Have Been Experiencing Jehovah's Witness "Programming Glitches"

a reply to: brazenalderpadrescorpio

You may be right actually...

Regardless I think both religions are bonkers... same with most organized religions

*shrug*

a reply to: rickymouse

I'm not telling you not to read their literature, but I highly recommend that you do some heavy, heavy research into other religions. Jehovah's Witnesses is a very restrictive religion. They have biblical reasons for it all, but who wants to live like that! I personally believe that there are texts that are more inspired than the Bible. I'm curious about reading the Shōbōgenzō by Dōgen Zenji. I'm very much interested in the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism that he founded. If anything, I would urge you to research that and the shinkantaza method of meditation.

originally posted by: brazenalderpadrescorpio
a reply to: dollukka

I guess I am a victim of fear in a sense. My mother is in the religion, but she's not baptized. I actually hope she never gets baptized. I myself am baptized.

You do know that you dont have to actually be baptizes in water correct? Remember the thief who was beside jesus on the cross? He was not baptized in water but he was told he too would be in pardise with him for believing in Him and his words. Baptism is purely a symbolic issue when done in water but to be baptised in the word is the most important thing actually.

a reply to: surfinguru

I definitely agree with everything you've said. I would very much like to leave, but there's also another reason that I sort of can't leave that is in a way more compromising than the other ones (it's too personal to say). But I'm definitely in the process of tying up these loose ends.

a reply to: Akragon

They very much are. That I won't deny.

a reply to: yuppa

I don't believe that any of that is necessary. I believe that most Western religions are focused on the phenomenal, while Eastern religions are concerned with the noumenal. I've come to realize that I'm more concerned with the hidden aspects of reality. I don't think that quitting smoking, or telling each other not to lie is going to guarantee you a place anywhere. I think that you have to deeply work on yourself, and your mind, to be able to reach any true spiritual goals.

originally posted by: brazenalderpadrescorpio
a reply to: yuppa

I don't believe that any of that is necessary. I believe that most Western religions are focused on the phenomenal, while Eastern religions are concerned with the noumenal. I've come to realize that I'm more concerned with the hidden aspects of reality. I don't think that quitting smoking, or telling each other not to lie is going to guarantee you a place anywhere. I think that you have to deeply work on yourself, and your mind, to be able to reach any true spiritual goals.

True on some points. A SIN is anything that is impurely done or what is done in EXCESS where it becomes un healthy. No just saying will not get you anywhere without actions to back up your words. I have to ask. If you do the three things Jesus suggested you do in the NT wont you live a relatively good life?

originally posted by: brazenalderpadrescorpio
a reply to: rickymouse

I'm not telling you not to read their literature, but I highly recommend that you do some heavy, heavy research into other religions. Jehovah's Witnesses is a very restrictive religion. They have biblical reasons for it all, but who wants to live like that! I personally believe that there are texts that are more inspired than the Bible. I'm curious about reading the Shōbōgenzō by Dōgen Zenji. I'm very much interested in the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism that he founded. If anything, I would urge you to research that and the shinkantaza method of meditation.

I'm not going to join the JWs. That doesn't mean I cannot treat them well when they come over and read about their beliefs. I tell them that my church is the woods, I feel more comfortable there.

I 've been studying the different sects of the budhist religion also. Particularly Sanatana Dharma lately. I want to know a bit of all the religions so I can compare some similarities and differences.

a reply to: yuppa

What 3 things?

a reply to: rickymouse

Well of course I believe in treating them well. They are my brothers. They use the term brothers to denote someone who is baptized, but I use it to denote a human being the same as myself. I just have some vast differences in what I feel spirituality is all about, as apparently you do. I don't feel that JWs have a monopoly on "holy spirit" by any stretch of the imagination. I've heard elsewhere that every religion holds a path to truth but I have yet to see it with the JWs -- I'm being brutally honest.

I just want to make clear that I'm not directing my criticism to you, obviously. I'm just thinking out loud.

