Posts by Disillusioned JW

20

Sample Disassociation Letters

by Vanderhoven7 in

what do you think of the following sample disassociation letter from 4jehovah.org ?.

if you are looking to disassociate from jehovah’s witnesses, here is a sample letter you can modify for your use:.

i have decided to disassociate myself from the ____________ congregation of jehovah’s witness.

Vanderhoven7, I am glad you posted that document. I thought of posting it more than a week ago but I never got around to doing so. But, your post of the letter has a serious omission of one word (you probably unconsciously made the omission or maybe you had a different source for it).

Part of that document is interesting to me, because the letter doesn't actually claim the person is disassociating from the local congregation nor to claiming to be no longer being one of Jehovah's Witnesses. [Note that instead of the wording of your transcription of the letter, at https://www.4jehovah.org/sample-disassociation-letter/ the letter begins by saying "I have decided not to disassociate myself from the ____________ Congregation of Jehovah’s Witness." Note it says the word "not".] Instead it says the person disagrees "... with certain actions, policies, teachings, and writings contained in publications produced, and oral teachings promulgated either individually or collectively by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and its legal corporations, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Inc., and the International Bible Students Association." But in saying the latter the elders would judge the person as being an apostate and probably subject to being disfellowshipped for such instead of being disassociated. If that is the case the letter probably would not work in preventing the person as being announced as "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses". But it is interesting the letter makes a distinction between disassociating from the local congregation and disagreeing with the WT on some particulars, since it specifically says "I have decided not to disassociate myself from the ____________ Congregation of Jehovah’s Witness." The word "Witness" should be replaced with the word "Witnesses".

The letter is also very significant since it says "This is also to notify the _____________ Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses that you, nor the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, including its over 100 other associated business corporations, have any authority over me whatsoever." That is important because the WT's handbook for the elders says that if the JW/ex-JW does not recognize the elders as having authority over the person and if the person no longer identifies as a JW the elders have permission to not take action on the person. In the letter, for clarity it would probably be good for "... that you, nor the Watchtower ..." to instead say "... that neither you, nor the Watchtower ...".

21

What would happen to the Watchtower Org. if the recent UFO sightings were actually aliens ready to take over Earth

by pistolpete in

the past two weeks several ufo sightings.

navy and pentagon confirm sightings.

us military is worried because the technology being used to drive these air vehicles are showing no signs of any sort of jet fuel.

Disillusioned JW

In some of the literature of the WT the WT said that some alleged sightings of UFOs (in the sense of apparent extraterrestrial space ships) and extraterrestrial non-supernatural aliens are deceptions of the demons.

21

What would happen to the Watchtower Org. if the recent UFO sightings were actually aliens ready to take over Earth

by pistolpete in

the past two weeks several ufo sightings.

navy and pentagon confirm sightings.

us military is worried because the technology being used to drive these air vehicles are showing no signs of any sort of jet fuel.

Disillusioned JW

Pyramids? Oh my goodness, does that mean the Stargate movie and the multiple Stargate TV series are basically true? Will we be able to defeat the Goa'uld? Ha ha.

38

The absolute insanity that religion breeds

by LoveUniHateExams in

however good certain religious principles may or may not be, there seems to be complete insanity that only religion breeds.. a buddhist monk in thailand has apparently chopped off his own head to give himself 'good luck' in the afterlife.. .

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9488127/buddhist-monk-chops-head-guillotine-buddha.html.

Disillusioned JW

When I said "the gods of ancient others, and other pagan gods, nor ghosts, Santa Claus, and gremlins, and I do see ..." I meant to say "the gods of ancient peoples, and other pagan gods, nor ghosts, Santa Claus, and gremlins, and I do not see ...."

38

The absolute insanity that religion breeds

by LoveUniHateExams in

however good certain religious principles may or may not be, there seems to be complete insanity that only religion breeds.. a buddhist monk in thailand has apparently chopped off his own head to give himself 'good luck' in the afterlife.. .

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9488127/buddhist-monk-chops-head-guillotine-buddha.html.

Disillusioned JW

truth_b_known, what are some "... studies showing that neuroscience is proving what Buddhism already realized..."? I am intrigued by a secularized version of Buddhism. I agree that Buddha did not intend his philosophy to become a religion, but the way many people practice it (including praying to devas and by including some Hindu ideas and worship practices) it is religious.

