Posts by anti-absolutist

32

Ok, I NEVER post about anything having to do with god or the bible, but....

by Jesika in

i was in chat a few days ago, and the topic of god came up.

i was trying to understand how people can still believe in one.

now, just wanted you to know where this ?

anti-absolutist

I skipped all of the responses before posting. If I have repeated what has been said forgive me but I have had little time lately to read ALL the posts and still wanted to respond to your post.

I feel very strongly that you DO understand what spirituality is, and yet, the fact that it differs so much from other peoples' perception of spirituality, it can become confusing.

A lot of people equate spirituality to religion. Religious people can be spiritual but it is not a prerequisite, although RELIGIOUS people seem to think that it is. Spirituality is a state of mind. It has absolutely nothing to do with going to church or the Kingdom Hall.

In regards to what you say about praying, I feel very similar to your viewpoints as to who/what you are talking to. I feel that God exists within us. If he also exists OUTSIDE of us, then that is fine, too, but I do not think that it means that he cannot exist within us as well.

The reason I feel so strongly on these points is that I have been a JW. I have also studied other religions as well, and it seems that, out of all the people that I have met in these travels, the people that feel that they are drawing on a power WITHIN themselves, rather than an obscure inanimate object are more happy, successful and objective in their lives.

I am also humble enough to realize that these are just MY opinions, and if YOU PERSONALLY draw any power from these thoughts, then great, and if not I have lost nothing.

May you and your family have a long and prosperous life. Your son sounds really cool and mature for his age. No matter what your thoughts are on religion, if you succeed in raising great kids, you have provided a fantastic service for the human race already.

Cheers to a great person, Brad

33

Rabbi Responds to Jehovah's Witnesses

by DevonMcBride in

jw
friends

the below message was e-mailed to a friend of mine who then sent it to me.

devon

on the subject of jehovah's witnesses: they don't visit us anymore, they used to come by regularly.

anti-absolutist

Hillary Step.....

Yet again you have cut right through the hypocrisy of ALL RELIGION. GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

Who the heck is the JW at the door or the Rabbi to suggest that they KNOW what God wants. I tried for the first 30 years of my life before I realized I DON'T KNOW. I'm a lot closer to knowing GOD (whatever you choose to consider he/she/it to be) now that I have humbled myself to the point of realising that I will never know.

I think, with all the religious wars over the centuries, as well as the hate between all religions, that anyone who professes to HAVE THE TRUTH, (Rabbi or JW) condemns themselves to ignorance.

Brad

19

Are you a different person now from when you were a JW?

by NaruNaruChan in

jw
friends

i got an e-mail today from an old high school friend who, after we met for coffee, said "wow, you're normal again!

i mean, you were boring, stuffy, and generally not much fun when you became a jw.

now you're back to the old so-and-so that i remember, i love it!

anti-absolutist

I was raised a JW, so I never "got back to my old self".

But my NEW self is a lot nicer than my FIRST self, as a JW.

Brad

27

good books?

by free will in

jw
friends

what are some of your favorite books?

especially those that help you with your spirituality?

(but not limited to that genre).

anti-absolutist

This may not seem SPIRITUAL to some, but the book that I feel helped me with my spirituality the most is: "The Power of the Subconscious Mind". It made me realize how much influence things around me have had on my deepest thoughts, without me even realizing it.

Brad

7

JW's and their hypocritical rhetoric!!!

by anti-absolutist in

jw
friends

after reading francois' last post, it reminded me of how easy it is for jw's to ignore common sense.

what, to you, is the most ridiculous justification that they have used to refute you exposing their religion as possibly not being the truth?.

for myself, when i have discussed with them the greatest scandals that have come up lately, (u.n., paedophiles, etc.

anti-absolutist

Double Edge - Actually Christianity as a whole has a similar mentality. Thus the reason that I have a hard time accepting the Bible as Christians do.

However, in dub land, there seems to be no objectivity. There is never any thought that maybe some other faith is as right as their's. JW's are right and all the rest are wrong.

This gets me back to the point that common sense goes out the door!!!!! (I had a talk with a guy about unions tonight and at the start he thought I was in complete disagreement in the usefulness of unions. After some discussion he realized that I only felt that unions have caused just as much harm as good, and the conversation ended on a very positive note.)

This ability to reason is non-existent, it seems, with JW's. WHY THE HELL IS THAT THE CASE? I have been shunned by my entire immediate family and many other close relatives, and all I want is for them to accept that I BELIEVE that my personal belief in God is as acceptable to HIM as their's is.

Is there any hope???????????

