Posts by Daniel1555

But probably I am already heading for option 2, as next week the elders want to talk to me again about my doubts. My wife wants me to tell them also about my decision to accept blood and blood products in a life threatening situation for me and my child, as I don't want to be bloodguilty. So probably they will view me sooner or later as da by action which is fine for me, as the situation would be clear.

I will give my best to be mild and loving as I don't want to end up in divorce.

33

What is the best for the child if father knows TTATT and mother is a devout JW?

by Daniel1555 in

jw
friends

hi friends.

i would like to know your opinion on the following:.

situation:.

Daniel1555

Hi friends

I would like to know your opinion on the following:

Situation:

Father is a JW who is awakened and who fully knows TTATT; mother is a devout JW; child is 1 years old.

Father and mother stay together no matter if father leaves JW or not.

What do you think is best for the welfare of the child as he grows up?

1. Father knows TTATT and stays in (attending meetings etc), pretending everything is fine. Mother expects father to study with child and to conduct faith strengthening family worship. Mother indoctrinates child and expects father to do the same. Child has to live a JW life.

2. Father knows TTATT and is out for good (da or df). Mother indoctrinates child. Father is able to speak freely with child as everybody knows he is out. Child hears both sides (JW and TTATT side) and will be able to make own decisions.

30

My decision to openly greet df persons in the hall

by Daniel1555 in

jw
friends

at the moment i am still going to all the meetings (for family reasons).. we have at the moment 1 df person who regularly comes (already df for 1.5 years).. when i opened him the door i always greeted him but in the hall i didn't as others could see it.. now i decided that my conscience can not bear this any longer.

i will greet him also in the hall or when others are around.. if any elders notice it and talk to me, i tell them my conscience does not allow to not greet that person.. did any of you do that too and have some experiences?.

Daniel1555

Thanks for your experiences. Of course I will not make a big show of it. I know that the df one appreciates a greeting. I don't care anymore of those crazy and unloving rules. I am ready to stand for my conscience. At the moment I think it is the best not to just walk away and not attend meetings anymore. I know though that this moment will come sooner or later. My wife wants me to tell the elders about my conscience decision to accept blood in a life and death situation. So maybe sooner or later I 'll be able to be free from all those crazy rules. Even if I am mentally free already, it is so difficult to hear all this nonsense especially in wt studies and to see how others in the congregation (especially my wife and her family) enjoy all these false reasonings.

30

My decision to openly greet df persons in the hall

by Daniel1555 in

jw
friends

at the moment i am still going to all the meetings (for family reasons).. we have at the moment 1 df person who regularly comes (already df for 1.5 years).. when i opened him the door i always greeted him but in the hall i didn't as others could see it.. now i decided that my conscience can not bear this any longer.

i will greet him also in the hall or when others are around.. if any elders notice it and talk to me, i tell them my conscience does not allow to not greet that person.. did any of you do that too and have some experiences?.

Daniel1555

At the moment I am still going to all the meetings (for family reasons).

We have at the moment 1 df person who regularly comes (already df for 1.5 years).

When I opened him the door I always greeted him but in the hall I didn't as others could see it.

Now I decided that my conscience can not bear this any longer. I WILL GREET HIM ALSO IN THE HALL OR WHEN OTHERS ARE AROUND.

If any elders notice it and talk to me, I tell them my conscience does not allow to not greet that person.

Did any of you do that too and have some experiences?

154

Why Eve sinned (WT 8/2013)

by EdenOne in

adamah brought up in another thread an issue i wasn't aware of, and i thought it merged well with something i've been pondering about.

it revolves around the deeper reasons why satan was successful in persuading eve to eat from the forbidden fruit.

why was eve persuaded to disobey god?.

Daniel1555

Hi Eden One

Thanks for your very interesting theory to harmonize a literal belief in Adam and Eve with "theistic evolution."

To me it is clear that there were humans living way before bible chronology. There are just so many proofs for that (for example cave paintings Cosquer and Chauvet Caves). I kind of believe in "theistic evolution" and I once also tried to harmonize it with a literal interpretation of the Adam and Eve account.

You can look at it from different views.

1. Adam and Eve account is symbolic and not literal (tree of knowledge ... and tree of life seem quite symbolic) and Adam and Eve a symbol for mankind and its fall. 2. Adam and Eve literal but account just from a viewpoint of an observer in Eden (like Gen. 1 from an observer on earth). 3. Adam and Eve result of God creating humans through evolution (imparting soul), maybe a description of not just one couple. There are many ways to look at it, a lot of mysteries.

One thing is sure for me. WT viewpoint completely wrong as it dismisses all scientific facts, facts not just theories.

