Posts by truth_b

30

I had a somewhat paranormal experience 2 days ago, but I think science is just light years behind on this.....

by Bad_Wolf in

for the record i'm agnostic, never seen any direct evidence of spirits, afterlife, etc.

i've been visiting my mother during this corona ordeal.

a year ago i had a dream i was much older and talking to somebody about how my mom died this year but it was avoidable.

truth_b_known

Atheist advocate and YouTube personality Aaron Ra made a compelling argument when he told theists "You don't know - you believe!"

The only honest answer to the paranormal is "I don't know" until there is evidence to prove it. That is true of just about everything. Just like with the debate between theists and atheists on whether there is or is not a god/gods the questions that must also be answered are -

As a theist who believes in a god/gods, what evidence would it take for you to accept atheism?

As an atheist who does not believe in a god/gods, what evidence would it take for you to accept there is a god or gods?

Unfortunately many people will refuse to change their beliefs regardless of the evidence provided. What we find in the arena of the paranormal is that non-believers will often state "I refuse to believe because their must be evidence that provides a reasonable explanation."

Albert Einstein's "spooky action at a distance" or quantum entanglement is an interesting possibility to explain some paranormal experiences. I recently listened to a program on NPR dealing with Einstein's theories on time travel. Einstein theorized that time and space are connected. If you could fold space back onto itself you can travel back in time. So, what if premonitions are memories being transmitted back to ourselves?

27

For those who are STILL believing Christians...

by BoogerMan in

the latest watchtower of august 2020 discusses on page 15, "how will the resurrection likely take place?".

since learning real truths as opposed to the org's version of truth, has your view of the resurrection changed significantly?

just one example - regardless of psalm 37:9,11,29: matthew 5:5 & revelation 21:3,4, do you now believe that our destination is heaven rather than earth?.

truth_b_known

To truly know one has to understand both the Hebrew and Greek languages as well as the culture of the Israelites at the time of the writing of scripture. The Greeks influenced the Jews belief in the afterlife. The Gehenna mentioned in the Bible is direct proof of this. Just like the Christian doctrine of hellfire didn't come about until about 500 years after Jesus death.

The Israelites originally did not believe in an afterlife. They believed if you obeyed God's laws you would be blessed with a happy, full life. Later the idea that the souls of the dead just hung out underground eternally. Eventually they adopted a belief very similar to Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine of a resurrection on Earth.

The doctrine of the eternal soul most likely came from the Greeks influencing the Jews. As the Romans hijacked Christianity the idea of an eternal soul going to heaven was adopted by the Church.

My new belief is based on the words of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Kingdom of God is within us. Paradise is here, but you only experience it if you practice Jesus teachings - love everyone as you would love yourself, do not judge, forgive everyone, care for the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, be content with just your basic material needs being met.

15

Peace and security

by BourneIdentity in

scrolling through the news this morning and i couldn’t help to think we are light years from any leaders crying out peace and security.

jws are going to have to wait another decade or two and see how things develop before they get excited about armageddon coming in their lifetime.

.

truth_b_known

As long as there at least 2 separate nations on Earth, there will be no peace. By the time the Earth does have a one-world government the people of Mars will want to fight for their independence from Earth.

32

My Mom died last week.

by Still Totally ADD in

jw
friends

last wednesday my elder brother called me to let me know mom had died.

she was 97 years old and was in a nursing home for the last 7 years.

her mind had left her many years ago to the point she didn't recognize any of us.

truth_b_known

Still Totally ADD - Much love to you and your family during this difficult time.

4

Sin and death - how does it make sense to ANY believer of ANY religion?

by BourneIdentity in

since adam and eve’s fall, we are all sinners.

it’s what we do, there is no way to change it, sinning is a daily part of life.

there are major sins, but most of us commit minor ones everyday in words, thoughts or deeds.

truth_b_known

This is a powerful concept that requires a truly honest conversation with one's self. How does a believer of a certain practice reconcile that the god of the Old Testament "is love" when this same god regularly directly cause large scale loss of life (global flood, Sodom & Gomorrah, etc.) or orders his worshipers to carry out warfare against non-believers (Israelites vs Canaanites)? To even attempt to do so is a moral defeat.

"He's God. He gets to do what He wants." "Israelite warfare was alright because God ordered it."

I was raised as a Witness and told that God is not above his own laws. That is why He has allowed Satan's challenge to go on. This argument doesn't hold water. Either something is right or it's wrong. It cannot be right based on one's position or the circumstances.

