Great to hear your story Lee. Looking forward to part two - please let us know when it is up. I enjoyed looking at your site last year when I was doing research. Its very interesting to hear how it all came about.
doubtfull1799
JoinedPosts by doubtfull1799
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My Story
by Lee Elder inthis is the first of a multi-part article that tells my story, and how ajwrb got started.. https://www.openmindsfoundation.org/saving-thousand-lives-year-reform-watchtowers-policy-blood-transfusions-part-one/.
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Either God’s non-existence or His majesty
by venus inin natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
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doubtfull1799
A very interesting summary venus - thanks for putting that together.
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"Prayer" and answers to it , positive / negative ,or is it all in the mind ?
by smiddy3 inspeaking from my own experience and that of my family of wife and two now adult sons do not believe that prayers to jehovah /god are answered .. so it must also be true of all other religions and their believers also.. my wife and i were jw`s for 33 years and and i don`t believe anyone prayed harder than my wife and i at various trials we faced during those times in those 33 years.. we may as well have been like the present day jews who pray to a brick wall .
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doubtfull1799
If God exists then prayer is nothing more than a broken promise.
Jesus promised a number of times in John (16:23,14:14, 11:22 etc) that whatever we ask for would be granted.
There was no fine print attached to those guarantees, no provisos etc, just a promise that has gone unfulfilled millions of times no doubt....
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The Bible a wierd book.
by James Mixon insome events in the bible can be questionable but there are some stories the rings of truth, and why do i say that because they are so descriptive.
judges 3:22 "ehud an israelite judge, goes to the king of the moabites to pay annual tribute.
instead, he pulls out a dagger and stabs the sh--t out of the king while he is bathing, he literal caused the sh--t to flow and the dagger disappeared in the folds of the king's skin.
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doubtfull1799
Robert M Price in his book, "Holy Fable: The Old Testament Undistorted boy Faith," gives a good explanation for this weird name business.
Being just mythical stories, the names were not literal names of real persons (after all what parents would call their kid a name meaning "stupid or senseless" (Nabal)? They were descriptive names given to obviously fictional people showing the role the particular character has in the story or narrative....
Highly recommend Roberts book for a much more expert explanation and many other examples.
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Todays Text - Classic example of how to twist scripture to your own ends
by doubtfull1799 inyou received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: “abba, father!”—rom.
those who have received this special invitation from god do not need another witness from any other source.
they do not need someone else to verify what has happened to them.
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doubtfull1799
You received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: “Abba, Father!”—Rom. 8:15.
Those who have received this special invitation from God do not need another witness from any other source. They do not need someone else to verify what has happened to them. Jehovah leaves no doubt whatsoever in their minds and hearts. The apostle John tells such anointed Christians: “You have an anointing from the holy one, and all of you have knowledge.” He further states: “As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to be teaching you; but the anointing from him is teaching you about all things and is true and is no lie. Just as it has taught you, remain in union with him.” (1 John 2:20, 27) These ones need spiritual instruction just like everyone else. But they do not need anyone to validate their anointing. The most powerful force in the universe has given them this conviction! w16.01 3:9, 10
If you actually accept what the verse plainly says then it logically follows that all anointed ones don't need to be taught by a select group called the GB. But that of course is not acceptable, so they completely deny that and make up their own interpretation that in no way can possibly be construed from the actual text! IT says their anointed will teach them ALL things, not just the validity of their anointing....
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Watchtower Society of Australia Financial reports to Charity Commission.
by doubtfull1799 inscreen capture from the watchtower society of australia's article's of association:.
i wonder how item (e) is defined and whether they actually provide any money for charitable poverty relief?
if so, i would love to see the evidence.
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doubtfull1799
Screen capture from the Watchtower Society of Australia's Article's of Association:
I wonder how item (e) is defined and whether they actually provide any money for charitable poverty relief? If so, I would love to see the evidence. If not, and they never have, why is this point included in their mission statement? How does one even find out?
