it's evident to all readers besides fredhall that our beloved you know is suffering from spiritual mad cow disease.
parallel to the disease after which it is named, it is contracted by eating spiritual food infected with an unusual pathogen which gets deep into the brain and gradually destroys it.
symptoms include instability, uttering loud noises and falling on one's face.. spiritual mad cow disease is propagated in an interesting way.
Good one, there, Fridolin! Your inept comment is a perfect illustration of your brainlessness. In fact, your ineluctible ineptitude with both the English language and with the normal human activity of thinking illustrates what happens to JWs who stay too long. Do keep posting.
AlanF
i know that the answer is yes, but it would help me to hear your sentiments on this.
.
after you decided that the wbts, and thus jw's were not god's chosen earthly organization did you feel like you wanted to leave and forget god altogether?.
"Has anyone felt like leaving God altogether?"
That's a good example of a poor question, because people who actually believe in the Christian God usually don't think that they leave God. Those who stick with their God do so because, after coming to believe in him, either they love him or they're too afraid of his wrath to leave him.
On the other hand, people who no longer believe that such a Go exists cannot, by definition, think that they're "leaving God". You cannot leave something you don't think exists. For them your question is like asking, "Do you feel bad about leaving the Tooth Fairy?"
Some people who still believe in the Christian God do actually consciously leave him, but I think they do mainly for what many consider selfish reasons, such as to pursue fame, fortune, sex or whatever, despite still believing in this God. They don't really care about serious matters, and they expect to live short but interesting lives. Such people rarely are serious enough to post to a discussion board like this, and so you won't find them here to comment on your question.
AlanF
it's evident to all readers besides fredhall that our beloved you know is suffering from spiritual mad cow disease.
parallel to the disease after which it is named, it is contracted by eating spiritual food infected with an unusual pathogen which gets deep into the brain and gradually destroys it.
symptoms include instability, uttering loud noises and falling on one's face.. spiritual mad cow disease is propagated in an interesting way.
It's evident to all readers besides Fredhall that our beloved You Know is suffering from Spiritual Mad Cow Disease. Parallel to the disease after which it is named, it is contracted by eating Spiritual Food infected with an unusual pathogen which gets deep into the brain and gradually destroys it. Symptoms include instability, uttering loud noises and falling on one's face.
Spiritual Mad Cow Disease is propagated in an interesting way. The real thing is propagated by grinding up infected cows in large mechanical meat grinders and feeding the infected tailings to healthy cows. The spiritual thing is propagated by grinding up infected JWs in the Kingdom Hall meat grinder and getting healthy people to drink the drippings. The results of both diseases are horrendous to behold: mental, spiritual and emotional breakdown; broken relationships; inability to stand on one's own feet; in the early stages a marked inability to perform normal mental functions; in the final stages a holy brain.
You Know appears to be in the final stages of Spiritual Mad Cow Disease. Fredhall is immune to both diseases since one needs first to have a brain to be infected.
AlanF
isaiah 30:21 is an oft quoted scripture by the watchtower.
it reads: "and your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: "this is the way.
walk in it, you people, in case you should go to the right or in case you should go to the left.
Hey, Booby, your comments show just how stupid and thoroughly dishonest you are. I explicitly stated that your insanity is debunked continually, and indicated that actually going through a debunking exercise would just be throwing pearls before an insane pig. But I'll throw you a pearl just to demonstrate the truth of my claim, so that readers who haven't yet seen you for the insane frothing-at-the-mouth false prognosticator you are will get to see it for themselves:
The Society's interpretation of Mattew 24:45 as applying to itself is completely wrenched out of context. The verses before and after -- by the Society's own teaching -- apply to a time future from now. Therefore, if there is such a thing as a composite "faithful slave" that some day would be appointed -- which the context proves is a wrong interpretation -- that appointment must be in the future. But because JW leaders claim that Jesus already, in 1919, bestowed this title upon them, then by their own definition of "false prophet" as "someone who teaches falsehoods in God's name", they are false prophets and therefore cannot be leading "God's people". Therefore their claim that Jehovah's Witnesses comprise "God's people" is itself false. Thus your entire maniacal interpretation of Isaiah and Lord knows what else comes tumbling down.
Now, Booby old bean, let's see if you can manage a refutation without including your usual blatant dismissals, my-God-will-kill-you's, and assorted non-answers. But we all know that you can't do it. YOU DON'T KNOW BEANS.
AlanF
isaiah 30:21 is an oft quoted scripture by the watchtower.
it reads: "and your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: "this is the way.
walk in it, you people, in case you should go to the right or in case you should go to the left.
