Posts by Heaven

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

Heaven

I have read through most of the posts here. So far I have not seen anyone answer Viv's and cappy's question on which God is being referenced. There are thousands of them. As human knowledge has expanded, the gods have diminished. I think that's the answer right there.

Reality and facts refute everything I've ever been told about who and what God is. My doubting began as an older child, upon learning of the massive scale of suffering during the Ethiopian famine of the 1970's. EVERY believer must deal with the issue of theodicy at some point in their 'belief' journey. Some come up with excuses, others come to the only logical conclusion: god(s) does/do not exist.

Epicurus' quote sums it up:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

Since being on this board, I've seen the main question posed several times. I've yet to see the question "Does anyone still believe in the Goddess?"

I wonder why that is.

74

A call from family - Armageddon this month!

by kaik in

i very seldom receive a call from my jw siblings, i mean seldom.

i can count them on my hand in past 10 years.

while we talk about mom a lot and i am in touch with her, i was very surprised when i received this call.

Heaven

I like to say the following to JWs who are hyping Fail-mageddon:

"I've heard this 'Armageddon is imminent' story my whole life. I am 52 years old. If I told you I was coming to your house 'soon' or 'imminently' and 52 years passed, would you still think I was coming over soon?"

I let that sink in for a few moments, you know, because there is usually that stunned, deer-in-the-headlights look of silence.

If they don't respond, I feed them the answer by saying "The answer is No you wouldn't think I was coming over soon."

27

Hey Simon

by ShirleyW in

jw
friends

i'm noticing that when i open quite a few of the posts here i notice that the end of the sentences on some lines are breaking improperly.

like for the word paragraph, it's broken up with the "aph" on the next line for an example.

it's happening a lot i'm seeing it just about in every post i open, is it just my view and my computer?.

Heaven

I'm using Mozilla Firefox. I see that ShirleyW's OP got cut at the 'bre' - new line - 'aking' and then again with the word 'happe' - new line - 'ning' having the same issue. Not sure if mine are doing it yet but let's see what happens here with what I'm typing now. I saw one of Vidiot's posts do it yesterday and thought it odd. I copied his post into mine to quote it and I couldn't fix it.

Edited to add... Yep... the word 'word', 'with', and 'quote' are broken in this post of mine.

21

Using the internet can destroy your Faith.

by James Mixon in

that's the conclusion of a study showing that the dramatic drop in religious affiliation.

in the u.s since 1990 is closely mirrored by the increase in internet use.

of the u.s population had no religious preference.

Heaven

The Internet helps to make information more widely available that refutes with clear evidence the mythology religion presents as truth.

48

America Mass Shooting: 10/1/2015

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

since this will be the norm in america, perhaps we should put a date on each of these topics.

can't really put school mass shooting because too many to choose from.

Heaven

Vidiot said:All other arguments notwithstanding...

...doesn't it seem kinda weird when a vast majority of citizens of a country - any country - actively wants to be armed to the teeth at all times?

I agree. Paranoia will destroy ya.

14

I admit- I make my TMS talks apostate

by fr0808 in

hello (not a new user - had to reregister with the site revamp).

i look for every way to make my 5 minute talks devoid of wt flavor.

i try to be positive -talk about god's love for humanity.

Heaven

The Inside Apostate Army... The IAA... is alive and well and fighting back.

13

Did God create life? Did life have a beginning?

by quincemyles in

life is passed on from previously existing life.

life can not be created but can be destroyed.

this rule has never been broken.

Heaven

quincemyles... In my various readings on the natural world, what I have discovered is that without death, there would be no life. Religion and the Bible have messed a lot of people up about this topic.

10

Are JW's preaching God's Kingdom throuout the entire world?

by Big Derp in

just a quick question for anyone who can answer.

i know jw's are not preaching in certain middle east countries because of the "danger".

yet i know for a fact catholics are there despite the danger, and many are being slaughtered and raped.. i have also travelled to many arctic and sub arctic inuit and cree communities.

Heaven

Are JW's preaching God's Kingdom throuout the entire world?

The math says No. I discovered this as a teenager. It's not complicated math either. There are simply not enough JWs in the world to service the billions on this planet. Evidence such as what you've stated Big Derp about remote areas like the Arctic also says No. There are remote tribes in the Amazon that have been discovered. Aerial photos show they aren't JWs.

20

In view of the dire straits of the JW org, what now?

by Half banana in

to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..

the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.

he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.

Heaven

half banana said: Heaven, how could they do that when all would know they would be doing it as a survival tactic and not because they believe it?

By decree (not dogma... ) as per TOMO III himself. They really need to come up with an exciting, positive mission statement and some goals the JWs could really get behind. They need a new vision.

Vidiot said: @ Heaven and Half banana...
All those things are an integral part of JWism. They can't authentically mainstream, becasue if they did, they wouldn't actually be Jehovah's Witnesses, anymore.
Not to mention that if they, in particular, dropped the WTS's sense of exclusivity, they'd effectively eliminate the membership's biggest incentive to stay.

Sure they are. But they are also things that ultimately cause damage to people and an attrition issue they have no idea how to address. They keep changing their doctrines. This, alone, shows their doctrines are not working. The JWs of today certainly don't believe a lot of what JWs of previous decades believed especially going back to inception. The door-to-door work is reducing more and more. They have their apathy carts and their iPads. They're really just "Jehovah's Presenters" now. Do JWs even know the Bible? If you want to discuss things with them that appear to be at odds with what they believe, they just walk away.They cannot deal with opposition. They certainly would not be able to be in any sort of formal debate.

They changed their name before from International Bible Students to Jehovah's Witnesses. They can change it again. We could make something up for them... how about "Jehovah's Helpers" in line with Jesus' commandment to help one another. I have a feeling they'd retain far more people if they set the Borg up like a real charity where they actually have projects that JWs get involved in to feed starving people, ensure proper medical care and other needs were provided to the less fortunate, and get underprivileged or poverty stricken people the education they need. They may even recruit more people this way too.

I think most JWs have a good heart, or at least, start out that way.

My hope is that one day, the Borg wakes up to realize they are doing harm and change that.

312

Mass disassociation pact...

by freemindfade in

any takers?

we can pick a date and pull the plug?

lol .

Heaven

I think y'all should do this. It would send a huge message.

I was never baptized so they don't have me on record but I'd be willing to send a letter stating my grievances as someone related to JWs. Should that be included too? What do you guys think?