br.
lett you discarded your pinkie ring for the may broadcast.
in the october broadcast (the first of the "historic" set of seven broadcasts by members of the governing body) you wore a pinkie ring.
Br. Lett you discarded your pinkie ring for the May broadcast. In the October broadcast (the first of the "historic" set of seven broadcasts by members of the Governing Body) you wore a pinkie ring. What made you decide not to wear it in the May broadcast?
Perhaps it's because money beggars should "appear" materially humble?
Frank
nice try brother lett.
you moved the cups around the table and thought we would not see the slight of hand you were handing us.
you begged for money but you have failed to show yourself capable of handling the monies already provided .
Nice try Brother Lett. You moved the cups around the table and thought we would not see the slight of hand you were handing us. But we do.
You begged for money but you have failed to show yourself capable of handling the monies already provided
Who starts a building project without first calculating if he can afford it? The Warwick project is a gross egotistic expenditure. I'm told you recognize this. Jesus had nowhere to lay his head but you will be sitting pretty overlooking a lake from a building we, the publishers, cannot afford to build. You are embarking on a building craze never before seen in the Organization because never before in the Organization has there been a group of men so lacking in integrity as the current Governing Body.
We, the publishers, keep giving while you keep planning more unnecessary projects. You have proven yourself unable to practice good economic sense. And so the slight of hand. You are attempting to cover up gross mismanagement of funds, funds given in sincerity and trust.
The slave that fails to manage his master's monies properly should not be given more.
Jehovah has not caused himself to become your provider. He has left you to wallow in your own mistakes and spiritual hypocrisy. He has given you the kindness you deserve.
Frank, an active Jehovah's Witness
imagine that the cult decided to stop shunning family members on the proviso that the dfd person was not actively trying to attack the cult.. (please don't debate whether or not this is likely - it's hypothetical).
how would you respond to your family?.
personally i think i would be less than cooperative.
Family members agreeing that both sides not discuss religion is doable. Better to sit for a cup of coffee with loved ones than to remain enemies.
How many exJWs never shunned while active Witnesses? I think it likely most at one time did shun.
If the shunning policy should change I believe there would be much rejoicing both in and out of the JW religion.
Frank
allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.
i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.
some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).
Brother Jeramy,
Very fine opening post.
Frank
so many of us have been caught up in the negative effects this religion placed over our lives and those who we love very much.
i am the first one to tell my kids "i don't know s&^^ about this or that subject", if the watchtower is truly our brother or spiritual mother why don't they tell us the following questions we all have asked them?.
1. we screwed up about 1914 and "life is short, go live your life to the fullest while maintaining justice and morality, don't hurt your fellow man by making his life screwed up!.
so many of us have been caught up in the negative effects this religion placed over our lives and those who we love very much.
i am the first one to tell my kids "i don't know s&^^ about this or that subject", if the watchtower is truly our brother or spiritual mother why don't they tell us the following questions we all have asked them?.
1. we screwed up about 1914 and "life is short, go live your life to the fullest while maintaining justice and morality, don't hurt your fellow man by making his life screwed up!.
i realize that many here still have a form of spirituality or faith, and i mean no disrespect to those individuals.
i suppose i am posting this question to those, like myself, who have come to the conclusion that religion in general is a major hindrance to the progress of our species and needs to be put aside so that we can advance to our full potential.
so my question is, do you think this will ever actually happen, and how do you think we can get there?
Defender of Truth,
A quote from the article you linked to:
If we are lucky—if human health and security continue to rise and spread around the globe—churches might evolve into humanist communities and social clubs, dedicated to good works, with distinctive ceremonies and disappearing doctrine, except for a scattering of reclusive sects marked by something like institutional paranoia.
Mankind will not be lucky on this one. Religion is not the only "demon" among us. Religion did not cause the latest Great Recession. Religion does not cause corporate greed. Religion is not swallowing up African and South American lands disregarding the native peoples and the environment. Religion did not cause WWll nor did it cause the U.S. war in Iraq. Neither did the U.S. enter the Vietnam civil war over religion. Religion is not the cause of all evil. Yes, it has committed great sins and has cruelly and unlawfully killed millions but it is not the only source of such evil. Thus, to think that: "If we are lucky—if human health and security continue to rise and
spread around the globe..." (emphasis added) disregards history and imo common sense. Stalin was not a deeply religious man, neither was Hitler nor the Khmer Rouge. The desire for power at all costs will not die just because religion dies.
If we are unlucky and calamity strikes, our anxiety and misery will provide plenty of fuel for revivals and inventions of religions we have happily learned to live without.
I agree. This is a common recognition. I usually do not read links here and did not realize it was posted as a reply to my post otherwise I would have clicked the link.
Frank
i realize that many here still have a form of spirituality or faith, and i mean no disrespect to those individuals.
i suppose i am posting this question to those, like myself, who have come to the conclusion that religion in general is a major hindrance to the progress of our species and needs to be put aside so that we can advance to our full potential.
so my question is, do you think this will ever actually happen, and how do you think we can get there?
I will commit to prophecy here. ;)
Let's say that all organized religion is done away with. Let us also say in the future nuclear war breaks out or world plague similar to Ebola or the Spanish Flu takes hold and scientists are not able to find a solution quickly enough to save most people: Religion comes back.
It is not religion we're actually dealing with, neither is it science. We are dealing with people and people can, like a herd of buffalo, quickly change direction. When fear grips them they turn toward whoever, or whatever, they hope will end the pain and misery and bring them relief. In the scenario above that someone would be God. It is the way it is. There is a great line in the movie Gladiator where Caesar's daughter says to her brother: "The mob is fickle brother, he will be forgotten in a month."
Hope is the anathema of godlessness. Take away the hope that this life is not all there is and godlessness is born. Godlessness must first destroy hope. It's a shell game. Godlessness uses the very thing that cries out for rebirth, the natural world, and uses it to destroy the message it is sending. Giving us string theory and mathematical answers few can understand in place of what our eyes can easily see; fantastic beauty, mathematical, genetic and physical order; an earth whose only problem is mankind not itself.
The "mob" may be fickle but it is not blind.
i find it hard to believe that adults on this forum make such a big deal about not celebrating birthdays, x-mas, easter, halloween, etc, etc, etc.
i grew up as a jw kid and it actually made me feel good, being different from the other kids in school.
we went to meetings.
i realize that many here still have a form of spirituality or faith, and i mean no disrespect to those individuals.
i suppose i am posting this question to those, like myself, who have come to the conclusion that religion in general is a major hindrance to the progress of our species and needs to be put aside so that we can advance to our full potential.
so my question is, do you think this will ever actually happen, and how do you think we can get there?
All humanity may leave, or be forced to leave, organized religion but all humanity will not abandon their belief in a higher power, in God. All humanity will not abandon their hope/belief in life after death. All humanity will not buy into evolution being the sole cause of all life on earth. All humanity will not be convinced that no religion, no belief in God, will bring about a world with no war, no inequality, no prejudice, no crimes against women and children and so on.
