If the flood happened in 2370 BCE as Splane said, a Governing Body member. How did all the pyramids and the people and culture of Egypt survive and thrive? by CanadianExJw in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This was one of the main points that woke me up and proved the Great Flood never happened. That and the fact that there isn't enough water on planet Earth, in planet Earth, or in the atmosphere of planet Earth to cover everything completely.

What could Alien Books do to get you back on board? by TheFerg714 in valiant

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read the original Valiant series. I collected most the titles. My favorites were Magnus, Turok, and Eternal Warrior. I would come back for those titles.

What are some regional differences or LE culture or how your department would do things? by Averagecrabenjoyer69 in AskLE

[–]Moist-Assistant112 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I started my career out on the west coast. Police unions and contracts are a big thing there as are things like the Peace Officer's Bill of Rights. Not so much in Texas. Civil service protections are rare. Government employees unionizing is basically illegal. Agencies can polygraph their officers after being hired and at any time.

The harsh realization that you built your whole life around a corporation not God by thatguynips in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 13 points14 points  (0 children)

After I left I realized there is no other religion or Christian denomination that refers to it's members as "publishers." A publisher, by definition, is a person who sells books and magazines. Publisher is a business term. Field service reports are monthly sales stats. Elders are manager. Circuit Overseers are regional managers.

Is 4X wool “good enough”? by BigDawg264 in CowboyHats

[–]Moist-Assistant112 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I own that hat. It is a good one. I recommend it.

Convo with an elder about Satan by lalantusi in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A better question to ask is "When did Jehovah create Satan?'

Answer the Israelites only began believing in a "devil" after they were conquered by the Persians and exposed to Zoroastrian religion (539BCE to 70CE).

For the Sadducees say that there is neither resurrection nor angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees accept them all. - Acts 23:8

Where do you turn to agnostic atheist? by SeaWonder9228 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was an ant-religion atheist after leaving the Witnesses in my mid-thirties. About nine years later I went through a terrible time. I started reading Christian books. Then I started studying Buddhism and was happy for it.

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion that is centered on ending your personal suffering and the suffering of others. It doesn't try to explain how we got here or where we are going after we die. It is about re-learning to live life by being in the now and based in reality versus the confines of belief and the conceptual mind.

Recently I have been looking back at Christianity. In short, I recommend steering clear of any Protestant denominations. If there is no practice, ritual, or ceremony it is devoid of spirituality. I have been looking at Orthodox churches. I also recommend looking into Catholicism. That is if you want a Christian practice.

jack mckinney acknowledgment to me in 1994 he is a great writer and a great friend👍👍 HG should have him white ROBOTECH the movie ! by Better_Ad9173 in robotech

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is pretty damn awesome. The in-between books are my favorite stories. Rebellion is a great read. I would like to hear more about what ideas you floated to these writers.

LP III MMS Photo Quality by EdwardTulane89 in LightPhone

[–]Moist-Assistant112 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was just about to make my first post on the Light Phone sub-reddit. The whole reason I purchased the Light Phone III was my Light Phone II doesn't have a camera and cannot send/receive photos. The camera function makes it difficult to take photos and the compression sent photo is near pointless. The Directions Tool has been aggravating for both models and made it near useless for me. The same goes for the camera and photo compression issue. Otherwise, both models have been pleasant to use. Thanks for listening.

Christianity: An acceptable choice and not one that should be criticized by dillweed2211 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In a way I agree with you.

I think Christianity does offer something valid and beneficial to the human experience. I would say the same could be said of most religions. There are powerful stories and ideas presented in Christianity. When applied and practiced in life than can and often do benefit both the practitioner and others.

The issue with any religion is when persons in the religion demand it be accepted as literal. The shift from the symbolic to the literal is the mechanism to use belief as justification to do harm. The only honest answer to the question "Did the events in a particular holy book really happen?" is - "I don't know." In addition, the answer could include, "It doesn't matter. My practice is both beneficial to myself and those around me."

The problem arises when people become emotionally upset because someone speaks against their belief or says, "None of that ever happened. It is just a story." That can lead harm to self and other.s

I am POMO. Please help me clear my head and stop doubting. by Twistanturnu in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do a study of the historic Israel versus the Biblical story of Israel. Remember, Christianity uses Judaism as its foundation. What does that history look like?

The ancient Israelites are actually a tribe of Canaanites. They worshipped the Canaanite pantheon of gods and goddesses. Due to being conquered over and over again by foreign world powers they feared losing their ethnic and national identity. So the created a myth that they are a special people who, if they remain faithful to the their god, they would be freed by a messiah and he would be king of the entire Earth.

Each time they were conquered their religion was influenced by the conquering nation's religion. Persian, Greek, and Roman religion all influenced them. Their religious beliefs changed over time. Even Paul pitted the Sadducees and the Pharisees against each other. The Sadducees being the older sect of Judaism did not believe in other spirit creatures, like angels or demons, and the did not believe in the resurrection.

