Great thread.
"History" can be the worst obstacle to peace and understanding.
christopher columbus discovered the new world in the same way that a meteorite discovered the dinosuars.. here is some stuff about c.c.
they might not teach in school.... .
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Great thread.
"History" can be the worst obstacle to peace and understanding.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jehovahs-witnesses-sex-abuse-scandal-4422943#ixzz3fwm1uttl.
jehovah's witnesses sex abuse scandal: church accused of cover-up to protect rapists and paedophiles oct 11, 2014 21:11. .
by grace macaskill.
Sexual violence and religious abuse of biblical proportions.
this is my first post here.. i was raised in "the truth", and am an ex-bethelite who worked in brooklyn for several years back in the 90's.
a few years after i left bethel, i started to become disillusioned after doing research about the society and reading crisis of conscience (i know..i wasn't supposed to do that lol).
i eventually stopped attending meetings and going out in service.
Jhine,
Thanks for responding.
The problem of securing the most current and the most reliable information on facts of the bible is never-ending.
How to ascertain that most current and reliable information requires one to already know what the factors are that bear on biblical scholarship to begin with. To evaluate the material and recognize the weight of a scholarly opinion requires a measure of knowledge, too. And I must say that I am wary of any scholar's findings being unbiased who has made strong testimony of unshakable faith in the bible. In a secular court this one would be kept even from a jury. A judge would recuse himself. One of the worst things that we can have happen to us is to be convinced of what is true before it has been proven.
The book of Job has scholarly reasons to suppose the beginning an ending had been added to an older story. The language structure an use of expressions were estimated as distant in time and geography from the Israelites. There were additions others supposed also-the speach of Elihu. It doesn't matter after a bit--not to me. The unerlying issue is this: for a person to sort out fact from fiction on their own is SILLY!
I find it incredible that a person in my situation is even on a computer and writing and thinking about any of this. Who has the time? I really don't. Who has the education? I have read and read and thought and thought. And I listen. And still--how educate am I? how knowledgeable?
I do happen to believe there was a carpenter who told great stories and had a great heart--my opinion. "love you neighbor as yourself" wasn't original but he taught it to me. At least I got his version of it in the Good Samaritan story. Beyond that--teaching and a few others--nothing need be verified. These stories contain all the practical aspects of living I can handle in any given day. That is as much sifting as I am capable of.
In fact, I will consider myself cured of religion when I can quit obsessing over the issue of Truth and get back to little "t" living.
Really, I appreciate your hanging onto the conversation. Your exploration of the WT will show you how the pitfalls of one-up-manship in biblical correctness can consume and burn people.
Be careful.
Maeve
https://www.anointedjw.org/apostasy_in_fenway.html.
not names of the anointed jws but names of elders and a location.. .
are we getting hints that this thing has legs?.
Before I left I realized and remarked to the elders that the dumbing-down of "anointed" brothers and sisters caused them to violate their credentials (Rev. 14:4,5) as followers of Jesus alone.
The GB taught that even anointed brothers (forget the sisters) who were NOT part of the GB were under the same requirement to obey the GB's mediations/teachings/rules that all the rest of the R&F were subject to.
Correct me if I'm wrong here. The brothers I showed that scripture to didn't correct me on that point.
No Christian of any real "class" would stick around this bunch anyhow.
dear and gentle readers,.
kindly apply the sweet words of our dear emily to why small deeds have been so meaningful to you or another individual in time of need.
no kindness is ever for naught.. deepest gratitude,.
Good night, Coco.
And good morning when it comes.
we are both off of work due to sick kids.
while cooking lunch he turns to me and says, i don't know anywhere in the bible that jesus would give dates about the end coming.
he said to love, forgive, and love some more.
A drop-your-jaw moment. I love thinking about this.
it wasn't my preferred method of leaving but at least i'm as far as i can be from this cult.
over 2 years ago i've tried to fade out but i guess i did it too drastically.
i live in nyc so the entire territory is walkable and everybody in the congregation live pretty close by.
I enjoyed hearing how the visit with the CO went: "None of the above". Sweet.
Yep--They didn't contact me either to say whether or not I had been "announced". I texted an elder one night to see what had happened. Said I'd been announced a while ago.
I went downtown and had a beer in a bar--just me alone--to celebrate.
but it sounds like you are OUT with no need to ask--but get on with the rest of your life.
http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-winner-malala-yousafzai-left-jon-stewart-speechless-2014-10.
when i was young, tv was filled with westerns in which a man was usually defined by his prowess with his fists or a gun.
that motif or concept seems almost entirely gone.
My husband watched this interview an hour ago. He wept. Said it was beautiful.
why did you become a jw, what particular teachings attracted you to 'the truth' ?.
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in my case (baptized at 20/21) it was the only religion i knew; my mom, her mom, and favorite sister were jw; and the teachings of no hellfire or immortal soul made sense to me.. .
The young guy whom I first listened to talked of their commitment to not kill---even in war. That was the thing that got me to accept a study.
i hope somebody takes these new jw tv shows and does something similar to what was done w/ this tv evangelist.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me2h7ja93wg.
It was... the End of Mysteries