Posts by elbib

16

After death

by Willie647 in

i'm not a born in but my parents became jws when i was about 3 years old.

i left at 18 after i was accused of having sex with my future wife.

truth is we hadn't done anything remotely close.

elbib

Willie647,

"Be glad you were falsely accused" which gave you freedom from fanaticism.

Regarding your question: What happens after death?

It's a surprise--I would keep it as surprise to be experienced in its own time.

73

organization obsesion

by Richard C B in

why are you guys so obsessed with organizations?

there has to be order in the world and organised people!

Within JW Org can anyone remain without being punished if he finds it difficult to subscribe to one of their belief. When I said: "i dont' think 144000 is literal number" I had to face the iron-bar beating.

They are "organized" for what? To distort the truth

8

FREE AGENTS without responsibility

by Terry in

i was 11 years old and i was sitting at my desk in homeroom class when the student on my left, gregory, tapped me on my shoulder.. he held a folded note in his hand and was gesturing for me to take it.

he leaned toward my desk and whispered barely loud enough for me to hear,“pass this note to robbie.” robbie was the girl sitting on my right.. i took the note, unfolded it and read it just as gregory punched my arm.

a shout-whisper came along with the fist, “don’t read it, you moron!”i picked up my pencil and scribbled one word of my own and passed the note to robbie.. i had a crush on robbie and so did gregory bunn.

elbib

Terry,

You made the point. It is true even in its opposite sense. A comparison of the "faithful and discreet slave" in Mathew 24 and Luke 12 would show that it is the same "faithful and discreet slave" that later becomes "wicked" or abusers or exploiters. Yet they have not conveyed it, but conveyed exactly the opposite--just as happened in your school experience.

16

How much do you think GB enjoy their lives?

by elbib in

many who have watched the gb know that they seem to be desperate to be admired, to be looked up to…….

now the question arises—do they really enjoy their lives?

does their superiority complex make them feel good?.

elbib

Many who have watched the GB know that they seem to be desperate to be admired, to be looked up to……. Now the question arises—do they really enjoy their lives? Does their superiority complex make them feel good?

A recent study published in the Journal of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience tries to find an answer to this perplexing question by looking at two brain regions: medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum. While the medial prefrontal cortex is associated with self-referential thinking, the ventral striatum region is associated with feeling good. It was found that people who are in love with themselves have poor connectivity between both regions which means that although they are obsessed with themselves, internally they don't feel good and that is why they seek external admiration.

That means they are actually experiencing “weeping and gnashing” deep within themselves. (Mathew 24:48-51)

11

Do JWs think Jesus was a liar or just a fool?

by TTWSYF in

not alot of love or respect for jesus, his apostles or his church from the jws.

.

did he build his church on sand or have fools in charge that couldn't get out of their own way?.

elbib

Jesus oughtrightly rejected all those operating in his name--including those preaching on behalf of him. (Mathew 7:21-23) Naturally, a preaching organization will have problem making Jesus their pet.

2

Two types of religions

by elbib in

one is religion of terror (in its gross and subtle sense) which can be identified by their divisiveness which is actually violence.

all those religions which divide people into chosen ones and pagans come under this category.

those who teach eternal destruction or eternal hell for those who do not support a certain belief-system also depend upon terrorizing people.

elbib

One is religion of terror (in its gross and subtle sense) which can be identified by their divisiveness which is actually violence. All those religions which divide people into chosen ones and pagans come under this category. Those who teach eternal destruction or eternal hell for those who do not support a certain belief-system also depend upon terrorizing people.

The other is the true religion of self-transformation and compassion, and is without any name. It helps people evolve as better human beings with values of love, compassion and non-violence. They may or may not believe in any ideology, or God or not, but their behavior pattern will have a nourishing effect on the rest of the world.

2

Remember jesus turning over the table of the money changers?

by atomant in

l can understand why he did it because the money changers were charging high rates to trade their money for acceptable temple money.what a fine example in self control that sets.with respect to the money issue sounds a bit like the gb and their money grab (even childrens pocket money).

.

elbib

This explains why Mark 12:43 (‘Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others’) is one of the most often quoted scriptures.

22

My New Thoughts on Adam and Eve (don't laugh)

by xjwsrock in

warning for those that are still believers... this train of thought will not be faith strengthening.... i have come a long way since first stumbling on crumbs of ttatt in 2012.

(i have not come nearly as far with the wife unfortunately, but such is life.

