Charlie Cheddar

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Posts by Charlie Cheddar

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  56

  What made you turn atheist or agnostic?

  by LevelThePlayingField in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you were a jw and are now an atheist or agnostic, what was the tipping point that made you turn to it?.

  the reason i ask is i have noticed that many who leave the jw's seem to turn to atheism, versus still having some form of a faith.

  have many of you given up on god first or have you had atheistic views first and then found atheism to be true.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  Good question.

  I left the JW organisation around 10 years ago, but consider myself as still agnostic, therefore I havent given up hope on if god exists or not.

  What made me turn from being a believer to being agnostic? Answer - being unhappy. During my time as a follower I felt myself sliding into a state of being unhappy, miserable, frustrated and eventually depressed. I used to ask myself 'If this is god's organisation, then why am I feeling like this?'. Since leaving the organisation, I have developed my secular career as an engineer, met a fine lady, started a family and am much happier ten years on.

  Now when I think about it, It p*sses me off when you'd hear a talk or read a Watchtower / Awake article about the Devil trying to make us feel depressed and worthless, when really it was the JW teachings and general way of life that was making me feel that way.

  In addition to the above, since then I have come to learn that much of their doctrines / teachings are inaccurate and erroneous, and at the time of my entering the JW faith, I was a bit naive and gullible, and didn't really question it properly.

  However, just because I have rejected the JW faith doesn't mean I have given up on the hope of there being a god up above (or below, or wherever). I need more evidence that he does exist. Can anyone prove this beyond doubt? I don't think so. Many people come in his name citing verses from the Bible, Koran, Torah etc, but no one can properly prove that he exists and we are his creation. Therefore as long as this is the case, I will remain an agnostic.
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  20

  We (in the 21st century) are not living in the biblical "last days."

  by quincemyles in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  all that jesus spoke about in matthew 24 was fulfilled in the first century.

  all of jesus' warnings in that passage were relevant only to natural jews.

  (mat.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  I often wonder just how long can the JW org continue to say that we are living in the 'last days'. They have been saying this for decades. Surely this is already wearing thin as it is.

  If the organisation is still in existence in 50 years time, will they still be saying this then? what about 100, 200 or 300 years time?

  For how long a time period can one perceive as the 'last days'?
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  40

  Boredom at the Kingdom Hall meetings

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  put aside all the stupid rules,beliefs,doctrines and practices of the jehovah's witnesses.this is one of the main reasons why i stopped attending all meetings!

  boredom.

  monotone speakers.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  You forgot field service mate. God that was unbelievably boring, depressing, soul destroying etc. etc.
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  8

  Witnesses! Are the Disfellowshipped Enemies?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there are countless witnesses who fully support the watchtower's policy on shunning the disfellowshipped - and eagerly extend it to the inactive, in accord with the governing body's orders.

  they see nothing wrong with this unloving behavior.. if you are among these eager shunners, i have a question for you that might open up your heart and mind as to why the watchtower is wrong:.

  are the disfellowshipped enemies?

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  Charlie Cheddar

  i think the shunning policy is supposed to be based on a scripture in Matthew in which Jesus says something like 'let him be a man of the nations or even a tax collector'.

  However, how did the jews really treat people of the other nations or tax collectors in those days? Did they openly shun them like the JWs do to disfellowshipped or inactive people today?
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  74

  Who is AGBM?

  by african GB Member in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the purpose of this thread is to tell everyone on this board who i am and why i am so different.. first of all, i have already apologised on another thread for posting zero drivel topics here.. i am a 29 year old male, born-in, baptised in 1998, df'd in 2003 for fornication, reinstated in 2008. i want to make it clear that i have never been a ms. after my reinstatement i continued to attend meetings with the same cong.

  but moved to another cong.

  earlier this year, reason being, the continued shunning by some hardcore self-righteous publishers.. i am still with the same cong until now, i go to meetings regularly, including taking part as well as giving bible reading talks.

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  Charlie Cheddar
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  32

  Living With Regret - what do YOU regret about being in the org?

  by babygirl30 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1. getting baptized at 14 and not knowing what the heck i was 'signing' up for.

