Topics Started by neverendingjourney

15
Random Thought on Drugs/Tobacco Being Sinful Under JW Doctrine
by neverendingjourney in
1. jw
2. friends
a friend of mine was telling me about her recent trip to peru.

she said she had trouble with the altitude in certain areas of peru but the locals offered her a tea derived from the coca leaf and that helped tremendously with her symptoms.. i began to think about how i would have handled the situation as a jw given that coca contains an alkaloid that is used to produce cocaine.

in its natural form, the content is very low and the locals use it as a stimulant similar to coffee.. however, as a jw i would have probably refused to drink it viewing it as something similar to a product derived from tobacco leaves.
11
Dad Turns 70 Today
by neverendingjourney in
1. jw
2. friends
and i can't wish him a happy birthday.

they converted when i was an infant, so birthdays were never a thing for us.

still, i'd love to be able to throw him a party, surround him with friends and family, and show him how much he's appreciated.
15
Any William Miller Scholars out there?
by neverendingjourney in
1. watchtower
2. bible
for those who may not be aware, the 1914 date was arrived at by russell by using the same framework of the failed prophetic interpretations of the adventist preacher william miller.

see this chart:.

if you look at the top right of the chart, he uses the same 7-times reasoning to arrive at the 2,520 years (7 times=7 multiplied by 360-day years=2,520 years).
24
Cliff Notes on Construction Halt/Bethel Layoffs
by neverendingjourney in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i don't follow the board nearly as closely as i did years ago and i've only seen scattered and seemingly contradictory threads on construction delays and bethel layoffs.. anyone care to briefly summarize the latest for those of us who haven't closely followed the various threads?

it'd be greatly appreciated.. thanks in advance..
35
Has the WT ever said it's okay to steak rare?
by neverendingjourney in
1. watchtower
2. bible
i'm revisiting an old topic here, but this was a subject of much confusion for me when i was still a witness.

i went to a spanish congregation in the u.s. and it seemed to be taken for granted by most that you needed to cook beef thoroughly to "get rid" of the blood.

i was surprised when i learned that folks in the english speaking hall would order a steak medium-rare and think nothing of it.. it wasn't until after i left the witnesses that it started to occur to me that if the red fluid that was present when you'd cut the beef was blood, cooking it thoroughly wouldn't get rid of it, it'd just cook it and transform it into another color.
8
Sometimes the most obvious connections are the most difficult to make
by neverendingjourney in
1. jw
2. experiences
i had a sudden realization the other day, one that took me many years to make but that should have been fairly obvious in hindsight.

let me explain.. my parents are immigrants.

they moved to the u.s. when i was a toddler.
37
Do you know your neighbors? Is it just me?
by neverendingjourney in
1. watchtower
2. scandals
i'm a single hispanic guy in my mid 30s living by myself in suburban america.

i own a home in the kind of neighborhood where you have to get hoa permission to do just about anything, including chopping down a tree.

i'm a white collar worker and lead a pretty boring life.
48
Why are some of you guys calling this new arrangement tithing?
by neverendingjourney in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
at the risk of being shouted down, i thought i'd point out that "tithing" means giving 10 percent of your income to a church.

it comes from the old english word teogotha meaning tenth.

i've seen nothing that establishes tithing in the watchtower.. while i'm all in favor of pointing out the watchtower's lies, hypocrisies and faults, the language we use matters.
9
Why is it so hard to speak about Jehovah's Witnesses in neutral terms?
by neverendingjourney in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
catholicism.

islam.

buddhism.
51
Categories of Former Jehovah's Witnesses
by neverendingjourney in
1. jw
2. friends
i was never disfellowshipped, but it's been about 10 years since i was an active jw.

i've made an occasional meeting or half-day at an assembly here or there, strictly at the behest of family (maybe once a year), but i'm completely disconnected.

more importantly, mentally i'm 100% free.. we all have a tendency to project our views and beliefs onto others, and tending to believe that other former jws share our views is no different.