest you might want to ponder whether faith is the best way to find truth or if there is a better way. I think you will find that the idea of faith as a way to truth (or as necessary) is no more valid than the things you used to believe when you were a JW and no longer believe. Let that sink in...
sometimes i get a strong curiosity to start dabbling into other religions, other faiths, you know?
really different ones such as islam, judaism, hinduism, etc.. has anyone here looked into something else?
has your spirituality been satisfied by any other than christianity?.
If you are curious about religions, I would read up on Joseph Campbell. He has a number of books such as "The Power of Myth", "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", etc. Great reading in comparative mythology/religions. It might give you insight on how humans have created these beliefs over time.
As for satisfying "spirituality" with another religion/belief system, I would recommend you take one minute to think about what you are really searching for. I have learned over time that the feeling some people call "spirituality" is nothing more than the natural feeling of awe, joy, a peak experience, etc. I was indoctrinated to think that those feelings can only be gained by some religion or supernatural belief system.
I assure you, as an atheist living without religion, I still get those feelings. I get them when I look through a telescope, read the latest Scientific American, kiss my girlfriend, watch a great movie or documentary, cook, spend time with friends, help someone, etc.
Before you consider looking for a religion to fill some void, you might want to see if you can fill it with other things. You would be surprised. Just a thought.
this is a work in progress so let me postulate a few and then post your observations.. i think when we examine this subject we will be able to understand how they picked this recent batch of new comers who can just about manage to even tie their shoe laces and clearly are almost complete idiots.. i'm sure they test any gb hopefuls as to loyalty and courage to face pressure and make defenses for the corporation sound at least plausible and with in the limits of understanding imposed by the corporations edicts.. i know anthony morris came from wealth and he mentioned in one of his talks that his aged father tried to warn him about giving money to the wt corporation and he said that what his dad didn't know was that he was the society (he may have been trying to get some money from his wealthy dad to give to the corporation as sort of an investment in loyalty that would catapault him to gb stardom and who knows maybe even chief honcho.. so i wonder can some buy their way to the top?
after all it is a scam operation based on bullshit and all the members of the elite are money hungry if not for themselves then for their sock puppet jehovah/me.. what say you?.
They look for "Company Men"
Company Men:
noun
Pure and simple.
for the latest apologists for the gb and the lawyers that rank and file are paying for:.
the wt has not changed their policy.. they still have a 2 witness policy about child sexual abuse, and think it's a good idea.. they will still appoint someone who has sexually abused a child, if they want to.. they say that they won't allow an abuser to go door to door without supervision, but this means nothing, as they protect the identity of abusers; they refuse to tell all elders and ms's who they are, witness mr. kendricks.. nothing has changed..
for the latest apologists for the gb and the lawyers that rank and file are paying for:.
the wt has not changed their policy.. they still have a 2 witness policy about child sexual abuse, and think it's a good idea.. they will still appoint someone who has sexually abused a child, if they want to.. they say that they won't allow an abuser to go door to door without supervision, but this means nothing, as they protect the identity of abusers; they refuse to tell all elders and ms's who they are, witness mr. kendricks.. nothing has changed..