a reply to: brazenalderpadrescorpio

I speak from a vast amount of experience with Jehovah's Witnesses. My entire family are JW's. Fritz Springmeier is spot on if you ask me. I used to be a baptized Pioneer. I believed 100% with my entire being that "Jehovah" was god, and the witnesses were his one and only true religion and his people. I started studying in 1996, got baptized in 2000 at 16 yrs old. Right out of Highschool, I got involved with a bunch of nonsense and ended up getting disfellowshipped. I spent the next 4-5 yrs trying to get back into the lifestyle, when I found a man named Alex Jones when I was researching one day about the alphabet of ben sirach, which used to be a book that christians regularly read before the council of Nicea put together the latin vulgate. In this book, it spoke of Adam having a first wife named Lilith who was made out of the same dust and clay that Adam was. When it came time for them to have sex, they argued over who was going to be on top and he pissed her off so bad that she said the "ineffable name of god" and turned into an owl, and flew away to the most distant part of the earth and refused to go back to Adam. I wondered to myself, If this was in the religious texts before the council of nicea in 325 a.d., Chances are Jesus would have read this and preached about this too. So I started doing a search about the significance of owls in babylonian religions, when I came across the bohemian grove and saw that the world's elite's are secretly meeting there to do mock human sacrifices to a 40 ft stone owl. I was so intrigued that I had never heard any of this from the one and only true religion, that I was like "what else am I not being told?" So I started looking into Charles Taze Russell, the man who started the Jehovah's Witnesses, and low and behold that very same day, Fritz Springmeier was on the Alex Jones Show talking about how the Russell family was one of the original families that were in the Bavarian Illuminati started by Adam Weishaupt in 1776. A quick search on youtube of pastor Russell's gravesite, will quickly show anyone the true inspiration for the religion. Russell is buried under a pyramid, with the cross and crown symbol on it. (Cross and crown, was one of the original symbols of the bavarian illuminati as well as on the original watchtower magazines.) Russell was into pyramidology and actually made some "prophecies" as to the date of armageddon by how many steps were on the pyramid of giza. I was shocked! A little more research and I found that Russell also believed that they had found "Jehovah's throne" in the Pleiades (I think that's how you spell it) constellation. I was seriously like "WTF!" Then I started reading into the the book set "Insight On the Scriptures" (which is like an encyclopedia for the Jehovah's Witnesses and it is written by The Watchtower Bible and Tract society.) and in volume 2 on page 7 in the last paragraph on that page, They admit that the true pronunciation of God's name is no longer attainable but we should keep using Jehovah because it is what the majority of people on earth know god's name to be.

Again, I was like "WTF???" So I started listening to Alex Jones' show every single day after that and have basically researched myself out of the brainwashing that uses the bible to get everyone to bow to tyranny as well as teaching people to submit constantly to the rules of the congregation and the watchtower society and to the government, to the point that one has no recollection of the individual he is and is taught to sacrifice all personal goals and activities in order to be a "faithful and discreet slave" for the organization, utterly and unknowingly inducting the "sheep like ones" into a mindstate of helplessness and servitude to the New World Order. They even preach, if the government demands you to do something that Jehovah doesn't want you to, then you are to not do it, and sit in prison indefinately. Well, we all know how that works out as Jehovah's Witnesses were also alongside the Jews in the death camps in WW2 in Germany. None of my family knows about GMO, Flouride, FEMA CAMPS, Georgia Guidestones, Illuminati, NWO, Vaccines, etc. and if it were the one and only true religion of God, Ignorance to any of these topics would not exist. God is not Ignorant, so why in the F*** are his people?

Are you getting where I'm going with this? If not, then here's a hint.....GET OUT OF THAT BULL****!!!!!!! AND SERIOUSLY GOOGLE ANY OF THE ABOVE THINGS I MENTIONED IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME.

Much Love and Respect to all of you!
-SuperManning

a reply to: supermanning

Much love to you as well. I'm sort of planning my escape. I feel like the Birdman of Alcatraz! Lol. It sounds like I'm joking, but I'm pretty much serious. I have also noticed that Witnesses are ignorant on a lot of topics, even though Witnesses are supposedly encouraged to do a lot of secular research (I haven't found this to be true, though). I'm currently masquerading as a pioneer, by the way. I think that nobody thinks to believe that a pioneer is anywhere near questioning his faith.

My question is what date do you have for the Alphabet of Sirach? Wikipedia dates it to at max. 700 A.D. According to the Witnesses, that's well after the apostasy. I'd like a link if you have it. Thanks! I might send you a PM soon, so beware! Lol.

According to Jewish apocrypha, Ben Sira was the son of Yirmiyahu’s daughter who became pregnant in the bathhouse from her father Yirmiyahu’s seed.

I assume that this would have happened not too long after Nebuchadnezzar seized Jerusalem in 586 BC, and he ordered that Jeremiah be freed from prison and treated well.

If this is correct, I would think that the Alphabet of Ben Sirach was written within a generation of Jeremiah being released from prison by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC as Ben Sirach was his son.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the prophet. For other uses, see Jeremiah (disambiguation).
Jeremiah
Пророк Иеремия, Микеланжело Буонаротти.jpg
Jeremiah, as depicted by Michelangelo from the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Born Anathoth
Occupation Prophet
Parents Hilkiah

Jeremiah (/dʒɛrɨˈmaɪ.ə/;[1] Hebrew: יִרְמְיָהוּ, Modern Hebrew: Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian: Yirmĭyahu, Greek: Ἰερεμίας, Arabic: إرميا Irmiya‎) meaning "Yah Exalts", also called the "Weeping prophet",[2] was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Jeremiah is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Jeremiah, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and the Book of Lamentations,[3] with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple. Judaism considers the Book of Jeremiah part of its canon, and regards Jeremiah as the second of the major prophets. Islam considers Jeremiah a prophet, and he is listed as a major prophet in Ibn Kathir's canonical collection of Annals of the Prophets.[4] Christianity also regards Jeremiah as a prophet and he is quoted in the New Testament.[5] It has been interpreted that Jeremiah "spiritualized and individualized religion and insisted upon the primacy of the individual's relationship with God."[6]