I notice in their yearly audited financial reports that they list millions of dollars in "overseas aid" in their outgoings. Does this actually go to charitable aid, or is this just a euphemism for donations forwarded to head office for the WWW? I presume the latter, but I'm not experienced in reading and interpreting financial statements.... this is the website if anyone knows how to read these documents better than I do:
https://www.acnc.gov.au/RN52B75Q?ID=91956EB4-F967-4486-8D20-89B6E9A28BCC&noleft=1
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The true essence of the Bible—there is some problem with it?!
by venus inin the famous aesop fable, we read about a fox who unsuccessfully tried to get some grapes, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “i am sure they are sour.”.
someone made a second part to this story.
fox did some rehearsal in the night and came on to the scene next day, and jumped with difference and got the grapes from the vine tree, and he began to eat to his full capacity.
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doubtfull1799
Great thread - raises a lot of issues I haven't considered before. Thanks for starting and to all the commenters.
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Cart witnessing in the quietest in my suburb.
by fulltimestudent ini walked to the station yesterday to meet a friend, and on the way, in what must be the quietest street in the entire suburb, were two j.witnesses and their little cart, all set with a literature display.
i wondered what point there may have been to choose that location.
i felt like grabbing one of their bibles and reading matthew 5:15 to them:.
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doubtfull1799
The two carts stacked with all the same brochures is about merchandising techniques. Its the same principle supermarkets use for end of isle displays for example...
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A retraction and apology - I posted incorrect information.
by doubtfull1799 init was recently brought to my attention by the person who was with me on the carts at the time, that a comment i made six months ago about the cart work on this forum was incorrect.
i apologise and in the interests of honesty and accuracy i feel it is only right to issue a public retraction.
i have quoted the post in question below as i am not sure how to correct or delete the original.
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doubtfull1799
@Steve2, yes I meant the first paragraph
@notsurewheretogo, no tis is not a windup - it is genuine
Yes, I know it is a small issue and the overall point I was making is still true. It might seem like a storm in a teacup, but there is a bigger issue: If we are going to call out the Society for their misleading, deceptive or inaccurate statements then we must hold ourselves to a higher standard and and be completely unhypocritical - we must be willing to be corrected when we are guilty of the same thing.
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A retraction and apology - I posted incorrect information.
by doubtfull1799 init was recently brought to my attention by the person who was with me on the carts at the time, that a comment i made six months ago about the cart work on this forum was incorrect.
i apologise and in the interests of honesty and accuracy i feel it is only right to issue a public retraction.
i have quoted the post in question below as i am not sure how to correct or delete the original.
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doubtfull1799
It was recently brought to my attention by the person who was with me on the carts at the time, that a comment I made six months ago about the cart work on this forum was incorrect. I apologise and in the interests of honesty and accuracy I feel it is only right to issue a public retraction. I have quoted the post in question below as I am not sure how to correct or delete the original.
The first sentence in this quote is incorrect. We did have 2 or three people take literature during the time we were in that location. I did not mean to mislead, I just have a bad memory and perhaps subconsciously I was guilty of hyperbole! The person who corrected me has a much better memory than I do and I trust their version of events! However the second and third paragraphs I still believe to be correct.
Up until I left recently I was participating in the cart work. In the location where we used to set up near our local mall we never had one person stop and take literature or stop and chat - other than fellow brothers. I thought maybe it was just a bad location or something.
I have an office in the centre of my city and I have recently been having lunch near where the brothers set up their carts and have been observing them for an hour or two at a time during the busiest lunch time traffic. And.... NOTHING!
In all the weeks I have been doing this I have not seen so much as ONE person stop or take anything. I sometimes stop for a quick chat with them on the way home, if it is someone I know, and ask them "how was business today?" They usually confirm that they had no interest, but try to spin it with the positive "but people are seeing us."