Posts by Zoos

53

Please explain God's wisdom in Judges19;22-30

by jam in

the just of the account, two people enter a city and can not .

find lodging.

an old man invite them to stay with him (levite).. this is so weird, all the men of the city come to have sex with.

Zoos

The story of the men of Gibeah closely mirrors the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and the consequences of violating the hospitality laws of the time.

The relevant part of this story begins:

vs. 15 - Consequently they turned aside there to go in to stay overnight in Gib′e·ah. And they proceeded to go in and sit down in the public square of the city, and there was nobody taking them on into the house to stay overnight.

Caring for strangers was supposed to be the cultural norm.

vs. 22 - ...the men of the city... surrounded the house... and they kept saying to the... the owner of the house: “Bring out the man that came into your house, that we may have intercourse with him.”

The townsmen were out to harm the visitor, the outsider - in violation of hospitality laws. This was common practice to show dominance, intimidate, and instill fear.

vs. 23 - At that the owner of the house went on out to them and said to them: “No, my brothers, do not do anything wrong, please, since this man has come into my house.

The owner took his responsibility as host seriously.

vs. 24 - Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out, please, and you rape them

Given the diminished value of women (disgusting - another topic), the owner offered two women in place of his guest.

vs. 25 - And the men did not want to listen to him. Hence the man took hold of his concubine and brought her forth to them outside; and they began to have intercourse with her, and kept on abusing her all night long until the morning

The men of Gibea didn't want the owner's daughter as she would not have served the purpose of the attack. They instead took the concubine, an outsider, and raped her.

This is the exact same scenario we read about in the account of Sodom & Gomorrah where Lot's daughters were offered and rejected because they did not serve the purpose of the attack. They were not outsiders. They were not considered a threat. An attack on them would not have served the purpose of the townsmen's goal to show dominance, intimidate, and instill fear.

“The cry of complaint about Sod′om and Go·mor′rah, yes, it is loud, and their sin, yes, it is very heavy." - Genesis 18:20

Sodom & Gomorrah, like the town of Gibeah was punished for the horrendous way they treated people.

Look! This is what proved to be the error of Sod′om your sister: Pride, sufficiency of bread and the carefreeness of keeping undisturbed were what happened to belong to her and her dependent towns, and the hand of the afflicted one and the poor one she did not strengthen. 50 And they continued to be haughty and to carry on a detestable thing before me, and I finally removed them, just as I saw [fit]. - Ezekiel 16:49, 50

9

What would you say to a...

by confusedandalone in

buddhist / hindu / rastafarian / pagan etc... if they came to you and said in my homeland we have our own gods who is completely different from yours and most of his teachings are contradictory or atleast different from yours.

do you thyink that my gods from my homeland that were worshipped for thousands of years are fake?.

Zoos

If my mission was to promote my beliefs over his, YES. I would do what I could to show him the error of his religion/god(s). But I'm not a JW anymore. I'm content to be a Christian who NOW understands that man's salvation is based on the condition of heart rather than some individual notion of doctrinal purity or understanding of the identity of God.

NOW, my approach would be more like the one NAVYTOWN mentioned - turning it in to a learning experience for myself.

NOW, I could part company with the guy without viewing him as buzzard food.

51

So Spill the Beans, Brothers: Were There More or Fewer At this Year's Bore-Fest

by steve2 in

the jw date-worshipped memorial has just completed its bleak worldwide commemoration.

that wasn't a dust cloud you saw; it was a millionfold hearts limply beating themselves into another round of great tribulation expectations.

i was knocked into a deep, deep sleep by the imagined experience of being at several thousand consecutive kingdom halls as the platformed drones spat forth the predictable sludge that, once released, hits and stains white clothing and bleach is useless.. we know that memorial attendance worldwide has dipped for two consecutive years since 2011 when it reached a high of 19,374,737 and for the promised land, obama's usa, the all time memorial attendance high was also 2011 when it hit over 2.5million (2,563,518) but shrunk in shame back to 2,502,055 in 2012 and spluttered upwards a handful or two to 2,504,114 last year.. so, what was attendance at the date-obsessed bore-fest this year in your neck of the woods?

Zoos

the imagined experience of being at several thousand consecutive kingdom halls

My GawD! What a horrifying thought. And you fell asleep to it?

While I didn't attend, I usually get wind of the invitation activity. As I mentioned in another thread, I live in a frequently worked territory and have always received an invitation in my door. Not this year. Also, the guys at work all know about my JW past and ALWAYS come tell me about their JW visitors, including invitations left in the door.

This year, nada.

59

Any gay exJW's?

by Trapped in JW land in

jw
friends

was just wondering how many gay exjw's were on this site, and how did you deal with being in this organization?

and also, how did you end up leaving?.

Zoos

Here!

Welcome to the forum, Trapped.

