Posts by Curtains

61

The Bible as inerrant and complete, or sufficient.

by dgp in

i think we will agree that the wt holds it that the bible is the inerrant word of god.

this is an idea that i just learned from a blog.. the idea is very, very simple:.

the bible is considered "inerrant" and "sufficient".. meaning, it contains no errors, but it is also all you need for salvation.

Curtains

the bible came out of a milieu and if it is possible it is quite helpful to read some of the contemporary writings, for example of the late republic of Rome. It is facinating to see similarities between what Jesus and Paul said and did on the one hand and what Livy (59BCE-17AD) and Plutarch (c. 46 - 120 BCE) say about soldiers and politicians.

for instance Plutarch said:

"the wild beasts that roam over Italy," he (Tiberius Gracchus) would tell his listeners, "have their dens and holes to lurk in, but the men who fight and die for our country enjoy the common air and light and nothing else. It is their lot to wander with their wives and children, houseless and homeless, over the face of the earth."

compare this with Jesus' saying (luke9:58)

But Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head."

An example from Livy

"In addition to public honours many individuals marked their admiration of his exploits in the very hard times which were to follow, by going short themselves in order to contribute something, whatever they could afford, to his support." (Livy. books 1-4 of The The History of Rome from its Foundation)

this to me resonates with Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats particularly Matt 25:34-36

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

41

A Beloved and Compassionate Elder Trapped in a Cult Just Died , What should I do?

by TastingFreedom in

jw
friends

i just heard the sad news that a very loving and kind elder for the congregation that i belonged to for 15 years just died from a heart attack.

he was someone that i had great admiration and deep respect for, even now that i'm out from the jws.

he was my mentor and an inspiration to me as an elder, and in many ways he showed me the contradictions of the wts, he was a breath of fresh air within a cult.

Curtains

hi tastingfreedom

I'm so glad you had someone like this to talk to.

He confided doubts about the organization, and even said, "Even if all the promises are not true (he implied that things may not be true), I still have no regrets, This life hasn't been too bad." He saw his mom and dad die while waiting for paradise, and he himself died waiting for that utopia...it never happened. Broken dreams over and over again.

He once told me, he would rather make a mistake in being compassionate and being forgiving by not DFing someone, then the other way around it. I could see his struggle with those tough decisions he was forced to make by the rest of the body of elders. He still spared many people from being shunned, because he knew how painful it was.

When I was going through my fading process, he confided to me that if he wasn't too old he would also take a chance at life. Being born into JWs,this is all he had known and I'm sure fear and his status made it very difficult to consider a different life. It was probably very difficult for him to start from scratch in life in his late 70s. But he was true to himself in many ways, he was never a "Yes man" type of guy, he would argue and defend his positions.

there are many like him - men, women and children. I would go to the funeral and leave a bunch of flowers with a short note saying how much I appreciated him. But you have to do what you consider best.

147

Do You Hate The Jehovah's Witness Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i see some here who seem to despise the religion.

others seem to feel that witnesses are wacky but they don't hate them.. do you hate this religion?.

Curtains

I don't hate the Jehovahs witness religion or Jehovahs witnessess but am horrified by some of its/their/my extremisms and these I'd like to see reformed. Although on the other hand it is important that people live by their beliefs and convictions even if I/we see them going downhill because of them (talking about family here). I believe in people's desire to engage fully with what they are convinced about. However at the same time I want to be allowed to do the same. And this is where the tussle occurs imo.

4

In Brazil, no religion is above the law, by Fátima Oliveira

by dgp in

jw
friends

i found this link on freeminds, read it, liked it, and now i'm sharing it here with jwn.

the article is about sebastiao ramos and his campaign in brazil.

it was published in a brazilian newspaper, in portuguese, of course.

Curtains

THANKS DGP

this sentence sums up the experience of disfellowshipping and I am so glad the reporter emphasized this important point

In both cases, if the person who is out has love ties with other people who are Jehovah's witnesses, blood relatives or not, the person is treated as if he or she didn't exist or had never existed". Is the aim to cause social death? Worse: the aim is a reduction to nothingness, damages against the person's honor and public image.

21

The WTS's subliminal image '666'

by possible-san in

well, this is an information from a certain forum (2ch) in japan.. according to that information, apparently, that is in the article of "awake!, july 2010. p.21".

in that article (awake!

july 2010), the tetragrammaton (yhwh) is drawn in the triangle.. but when looking carefully, a part of those hebrew is different.. .

Curtains

is the image a pic of the image above the altar in the rural church in Qubec though?

I can only see a 56610 or HWWY

58

BBC news re Nathan Phillips xjw

by Curtains in

jw
friends

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_9367000/9367220.stm.

.

Curtains

cantleave best best of luck to you for tomorrow.

I really like the way Nathan Phillips puts his points across as he does not paint ordinary JWs as bad people. He seems to want to urge WT leaders to modify their extremisms and to implement these reforms so that ordinary JWs can give and get support to and from their families and in my opinion this is particularly important in these hard economic times.

58

BBC news re Nathan Phillips xjw

by Curtains in

jw
friends

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_9367000/9367220.stm.

.

Curtains

thanks amelia

Jehovahs witnesses like to say that shunning is a private matter between the disfellowshipped one and those who wish to shun him and that the organisation has nothing to do with it. but the question is what would happen to families who refused to shun their disfellowshippped family members. They too would be disfellowshipped.

58

BBC news re Nathan Phillips xjw

by Curtains in

jw
friends

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_9367000/9367220.stm.

.

Curtains

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_9367000/9367220.stm

13

Need help making NON JW Friends. LOL!!

by lil.lady.03 in

jw
friends

so its been a whomping 5 months since i stopped going to the meetings!!

yay!!!.

and its amazing how quickly i have let go of everything!!.

Curtains

lil lady 03

One of the main things to get used to outside of JWs is that you are different from everyone around you. I say be different and take whatever comes with it.

an unfortunate aspect of human nature (and that we see so clearly when we leave a fascist organisation) is that humans on the outside can be just as narrow minded. This is something to accept. However now you can spread your own difference around - this is something you could not do as a witness.

take a leaf out of a favourite singers book. See how they are different and how they infect others with their own styles and personalities. Lady gaga, beyonce etc.

73

You ever go through extended moments where nothing satisfies you, to the point you wouldn't mind dying?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

don't get me wrong, this isn't a call for help or anything like that.

i'm not about to do anything stupid, just feeling a little down and exhausted tonight.

i feel defeated, even though i don't feel as if i'm battling anything.

Curtains

If you told the title of this thread to a professional they would recommend therapy just in case you are in the doldrums and in over your head. So do see someone.

On the other hand the world can be bright and sparkling and it can also be very nihilistic and often in between. If I'm trapped inside like you are then I would probably feel like you. It would not worry me then because I'd know what steps to take. Like you I'd probably come here too - but (in a worst case scenario) I'd go out in the snow and come back feeling refreshed.