Edenone, maybe we can speculate another time more.

14

My wife and thanksgiving

by DS211 in

so my wife and i chatted about thanksgiving last night and decided were going to celebrate it.

she was reluctant at first but i then brought out that according to the bible that we shouldnt judge nor be judged on celebrating a festival because we are also still giving thanks to god for the life we have.

i know many witnesses are on the fence on whether thanksgiving is politicak or pagan or whatever, but its no e of those.

Daniel1555

Hi

Which scripture did you use?

39

I wonder...

by braincleaned in

i wonder about why so many of us stick to the "truth" within the frame of the jehovah's witness religion.. of course, the wts has authority over our minds thru the control of information, demonizing any "worldly" knowledge that might jeopardize our faith in this entity.. thru my own experience, i understand how we can stick to this organization; because of a life's investment in serving, and the close ties of family and peers we do not wish to abandon or upset.

so we are here on sites like these, to understand the mechanisms of the cult... to try to make sense of why we should stay, or why we should leave.. the consequences are too important to take this lightly, or too swiftly.. if i may share a bit of my journey, i did not have to worry too much about the cult at first, because my main battle was based deeper than that.

after all, the root of any christian religion is in the bible itself; faith in jehovah and christ; trust in the idea that the bible is inspired by god himself.. so yes, my quest went to the base, the root of the jw faith... the bible.. since childhood, the character of jehovah was a problem for me.

Daniel1555

Hi Vince

Thank you very much for your comments. They are very worthwhile to think about.

Since childhood I ask myself this question why a god of love would create an ecosystem where his creatures are killibg each other in a cruel way with a lot of pain involved.

Well, even now I didn't find the answer. I tell myself that death is maybe not an enemy, just the means that other beings can live. I thought a lot about it but don't have time now to elaborate on that subject.

Maybe it is just wishful thinking that the creator is a personal god with love. Maybe he/she/or it is just an impersonal force who created the universe in a way that innumberable ways of life could develop. Maybe at the core I am agnostic too, because I don't know. I just hope.

Looking forward to speak with xou another time about the mysteries of life and creation.

Daniel

39

I wonder...

by braincleaned in

i wonder about why so many of us stick to the "truth" within the frame of the jehovah's witness religion.. of course, the wts has authority over our minds thru the control of information, demonizing any "worldly" knowledge that might jeopardize our faith in this entity.. thru my own experience, i understand how we can stick to this organization; because of a life's investment in serving, and the close ties of family and peers we do not wish to abandon or upset.

so we are here on sites like these, to understand the mechanisms of the cult... to try to make sense of why we should stay, or why we should leave.. the consequences are too important to take this lightly, or too swiftly.. if i may share a bit of my journey, i did not have to worry too much about the cult at first, because my main battle was based deeper than that.

after all, the root of any christian religion is in the bible itself; faith in jehovah and christ; trust in the idea that the bible is inspired by god himself.. so yes, my quest went to the base, the root of the jw faith... the bible.. since childhood, the character of jehovah was a problem for me.

Daniel1555

Dear Vince,

I have similar feelings than you about how Jehovah is portrayed in the Bible. I could never understand the many contradictions that a god of love would order genocide, even ordering babies to be killed. That brought me to the point, that I believe Jehovah is "just" the tribal god of Israel. Moreover I studied a lot about the flood account. I came to the conclusion that it must have been a local flood (see Pitman and Ryan Black Sea flood) which is not at contradicting the bible account (just the wt view).

That path led me further to investigate radiometric dating methods and proof of human life before bible chronology (chauvet and cosquer cave paintings go back to 30000 years).I tried to find ways of harmonizing this with the bible account. That is not easy but might even be possible.

For the first time (grew up as jw) I studied evolution without any prejudice. I came to see that a lot of the theory of evolution is based on facts but most importantly is misrepresented by wt. I realized that a "theistic evolution" does not even contradict the genesis account.

After studying all of this I did not become an atheist. I strongly believe in a creator. I don't know how or what he is but for me I still believe he is also a loving creator. Life is a mystery and I believe there are many things we are too small to grasp and we should be humble enough to admit that (not like wt who makes wrong scientific statements and acts proudly)

63

If you want to show a JW some of the older publications from a non-apostate and 'safe' website..

by The Quiet One in

"it is appreciated that these documents do not reflect the current understanding of the bible enjoyed by jehovah's witnesses, and for up-to-date information the reader is encouraged to visit the official site of the watchtower bible and tract society.".

http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/.

Daniel1555

Thanks so much. It's good to be able to have this from a nonapostate site if someone is asking.