Posts by truth_b

20

Remember how it felt before you woke up. Living forever in a Righteous World.

by pistolpete in

i woke up early in life.

it’s not because i was smarter than my brothers and sisters.

in fact, reflecting back, i actually don’t know why i didn’t embrace the watchtower teachings?

truth_b_known

I was born and raised as a Witness. My dad was an elder and PO (now COBE). My mother was the matriarch of the congregation. I truly believed in the religion, but saw through the organization.

It wasn't until I was about 25 that I ever once thought about living forever on a paradise earth. The first and only time I gave any thought to it was when a close friend of mine had a mental breakdown, committed a serious crime, and went to prison for a decade. Right after his incarceration I had a dream that he and I decided to hike the entire planet after Armageddon. That was the only time I ever thought about it.

30

$15.00 minimum wage

by hoser in

jw
friends

while we are talking about economic stimulus i thought i’d bring up the $15 minimum wage.

pros and cons?.

truth_b_known

If a 40 hour a week job's salary is low enough for an employee to qualify for tax payer funded assistance for food, housing, and medical insurance there is a problem. Conversely, tax payer funded assistance should not be so high paying as that able bodied people are willing to sit at home and live off the tax payers' labor. That is what the U.S. is experiencing right now.

There are people in the U.S. who were laid off due to COVID-19. Their unemployment check combined with the Federal unemployment assistance is more than their full time wage before COVID-19. Regulations requiring unemployed persons to both look for work or return to their old job were not enforced as it was deemed a health risk due to COVID-19.

Where I live there is a "Now Hiring" sign in the window of every retailer and restaurant. Wait times for service at grocery stores and restaurants are unreal. Going through the drive through at a fast food restaurant is pointless as every driver is told to park and wait for their order. Customers who purchase groceries for online for curbside pick up are waiting over 2 hours out in the parking lot for their groceries. One major grocery decided to go ahead and just start pay $15.00 an hour starting wage even though minimum wage is $7.25.

40

What is your status (as of today) as a Jehovah's Witness?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

active believer...still attend meetings, go out in field service, believe it's ''the truth''.

active non-believer... go to meetings and field service to please family... living a double life .

inactive believer...don't attend meetings but believe it's the truth, one day might go back to kingdom hall.

truth_b_known

4. Bible is mostly fiction. Bible has some value. I find more truth in eastern philosophy.

46

The camp of Israel and the problem of pooping

by FFGhost in

so, in a couple weeks, the jws move on in their bible-reading slog to the book of deuteronomy.. take a gander at deuteronomy 23:12,13:.

a private place should be designated for use outside the camp, and there is where you should go.

13 a peg should be part of your equipment.

truth_b_known

More rational thought on why the Exodus never happened.

11

Street-Talk with Jehovah's Witnesses

by Vanderhoven7 in

street-talk with jehovah's witnesses.

opening up a street-level dialogue with jehovah's witnesses:.

since this will probably be a one time occurrence, an important objective of any street encounter is to bless jws with doubt about their beloved organization.. after exchanging niceties, you might say something like:.

truth_b_known

JW: Please read this Watchtower publication that proves my religion is right and your religion is wrong. You owe it to yourself to examine your current religion.

Person-on-the-Street: I will agree if you read my non-Watchtower publication that proves your religion is wrong.

JW: No thanks. Have a nice day.

8

Jws failure to protect their vulnerable follower

by Fadeaway1962 in

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9545969/amp/jehovahs-witnesses-criticised-failing-stop-devout-followers-plan-stab-wife-49-times.html .

elder should face some kind of criminal prosecution..

truth_b_known

Agreed. They are definitely open to civil liability.

34

Why did Jehovah Kill all the animals in the flood? What purpose did it serve??

by pistolpete in

some of my jw family that is waking up posed that question to my jw family that is still hanging on to jw belief.. the stepbrother that posed that question told me;.

