the wts org has:.
a formidable enemy (ex/former members),.
an enemy with an excellent communication tool unavailable in the past (the internet),.
I don't believe they will change their core culture, which is the most devastating to their cause. They probably will change doctrine many more times going forward, but I believe that this will have little to no effect on the actual JW experience.
To me, it is not simply one or two doctrines that damns the religion, but the entire suite of arrogant, scornful, legal-minded views that does them in. And this, I believe, will be almost impossible to change, even if they wanted to.
SNG
this is always a popular topic, and i just came across some startling new research on just how noah and his family were able to gather all the different kinds of animals as they were commanded to do.
it makes sense once you just think about it a bit.. .
new evidence suggests noah's sons rode flying dinosaurs .
ROFL! Awesome! Glory to God!
SNG
the true panama hat is indeed made in ecuador.
but how did such a misnomer come about?
plus, the world's gonna end really soon.
LOL. I get it.
There was an Awake article with that title some years back.
SNG
some things confuse me here.
i am in the same position as many where i don't agree with so much the society says and feel stuck dragging myself to the meetings and then feel incredible guilt because the study for the day says it is wrong to have any doubts "even in private".
impossible for me!.
Hey 5thG,
Chemical birth control damaging my wife's body...OK.
Flushing a condom down the toilet and throwing seeman on the groung...OK.
Society randomly deciding Vasectomy's are wrong....Priceless!
The Society's randomly changing views on all matter of personal bedroom decisions have wreaked havoc on many of life. Some of this is described in Ray Franz' book Crisis of Conscience. Have you had a chance to read this? If not, I think you would enjoy it because Ray is a solid Christian and writes with a lot of warmth and compassion.
SNG
some things confuse me here.
i am in the same position as many where i don't agree with so much the society says and feel stuck dragging myself to the meetings and then feel incredible guilt because the study for the day says it is wrong to have any doubts "even in private".
impossible for me!.
By blashemous I meant comments like "Lets all kick Jehovah's ass", stuff like that.
Also, if you actually did observe anyone write something such as that, I think it must surely have been a fluke, because it simply doesn't make sense given the context that most here do not (as I mentioned) believe in Jehovah as such. It would be like writing, "Let's all kick the Tooth Fairy's ass!" It just doesn't make sense. No one would write that, except as some kind of weird joke.
Anyway, hope that helps.
SNG
some things confuse me here.
i am in the same position as many where i don't agree with so much the society says and feel stuck dragging myself to the meetings and then feel incredible guilt because the study for the day says it is wrong to have any doubts "even in private".
impossible for me!.
Hey there, 5th, welcome to the board!
How do many of you personally blaspheme Jehovah? I want to leave the Society but I still believe in Jehovah, and also that doctrinally we are still the closest to the truth in my mind.
Most people here, even if they continue to believe in God, do not believe in the Watchtower depiction of him. To such people, the name "Jehovah" represents not the Creator of the universe, but simply the fictitious creation of the guys in New York, or some 11th century BCE sheep herders, as the case may be.
Personally, I don't believe in God at all, so I suppose sometimes I may say something that causes offense, although I try not to. I don't categorically deny God's existence, but I feel that there is no compelling evidence for it. That is typically how I phrase my own personal stand on the issue, which I think respects others' views.
As IT Support pointed out, JWs are raised to be downright scornful of other belief systems, so it can be tough to overcome that. I hope you'll take it with a grain of salt if anyone comes across as gruff, because there really is a lot to learn here and lot of great people.
Hope to see you around!
SNG
ok, lets see if you guys know the answer to this simple question.. .
if you have a car with a mechanical speedometer and odometer, not digital, and if you back up, will your mileage on the dial back up?.
7 miles on the odometer and you back up, for a few hundred feet, will the mileage also back up slowly to 47,108.6 and so on....?.
Here is a preview for you inquiring mind to which I presume your fascination is to prove me false!
Not particularly, but I know that people make all sorts of claims on the Internet, so I'd be interested in knowing if you have an authoritative source on it. Obviously, anyone can claim that Harvard produced such research, but I'd like to see it for real.
SNG
the young man replied, "in fact sir, cold does not exist.
"professor, does darkness exist?".
"sir, does evil exist?".
Hey LT,
Sorry if you took my comments as dispairaging to Christians in general. What I meant was the specific breed that loves to send this kind of email, with some warm and fluffy, play-it-to-the-choir story about God, etc.
Although of course, it is possible that Einstein said these things, the specific construction of this story is so incredibly formulaic that I am positive that someone invented it and dropped Einstein in as a big name to sound impressive. This is kind of the modern version of the stories in the first few chapters of Daniel. Look at Daniel stand up to the big bad Chaldeans! Serving his God! And being right after all! Etc, etc.
Einstein can think anything he wants. I don't particularly care if he believed in God or not. It doesn't hurt my case. He could have been a Bible-thumping born-againer for all I care (it is - admittedly - quite amusing to imagine this). My comments were not intended to put Einstein in a box, but rather to point out that this story reads very, very much like one of the many pieces of "inspirational" email drivel sent by - at least in my experience - Christian fundy-types.
Sorry about any miscommunications.
SNG
the young man replied, "in fact sir, cold does not exist.
"professor, does darkness exist?".
"sir, does evil exist?".
LOL. That story is so obviously a fabrication it's absurd.
I love how in Christian stories like this, the young hero always courageously stands up while all his braindead, follower peers snicker at him. I can see the panel in the Chick tract right now. And of course, you never have a real professor, you know a cool, reasonable person like in real life. You have some ultra-arrogant moron. You can almost hear the reader cheering as our young hero roundly trounces the know-nothing prof.
And of course, fundamentalists just lap it up. Gosh, it's good to be out of that box, ain't it? :-)
SNG
i'm new too posting here but i've been lurking since the summer.
how i came across this site?
a brother at one of them conventions warned us about 'sites on the internet that can threaten our faith' and i was like "psh if this is the truth, what information could possibly do that?
Hey Tex!
A brother at one of them conventions warned us about 'sites on the internet that can threaten our faith' and I was like "psh if this is the truth, what information could possibly do that?" Well, Google came up with some interesting stuff let me tell you that ;-).
LOL...that's awesome. I tell ya, they shoot themselves in the foot with their silly decrees.
Welcome to the board! Hope you have a good time and learn lots!
SNG