) my critical thinking ability, thankfully, is in another stratosphere since figuring out i was a jw lab rat.

elbib

Interesting part is that there are two contradictory accounts of creation one in Genesis chapter one, and other from Chapter 2 and 3 where we find the cooked up story of Adam and Eve. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26, 27) According to first creation account, male and female groups were simultaneously created. And also, the first meaning of the word Adam is mankind, not just a single man.

If we take second account of creation seriously, then there are many difficulties:

1. God, the source of all wisdom, will not act in dishonor of Himself. If God does not want them to eat from that particular tree, simple option is that such a tree should not be created in the first place! (It is like digging a big pit in the middle of an Express-Highway and asking the road-users to avoid falling into it.) Account does not glorify God in any way, because what God said (“in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”) did not take place. Bible says Adam lived for 930 years. (Genesis 5:3) And following the disobedience, in the affirmation of the punishment too God stresses harsher living, rather than the originally-decreed death. (Genesis 3:8-19) Story dishonors God in that He punished MORE severely the children of the violator, rather than the violator. For example, increasing of labour-pain given to Eve as punishment spread to all of her innocent children throughout the history. Some of them had to die in labour-room prematurely due to more pain than Eve experienced, thus delivering children with no mother to care for!

2. “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” planted by God did not live up to its name. Because account says “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.” Sense of good or bad would have arisen in Eve only after eating the fruit of that tree, but here she got that sense even before eating it. Hence the question arises: Was it a literal tree?

3. If Satan is so smart as to scheme against God and his children, he would definitely choose some smart method, not a sub-standard temptation as in this case. It is too obvious that Adam and Eve who had already experienced God as their unlimited benefactor would never believe God as withholding something good from them, nor He is a liar, especially when such a malicious suggestion originated from a stranger—with a strange phenomenon—a snake with speaking ability! Also Satan contradicted only the effects of their disobedience, which of course further weakens his position, because prima facie, it is the Law-giver that knows the effects of disobedience, not the spectators who have never seen a violation before.

4. A) It is unlikely that Adam and Eve would respond to such a lie the way they did. If they wanted to know whether they would die without eating from the tree, it is common sense that they should wait for sufficient time. For need of eating from that tree arises only when they are going to die. Hence no one would choose to eat from that tree before such a need arises. Waiting was safer option. While waiting, either of the two situations will arise—they will continue to live on and on (in this case, they don’t have to eat from that tree), or they will gradually sense that their body is moving towards death (in this case, they can try that particular tree to avert death). On the contrary, if they go ahead and eat from the tree, and thereafter find that they are going to die, what will they do? They have no other option left to try!

B) Adam and Eve who were perfect in their intelligence and reason will not act so rashly with such a life-and-death matter. They will definitely weigh the matter and see all the pros and cons of it. If they really believed what Satan said, they still had another safer option. In their natural wisdom, they would decide that one of them will try first, and after seeing the result, would decide the course of action for the other. Suppose Eve ate first, and then was going to succumb to death, Adam can avoid further testing, and approach God and say what had really happened and request God to take action against Satan, the liar, and deal with Eve mercifully as this was a matter of curiosity and first instance. [Suppose! Your loving Father says there is a lion in a nearby cave, and you and your wife should avoid going into its vicinity Later a stranger contradicts your father. Will you and your wife TOGETHER go straight into the cave to verify the presence of a lion inside the cave? You have so many other options like the medical scientists who try their newly-invented medicines on other species before they try on themselves] Look at the imperfect, distant offspring of Adam and Eve—for example Bank officials—how much checking and documentation they do before sanctioning a loan to an applicant, before parting with the money entrusted to them by others. In case of any doubt, they simply refuse to proceed!

3

Evolution of theology

by elbib in

when jerusalem was captured and its temple was burned by pagan king in 586 bce (or 607?

), it was a theological crisis for the jews.

then a concept of messiah (king-priest) who will restore everything was evolved.

elbib

Half banana,

Nicely expanded.

I liked your phrase: "a riot of visionary monotheism jam packed with Greek and not so philosophical mumbo-jumbo."

3

Evolution of theology

by elbib in

when jerusalem was captured and its temple was burned by pagan king in 586 bce (or 607?

), it was a theological crisis for the jews.

then a concept of messiah (king-priest) who will restore everything was evolved.

elbib

When Jerusalem was captured and its temple was burned by pagan king in 586 BCE (or 607?), it was a theological crisis for the Jews. Then a concept of Messiah (King-Priest) who will restore everything was evolved. When the messiah was murdered, it was further evolved into a teaching of ransom (as a sacrifice arranged by the “loving” Heavenly Father for the atonement of sins of mankind).