"in all these years of being a jw, i actually never gave it much thought as to why jehovah had to kill millions of innocent animals that had nothing to do with mankind becoming evil.".

i keep picturing in my mind, all the baby puppies and kitties that were destroyed by jehovah.

truth_b_known

2 Kings 19:35 states 1 angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers while they were sleeping. A global flood seems rather silly. There is no evidence of a global flood. It seems the global flood in Genesis was plagiarized from the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh.

With that being stated, the Epicurean ideology or philosophy of the "Problem with Evil" isn't proof of there being no god or that if there is a god this god is uncaring.

Pain and suffering are not the same. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is a choice. Suffering is how we respond to pain. Animals do not suffer. Some animals and organisms are not even capable of feeling pain. Pain is a safety mechanism to protect us from harm.

Consider that suffering and pain are often confused, but in fact are not identical. Pain produces suffering, but suffering can be produced by things other than pain, generally speaking by negative emotional states. That pain and suffering are not identical is also shown by the fact that people may experience pain and not suffer from it.

As far as where the human concept of empathy comes from - evolution. Primates have developed a sense of looking at something else in pain and the brain responding by basically saying "How would I feel if I were having that experience?" From this evolutionary advancement humans developed empathy which in turn gave birth to what we call morality. It is an advanced survival mechanism. Everything our body does, including brain functions, is a survival mechanism.

Philosophically, good cannot exist without bad as light without dark or pain without pleasure. The Hindu belief system describes all life as god, playing a part or a role in a drama that exists over an aeon. Like any drama, there is a protagonist and an antagonist. As long as good is winning and bad is losing we are content. However, we have gone astray with the idea that good must win and bad must lose. This would end the drama/play and the story would be over. Stories ending often generate anxiety. Anxiety is a form of suffering.

17

An American Religion?

by no-zombie in

i have a question.. have every member of the governing body (past and present) been american citizens?.

while i understand that some may have been born outside of the us, ultimately to serve in the world hq long term, i imagine that they all had to become 'americans'?.

no zombie.

truth_b_known

The Watchtower was, is, and will always be a business. The Watchtower was founded in the U.S. It is an American corporation. That about sums it up.

157

Systemic Racism: What’s Your View? Is it As Pervasive As Some Suggest?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the president of the united states says we have to do something about this.

many politicians and people agree that we are all affected by the scourge of systemic racism.

what’s your view of this?

truth_b_known

Simon:

You bring up a great point that I always pondered. It is the idea that something is wrong if percentages aren't equal.

If X% of the population is <insert ethnicity> then all aspects of society my be made up of the same percentage of that ethnicity. Case in point - prison population. If 10% of the population is a specific ethnicity that nation's prison population must be 10%. If it is more or less the criminal justice system is prejudicial.

However, when things seem way off kilter it does merit the asking of questions.

157

Systemic Racism: What’s Your View? Is it As Pervasive As Some Suggest?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the president of the united states says we have to do something about this.

many politicians and people agree that we are all affected by the scourge of systemic racism.

what’s your view of this?

truth_b_known

Racism - the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another (Oxford Dictionary).

It was once believed there were 3 races, Caucasoid, Mongoloids (including Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and American Indians, etc.), and Negroid. Khoisanoids or Capoids (Bushmen and Hottentots) and Pacific races (Australian aborigines, Polynesians, Melanesians, and Indonesians) may also be distinguished.

In the past, Caucasoid human societies believed and propagated the belief Caucasoid persons were superior to non-Caucasoid persons. Asking biologists, "race" is synonymous with "subspecies". There are no subspecies in the species Homo Sapiens. Scientifically it is impossible for humans to be racist against. Homo Sapiens could be racist against Neanderthal, and vice versa.

Is there prejudice and bigotry among humans based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, etc.? Yes. Is it systemic in the United States? I guess it depends on what system is being referred to.

By statutory law in the United States government and its agents are prohibited from discriminating against persons do to the person's ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, or religion. By design there is no systemic prejudice in the United States government. If agents of the government discriminate (i.e. act on prejudices as listed) the are in violation of law and should be sanctioned.

Is there socio-economic disparities seen which effect ethnic minorities in the United States at a higher per capita percentage? Yes.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known