Posts by bemused

6

by pbrow in

bemused

It's certainly hard to disagree with your conclusions.

6

when i visit this forum, i'm always a bit surprised by those members who, on deciding they no longer wish to be a witness, write long letters to the elders, set out their reasoning in e-mails to family and friends, attend judicial meetings to have their say etc.

i've never heard of an ex-catholic, for example, writing a resignation letter to their parish priest.. i'm a never-in so i can't appreciate the emotions these people are going through.

however they also often say a big worry is loss of contact with family and friends.

bemused

When I visit this forum, I'm always a bit surprised by those members who, on deciding they no longer wish to be a Witness, write long letters to the elders, set out their reasoning in e-mails to family and friends, attend judicial meetings to have their say etc. I've never heard of an ex-Catholic, for example, writing a resignation letter to their parish priest.

I'm a never-in so I can't appreciate the emotions these people are going through. However they also often say a big worry is loss of contact with family and friends. I would have thought that 'grand gestures' of this type are bound to precipitate a crisis, probably leading to dis-fellowshipping and the disgraceful shunning practices that this site's topic boards are full of.

Although it must be really tempting to speak your mind, wouldn't it be better in the long run just to fade away? Gradually reduce attendance at the KH or even better move house if possible and don't bother attending the new congregation, get a new job if your boss is a JW, develop friendships with a few non-JWs, be evasive with family and let them gradually come to terms with your departure without the fireworks and negative reaction that a big announcement will get.

Perhaps this fading approach won't always work (and I'm sure someone will tell me if it doesn't!) but as an outsider it looks the best option to me.

4

UN trying to avoid Armageddon

by bemused in

the latest new scientist magazine says that the un has established an international asteroid warning group, which will compile information on potentially dangerous space rocks and share this information with its member states.

should it prove necessary, the group would oversee any deflection missions.. it started me wondering what negative slant the wt could put on this initiative - trying to defeat god's will perhaps?.

bemused

The latest New Scientist magazine says that the UN has established an International Asteroid Warning Group, which will compile information on potentially dangerous space rocks and share this information with its member states. Should it prove necessary, the group would oversee any deflection missions.

It started me wondering what negative slant the WT could put on this initiative - trying to defeat God's will perhaps?

16

Why do some JW`s get married multiple times ? Isnt that an indictment against jw beleifs ?

by smiddy in

this isnt a slight against any here who have married more than once.

and of course if you have left the religion you are not bound by their doctrines.. however i am concerned with jehovahs witnesses, people in good standing within the congregation who have married multiple times , and it seems it is not a rare occurence .their seems to be many who have married 2 or 3 times.

i personally knew a sister that was married 5 times and was a sister in good standing .admittedly this may have been an exception .. however divorce is not an isolated incidence with jehovahs witnesses , nor is it isolated that the witnesses themselves initiate divorce proceedings .. another thing , jehovahs witnesses are only 8 million world, a wide a small sect compared to other major religions.. so i just wonder what the ratio of jw`s compared to mainstream religion is regarding divorce .. can anybody fill in these figures ?

bemused

Perhaps because there is a limited pool of JWs to choose from, so it's hard to find a good match? Combine that factor with often marrying at a young age before fully matured and a high divorce rate doesn't seem all that surprising.

23

A typical day in the life of an awaken JW

by suavojr in

today is saturday and you all know what that means.

today is the day for our special worldwide event of our new tract number 38. luckily our (sales route) sorry... our preaching was rained out.. now you may ask how can i stomach the wt propaganda and be able to take the group out in service, still give public talks, comment, etc?

very simple answer, love.

bemused

laverite said: 'When they walk door to door, they walk so slowly you'd think they were in a Matrix like slow-motion movie scene.'

lol. As a never-in, I've always been puzzled when I've observed the stop-start shuffle that JWs use on their occassional visits to my street. I thought it was perhaps some religious ritual but it seems it's all about maximising time while minimising brush-offs.

56

I hate being ugly!

by Space Madness in

jw
friends

i finally came to the realization that i am ugly.

i'm 28 years old and never had a girlfriend.

women pay me absolutely no attention when i'm in public.

bemused

I don't know if J Hofer's comment was tongue in cheek, but either way I agree with him. If you were truly hideous people would stare.

You've had lots of good advice. My two top tips would be to exercise (swimming is great for both fitness and physique) and to go to ballroom dance classes (you will definitely make contact with women).

17

What Im Listening to Right Now / Playlist

by KiddingMe in

i am listening to roar by katy perry right now .

i listen to it several times a day as a pick me up.

this song is so motivating and empowering.

bemused

A devout JW might be keen on The Who's 'My Generation', especially the line 'I hope I die before I get old'. Of course the song also includes the line 'Why don't you all fade away?', which would be a good question to plant in their minds.

37

The Signs of the Declines

by Londo111 in

about the circuit i grew up in:.

last decade, a congregation was dissolved.. last year, about a half a dozen or so congregations meeting in a double-hall got re-orged and it works out to one less congregation.

they received all new territories, bodies of elders, publishers.

bemused

Londo111

Using your figures I make the growth for all of Scandanavia just 0.681%, which is a lot less than the 2.77% growth you calculated and, I suspect, below population growth rates.

138

god-of-the-gaps. Should we or shouldn't we fiil in the gaps with God?

by KateWild in

science imo does not have all the answers.

when i discover gaps in science, it's easy for me, as a temporary measure to fill in the gaps with god.

i do this until i have learnt something new.. what about you?

bemused

Kate

It's not a question of IQ, but I think a problem with just saying god did it when there is a gap in our knowledge is that it can remove the incentive to understand and deepen our knowledge and also create an unfounded belief in a god, which history has shown can become extremely prejudiced against alternative explanations of natural phenomema.

Ancient peoples thought that volcanoes were where dragons lived, Norsemen thought a thunderstorm was a sign that Thor was fighting Loki and earthquakes have been blamed on the wrath of god. All of these explanations have been proved wrong (although some people still believe in the last one!) but these beliefs all arose because someone invented a supernatural reason for something they didn't understand. Wouldn't it have been better just to accept that lack of understanding?

Bemused

3

Taiwan becomes Japanese

by bemused in

well no, not really, but i was glancing down the contents page of the january 2014 awake!

and saw reference to a japanese scientist with a suspiciously chinese sounding name.

sure enough, clicking through to the article revealed that the lady is from taiwan not japan.. ok, that's just a silly editorial mistake.

bemused

Well no, not really, but I was glancing down the contents page of the January 2014 Awake! and saw reference to a Japanese scientist with a suspiciously Chinese sounding name. Sure enough, clicking through to the article revealed that the lady is from Taiwan not Japan.

OK, that's just a silly editorial mistake. However I read the article, looking out for the often employed WT practice in science articles of the unattributed quote. I was not disapponted. Apparently a 'professor' (we're not told who) wrote a 'book' (not allowed to know which book either) saying that complex proteins could not have arisen 'randomly' (so what? - evolutionary science does not claim that life arose randomly). It's no wonder that most JWs I've met have no idea what evolution actually teaches, but they are nevertheless sure it's wrong.