Posts by Daniel1555

39

I wonder...

by braincleaned in

i wonder about why so many of us stick to the "truth" within the frame of the jehovah's witness religion.. of course, the wts has authority over our minds thru the control of information, demonizing any "worldly" knowledge that might jeopardize our faith in this entity.. thru my own experience, i understand how we can stick to this organization; because of a life's investment in serving, and the close ties of family and peers we do not wish to abandon or upset.

so we are here on sites like these, to understand the mechanisms of the cult... to try to make sense of why we should stay, or why we should leave.. the consequences are too important to take this lightly, or too swiftly.. if i may share a bit of my journey, i did not have to worry too much about the cult at first, because my main battle was based deeper than that.

after all, the root of any christian religion is in the bible itself; faith in jehovah and christ; trust in the idea that the bible is inspired by god himself.. so yes, my quest went to the base, the root of the jw faith... the bible.. since childhood, the character of jehovah was a problem for me.

Daniel1555

Hi Vince

Thank you very much for your comments. They are very worthwhile to think about.

Since childhood I ask myself this question why a god of love would create an ecosystem where his creatures are killibg each other in a cruel way with a lot of pain involved.

Well, even now I didn't find the answer. I tell myself that death is maybe not an enemy, just the means that other beings can live. I thought a lot about it but don't have time now to elaborate on that subject.

Maybe it is just wishful thinking that the creator is a personal god with love. Maybe he/she/or it is just an impersonal force who created the universe in a way that innumberable ways of life could develop. Maybe at the core I am agnostic too, because I don't know. I just hope.

Looking forward to speak with xou another time about the mysteries of life and creation.

Daniel

39

I wonder...

by braincleaned in

i wonder about why so many of us stick to the "truth" within the frame of the jehovah's witness religion.. of course, the wts has authority over our minds thru the control of information, demonizing any "worldly" knowledge that might jeopardize our faith in this entity.. thru my own experience, i understand how we can stick to this organization; because of a life's investment in serving, and the close ties of family and peers we do not wish to abandon or upset.

so we are here on sites like these, to understand the mechanisms of the cult... to try to make sense of why we should stay, or why we should leave.. the consequences are too important to take this lightly, or too swiftly.. if i may share a bit of my journey, i did not have to worry too much about the cult at first, because my main battle was based deeper than that.

after all, the root of any christian religion is in the bible itself; faith in jehovah and christ; trust in the idea that the bible is inspired by god himself.. so yes, my quest went to the base, the root of the jw faith... the bible.. since childhood, the character of jehovah was a problem for me.

Daniel1555

Dear Vince,

I have similar feelings than you about how Jehovah is portrayed in the Bible. I could never understand the many contradictions that a god of love would order genocide, even ordering babies to be killed. That brought me to the point, that I believe Jehovah is "just" the tribal god of Israel. Moreover I studied a lot about the flood account. I came to the conclusion that it must have been a local flood (see Pitman and Ryan Black Sea flood) which is not at contradicting the bible account (just the wt view).

That path led me further to investigate radiometric dating methods and proof of human life before bible chronology (chauvet and cosquer cave paintings go back to 30000 years).I tried to find ways of harmonizing this with the bible account. That is not easy but might even be possible.

For the first time (grew up as jw) I studied evolution without any prejudice. I came to see that a lot of the theory of evolution is based on facts but most importantly is misrepresented by wt. I realized that a "theistic evolution" does not even contradict the genesis account.

After studying all of this I did not become an atheist. I strongly believe in a creator. I don't know how or what he is but for me I still believe he is also a loving creator. Life is a mystery and I believe there are many things we are too small to grasp and we should be humble enough to admit that (not like wt who makes wrong scientific statements and acts proudly)

63

If you want to show a JW some of the older publications from a non-apostate and 'safe' website..

by The Quiet One in

"it is appreciated that these documents do not reflect the current understanding of the bible enjoyed by jehovah's witnesses, and for up-to-date information the reader is encouraged to visit the official site of the watchtower bible and tract society.".

http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/.

Daniel1555

Thanks so much. It's good to be able to have this from a nonapostate site if someone is asking.

17

Let's make a list of the families ruined by the Watchtower

by Faithful Witness in

the jehovah's witnesses came to our door, claiming to hold the secrets of family happiness.

they told me they had the "one true religion," and had come to save my life.

i was a bible student for quite awhile, along with my husband.

