sorry if i that is the wrong spelling.
i just want to say that i used to be judgemental of athiests, but as a jw backer everyone on here finds nothing but wrong doing with the orginizations.
well i am sure i can find wrong doing with other churches and their teachings as well.
again, i must say both atheism and theism do require huge leaps of faith... the truth is, either way, we are assuming a few things... in either case, there is not enough proof to really prove either... so at this point, lets live and let live and really just be happy for the ability to debate!
I absolutely agree with that statement Infamous One! Well said!!!
i just finished the book by ray franz, coc, and for some reason i'm madder than ever at this organization!!!
i've been out for over 20 years and now i'm even more pissed off!!!!
why am i so angry at things i already knew although i'm sure i've just repressed them over the years and got on with my life, anyone else have this anger problem after reading this book, or is it just me??.
Especially after I read that the GB would make important issues based on a 2 / 3 majority vote! And here I thought that they prayed all night before they carefully came to a wise decision...NOT!!!
I was especially surprised to hear about the ones that slept through the discussion and then woke up to vote, or who had not considered the topic to be discussed before the meeting, no Bible study before hand, just going with the party line... This is supposed to be Jehovah's spirit-led organization, carelessly making decisions and policies that affect the minute details of their followers lives??
Maybe they prayed before they voted, one has to vote to see if they are in agreement by the majoriity, how do we know if they prayed.
It's very unlikely that they gave much thought to many important issues. Like Truthsearcher said, and as Ray wrote in his book, "How can you pray about an issue the night before, if you dont know what it is till the day of the meeting???" (Or if youve slept through the discussion, for that matter...)
TCK
this past memorial was an exercise in waste for most people.
drive to the hall, fight for a parking space, get booted out of your seat, and then listen to a stale talk for 45 minutes.
then the big event: passing the plate of crackers and glass of spoiled grape juice.
Beatings, often with the dreaded wooden spoon, usually result as the child gets dragged in the back for the heinous crime of falling asleep during the meetings.
Oh yes, the dreaded beatings! At one of my congregations I remember one particular sister. Her four year old son would always get antsy on Thurs, during the Service Meeting. She would then proceed to take the child back to the restroom. I cringed every time I heard the poor kid screaming, as she wailed away on his backside. Here this boy was being abused for getting restless, while many of the adults in the Kingdom Hall were having problems staying awake!!!
Really sick and twisted!!!
this past memorial was an exercise in waste for most people.
drive to the hall, fight for a parking space, get booted out of your seat, and then listen to a stale talk for 45 minutes.
then the big event: passing the plate of crackers and glass of spoiled grape juice.
Certainly not a kid friendly organization at all. Aside from not getting any sleep during the week, my childhood weekends consisted of:
1) Study my Field Service presentation after school on Fri. afternoons.
2) Go to sleep early Fri. night, to wake up for Sat. morning Field Service.
3) Read my Watchtower, for the Sunday meeting, after Field Service on Sat.
4) Have our family meeting Sat. evening to go over the Watchtower that I just read, so I’m prepared for the Sunday Watchtower Study.
5) Go to sleep early Sat. night so I can wake up early for the Sunday morning meetings.
6) More Field Service on Sunday afternoon, after the Public Talk and Watchtower Study.
7) Return home on Sunday evening and do all my homework for school.
8) Go to sleep early on Sunday so I can wake up early for school.
What a life! Then people ask me why I hated my childhood!!!
one of the things i find distasteful is what the witnesses' taste for music is.
they have the same 225 songs that they had since 1984. and many of those were carried from the previous book.. what i noticed while i was there is that none of the songs are really music.
they are so poorly written and performed that i think whoever was in charge of it just threw it together.
This topic made me think about something regarding a particular WTS song. I can still hear that song in my head after all these years. I always thought that the melody for “From House to House, From Door to Door” was kind of creepy. But did anyone else ever notice that if you slow down that song it sounds a lot like the background music from the movie “Halloween?”
i remember from past college courses that in the old testament the isrealites were not allowed to say god's name yhwy because it was too sacred, so they could only write it; therefore, they used el when saying god's name....correct?.....the jws seem to claim that they are the only religion to know god's name, but where do they get the right to say jehovah.
are there any scriptures that would confirm the change from only writing god's name to saying it?
i was just wondering about this questions because the jws have an answer for everthing....maybe i should ask one.
