Blue's News Unnecessarily Long Comment :P

With this message, I am experimenting with placing numbers before each section instead of headings. Thought it might help make things easier to read. I would appreciate if you could let me know if it does.

1. I am fiercely independent. By that I mean I like to know what I know is the truth or as truthful as possible. As regards God it would be in vain to waste time worshipping him incorrectly. Putting forth the effort to learn is critical. After more than three decades, it is safe to say I have put forth the effort. But I'm not done. No one completes their study of the Bible; they only grow in their knowledge. Feel free to add the results of my research to your knowledge base, or run with it for your studies. :)

2. I've studied the Bible in depth with the aid of many secular and JW materials. I like to keep things balanced. It's never wise to go too much to one side or the other. The primary reason is I like to present biblical evidence from secular points of view like science, math, and elsewhere; in the same way, Jesus used agrarian concepts in his illustrations to help people discern what he was saying. I know many of you love math, so what better way to explain biblical prophecy than with mathematical probabilities?

3. I've used more than a few Bibles in my studies. A few include:

    - King James Version (1611)
    - American Standard Version (1901)
    - The Bible in Living English (1972)
    - The Catholic Douay Version (1609)
    - New World Translation Reference Edition (1984)
    - New World Translation (1986 and 2013 editions)

The last two help me deal with the syntax of old languages from other Bibles. The grammar is challenging to understand. Furthermore, they do not always correctly place God's name where his name should appear.

4. Regarding the last point, I have coupled my studies with the original language version of the Bible through Scripture4All's incredible Interlinear Scripture Analyzer app (free download at http://www.scripture4all.org/). In reviewing scriptures in ancient Hebrew and Greek, I wanted to see where God's name יהוה‎ appears. This research helps mitigate the inaccuracy of scriptures from Bibles that translate God's name as THE LORD, Elohim, or GOD. With such translations, and depending on the source (Judaism, Catholicism, etc.), it can be easy to confuse Jehovah with Jesus and visa versa. And interesting aside; I believe for about 70 years the Witnesses used the KJV Bible in their ministry and personal studies. No doubt many interesting conversations came up when reading John 1:1. Those conversations still happen today. ;)

Bottomline, I refuse to use a title and prefer to know and use God's name, just like I prefer a person's name instead of "You." I do not subscribe to the Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton. Seriously, why would God have his name inserted into the collective Bible over 7,700 times, and then tell people not to pronounce it on one commandment? As the tradition goes, they took the third commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" to the extreme. The irony is that the third commandment, found in Exodus 20:6, literally has God's name twice, "לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שֵׁם-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַשָּׁוְא:  כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה יְהוָה, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִשָּׂא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא." (God's name: יְהוָה) YHWH (Yahweh; God's name in Hebrew) or JHVH (Jehovah; God's name in English). Bonkers! %)

5. I was inactive for seven years. Being inactive is not the same as being disfellowshipped (removal, due to major sin, for the congregation's protection). However, my attitude was such that I wanted nothing to do with the Witnesses. In retrospect, this can be grounds for disfellowshipping. My attitude and behavior, otherwise called disassociation, was purposeful separation from the congregation and Christian obligations. Had I continued to go to the Kingdom Hall my thoughts could have had a bad influence on others. Disassociation is not the same as Witnesses with illnesses who are housebound or have limited mobility. As an active Witness today, I wanted to share this info so that you understand that I do have the ability to look at the religion from an outsider and insider perspective.

6. To the point above, blindly believing in something is frowned upon in the Bible. One example at Acts 17:10,11 shows Paul and Silas, during their traveling ministry, visiting the Christians in Beroea. In the Jewish synagogue, they began to share the good news about God's Kingdom as Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19,20). Many Beroeans were eager and open-minded to learn. However, they weren't passive listeners. They carefully examined the Scriptures (or scrolls) daily to see whether the things Paul and Silas shared with them were truthful.