Daniel1555

Me and my wife are going through a hard time. I betrayed her "spiritually" by not believing anymore in shunning, refusing blood in a life and death situation and infallibility of the scriptures where Jehovah orders genocide.

In her eyes I am such a discusting person because my faith changed to believe in a loving creator, true pacifism (also feeling unrighteous for god to destroy most people and children at armaggedon), unconditional love and respect of neighbor and nature, strong belieg in all human rights.

I am kind to her, but still we are going through an emotional hell because of this religion.

8

What % of JW's would have a blood transfusion?

by jwfacts in

on the current thread about blood simon made an interesting point that the stats are skewed because we don't know how many jehovah's witnesses secretly accept blood.

what are your thoughts about how high this figure may be, and did you or anyone you found out about ever accept blood?.

as a side note.

Daniel1555

A sister I know is working as a nurse in a big hospital in switzerland. She said that she knows of many brothers and sisters who accepted blood.

16

How would elders react if I tell them that I would accept blood?

by Daniel1555 in

just recently i explained to my parents and my wife in detail, why i would accept blood or red, white blood cells, platelets or plasma in a medical emergency.

i showed them the inconsistencies and flaws about blood fractions and also the biblical reasons that show clearly that jehovah and jesus do not want a jehovah's witness to die because of that wrong doctrine.. my parents reacted surprised.

they are both about 50 years in the "truth.

Daniel1555

Thanks for your comments.

Snare and racket: I have a baby boy. I would never ever risk his life for a wrong doctrin. Thats why I wanted this to be clear, how we react in our family.

I know that your advice is to not say anything. If I did there will be trouble.

My wife however WANTS me to do that. She believes the elders will help me spiritually to change my opinion. I told her that I won't change my feelings about it. Actually I am ready for anything. If they df or da me, that shows that it is a morally wrong religion. I don't realky wanna be part of a religion that urges its members to give up life unnecessarily and shuns people because they don't agree.

The question is. What would they do according to their book?

16

How would elders react if I tell them that I would accept blood?

by Daniel1555 in

just recently i explained to my parents and my wife in detail, why i would accept blood or red, white blood cells, platelets or plasma in a medical emergency.

i showed them the inconsistencies and flaws about blood fractions and also the biblical reasons that show clearly that jehovah and jesus do not want a jehovah's witness to die because of that wrong doctrine.. my parents reacted surprised.

they are both about 50 years in the "truth.

Daniel1555

You can have any opinion you like. But if you "promote" an idea that is contrary to WT teaching, that will get you DF'ed pretty quick (if you don't recant).

Would elders accept that I have this opinion if I don't promote it? Or is just having that opinion already breaking the blood doctrine and areason for "disassociation by action"?

16

How would elders react if I tell them that I would accept blood?

by Daniel1555 in

just recently i explained to my parents and my wife in detail, why i would accept blood or red, white blood cells, platelets or plasma in a medical emergency.

i showed them the inconsistencies and flaws about blood fractions and also the biblical reasons that show clearly that jehovah and jesus do not want a jehovah's witness to die because of that wrong doctrine.. my parents reacted surprised.

they are both about 50 years in the "truth.

Daniel1555

Just recently I explained to my parents and my wife in detail, why I would accept blood or red, white blood cells, platelets or plasma in a medical emergency. I showed them the inconsistencies and flaws about blood fractions and also the biblical reasons that show clearly that Jehovah and Jesus do not want a Jehovah's witness to die because of that wrong doctrine.

My parents reacted surprised. They are both about 50 years in the "truth." They are loyal witnesses but they were never extreme. That's why I had a very good childhood. They think for example that shunning someone like the org says is wrong and they would never do it with a family member. They thought deeply about the things I showed them. After a week they surprisingly said that they never thought of the things I told them before and that I am right with my reasoning.

My wife however didn't agree with my reasons. She told me I should talk to the elders about my decision. I think if I did that, they would view me afterwards as "disassociated by action."

What do you think? How would the elders react if I tell them my reasons (also biblical reasons) why I would accept blood? Would they tell me finally that they have to consider me disassociated by action even if I never "took blood" but just would take blood if all other options are used?

Does anyone have the information if the "Shepherding" book about this situation?

Thank you very much for your help.

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