The real problem with the WTS is the way they translated the New Testament in their New World Translation.
Excellent point Bob! That's a big reason too that the majority of biblical scholars reject the NWT, primarily because the WTS has added the divine name 237 times in the New Testament. Their reason for restoring it is because they THINK that it was removed from the ancient Greek texts. Even though historically this can't be proved.
I'm always amazed too how the JWs claim ownership of the name Jehovah. I wonder how many current JWs are aware of the fact that the American Standard Version of the Bible, first published in 1901, was actually the first English Bible to restore the divine name to the Old Testament. Wherever the tetragrammaton appeared in the Old Testament, approx. 7000 times, it was replaced with the name Jehovah. And as Ray Franz pointed out in his book, "In Search of Christian Freedom", even though the American Standard Version was available to the "Bible Students" in 1901, most of them still used the King James Version.
the watchtower scoffs at "apostates" because they want their "so-called freedom".
not practicing this religion does give you a lot of freedom and normalcy.
what freedoms do you cherish now?
Well I certainly can't top Merfi's comment!!!
But I'll throw in my two cents and say that for me celebrating all the holidays with my family is a nice freedom. I never knew how much fun Halloween could be till I dressed up and went trick or treating with my kids last year!
PRICELESS!!!
i pretty much don't think much of christendom.
but why do christians insist on holding such an unholdable position with the trinity.. the bible i agree holds proof for both trinity and nontrinity positions.. i still don't get why that christians other than catholics would hold such an untenable position as god came down to earth but didn't, and he prayed ( talked ) to himself a lot.. .
i remember a comedy sketch were some kids were stumping a nun in catholic school with question on the trinity and the eurachrist..
Did you like the EGG illustration: Egg White, Egg Yoke, Egg Shell- three parts making the Whole? SO MANY creative attempts to try and vailidify a Fairy Tale. And that doesn't even cover the "Holy Spook/Ghos"t part of the Tale- that is PURE Catholic- completely alien to God's Word, Cooler King! Agape!
Hi Mad...oh yes, the egg illustration was my favorite, till I heard the one about John Doe!
Laugh a little, life's too short...
Agape Brother Mad!
i put the following comment on answers.yahoo.com about changes to watchtower revelation doctrine.
there have been three different versions of god given light in the watchtower publications so far;.
1. calvin studies in the scriptures series vii- the finished mystery p.151 "calvin is entitled to the honor of having at one time been a papal star .... is called wormwood.
Bottom line: get a life, read your bible and accept the truth within it!
Er, um, hmmm...since when is a JW allowed to read ONLY what's in the Bible? I think this JW forgot that he has to follow the WTS version of what's in the Bible. So he should also have a Watchtower or 192 page book by his side...
i pretty much don't think much of christendom.
but why do christians insist on holding such an unholdable position with the trinity.. the bible i agree holds proof for both trinity and nontrinity positions.. i still don't get why that christians other than catholics would hold such an untenable position as god came down to earth but didn't, and he prayed ( talked ) to himself a lot.. .
i remember a comedy sketch were some kids were stumping a nun in catholic school with question on the trinity and the eurachrist..
Funny, I just had a conversation with two witnesses last week regarding the Trinity. First, I just want to mention that I am not offering any proof for the trinity or against it. But years ago when working in Field Service, I remember that someone gave me the simplest answer to how the trinity is possible.
Ok, we have a man named John Doe. John is ONE person. But he is also a SON to his parents, a FATHER to his children and a HUSBAND to his wife. All three distinctly different descriptions. John may talk one way to his parents, another way to his children and another way to his wife. This could almost be described as THREE separate personalities. But John is still just ONE person. I always remembered that conversation because I thought that this would be the best way to try to explain it to another that doesnt believe the 3 in 1 theory.
And as far as God holding on a conversation with himself, maybe I’m the only one who will admit it, but I know I’ve talked to myself at least more than once in my life!