  2. dating worthless, lazy, no work ethic, selfish 'brothers' who were supposedly approved all because they were baptized - but in the end - were a waste of my time and younger years in dating.. 3. subjecting my bf (back in the day) who was a non-jw to the whole jw experience!

  i demanded that he study, i demanded that he change his religion in order to be with me, i made him sit with my parents and listened to them berate him (and myself) while they fed him all their haughty beliefs and requirements in order to date their jw daughter.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  What do i regret?

  Everything. I second your experiences and observations also, but the worst regret of all is loosing ten years of my life to that horrible cult.

  Studying at 22, baptised at 25, left at 32.

  My precious & youthful twenties wasted, gone, cannot get back, gone forever.

  CC
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  75

  Question for believers: How does God set priorities?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  while waiting for the bus yesterday, i overheard (wasn't trying - but due to his volume, impossible to avoid) a guy on his cell phone talking to someone about his likely imminent dismissal from his employment.. but he then went on to say that he had full confidence that god would take care of him, and he wasn't worried at all about finding new employment.. then i got home, watched the news, and found out that 4 million kenyans are in danger of starving to death because of a year-long drought there.. so i got to thinking - how exactly does god set priorities?.

  the guy at the bus stop is not the first christian i've heard express his confidence that god chooses to intervene and help in the lives of individual believers.

  he saves them from car wrecks, he helps them find jobs, he lends some sort of invisible emotional support to help them cope with the death of a child, and so on.. on the other hand, millions of people suffer excruciating pain for months or years before finally dying covered in mud with flies crawling on them - no relief from god in sight.. why does god help one middle-aged guy who's never been hungry in his life find a new job in time so that he doesn't miss his $3000 mortgage payment, but not send a little rain to help a land where millions of people are already living in misery and filth?.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  Interesting.

  I've often wondered this also.

  To take care of that man by the bus stop by giving him a job, and at the same time he ignores the several million poor and starving people in a third world country such as Kenya, suggests that God (if there is one) has got a problem with his organisation of things.

  Logically, this leads many people to disbelieving in a deity, hence the many people in the world who are understandably agnostic or atheistic.

  CC
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  19

  why do I keep losing sleep over silly stuff?

  by finding my way in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i keep finding myself posting things on here and then feeling extremely embarrased for sharing my point of view.

  like i can't handle anyone disagreeing with my viewpoint.

  last night i had a hard time falling asleep because of what someone posted in response to my comment.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  I wouldnt take it too seriously.

  When people discuss topics and matters on this website, because of varied personal opinions, feelings and experiences, it's very easy to disagree, argue and fall out with other board members.

  But lets face it, i think most of us on this board take advantage of the gulf of cyberspace that conveniently exists between us all here. If we had the same discussions face to face, i think many of these discussions would be a bit more restrained and not so opinionated.

  CC
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  56

  New Light on Prayer in NOV 15 WT Study Edition

  by lepermessiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i finally saw that november 15th wt article on prayer that everyone has been talking about - the people in the photos look as stiff as corpses!.

  people will be called in the back room for inadvertantly making contact with their spouse during prayer.. i think i will adopt the following stance during prayer now:.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  Aguest

  Interesting comments, thankyou for sharing.

  CC
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  20

  Do you wear a poppy?

  by dozy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i always wished that i could wear a poppy on the run-up to rememberance sunday ( for details on this british commonwealth custom see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/poppy_day ) and often used to buy a poppy but binned it before anyone saw me wearing one.

  as i understand it , it is a dfing offence ,though i cant see anything explicity in the wts literature.

  anybody who is faded but not dfd worn one and what feedback did you get?.

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  Charlie Cheddar

  I'd wear one.

  Nobody with a sound, rational mind likes war. Generally it means death & suffering for the masses, and in many cases it is for the purpose of satisfaction and selfish gain for power obsessed leaders.

  However, like Outlaw has mentioned, if someone like Hitler was to rise again, we'd have no choice but to fight and spill blood in the name of defending ourselves and keeping our freedom and liberty.

  CC