To get a well-rounded, balanced understanding of my beliefs, I felt it was important to study other faiths and their religious books. I think the best way someone can know if their religion is true is the study others. That is logical to me. A few religions I studied include:

    - Judaism (Torah)
    - Islam (Quran)
    - Scientology (I couldn't afford the $10,000 for the array of audio, video, and printed material; so I piecemealed my knowledge together from free sources online. Basically, I did the ghetto version education ;P )
    - Mormons (The Book of Mormon)

In my joint research, one of the most glaring things I noticed is how many religions share the same basic tenants and doctrines. It's like Baskin-Robbins' 31 Flavors; whatever flavor you pick all of it is ice cream. So some commonalities I learned are:

>  Immortality of the human soul. Such as:
- "When I die I'll be in heaven with my loved ones,"
- "I hope to be reincarnated as a beautiful butterfly,"
- "My essence is going to be dispersed into the cosmos, man. Far out!",
- "I hope those 72 virgins are super fine after I blow myself up in this mall,"
- and so forth.

> Triad of gods or polytheism. History is rife with examples of religions with more than one god. For instance, not many know the actual history of Islam. I've studied its origins extensively. Not to get into the nitty-gritty details but the simple conclusion is Islam is based on an ancient Babylonian moon religion. This precursor iteration worshiped Sin (a moon-god) as the supreme deity in contrast to Romans who worshiped the sun as their supreme god. The two could not be more opposed, and this dynamic became evident during the Crusades were both sides brutally slaughtered one another. (Footnote: By the crusades, Christendom had become a hybrid blend of apostate Christianity, and Roman paganism and not the Christianity Jesus started).

> Paganism and all of its forms. Christmas, Easter, Jinns, and so forth. There's an endless list of religions with doctrines that have pagan origins. It is worth noting that in studying paganism I learned that the word simply means "people of the land" and implied those whose beliefs originate with the earth, nature, and magic as spiritual constructs. Latin Christians used the word in derogatory terms (like the N-word) to imply, "Common, uneducated rabble. Peasants!" It was a judgemental and highly disrespectful practice. However, the word itself has an appropriate meaning, as I've learned. The point is paganism as a religion is not native to the worship of Jehovah. The Bible repeatedly condemns practices associated with it. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 provides a laundry list of NOs; all of which are pagan practices.

> Political Involvement. Every major religion does this. The Vatican, for instance, has a seat at the U.N. and actively involves itself in geopolitical stuff. Knowing what I know the political powers will do to most major religions in the future (Revelation 17:16,17), having a seat at the U.N. is like a person putting hot sauce all over their body and then jumping into a den of lions. :| In the case of Islam, this religion intertwines itself with politics to the degree that the two are almost indistinguishable. While thankfully many Muslims peacefully practice their faith, there are a great many who are more concerned with achieving "god's will" through social politics, forceful coercion, and brutality. In contrast, Jehovah's Mosaic Law (or the Law of Moses) did not have such extremes. Jehovah was fair with everyone; even providing slaves, the poor, and sick with basic rights; never causing them harm.

> Hell, or hellfire, as an eternal place to punish the damned for sins they committed in life. Every major religion teaches some form of "punishment" for bad deeds committed in life. Varieties include reincarnation as an annoying insect or a literal place of eternal torment called "hell" taught by Christendom and Muslims (the origins of which are Babylonian in nature). According to the Bible, none of it is true. God clearly states why humanity has sin and why it dies. However, to prevent this disease called "death" from perpetual continuation he also reveals why Jesus' death is so crucial to bringing death to an end.

> Triadic or triune god worship. This form of religion stipulates belief in God as three-persons-in-one with each being separate but together. If that sounds confusing, it is. This triad construct is one of the most convoluted and confusing doctrines I've seen. To me, it makes less sense than the Quranic verses, and that's saying much.

History is rife with examples of triadic gods:
- Babylon: Sin, Shamash, Ishtar
- Egypt: Osiris, Isis, Horus
- Greek: Zeus, Athena, Apollo
- Roman: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva
- Hindu: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
- Norse: Odin, Thor, Freyr
- Christendom: The Trinity doctrine

Combined, why do all these religions share similar patterns? Two reasons.

