i was curious if anyone else has gone through a similar experience.. when i became inactive 4 years ago, i went through a period of not being able to focus on just about anything, other than doing tremendous amounts of research to prove to myself what my beliefs were, and to clearly identify my issues with the jw organization.
i was mad - and i was on a mission to build the ultimate case against the wt.
however, having read the fine advice on here, i backed off with my family, since it would have just gotten ugly.. i avoided posting on here for years, and had cut down my research and put it on the back burner.. however, i still felt a need to "witness" to my family and to have an open discussion with my wife.
I love "truth". Truth is not what someone says it is. Truth is something that can be successfully defended.
Challenging significant claims in all areas is a life time dedication.
Enjoying the process of synthesizing contradictory claims is something you have to be born with because it can be very distracting.
the book is recommended reading in my bioethics law class.
this is a law/medicine class that combines students from the school of medicine, the school of public health, and the school of law, so a broad cross-section of people will base their opinions of jws on this book.
my fellow students include a working neonatologist, a japanese health department employee, a chinese gentleman who works for some chinese gov't agency, a north african lawyer, an australian international health care worker, an undergrad ethics professor from a different, but local, university, and a social worker who is a fellow at a local pediatric bioethics foundation.
Too bad Jehovah didn't explain to Adam & Eve (by word, dream or vision) that by eating the forbidden fruit they opened the door to all sorts of genetic mutations. That certainly would have been an excellent preventive for all our sickness and could have avoided billions dying from war, pestilence and starvation.
No special pleading will get God off that hook. He showed later on that he was pretty handy at getting his point accross with dreams, visions and sacred secrets.
My past is how I got here.
I want to be here.
because i was abroad we had to use the original revelation book and only the reader had the new improved version so i don't know if this was the same else where but following along using the old version made the adjustments seem even more ludicrous.. why didn't they ensure everyone had the new version before studying it rather than highlight all the "adjustments" that had to be made in a km and therefore making them more obvious?.
do you think there could be a list of amendments to be inserted into the reasoning book in the same way?.
My own personal favorite Reasoning book. It runs in price from 1.25 for a used paper back up to 150.00 for a new hard cover at amazon.
Favorite bathroom reading. Contains 60 common fallacies. Gives examples of how to use these in overturning arguments.
i have come to this site for almost a decade.
even though i do not stop by much anymore, i wonder why it has not been upgraded or changed to a more modern format.
it seems like it has basically just been left to what it was upgraded to several years ago.
Simon,
I thought "why in the world change it. I don't like learning how to navigate new web pages" . Then I checked out the new format and actually like it.
Good choice.
I also was one of those who voted down remodeling Kingdom Halls.
because i was abroad we had to use the original revelation book and only the reader had the new improved version so i don't know if this was the same else where but following along using the old version made the adjustments seem even more ludicrous.. why didn't they ensure everyone had the new version before studying it rather than highlight all the "adjustments" that had to be made in a km and therefore making them more obvious?.
do you think there could be a list of amendments to be inserted into the reasoning book in the same way?.
There once was a book that basically was The Governing Body Said So
you can read it here:
http://www.a2z.org/wtarchive/docs/1916_What_Pastor_Russell_Said.pdf
i may be late on this, but i was just thinking yesterday about how witnesses justify shunning.
mainly the scripture in 1 corinthians that says to stop mixing in company with anyone called a brother who engages in various sins.
therefore if someone was to write a letter stating that they no longer wish to be known as a jehovahs witness, what justification do they use for shunning that person?
Terry,
Some have speculated that the book of John really ends twice.
Acts 20:30 ends the real book of John: "To be sure, Jesus performed many other signs also before the disciples, which are not written down in this scroll. But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing, you may have life by means of his name.
The added chapter 21 ends as follows: "There are in fact many other things also which Jesus did, which if ever they were written in full detail, I suppose the world itself could not contain the scrolls written."
Some scholars believe the 21st chapter of John was cut and pasted from the original last chapter of Mark which ends very abruptly. But if you read chapter 16 of Mark and then go strait to John chapter 21 it seems like it is a continuation.
The motive was a power struggle between those following John and those following Peter. The Peter cabal subtly linked John with the betrayer in vs. 20 and most of the 21st chap of John focuses on the honorable death of Peter as a martyr whereas John would at worst die a natural death or even be present to be raptured up to heaven.
There will not be a discussion of this concept in the Watchtower. EVER.
i may be late on this, but i was just thinking yesterday about how witnesses justify shunning.
mainly the scripture in 1 corinthians that says to stop mixing in company with anyone called a brother who engages in various sins.
therefore if someone was to write a letter stating that they no longer wish to be known as a jehovahs witness, what justification do they use for shunning that person?
The crazy thing about 1John 2:18,19 is that John himself was creating false doctrine by his statement.
Jesus said that if a sheep leaves the flock he should be searched out and restored.
The apostle John was a grumpy, disgruntled Christian who thought Jesus would return in his life time.
John probably believed the idea that he would be alive when Jesus returned (see John 21:20-23) "If it is my will for him to remain until I come of what concern is that to you?...In consequence, this saying went out among the brothers, that that disciple (John) would not die."
Old John wanted to believe that Jesus was coming soon because he was approaching death. So he switched the meaning of Antichrist from the traditional belief that it is a wicked world ruler to being any person that quit associating. This is a good example of switching the meaning by creating a "class" of people out of a single actor. There was one Christ and there can only be one Anti-Christ.
Jehovah's Witnesses have been twisting things just like the early christians.
crazy, those fellows at jw.org pr news.
they publish their urben legends!!
http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/world/saved-from-suicide/.
Salesmen tell the story over and over about how they went a whole day trying to make a sale.
It was 5 minutes after 5 and one more cold call made a sale.
The Jungians call this "synchronicity".
I call it plain ordinary luck. Maybe bad luck.
you guys with the stats feel free to correct me but it appears to me that we are within a hairsbreadth of the statistical end of the preaching work (as a disciple making activity).. if the world rate of publisher increase is 1.9% - and the estimated world population increase is 1.09%, then we are extremely close to the point at which the increase of the jw organization is entirely due to making babies.
the work of gathering disciples from the public has ended statistically.. metatron.
In the United States and Europe at least the preaching work has reached its end.
Done.
There are plenty of scenarios for re-orientation at this point.
All you need is to resurrect Fred Franz. Or maybe he can give us his latest take now that he's in ?heaven?
Any good fiction writer can generate some good possibilities.
Here's one:
Rev. 8:7 "A third of the earth was burned up." So, brothers & sisters we have thoroughly born witness to the rich third (Babylon) of the world that is soon to be destroyed. The other 2 thirds must be witnessed to after the great tribulation. They are the "rest of the beast" whose "rulerships were taken away and there was a lengthening in life given to them for a time and a season." (Dan. 7:12) It is the nations that constitute the immense image that are destroyed NOT all nations. The stone hits the image and GROWS (increases in size) until it takes over the whole earth. If all rulerships were destroyed how could the scripture be fulfilled that says "all the rulerships will serve and obey even them." (Dan. 7:27) You dear brothers must be prepared to take over the whole world.
FWF (from a special vision)
