Posts by Sanchy

35

Is the Jesus of religion conservative, and the Jesus of the New Testament liberal?

by Fernando in

is the jesus of religion conservative, and the jesus of the new testament liberal?.

your thoughts?.

Sanchy

Politics vary wildly with factors such as culture, geography, history, time, temparature, humidty level and allergen amount

As Blondie said, how do you define what is a 'Liberal" or a "Conserative"? There are social liberals, fiscal liberals, socialists, communists, etc. There are fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, donald trump conservatives, constitutional conservatives, etc. It's just too broad of a brush.

Jesus definitely preached virtues that would be considered liberal by the standards of his time (charity system for the poor, riches are bad, don't judge sinners). However, the New Testament also contains many ideas that I think would fall in the "conservative" spectrum (rights of the individual from god and not government, work hard to provide for family, moral standards)

54

where have the demons gone?

by aboveusonlysky in

jw
friends

does anybody remember some of the sensational demon stories jw's would tell back in the day?

i was a kid in the early 80's and i remember a few times hearing of people having real life encounters with demons.

for example, one sister claimed that before she became a jdub she would regularly talk to demons and they would even fix stuff like her washing machine!

Sanchy

Most of my parent's family were Santeros, a religion prominent in Cuba. Santeria is basically a mixture of African Voodoo and Catholicism.

So of course my parents had many wild tales of their encounters with the demon world. Supposedly they would routinely receive visits from these creatures, most often presenting themselves at night while my parents slept (how convenient).

Needless to say I spent most of my childhood terrified of the dark, awaiting the unwanted company of these spirit creatures that apparently have nothing better to do than to spend their nights pranking random people. Perhaps they just have an insatiable sense of humor?

So a few months back, while explaining to my dad the reasons of my not believing in the JW faith anymore, he defended his own faith by reminding me that he witnessed first hand the reality of the evil spirit world. He mentioned that on one occasion he even woke up to realize he was levitating off his bed. I kid you not, he said this.

Also, while I was meeting with the elders to explain my reasons for resigning as an elder, one of the brothers asked me if perhaps I had allowed an item into my house that might have been possessed and thus might have affected me. They just could not fathom the idea that I just had logical and valid reasons for not believing anymore. That just wasn't a possibility for them. So, instead, they attributed my doubts to a possibility that I might be possessed, and therefore not in my right mind.

21

60th Anniversary today - I was baptized 9-01-56

by Bonnie_Clyde in

60th anniversary – i was baptized 9-1-56 .

my parents weren’t witnesses at the time, but my witness uncle studied with my brother and i. i think the only reason my parents let him was because my brother was having mental issues and were hoping it would help him.

my father surprised me a few years later, started studying and was baptized in 1961, later appointed an elder.

Sanchy

Interesting story Stuck in the Middle37. I really enjoy reading the stories of those that have left after being so many decades in, specially those that went through the mid-70s fiasco. Thanks for sharing.

21

60th Anniversary today - I was baptized 9-01-56

by Bonnie_Clyde in

60th anniversary – i was baptized 9-1-56 .

my parents weren’t witnesses at the time, but my witness uncle studied with my brother and i. i think the only reason my parents let him was because my brother was having mental issues and were hoping it would help him.

my father surprised me a few years later, started studying and was baptized in 1961, later appointed an elder.

Sanchy

Thank you for posting Bonnie. You, like almost all of us here, are remarkable in that you and your husband were strong enough to break free from the chains of a very controlling religion. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Thank you for sharing.

My wife and I have begun fading from the congregation, but our entire family is shunning us. We are as alone as can be in this world, since we both work from home and had no association beyond the congregation. Our only consolation is that we have each other, this forum and most importantly that both of our little children (6 months and 1.5 year old) will grow up free from the tyranny of this oppressive regime masquerading as a religion.

7

Is Obedience to JW BoE / GBoJW a Christian Requirement?

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

in this discussion, we will be examining three precepts on the part of the gbojw which they use to claim that we should be obedient to them and their boe.

these precepts are.... - the bible instructs to be so.

- boe are appointed by holy spirit.

Sanchy

I don't think the Bible is God's word anymore but I do appreciate using scriptures that show the GB/WTS to be full of bunk!

Agreed! Thanks for post Nic.

57

How do we know JWs are wrong and how do we convince others JWs are wrong: logic versus persuasion

by slimboyfat in

we like to think we are logical and have good reasons for for our beliefs.

no more so than when it comes to our reasons for rejecting the truth claims of jws.

we reject their version of history, such as the date of the fall of jerusalem, because it doesn't agree with the historical evidence.

Sanchy

I think we all had different triggers that pushed us over the edge. There are those that are more "black-and-white" type folks that are convinced strictly with doctrinal facts. There are others that know many of the doctrinal problems within the JW faith but are not pushed completely out until they see some of the arrogant quotes published, the child abuse cover-ups, the hypocrisy with the UN membership and other similar scandals. Having said that, regardless of our reasons for leaving, we are all reinforced in TTATT as we get to know and come in contact with the growing exJW community.

For me, I'd say it's a little bit of all, but my starting point was doubts about 1914.

28

Reason why you didn't have the Heavenly hope, Anointed..

by James Mixon in

when i found out what was in store for those with the heavenly hope, no thank you.

i love you jehovah.

but i also love the fruits here on earth.

Sanchy

Not so long ago, deegee posted sobre interesting advantages that the annointed have over the other sheep:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5114840175607808/glaring-inequity-between-144-000-great-crowd

60

The problem of sex (or why I'm not an atheist)

by EdenOne in

as i write this under the shadow of the walls of saint jorge's castle in lisbon, two very bored jws are standing just five metres away from me with a literature cart .... in my journey away from jwism i accepted evolution as a fact.

i also became anti-religion, agnostic and apatheist.

and, while i lean towards the persuasion of the atheist arguments, there are a few reasons that make it difficult for me to completely discard the notion of an intelligent origin of life.

Sanchy

Cofty, honest question as someone who knows not much of evolutionary biology but is trying to learn more daily but is still troubled in some redpects as OP is: How much of this explanation covering billions of years is based on observable evidence vs theory and assumptions and/or can any of those steps be replicated in a lab?

In other words, how certain is science regarding this process you describe?

9

Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom of Worship and Belief (or non-belief)

by EdenOne in

i was just wondering about this:.

the laws of the different western countries offer robust protection to religious practice.

but what is the best term to describe it and why?

Sanchy

I think there is some potential with tax laws; however, it could be disastrous if a government were to start deciding which religion gets taxed and which does not. The only fair way me thinks is an all or none situation in that case.

No way around it. Best solution to bad religion is education. The internet continues to do mighty well in this dept.

9

Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom of Worship and Belief (or non-belief)

by EdenOne in

i was just wondering about this:.

the laws of the different western countries offer robust protection to religious practice.

but what is the best term to describe it and why?

Sanchy

Nor should JWs have the right instruct or encourage the shunning of former members on religious grounds.

I disagree. Freedom to worship a deity as one deems appropriate and as per their conscience is an absolute necessity in a free society. When the gov steps in to prevent or limit this, as has happened many times in the past, a tyranny inevitably forms. Allowing unfortunate ideologies like that of shunning former members is a small price to pay to preserve universal rights and a free society.

Religious rights stops when crime is committed as in the case of "Muslims murdering apostates".