You Know claims:
"No apostate can refute what I have put forth."
Nonsense. Your rantings are continuously refuted. The fact that your drug-induced hypnosis does not allow you to admit it is irrelevant.
Trying to logically debunk your insane ravings is quite doable, but is no more effective in convincing the insane author of his insanity than a logical debunking of the Society's 1917 The Finished Mystery would have convinced C. J. Woodworth that he was nuts, or Rutherford that he never should have published such an insane piece to begin with. Logic and insanity don't mix.
Some false prognosticators have had the sense to get out of the business, like when William Miller gave up on making predictions after his 1843/4 prediction of the end of the world failed. Others pick up where the more sensible leave off and keep making false predictions. You obviously haven't the sense, or really, the honesty, to admit that your latest round of predictions is no better than all the rest. Like the rest, they will fail -- Soon Now.
It's obvious that getting on discussion boards like this is for you the spiritual equivalent of humping a plastic blow-up doll.
As for quoting scriptures like "soon the wicked one will be no more" or "soon Jehovah will blah blah blah" -- spare us. What is "soon" when such scriptures -- even if valid -- were written 2500 years ago?
You're the Bozo the Clown of online false prognosticators. When from time to time 'anointed' Bethelites get a load of your rantings, I'm sure they have themselves a good laugh, and reconfirm why the Society pays little attention to 'anointed ones' outside the New York area.
AlanF
what are 5 major beliefs in the jw religion?
As Seeker said, the Fundamental Doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses is that their Governing Body is the mouthpiece of God, and it should be obeyed as if God himself were speaking.
In practice this means that Jehovah's Witnesses will obey the Governing Body before they will obey God, since the GB tells them what God is saying, and 'God' is saying that they can't decide for themselves what God is saying. Typical cultic manipulation.
Ted Jaracz today is 'God's' prime mouthpiece. He has manipulated himself into position as the most powerful -- not necessarily respected -- GB member by virtue of his strong personality and absolute intolerance of contrary opinions. Bethelites often call him "The Boss". In certain Bethel circles he is hated with a passion.
It's unfortunate in one sense that GB member Lloyd Barry died a couple of years ago. He was the only GB member who had the balls and backing to stand up to Jaracz, so The Boss now has free rein. It's fortunate in another sense that Jaracz now has this free rein, because he's putting into place all sorts of crazy rules and restrictions that are forcing the Society's excesses into full view. He's forcing the situation of massive dissatisfaction among Bethel staffers to come to a head.
To me, Jaracz is like the insane guerrilla leader in Woody Allen's movie "Bananas", who after getting into power decided to make the Spanish-speaking populace of the country speak Swedish, and told them, "Everyone has dirty underwear. From now on everyone will wash their underwear every day. Furthermore, everyone will wear their underwear on the outside, so we can check." Given yesterday's posting of the April 25 letter to bodies of elders telling elders to stonewall, I think that Jaracz's insanity is evident.
AlanF
i first posted to this board as "truman" about 2 months ago.
it was a time of deep depression, confusion, fear, and paranoia for me, as i had just 3 weeks before discovered that everything i had believed for 27 years was only a pipe dream.. everyone was very welcoming, but after only a few posts, i got so afraid i had to stop.
i was fearful of revealing too much, being somehow discovered, and of the possibility of saying the wrong thing, incurring the ire of my betters here.
Hello LostMyReligion,
Welcome to the board! It's good to see you had the courage and honesty to overcome your fears and begin to post. There are a lot of fine, caring people who can help you in many ways. I hope your ex-JW support group is helpful, too.
I'm glad to see you're taking things slowly with your JW son. You didn't mention a Mr. Lost, so it would appear that he's not a consideration for whatever reason. Don't ever feel guilty about finding the truth about "The Truth". It takes time to get used to the idea that JWs don't comprise "God's organization" and it can take a long time to get over the guilt that has been ingrained in you for 30 years. But it will pass, especially as you associate with people who left the Borg behind and live normal lives.
Given what you posted, it seems that the gentle approach will be best to show your son about your newfound knowledge. Some people can take being hit over the head to make them wake up; others can't. You know your family best so you have to do what you think is best. It might take years, or he might never see the light, or something might strike him like a bolt out of the blue. You have to be mentally and emotionally prepared for any eventuality. You might also open up to your younger son and get him involved. Often, brothers or sisters can be a lot more effective than parents in getting someone to listen. However, watch out that the younger one doesn't get scared right back into the JWs. That has happened more than once.