44

OMG!! Andre from the YPA video gave our Memorial talk.. My thoughts:

by BU2B in

jw
friends

our memorial was held at a music hall with roughly 1300-1400 in attendance.

there was a guest speaker from bethell, guess who??

andre!

Zoos

He basically said no one here should be partaking, he kept speaking for everyone saying OUR hope is on the earth.

The spirit itself bore witness with Andre's spirit that no one in the room was God’s children.

This became full fledged JW infomercial. I felt it was in extremely poor taste and classless.

Yes it was, but to the indoctrinated mind it was exactly what Jehovah's wants his people and their visitors to hear.

I remember attending my first JW funeral after having been reinstated from a 15-year absence. So enthusiastic and gung-ho was I, so utterly indoctrinated, that I went up to the speaker and told him how nice it was, this JW style of funeral. "It certainly gives glory to God."

After waking up and discovering what a "JW Infomercial" the funeral actually was, I felt pretty stupid. But at that time... "Praise Jehovah!"

I have no doubt these events shake loose a few more 'thinking' people, as well as prevent many 'thinking' people from joining up. But I speculate the vast majority of them just eat this stuff up as having come from the bounteous table of Jehovah.

29

How many did NOT get invited to the Memorial?

by Ding in

i didn't.. i must really be wicked....

Zoos

I usually get an invitation in the door. I seem to be in a regularly worked territory.

Not this year.

GOSH that makes me sad!

4

Truth Be Told - any news on DVD release?

by Zoos in

i've been perusing the various threads on the truth be told documentary, along with visiting the website http://www.hereliesthetruth.com/ , and i don't see an option for purchasing the dvd.

is it still not available?.

Zoos

I've been perusing the various threads on the Truth Be Told documentary, along with visiting the website http://www.hereliesthetruth.com/ , and I don't see an option for purchasing the DVD. Is it still not available?

19

The Dilaudid Delusion

by Zoos in

hey folks.

just need to check in.

due to an injury, i had to start taking some pretty powerful pain killers and stayed on them for about 1 1/2 months until i finally had surgery this past wednesday.

Zoos

Rebel, as a matter of fact I did speak to someone in recovery and he suggested I hit a few meetings, despite the fact that I have not gone to one in many years. Not only to get out of the house - which seems to be a big part of the gloom and doom closing in around me - but to possibly meet someone who has dealt with this particular drug.

Anyway... it's the following morning now and I'm feeling a lot better. I feel like my head is back on straight. I'll be stepping this down about 1 mg a day rather than the 28mg to 20mg to 12mg to 6mg schedule I had myself on.

Thanks again everyone.

19

The Dilaudid Delusion

by Zoos in

hey folks.

just need to check in.

due to an injury, i had to start taking some pretty powerful pain killers and stayed on them for about 1 1/2 months until i finally had surgery this past wednesday.

Zoos

ABibleStudent, yes, I have done just that. A few walks, in fact, and I felt a lot better afterwards. It got me away from these walls. Change of scenery.

NonJWSpouse, that's a good idea. The pharmacist would know more about the details of these drugs than a medical doctor whose lens is focused on treating a problem - and nothing else. I should have thought of that myself as I happen to know a retired pharmacist. Thank you.

Band on the Run, so you know all about it! The cold, clammy feeling I can handle. The cramps were uncomfortable and the diarrhea was manageable, the puking...there CANNOT be anymore puking, not with the surgery on my cervical spine I just had. Nevertheless, it was the despair and crying that got my attention. All the feedback I have received from you folks seems to confirm what the clinic was telling me.

Thanks again guys for all the encouragement. I feel a lot better now that I have taken the advice of the treatment clinic and raised my Dilaudid levels temporarily for the sake of coming down slower, more safely. That seems to be the main key. I was going too fast and it knocked me on my tail.

19

The Dilaudid Delusion

by Zoos in

hey folks.

just need to check in.

due to an injury, i had to start taking some pretty powerful pain killers and stayed on them for about 1 1/2 months until i finally had surgery this past wednesday.

Zoos

Kate, BoC, thank you for the supportive words.

Kate, I don't feel like doing anything silly right now but I have since gotten in touch with a treatment center that specializes in this kind of addiction. I have the hot-line on standby.

BoC, slowing down the rate of chemical decent was the very first thing they suggested. I was going WAY too fast in my enthusiasm to be rid of this.

Here again, I am disappointed with the doctor who prescribed it for at least not giving me a number to call for counseling on this. All he said was that I was going to have withdrawals and gave me a prescription for another 60 pills at half the strength I was taking and told me to step it down.

I had no idea about the side effects. I had to google them. When this depression thing hit me... I mean it was like a ton of bricks and I just knew the only way out was to die.

I feel a little more stable now. I have upped my pills to a more reasonable level, considering where I started, and I now have a plan of action.

Thank you guys for chiming in on this. It means a lot.