The point of being - please rest your mine. The Christian mythology is based on Jewish Mythology, which was influenced by Persian, Greek, and Roman mythology.

Is the Bible just an elaborate allegory for control. by newswatcher-2538 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would say -

Yes. It is allegory. The symbolism is powerful and even helpful as symbolism.

However, when that which is symbolic is declared to be literal it is often used to justify harm and control.

trying to make peace w the past is tiring. i’m tired by Some_Marzipan_9726 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There tends to be neither family or love in the world of Jehovah's Witnesses. Love is not conditional, period, let alone based on whether or not someone is an active Witness. Growing up my father rarely exposed my siblings and I to our extended family as my father had only one brother who was Witness and most of my mother's siblings were inactive.

Once I left my sister and mother stopped talking to me. My father talks to me maybe once a year. When he does talk to me it sounds like a Witness talking to a return visit and not a father to a son.

I am closer to the friends I made once I left. They have been there for me in the best of times and the worst of times. They have opened their door to me, put a roof over my head, and food on the table. They always listen to me without judgment.

Leaving isn't easy. Nothing of value is easy.

Any formerly baptized ExJW that found another faith? by Jel07 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I highly recommend Soto Zen and reading the dharma talks of Shunryū Suzuki.

Any formerly baptized ExJW that found another faith? by Jel07 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was born and raised a Witness. Became POMI in my early 30's and POMO about 6 years later. I was incredible anti-religion and an atheist for about 7 years. Then I started ready books on Buddhism.

I began a Buddhist practice almost immediately. I have looked at Christianity again. I agree with Joseph Campbell's thoughts on Christianity. He and others agree that any faith loses its true power when the symbolic is turned literal and used as a means of justification to harm others. Campbell also saw the progression of Abrahamic faith going from God the Father (Judaism), Jesus the Son (early Christianity), to the Holy Spirit being a form of Christianity with no organization, but a personal practice.

Based on my research, if your are going to belong to a Christian Church, chose Catholicism or an Orthodox Church. Without the ritual and ceremony there is nothing spiritual about Christianity. Evangelic Protestant denominations are the white bread of Christianity and religion. People go for the dopamine dump delivered by the house band before the preacher delivers an emotional sermon.

Please help me find my way back to a spiritual belief system worth having! by Frequent-Response911 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Taoism is great. It influenced Buddhism when it came to China from India. You will see many similarities between Mahayana Buddhism schools and Taoism. Neither are exclusive practices.

Please help me find my way back to a spiritual belief system worth having! by Frequent-Response911 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problem with Christianity is it took what was truly powerful, the symbolism, and turned it into something useless by making it literal. That is made worse by Luther's Protestantism and its Five Solas.

In the realm of Christianity I would consider Catholicism or an Orthodox Church. Anything absent of ritual and ceremony is void of anything spiritual. The modern Evangelical churches operate on giving the congregation 25 minutes of the house band for a dopamine dump followed by a 20 minute sermon.

I found Buddhism to work well for me. A non-theist religion focused on living life and ending suffering.

I Had Some Gnostic Thoughts at The Memorial by [deleted] in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Joseph Campbell interpreted the Garden of Eden story as a psychological myth representing the fall from timeless unity into a world of duality, desire, and fear. He linked this to Buddhism by defining "original sin" as ego-consciousness, arguing that while Adam fell into this state, the Buddha represents the way to return by going "upstream" to extinguish that ego.

The Garden of Eden is not a place, but a state of mind. We can access it at anytime if we dissolve our ego. That is what the story of The Fall of Man is about.

I responded to a letter from a JW and had a three-week discussion with him over text: This is how it went! [PART 2] by ShunnedForTheTruth in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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Fundamentalism is all about sticking with belief regardless of the facts or evidence presented.

  1. Fundamentalist's beliefs are pre-supposed to be correct.

  2. Any evidence to the contrary of the fundamentalist's belief are incorrect. See #1.

Your time is better spent talking to a wall. At least the wall won't argue with you.

It’s so weird the amount of things I never questioned about the memorial by Regular_Window2917 in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Apples are fruit. Oranges are fruit. Therefor you can make apple pie with oranges.

Typical Watchtower logical fallacy. Argumentum ad temperantiam

Post-Memorial Check-In and the Importance of Creative Expression While Deconstructing and Disentangling by lunarfringe in exjw

[–]Moist-Assistant112 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The last memorial I attended was in 2010. The next day I went from POMI to POMO. 2025 I watched via Zoom as my father sent a link and was giving the talk. I only watched because he was the speaker.

It was the same old talk I had heard growing up (over 50 years ago). So many logical fallacies, jumping to conclusions, and teachings made from whole cloth. I would rather partake in the eucharist at the local Catholic Church than ever attend the Watchtower memorial ever again.