I have two books on Buddhism. They are: The Teaching of Buddha [by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Buddhist Promoting Foundation, located in Japan)] and The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (coauthored by the Dali Lama and by Howard C. Cutler, M.D.), but I haven't yet read much of the latter. I bought the latter because I want to feel happiness and joy much more often, instead of merely feeling neutral emotionally (or only very mildly happy) most of the time. Most of my free time I only feel content and or fascinated. It is hard for me feel certain positive emotions (such as happiness and joy) other than for very brief periods. I have been trying since as far as I can remember (since before age 8) to feel joy and happiness for more than a few minutes (or a half hour) in a day (tough on some days I do feel joy or happiness for longer, but that is rare), but so far nothing has really worked. I have put much effort into solving the problem, including studying many books and articles (and praying when I believed in the god). It is somewhat like I am an android in that respect or a Vulcan. My mind is very analytically oriented (even since before age 8).

38

The absolute insanity that religion breeds

by LoveUniHateExams in

however good certain religious principles may or may not be, there seems to be complete insanity that only religion breeds.. a buddhist monk in thailand has apparently chopped off his own head to give himself 'good luck' in the afterlife.. .

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9488127/buddhist-monk-chops-head-guillotine-buddha.html.

Disillusioned JW

Badfish, but according to your version/definition of Christianity the god (God) does require works to become saved (earned). Are you familiar with Pascal's wager? You see some people are very skeptical about certain kinds of claims, including the claim of the existence of a god, including the god of the Bible. Furthermore Pascal was a Catholic and he thus had the Catholic concept of the Christian god. Pascal said one should wager that the god exists and that if one does not believe he exists then one must try very hard to believe and that performing religious rituals (Catholic rituals and type of worship?) over a long period of time will result in one gaining the belief. Doing such would be a lot work (even if only psychological work) and if successful would amount to earning salvation.

Believing in the existence of a heavenly Christ who is the Son of God (and even God to many Christians) and in God the Father, does not come easily to people who are naturally very skeptical of the existence of any spirit beings.

Oh, but I see you have a way out of that matter. You seem to be a Calvinist (at least in one regard) since you say "... if God hasn’t enabled you to believe, you will not believe". Many times when I believed it was hard for me to believe (I thought I never believed in Zeus, Aphrodite, the gods of ancient others, and other pagan gods, nor ghosts, Santa Claus, and gremlins, and I do see anything clearly supernatural ever happen, so maybe Jehovah God, Jesus Christ the Son of God, Satan the Devil, angels, and demons don't exist either. I also knew since grade school that most scientists consider evolution to be true and so I often wondered if it was true.) After I learned more science in regards to the evidence for evolution and the geology and discovered many serious problems with the Bible, I became convinced of evolution and I became an atheist.

Before I became a total atheist (positive atheist, not merely an agnostic) I prayed to Jehovah/Yahweh God and even to Jesus/Yeshua Christ telling them that if God exists please provide me with the evidence (for I wish to only believe based upon evidence and not upon credulity/faith) that you know would convince that you exist. I made appeal using the example in the Bible of the man who asked Jesus for help in his unbelief, so that the man's son would be healed. I also said that according to the Bible Thomas said he would not believe Jesus was was from the dead unless he saw Jesus alive with the wounds present. I also mentioned the example in the Bible of test Jehovah allowed Elijah to do regarding calling down fire from heaven onto an altar. I further gave the biblical example of Yahweh telling Moses he would have Moses perform miraculous signs (as evidence) to convince the Hebrew people that God was directing Moses (that was in response to Moses asking how could he convince the people). In each of the cases the Bible said God (or Jesus) granted the requests. Despite my prayers, I never received any evidence that convinced me that God exists. Instead I learned of scientific evidence that is strong proof against the existence of the God (any god), even of a deistic god - thus I became an outright positive/strong atheist.

If, hypothetically speaking, you are correct about God and salvation, then God doesn't want me to believe in him and he wants me to go to hell for my disbelief in him. That idea of divine hiddenness coming with such severe adverse condemnation is awful and hideous. [The idea of divine hiddenness is also an idea that scholarly philosophers consider to be a very strong argument/evidence for the nonexistence of a personal omni-type of God who loves humanity.] But then again, I think that if a god exists who did a number of the things the Bible says Yahweh did in pre-Christian times then such a god is evil and should be opposed despite the punishment it would bring. So if, hypothetically speaking, the god you believe in exists then maybe that is why he doesn't want me to believe in him.

8

Losing My Religion - America's progressive estrangement from organized religion

by EdenOne in

this article on the latest gallup survey:.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/america-losing-religion-effects-long-093028404.html.

in 1937, 73% of americans would be affiliated with some organized religion; that number remained steady until 1999: (70%); the 21st century brought about a major shift: 50% in 2018; 47% in the latest survey.. children who grew up in households without organized religion are less likely to affiliate to some form of organized religion.. it's not only a generational difference; the growth in those who express no religious preference is also on the rise in generation x (those born between mid 1960's and early 1980's).