Brad

53

Proof of the resurection of Jesus Christ?

by Chap in

a while ago, i think abaddon and others asked for secular accounts for christ's resurection in response to something i wrote.

i believe i stated that if jesus didn't rise from the dead, everything else in christianity would be moot.

in a book called can christianity be proven?

anti-absolutist

Alan F....... you beat me to it.... I was going to say the EXACT same thing!!!!!!!

I'll just say ditto, and good work!!!!!

Brad

7

JW's and their hypocritical rhetoric!!!

by anti-absolutist in

jw
friends

after reading francois' last post, it reminded me of how easy it is for jw's to ignore common sense.

what, to you, is the most ridiculous justification that they have used to refute you exposing their religion as possibly not being the truth?.

for myself, when i have discussed with them the greatest scandals that have come up lately, (u.n., paedophiles, etc.

anti-absolutist

After reading Francois' last post, it reminded me of how easy it is for JW's to ignore common sense. What, to you, is the most ridiculous justification that they have used to refute you exposing their religion as possibly not being THE TRUTH?

For myself, when I have discussed with them the greatest scandals that have come up lately, (U.N., paedophiles, etc.) the one quote that has come back the most has been: "Well ,you know Brad, it is a PERFECT organization run by IMPERFECT men."

Is that even possible? Every time I hear that I want to slap 'em upside the head (not literally) and, after I have their attention, say, "Do you even listen to what you are saying? If you want to believe you are in the TRUE religion, even that I can handle. But why be so damn hypocritical by saying the org. is perfect even though the men aren't?"

It just frustrates me that, most of these people, in a non-biased conversation WOULD NEVER say anything that stupid!!!

What other experiences has anybody else had?

Brad

10

Watchtower blueprint for the world

by JH in

jw
friends

.

is it normal that the watchtower treats people the same way throughout the world even though there are different cultures and ways of living?.

since the watchtower says it represents god, why should everything be based upon us standards?

anti-absolutist

JH - I never thought about that before, but that is very true!!!! In many cultures nudity is very normal, but I suppose the JW's would teach them how evil it is, thereby creating a greater separation from the JW's and the rest of the region.

I think the witnesses get a lot of inner strength from that SEPARATION from "normal" society. It is their own DRUG, it seems. When they become a lot like other religions (paedophile - Catholic thing) they seem to ignore that and try to emphasize other ways that they are so different.

It seems that the best way to show a Witness that they don't have THE TRUE RELIGION is to constantly remind them of how much the rest of the world is like they are: well-intentioned for the most part, but still being guilty of imperfection.

Brad

64

JWs At My Door This Morning

by Francois in

jw
friends

i was standing on my front porch talking on my cell phone when three car loads of them pulled up down the street.

by the time i finished my conversation, one of the jws was standing on my sidewalk waiting for me to get off the phone.

i eventually did.

anti-absolutist

I have to agree with teejay. (This is the first time that I have disagreed with Francois)

With JW's there is no such thing as "winning" an argument. They think they are "in a perfect faith", and anything anybody throws at them is "imperfect". Therefore, the harsher the treatment to a JW, the easier it is for them to believe in how imperfect the other person was.

They don't necessarily understand this scripture themselves, but "an answer when mild turns away rage" is a very true piece of advice. I know that in anything in life, (not just witnesses) it is really hard to look down on someone who is kind, even if he is disagreeing with you.

I say this, not because I do it perfectly, but I have tried it both ways and have gotten better results with the more peaceable way. The best chance we have of teaching JW's to OPEN their minds, is by allowing them to see that we are happy, loving individuals, EVEN THOUGH we are not dubs anymore.

Brad (P.S. Francois, in no way do I question your quick mind, though..... )

9

I'm going to be a Witness again!

by dedalus in

jw
friends

recently i wandered over to derrick's site, h20, just to check things out.

while casually looking around, i came across this, a description of one of the forums over there.

i've bolded the part that caught my eye:jehovah's witnesses and bible prophesy.

anti-absolutist

I had an uncle that used to be an elder in the seventies. He drifted away, intelligently without being df'd. Every Tom, Dick and Harry tried to get him df'd for apostacy and they failed.

Even still (I was df'd in 1991 for having sex with my future wife) in 1993, when they (aunt and uncle) came to visit me, he suggested that I go back, get re-instated, and then drift away again. (The idea being that my family can be united again.) I'm not sure if it was WHAT I FEEL was a strong stance against hypocrisy or just stubbornness, but I definitely felt very strongly about not going back and I never did.

I'm now 34, and I struggle with whether I made the right decision sometimes, but then I think of the bigger picture and thought in the Bible and in good people in general.

I remember this quote, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." I'm glad that I stuck to my guns and refused to give in to hypocrisy. Without a deep feeling of inner strength, I'm not sure what strength we can actually share with others.

Brad