One technique of drifting away and simultaneously creating a 'problem' that your JW son will probably want to 'solve' is to gradually cut down on meeting attendance and other activities. If people ask what's wrong, usually just mumbling about being tired or busy or whatever good excuse you can find will put them off long enough for you to drop to the edge of their consciousness. If people push you, don't give in to the urge to spill it all, because likely as not the person you tell will get very scared and run straight to the elders with charges of apostasy against you. Then you may well have lost the battle for your son.
The watchword is subtlety. Dropping little problems here and there, which are not solvable within the Watchtower system except by ignoring them, will often spark the interest of an intelligent JW. No pushing, just bits of information set out as something of interest. You'd be surprised how internally upset this can make some JWs, but not at you since you only pointed out something that they verified for themselves. In my experience these things have little to do with the core of JW religious beliefs, since trying to tackle them is like trying to get through 15-inch steel armor. There are much more effective topics that will get a JW to think, without tripping his 'apostasy' alarm.
One other potential problem for you personally is what you're going to do with your religious life during your winding down process. A lot of people will try to pull you this way and that. The best course is to sit tight for a long, long time before making any definite decisions. During the interim, read, read, read! Take a college course or get a degree. Talk to people of all sorts of persuasions and don't let yourself become too convinced by what anyone says. Learn how to think for yourself all over again, and get rid of 30 years of JW training that teaches you to just accept what an apparent authority tells you. Learn lots of things you never had time for or interest in as a JW, then discuss it with intelligent others. Even get involved in arguments and debates. All of this will help you figure out for yourself what you want to believe or reject.
Whatever you do, you'll find plenty of support on this board.
Oh, and don't let the braindead JW defenders here bother you. I'm sure you've already spotted them, as they're far more braindead than your average Witness cult member.
AlanF
elsewhere in the active topics list (see "society on documenting personal views ") a letter from the wtb&ts to congregations has been reproduced.
it is obvious this letter has been either written or vetted by a lawyer, or more likely by a committee of lawyers.
it fairly reeks of legalese masquerading as a concern for accuracy.
Shilmer's posting will soon reach the appropriate people at Dateline.
AlanF
ok.. i know i've been a bit of a buster in the past, but this is for real.
there is a site out there, and apparently a demand, for modified housepets.
in a nutshell, what these ahem... [people] do is take a kitten, sedate it, insert the poor thing into a glass bottle with air holes drilled into it, and run tubes into it to feed it, and tubes into it to take care of everything else.
Poor Suzi. Your absolute lack of sense of humor is consistent with the other silly things you're into. How anyone can fail to see the humor in the following extracts from the site is beyond me:
A bonsai plant, along with its more widely encountered counterpart the topiary garden, achieves its miniature yet mature form through a long and delicate process of trimming during the formative years of the tree. It is not possible to trim a kitten!
In fact, if you take a week-old kitten and throw it to the floor, it will actually bounce! We do not recommend that you try this at home. The kitten may bounce under the furniture and be difficult to retrieve, as well as covered in unsightly household dust.
However, for those who have applied for and received the appropriate Bonsai Kitticulture permits from the U.S. government, we are happy to provide details of the procedure to those who want to start from "scratch"!
Rear aspect, revealing excellent sealing properties of Super Glue. No leakage has ever occured with proper application. Thus, fur remains soft and tail attains beautiful convolutions as the months pass!
MIT students are infamous for "hacking" -- pulling off masterful, difficult jokes -- just about anything they can get their hands on. One year they hacked the Harvard football game by getting into the stadium in the dead of night and burying a balloon launcher in the middle of the field. At half time, a hatch popped open, the balloon inlated, and drifted away. A logo said, "MIT Wins!" or something like that.
Someone on this board uses an excellent quote to make my point:
If you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones. If all ideas have equal validity then you are lost, because then, it seems to me, no ideas have any validity at all."The Burden of Skepticism"
by Carl Sagan
First published in Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 12, Fall 1987
AlanF
in referring to the preflood world, peter said that the heavens and the earth had been stored up with water, and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water.
the christian prophet went on to say: "by the same word, the heavens and the earth that are now stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of the judgment and of the destruction of ungodly men.
in furtherance of highlighting the apostate's blasphemy that jehovah is going to come streaking out of the clear blue sky one fine day and slaughter billions of innocents while they sleep in their beds, the apostle's brief comments on the topic of jehovah's judgments contains some interesting insights.
Let's see now: Booby is predicting the imminent collapse of the world based on the myth of Noah's Flood.
Like your predictions for 1998, 1999 and 2000, this one will fall flat on its face.
And I shall continue to laugh at you.
AlanF