Disillusioned JW

My inclination since preteen years has been towards rationalism and science. When I was an active JW, as well as during my pre-baptism years from age 10 (and possibly even earlier) till my baptism, studying the JW religion was a drag and active participation in religion was a drag. Sure, thinking I could live forever in paradise was great, but I had doubts about that doctrine being a true teaching and I was greatly bored by having to read so much WT literature, attend multiple KH meetings per week, and engage in field service weekly.

18

Do you sometimes bemoan the LOST idea, or Belief, that Someone Powerful was going to set all things right?

by pistolpete in

so it looks like about half of my jw relatives are not going back to the meetings once they open up the kingdom halls.

the main reason all of them give is that if we were truly living in the last days, jehovah would not have allowed the door to door preaching work, and kingdom hall meetings to stop for over a year.. the elders have talked to some of them and tried to convince them that letter writing is accomplishing the same thing as door to door, and zoom is the same as meetings-----------but my relatives just won’t buy it anymore.

just a note here, at first, the kingdom hall lock-downs, and the no preaching door to door was not that bad,the relatives still held on to their faith strongly because they believed it was temporary.

Disillusioned JW

Please see https://www.naturalism.org/philosophy/worldview-naturalism-in-depth/worldview-naturalism-a-status-report/contrasts-between-naturalism-and-anti-naturalism#morality . It says in the part:

'The “moral instinct” is part of who we are, it’s a defining characteristic of being human. We don’t, therefore, need commanding to be good; it happens quite naturally as a function of our evolved nature. We are, overall, happier, more productive, more secure and more interpersonally fulfilled when we act according to the golden rule and other ethical maxims. So the naturalist’s one-liner in response to the question “Why be moral?” might be simply: acting morally is essential for human happiness and flourishing within a community.'

Chaisson's book the Epic of Evolution, in its Epilogue, mentions that ethics are important "... because global citizenship and a planetary society are crucial factors in the survival of our species."

18

Do you sometimes bemoan the LOST idea, or Belief, that Someone Powerful was going to set all things right?

by pistolpete in

so it looks like about half of my jw relatives are not going back to the meetings once they open up the kingdom halls.

the main reason all of them give is that if we were truly living in the last days, jehovah would not have allowed the door to door preaching work, and kingdom hall meetings to stop for over a year.. the elders have talked to some of them and tried to convince them that letter writing is accomplishing the same thing as door to door, and zoom is the same as meetings-----------but my relatives just won’t buy it anymore.

just a note here, at first, the kingdom hall lock-downs, and the no preaching door to door was not that bad,the relatives still held on to their faith strongly because they believed it was temporary.

Disillusioned JW

In my prior post when I wrote "5866" I meant to write "586", but you folks probably new that.

When it comes to having a belief system or worldview, after no longer being a believing JW, I opted for a naturalistic worldview grounded in scientific knowledge, the scientific method, and personal experience. I study science to build understanding of the universe and how the 'parts' of the universe are interrelated. A good book using that approach is the Epic of Evolution: Seven Ages of the Cosmos (copyright 2006) by Eric Chaisson. I also read science books and science articles on more specific topics. I just wish I remembered so much more of what I have read.

https://www.naturalism.org/worldview-naturalism/naturalism-in-a-nutshell . A basic code of ethics can be derived from such a view, including the principle of a variant of the "golden rule".

112

Are You Concerned About Inflation?

by Simon in

i saw a statistic the other day that something like 25% of all the debt that the us has incurred since 1776 was created in the last 12 months.

that's because they have printed so much currency and instead of letting that stop them, they are going to continue printing more to go on a spending spree on crazy green-new-deal schemes and union handouts.. does anyone think that this can be anything other than inflationary?

they are effectively stealing the wealth of everyone to then hand money out to people.

Disillusioned JW

Where I live food is very plentiful (and in great variety) in the grocery stores.

Fred Meyer's and Safeway are competing with Amazon by offering digital coupons to shoppers to download coupons from the online stores of Kroger (including Fred Meyer's) and Safeway. Other than for rent on my apartment and on food at fast food restaurants I don't notice price increases much. Part of that is because for several years now I don't do much shopping since I now have essentially all of the material things (such as electronics and furniture) I want. It is also because I am very thrifty and that I buy nearly all of my electronics and books used from deep discount thrift stores. It is also because most of the food I get is given to me for free by certain charitable organizations (who in turn received it as free from grocery stores due the stores donating their surplus that didn't sell).

Regarding my rent, it has not risen for over a year because my landlord has decided to delay raising the rent at my apartment building due the hard times many people are having financially due to Covid-19's impacts on employment.

Because of the climate in my area, because of where my apartment unit is located within my apartment building, and because if needed I bundle up while at home, during 10+ months of each year I keep my heaters (which are electric) turned off (except sometimes briefly the one in the bathroom). My electric bill (and I purchase 100% renewable electricity) has not increased much (in terms of dollars/month) over the years - my electric bill is only about $45/month.