Posts by StrongHaiku

754

Theists, why does God allow suffering..

by The Quiet One in

..specifically, the suffering of animals.

you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.

i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.

StrongHaiku

LorenzoSmithXVII - But yes, there are many horrors that God permits.

You can stop right there. If he exists and is all powerful, why would he permit ANY horrors? I can come up with a number of scenarios where we could have avoided all of the suffering from the start. Can't you? I can come up with a number of ways so people could gain eternal life without passing through a sadistic rube-goldberg, "Hunger Games"-like, gauntlet. Can't you? I can come up with better ideas and laws he has (e.g. sanctioning of slavery, subjugation of women, genocide, etc.). Can't you? I can think of better ways to communicate the most important message in the history of the Universe clearly with mankind as opposed to using dead languages, hearsay, riddles, interpretations, etc. Can't you?

The God you describe is not only a "moral reprobate and a dick" to quote Viviane, but he lacks any imagination. I am better than your God. And, so are you because, if I substituted "God" with "Zeus" (or some other God that for some reason you do not worship) in your post, you would have found your explanation absurd and immoral.

17

Jehovah's Witness meets a Born Again Christian on a Train. Oh and a Muslim

by passwordprotected in

a couple of saturdays ago i and my girlfriend (who happens to be baptised into the greek orthodox religion, but practises greek catholic...no, she's not greek) were on the virgin train from glasgow to london.. we had reserved seats on the quiet zone of the train, because y'know, a 5 hour train journey shouldn't be sullied by mobile phones ringing and noisy conversations.. somewhere around the lake district a very tall woman sits at the table across the carriage from us, a table already occupied by a very chatty, bearded man in his late 50s, along with his wife.

this man was directing people where to stow their luggage and asking random travellers questions about their journey to the point where i sent my girlfriend a text message (easier to communicate that way without others overhearing us) asking if he was the "train boss".. he struck up a conversation with this new passenger about his travels, but i wasn't really paying attention as i was watching a movie on my ipad, wearing noise cancelling headphones.

after a little while i noticed they'd stopped chatting and the woman was now reading.

StrongHaiku

LOL! I thought the post was an intro to a joke too...

Maybe put a thought bubble over each person that says:

"My God is good. My holy book is from God. My religion is the true religion. I am special. Everyone else who doesn't believe what I do is going to meet a horrible end. Only my people will be saved. Why can't everyone see it as I do?"

If it wasn't so tragic, it would be funny.

69

Thinking of Going Full Disclosure With Wife. Sorta

by freemindfade in

jw
friends

soliciting any and all opinions.

as some of you may know, wife is full in pioneer.

my fade has gone from us fighting.

StrongHaiku

FayeDunaway - Oh my, those last 4 posts were quite discouraging.

Maybe my post came across as discouraging. Sorry about that. But, sometimes it is necessary and useful to contemplate the "worst case scenario" and the reality of what could happen. The stoics had a technique called the "premeditatio malorum", or the technique of contemplating potential misfortunes in advance. The exercise was to take a fear and imagine (sometimes live it temporarily) to put it into perspective. (If you like sci-fi, think about this like the "Gom Jabbar" exercise in "Dune" if that helps.)

Ultimately, the exercise was meant to convey that regardless of the outcome you still had yourself. This is reality and there are no guarantees. Only you can decide what is best. But, like I said, I do not regret a single minute. I still have me.

69

Thinking of Going Full Disclosure With Wife. Sorta

by freemindfade in

jw
friends

soliciting any and all opinions.

as some of you may know, wife is full in pioneer.

my fade has gone from us fighting.

StrongHaiku

I look at many of the stories on this site from freemindfade and many others and I cannot imagine what you might be going through. Leaving the Organization (in whatever way), is not a trivial decision and has some real and very serious repercussions and consequences. My heart goes out to you. I can offer my empathy and support, and I can offer you one more thing. Over 25 years ago I took a stand, and I lost everything including family, friends, work, and a fiancé. I do not regret one minute.

14

Belonging To The JW Club Makes JWs Feel Special!

by minimus in

jw
friends

honestly, they really have nothing going for them except that they are in an exclusive club.

they are in a better place than anyone else.

they have it over everyone else because of their superiority.

StrongHaiku

This may also partially explain the rising number of partakers. The JWs have a strong in-group metality and structure, which satisfies most JWs. But they also have a "VIP" section you can join and feel extra special. My mother has been partaking since the mid-eighties. I have no doubt that the biggest reason is her subconscious drive and need to feel special.

19

GB Spirit directed writing - October 2015 Awake

by Listener in

the awake oct 2015 is now up on jw org.. one article talks about young adults returning to their parents home and tries to give them some advice.. one of the highlighted comments are these magical words.

<<remember, more important than what you do is becoming proficient at what you do.>>.

i don't see how it's more important to become more proficient in that window washing job than working towards a more interesting and better paying job.

StrongHaiku

I remember, 30 years ago, washing windows, cleaning filthy bathrooms, waxing floors, shampooing carpets, etc. all so that I could pioneer. Believe it or not, I actually felt good about the work I was doing because it supported the thing I loved the most, being a JW. I now realize that I was indoctrinated to love the organization more than myself. As long as that is the case, you can learn to like/love anything they tell you to.

76

JW Org Flags at R.C.

by ToesUp in

photo was posted on jw-archive.

j.w.org flags flying at the 2015 r.c.

in fribourg, switzerland..

StrongHaiku

When I was 8 years-old, as a faithful JW, I was made to stand outside in the heat of a tropical sun until I either passed out or saluted a flag. I stood there until I passed out.

Thank you JWs for making me feel dumb.

8

Are Jehovah's Witnesses Sociopathic Liars ?

by Finkelstein in

the sociopathic liar beware of this dangerous sociopath.

the one behavior that characterizes the human race is so widespread that most of the time we dont even notice it.

it is extremely hard to spot and it is even harder to stop.

StrongHaiku

You've just described the God of the Old Testament as well...

16

AMIII about child abuse

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

how great to see amiii stating @ tv.jw.org that the watchtower society was the first institution addressing child abuse in a time others were naive about this typical behavior of gay's.

the 1982 awake magazine is such a spectacular example about adressing the problem that they decided to erase it from their digital archives.

will amiii tell the judge that "watchtower" has not any control about him?

StrongHaiku

If we were talking about any other corporation or organization this would be a no-brainer.

How do you feel about a company that does not recall a dangerous product until they are sued? And, if they had known for a while, would you believe that company's sincerity? Or do you see transparently through their actions as something they HAD to do because they got lawsuits and bad-press and not because they really cared about their customers, employees, etc.?

Think about that. Child abuse/rape has been going on for years in this organization. Did they try to prevent the problems along the way? Did they take any significant effort or time to even think about how to fix until it was made public? You see, to them, child abuse/rape isn't the problem. The problem is the rest of the world learning about it.

35

If you were told today you would die next week, would you be happy and fine with that?

by EndofMysteries in

jw
friends

i don't know how so many who seem to be certain this life is it after being jw's seem to happily accept it and be fine with it.

i am living and trying to live as if this is it.

i want there to be a future life/afterlife, something, but i see how fast life comes and goes and even if i'm living it to the fullest, there is no peace for me with the thought this may be it.

StrongHaiku

I am an atheist and also do not have an expectation of an afterlife, etc. I pretty much live like today could be the last day so I try not to have too many loose ends (e.g. important things not done or unsaid). Probably the most important thing I would do is make sure my girlfriend is ok when I am gone. But I don't imagine my world-view changing with that knowledge.

There are a couple of quotes by Marcus Aurelius I try to keep in mind...

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.”

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."