About a year after King Josiah of Judah had turned the nation toward repentance from the widespread idolatrous practices of his father and grandfather, Jeremiah's sole purpose was to reveal the sins of the people and explain the reason for the impending disaster (destruction by the Babylonian army and captivity),[7][8] "And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"[9] God's personal message to Jeremiah, "Attack you they will, overcome you they can't,"[10] was fulfilled many times in the Biblical narrative, Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers,[11] beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet,[12] imprisoned by the king,[13] threatened with death,[14] thrown into a cistern by Judah's officials,[15] and opposed by a false prophet.[16] When Nebuchadnezzar seized Jerusalem in 586 BC,[17] he ordered that Jeremiah be freed from prison and treated well.[18]

a reply to: brazenalderpadrescorpio

a reply to: brazenalderpadrescorpio

and be prepared to lose your family. I have spoke to my mother maybe a total of 3 hours in the last 12 years. Not by my choosing. Once you are disfellowship, they turn off the intellect to you and will not discuss anything political or about the religion, or about anything more than personal family issues and even that is limited. All of your friends will shun you as well in fear of the same happening to them.

originally posted by: brazenalderpadrescorpio
a reply to: Akragon

It's complicated. But the main reason is that I live in an apartment complex with other Witnesses, and so if I disassociate myself from the religion, it would get real awkward having to be around the other Witnesses. If you're no longer a member of the religion, they're not even allowed to say Hi to you. It sounds cowardly, but something like that would totally break my heart. Especially being in such close proximity to other Witnesses.

We're thinking about moving soon. The other reason is that since I don't work, being a Jehovah's Witness keeps me active doing something. If not, I'd probably be on the internet all day wasting my time.

That is really sad, and one of the reasons why I can't stand the JW religion. I have met many wonderful former JW's however, so I can say there is hope. I just don't understand how they can treat their own people like that. It is the total antithesis to what Jesus preached. But I guess there is a reason most people identify them with a cult.

I sincerely hope you are able to break free of the JW's, and find your way in life with people who appreciate who you are as an individual. I also hope this experience hasn't damaged you spiritually and that you can still find a way to seek God in your life, despite the craziness you've probably experienced.

Best of luck, and try to find the courage to leave them behind. God doesn't want you to be a robot that can't think or feel or express individualism, and I'm sure you will meet new friends if the day comes that you decide to leave the JW's for good.

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: brazenalderpadrescorpio
a reply to: dollukka

I guess I am a victim of fear in a sense. My mother is in the religion, but she's not baptized. I actually hope she never gets baptized. I myself am baptized.

You do know that you dont have to actually be baptizes in water correct? Remember the thief who was beside jesus on the cross? He was not baptized in water but he was told he too would be in pardise with him for believing in Him and his words. Baptism is purely a symbolic issue when done in water but to be baptised in the word is the most important thing actually.

I think it meant to represent the spiritual light/water flowing over the head cooling the spiritual fire from below. For some reason they do paint a cross over the nerve sensors in the forehead that are connected to the third eye also. Wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing for spiritual understanding?

Jehovah's Witnesses don't do anything with a cross as they don't believe he died on a cross but rather a stake with his hands above his head nailed to a stake. When they baptize you, they just dunk you underwater and bring you back up.

a reply to: LittleByLittle

a reply to: brazenalderpadrescorpio
if you want to PM me that's cool. I don't mind talking to people. I'm one of those people you described in your post when you said "sits on the internet all day and wastes time." Except I don't "waste" my time. I have taught myself so much using the internet that My IQ has easily went up 20 to 30 points in the last 6 years. Isn't the motto for ATS "Deny Ignorance?" Well, that's exactly what I've been doing. Hardly a waste of time. I can not only carry on an intelligent conversation with a political science professor, but could debate one now and quite possibly win. Granted I've probably spent 3-4 yrs worth of hours in front of my computer, but I wouldn't trade one ounce of the time for anything else. DENY IGNORANCE!!!!!!!! LMAO In the age of information, Ignorance is a choice! Remember that.

a reply to: supermanning

The good thing is that I only have my mother who's a Jehovah's Witness, and she's not exactly baptized. I feed her some outside information every now and then, so she's not exactly walking lock-step with the organization. I'm positive that if I left the organization, that she would come with me; even if she got baptized.

a reply to: DeadSeraph

I thank you as well. I'm not anywhere near bitterness, but it does bother me a little when I see hypocrisy within the religion. I can't stand it when they preach love, and exclude certain people from gatherings, for example. I've even spotted a hint of reverse discrimination even though Jehovah's Witnesses are supposedly not racist. It's not overt, but it's just subtle. For example, I've noticed that blacks tend to segregate themselves as you tend to see in the outside world.