The more research I do on the historical Israel and the history of the Christian Church the more I come to this conclusion -

There very well may be a god, but what is written in the book we call the Bible is simply man's creation.

22

How have Jehovah`s Witnesses ever gotten away with being a Tax Exempt Religion ?

by smiddy3 in

jw
friends

i can never get my head around this one ?

don`t the powers that be ever really investigate religions that claim exemption from paying taxes because they claim they are a not for profit religion ?.

you would have to be a brain dead imbecile not to see that the religion known as the" watchtower bible and tract society" otherwise known as "jehovah`s witnesses" are nothing more than a religious publishing house that have made x amount of $$$$$ over the years since their inception in the late 1800`s to this day.

truth_b_known

The issue at the heart of the matter is that religions receive tax exemptions because they are supposed to be charitable organizations that assist people (i.e. feed the poor, shelter the homeless, etc.). The Watchtower is clearly not living up to that obligation. The Watchtower even publishes in writing that to donate to charity to help needy people shows a lack of faith in God.

I seriously want to petition my elected representatives in congress to sponsor legislation that would require a minimum percentage of incoming revenue to be used to help all people (not just members) if a religious organization wished to receive the tax exempt status.

20

Bible canon conundrums

by joey jojo in

this is a topic that i find really interesting- how the bible, in particular, the new testament was compiled and how the jw organisation strives to negate, scoff at and diminish the influence of the catholic church in its development.. here is the official stance of the org: .

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/watchtower/the-watchtower-1963/april-15.

'the roman catholic church claims responsibility for the decision as to which books should be included in the canon, and reference is made to the councils of hippo (a.d. 393) and carthage (a.d. 397), where catalogues of books were formulated.

truth_b_known

It was Martin Luther in 1517AD that wanted any books of the Bible removed that did not support his beliefs. He wanted the book of James removed, but was unsuccessful.

28

Top Ten List of What Happens Next...

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
friends

what does everyone think will happen next on the back of the coronavirus pandemic?.

these are my suggestions;.

1) coronavirus will have a disproportionate effect on jw ‘growth’ countries like in south america and africa.

truth_b_known

The only thing I can truly think of is they will no longer rent facilities so all congregations can have the Memorial at the same time. To save money, those congregations that share a single Kingdom Hall will rotate on which congregation gets to attend the Memorial at the Kingdom Hall. Everyone else will watch via Zoom from their home. Partakers will be told to go to the Kingdom Hall.

41

The ransom makes no sense

by BourneIdentity in

if mankind needed to be redeemed from sin and death, why didn't the redemption happen as soon as jesus successfully lived his entire life without sin and sacrificed his life?

if he was successful, the price was paid and we'd all be living forever.

it's all bullshit, or jesus fucked up and sinned, so it nullified his sacrifice.

truth_b_known

This is actually an interesting topic for former Jehovah's Witnesses and from a general Christian concept. Consider that both the Hebrew and Greek words for "sin" are archery terms that generally translate into "to miss the mark" or in Hebrew "to miss the golden center of the target." Every time you see the word sin in the Bible replace it with the phrase "miss the mark."

12 That is why, just as through one man missing the mark entered into the world and death through missing the mark and so death spread to all men because they had all missed the mark—. 13 For missing the mark was in the world before the Law, but missing the mark is not charged against anyone when there is no law.

Quite frankly, I believe the whole story of Adam (which means "man" in Hebrew) and Eve (which means "Living") is an allegory. Side note - the word "rib" is actually a poor translation. Genesis correctly reads that God created the woman from the man's "side". Also, no pun intended.

So, man and woman are created. Woman is tempted by a talking serpent. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is consumed. Prior to this man and woman have no concept of good and evil. As Taoist teach, with out a counterpart one has no concept of a thing, or "if everything is beautiful, then all things are ugly." Therefore one cannot miss the mark if all you have is one thing to look at.

Many early pieces of art depict the serpent of Genesis with a woman's head. This comes from the the Hebrew creation story of Lilith being Adam's first wife, which is whom Genesis chapter 1 refers to.

5

Apps by the Governing Body

by stumbledbyothers in

may 2020 local needs.

emphasis was on, if phone / tablet app did not come from the governing body, then stay away from it.. it was mentioned that their is a virtual cart app out there being used.

an app not by the governing body.

truth_b_known

Go buy a $1,000.00 device just to access JW.org? I am surprised the Watchtower hasn't started selling their own tablet device with their pre-loaded software.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known