by cantleave 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Oracle: What happened next is just too frightening to reveal.
They finally saw the light? The ouija-board effect?
I remember personally destroying some harmless LP's because of supposed backwards messages. It did strengthen the faith at that time but could not prevent what happend soon after that: A pentecostal preacher tried to drive the devil out of me. He was not able to do that...
Funny, I wonder what type of sound a photograh makes when it hits a wall or ceiling. In order for a photo to make a loud enough noise hitting the wall or ceiling to wake me up it would have to be made of rock or something. The picture would have to be traveling faster than the speed of sound to make a sound cutting through the air. hahahaha! Sounds like typical JW story though.
If you ever happen to visit the house of a JW and you feel the overwhelming compulsion to mess with them you can do the following:
When you are leaving, pause just outside the front door and say: "Oh, by the way, I wanted to let you know that I hid a cross somewhere in your house... and this cross was given to me by a priest who used it to conduct quite a few exorcisms.
<--- JW
Cantleave wrote: "This is a phenonoma often discussed by JW's. How unique is this idea to JW's?"
The idea of an inanimate object being "possessed" is far from unique to the JWs. All sects of Christianity seem to fear this as well as the non-religious (but very superstitious), including other faiths like Muslims. Pretty universal, I am sad to say.
Evangelical Christians ought to know their Scriptures better:
I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Romans 14:14)
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; (1 Timothy 4:4-7)
Primitive and/or irrational people have always believed that invisible beings were the performers behind events for which there was no other explanation available.
There is no "spirit realm" populated with any kind of intelligent or unintelligent creatures.
Also, these stories are often told third-hand or even further removed from the person the allegedly happened to. When one goes looking for verification, the trail quickly goes cold, and not for any supernatural reason.
Lies, hallucinations and misinterpretations are very, very real, however.
"Me and bubba had been smoking crack and drinking beer all day when I tripped and fell down three flights of stairs. When I came to, I beheld the Virgin Minnie Mouse, her hands outstretched in a gesture of acceptance and compassion. Ever since then, I have known that cartoons are simply the representation of an alternate and higher reality." -- an objective witness
This is not unique to JW's. Demons are a way to explain what science does not, so is common with religion. In less educated countries such as Africa and New Guinea the witch doctor is still considered particularly powerful by using the fear of demons for the unexplained. As science progresses most of what religion said was demons is now proven to be mental illness or even aspects of sleep. Much of the people the New Testament claim were demonised would now be cured with drugs for schizophrenia or epilepsy.
For instance, a high percentage of people experience sleep paralysis, where they wake but are unable to move. I experienced this as a JW and thought it was a demon attack, but now know it is just a sleep phenomenon.
We never had anything bad happen that related to demons that I know of.
I did however; buy a bureau one time from a thrift shop. The drawers were rather hard to open, after dealing with that for a few months, one day I asked my JW husband if there was anything he could do to fix them.
We took all the drawers out and noticed, stuck in behind the top right was a couple of papers. One was a drawing of Satan, and on it was printed "I'm a little Devil", the other had a brief poem about a devil, both looked like something from a child's coloring book.
We both thought it odd, given the circumstances, instead of freaking out we just laughed about it and threw them away.
Nothing ever came of it.
For instance, a high percentage of people experience sleep paralysis, where they wake but are unable to move.
I had that sleep paralysis and it scared me so badly! I had to talk myself out of being scared and calm down. The ringing in my ears pulses and screams like a demonic themed movie.
Demonic possesion of inanimate objects does NOT appear in the Bible!
It is a superstitious belief that many JWs have held to over the years that was encouraged by The Watchtower publications.
This tells you something about both the JWs and The Watchtower.
I think I pretty much busted the myth that demons are waiting for the chance to possess inanimate objects and then attack anyone that owns them. Otherwise, I would have begun to have problems with the demons after buying the Ouija board, which I did not begin having those issues.
Rather, I now see demons as beings that were seeking the free use of their full potential (and Satan as one that was going above and beyond his call of duty to protect mankind, even if God Himself was the enemy). There is absolutely nothing scary about demons, when all they want is to experience life. As for Satan, I would like to have a guardian angel like that--who is willing to sacrifice his life and give up so much just to help me get away from the tyranny of God Himself.