One, together they act as weapons of mass distraction if you will. Second Corinthians 4:4 clearly identifies Satan as "the god of this system of things." He's keenly opposed to the "good news about God's Kingdom." To brunt the ministry Satan throws all of these false religions (that is to say religions that bear no truth) in high numbers at humans with the hope that at least one will stick (or become that person's belief). With over 4,400 religions to choose from is it any wonder? Ironically, atheism and agnosticism are types of religions Satan uses (in principle they are beliefs in the absence of spirituality; a kind of reverse-religion). He's satisfied to have someone not believe in God or have doubts about his existence. Win-win. Score one for the dark one! :evil:

Two, all religions descend from a single religion. Nimrod and his mother Semiramis (worshiped in ancient Babylon as Ishtar and in Egypt as Isis) started as a cult. I say cult because after the flood earth's population was much smaller; having reached only a dozen or so generations by Nimrod's time. Most were obedient to Jehovah, but many were not, and they chose to follow Nimrod and his mother in direct opposition to Jehovah. The apex of their cult culminated in a metropolis and a large tower construction project, both of which are simply identified as "Babel" (the Hebrew word for "Confusion"). Jehovah changed their languages to force them to stop their building project and to spread out across the earth. When they dispersed, all took their false Nimrod religion with them, and wherever they settled those beliefs over time morphed into local and regional religions. There's a reason why almost all religions share a story about a great flood destroying humans. That story was carried around the earth by Nimrod's followers since they knew the story very well and likely some of those followers were children and grandchildren of Noah and his sons due to unnaturally long life spans during those days. For example, Noah was very much alive when Nimrod (his sixth generation grandson) began his rebellion.

These two reasons provide the fundamental answer for the question of why so many religions today share similar theologies. The physical proof of this can be found in the appearances of tower-like pyramids across the globe from Egypt (pyramid) to Babylon (ziggurats) to Central America (ziggurat-shaped) and elsewhere. It's worth noting the actual shape of the pyramid itself served a very specific purpose in pagan religions. The original Babel tower was built with protection in mind against another flood. Nimrod's followers believed that their rebellious actions might trigger another flood, even though Jehovah gave an assurance that would never happen (the rainbow you see after the rain is that covenant to this day). The other reason was to get "closer" to the "gods of the heavens" such as the moon (e.g. Sin), the sun (e.g. Ra), and the stars (e.g. Ishtar). Virtually all religions (I believe Egypt included) used their pyramids to make offerings in blood. For example, Aztecs would routinely conquer areas and bring their captives to the tops of their pyramids where, after giving a prayer to Huitzilopochtli (their god of sun and war), the victim's heart was cut out of their chest while the victim was still alive. Worse, the victims in line were forced to watch this happen as they waited their turn. #AztecProblems :|

7. I have thrown my lot in with the Witnesses because more than any other religion I find that they follow the Bible's teachings more accurately. Furthermore, they mirror their tenets, doctrines, and practices after first century Christianity. Have they made mistakes in the past? Absolutely. Have they done things that would seem cult-like to others? Sure. Is the no-blood transfusion rule stupid? To non-Witnesses, I could see why. Witnesses aren't infallible, and I'll be the first to admit that myself. As far as I've seen they remind me of an account at John 6:52-67, where Jesus, addressing a crowd, says "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and I in union with him." Many thought Jesus was crazy! And even more so considering such a thing would be against the Law of Moses! So they left; not bothering to learn the real meaning. Jesus looked to his disciplines and asked them, "You do not want to go also, do you?" Not knowing what Jesus illustration meant, Peter still answered "Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life." This is how I feel about the Witnesses. If you can show me another religion that follows the Bible more accurately than the Witnesses, I am open to investigating.

8. Lastly, the Witnesses, more than any other, are kinetic Christians. What I mean by that is they don't go to church and passively listen to sermons. This is foreign to true Christianity. Yes, Jesus did give speeches, but they served a much greater purpose of encouraging his followers to preach the good news of God's kingdom. (Matthew 24:14) The Witnesses are actively engaged in a continuous education of personal Bible study and ministry training for which there are no graduates. It always cracks me up when I see various religious leaders and figureheads speak about things, and yet virtually none of them use the Bible, Jehovah, Jesus or God's Kingdom. The fact that they mingle themselves and involve their congregations in politics is crazy levels of irony. The most obvious being: Jesus, the apostles, and the first century Christians never involved themselves in the politics of their nations, nor did they join their country's military.