Divergent

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Posts by Divergent

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  31

  Sometimes I think Jehovah's Witnesses overuse the word "historic"

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  at the beginning of the may broadcast stephen lett said this was a historic broadcast.

  he explained that every member of the governing body had hosted a show and they were starting over again.

  that was all the explanation he gave.

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  Divergent

  How about "a historic sex abuse lawsuit" or "a historic sex abuse settlement"?
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  38

  I never understood field service...

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was always boring, and i was afraid that i was gonna get attacked by a dog.

  i actually almost got attacked by a rottweiler once.

  i didnt get paid for it, nobody listened to us, i actually had guys make passes at me while i was out doing street corner, i was always afraid i would get grouped and raped.

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  Divergent

  Heaven:
  In the 25+ years my Dad went door-to-door he never once convinced someone to join. Those are some really crappy results.

  I had the misfortune of being a born-in & was dragged out in service since young. Finally had enough & quit in my 20's. That's 20+ years also. Guess how many people I brought into the truth?

  Zero. Thankfully!
  

  PS: I guess I was a lousy publisher
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  77

  Feeling rejected

  by Esmeralda001 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just a little disclaimer: english isn't my first language (i'm from france) thus the poor writing skills.here is the situation: i'm not a jw.

  however, i'm in the process of becoming one.

  in fact, i'm studying with the jw's, and i'll proceed to become an unbaptized publisher as soon as i finish the first book.to make a long story short i was introduced to the truth when i was 18een.

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  Divergent

  Just to add a bit to my previous post...

  
  

  As a person with interest in medicine & life-saving techniques, have you given a thought to the fact that JW's go beyond the Bible by requiring ALL their members to reject blood transfusions, EVEN if it means that they would die as a result?

  
  

  This is scriptually wrong & it is very obvious. It goes against the Biblical principles of love + mercy & defies all common sense & logic! Countless thousands of innocent people have lost their lives due to the "No Blood" JW policy! There are many well-written arguements against this barbaric, inhumane, nonsensical, & unloving man-made JW policy. Here is a well-written article about it: http://thejehovahswitnesses.org/abstain-from-blood.php

  Please read it with an open mind & allow your conscience to guide you in determining right & wrong. Also, please visit http://www.ajwrb.org. Thank you!
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  38

  I never understood field service...

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was always boring, and i was afraid that i was gonna get attacked by a dog.

  i actually almost got attacked by a rottweiler once.

  i didnt get paid for it, nobody listened to us, i actually had guys make passes at me while i was out doing street corner, i was always afraid i would get grouped and raped.

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  Divergent

  Here's a thread that I started on field service a couple of days back -

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4833799246446592/hey-this-me-im-guy-on-left

  Anyway, I remember my last day out in service very well. Halfway through, my partner had to leave me to attend to something. I went to the next house & realized that I couldn't bring myself to knock on the door without someone with me! I just stood there in front of the house like a dumbass - my inner feelings got the better of me & I couldn't knock on the door at all! That was the moment when I realized that I was DONE - I just couldn't do it anymore!

  
  
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  77

  Feeling rejected

  by Esmeralda001 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just a little disclaimer: english isn't my first language (i'm from france) thus the poor writing skills.here is the situation: i'm not a jw.

  however, i'm in the process of becoming one.

  in fact, i'm studying with the jw's, and i'll proceed to become an unbaptized publisher as soon as i finish the first book.to make a long story short i was introduced to the truth when i was 18een.

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  Divergent

  Hi Esmeralda,

  Many of us here have been through similar situations as you have & know what it feels like! I would advise you to please do more research about JW's instead of learning about them by only studying their publications. Please go to google & find out everything you can about JW's before you proceed any further. It would only take a few minutes of your time but it would change your life forever!
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  38

  I never understood field service...

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was always boring, and i was afraid that i was gonna get attacked by a dog.

  i actually almost got attacked by a rottweiler once.

  i didnt get paid for it, nobody listened to us, i actually had guys make passes at me while i was out doing street corner, i was always afraid i would get grouped and raped.

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  Divergent

  Field service was the first thing I quit when I started to fade. I thought about the reasons why people were rejecting us. They are NOT rejecting us because we represent God & his kingdom. They are NOT rejecting us because they are evil people who deserve to die. Rather, people are rejecting us because our message is NOT convincing!

  
  I reasoned that if preaching the "good news" was so important to God, why on earth would he give us an unconvincing message to preach??? Why couldn't he make "the truth" more convincing??? We literally have NOTHING to back up what we say! Referring to the Bible is USELESS when speaking to people who don't believe in the Bible & those who do usually belong to another denomination & accuse us of having our own Bible & a wrong interpretation of scripture!

  
  We can't perform signs or miracles to back up what we preach. We can't heal the sick & infirm, raise the dead, etc. If we are able to perform miraculous works, wouldn't people be captivated instantly & listen to what we say? Wouldn't it prove beyond doubt that there is truth in what we say? Wouldn't we be able to make more disciples? Absolutely!!! Because that would make our message convincing! But since we can't do shit, what's the point???

  
  Furthermore, I realized that the MORE I go out in service, the MORE bloodguilty I would be! If I were to miss talking to someone & that person gets destroyed at Armageddon, I would be bloodguilty! If I wasn't good in my presentation & couldn't convince people & they get destroyed, I would be bloodguilty! If I didn't make return visits & call back on people & they get destroyed, I would be bloodguilty! Fuck this shit, I'm not doing it anymore!

  
  I reasoned that if there was really a loving & caring God, he would NOT destroy 99.99% of the world's population simply because they are not convinced of his message. The reasoning that God is love, BUT he would destroy all non-JW's at Armageddon made no sense at all! (Oh wait, he WILL also destroy spiritually weak JW's & JW's who did not do more, meaning that probably 90% of JW's would be destroyed as well!) I also realized that the main reason why I went out in service was NOT because of love of God. Rather, it was due to fear, obligation, and guilt!

  
  This is how I feel now: I no longer believe in the depressing & unreasonable JW teaching that 99.99% of the world's population would be destroyed at Armageddon. If there really is such a thing as Armageddon, a perfect & loving God would find a reason to save me, not to destroy me!

  
  

  
  
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  30

  If I've been testy lately, here's why.

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my parents are visiting for not-thanksgiving.

  dad started bringing up spiritual stuff and i almost screwed up my fade.. it's so hard to have a genuine discussion about the issues in the organization when you have become an atheist.

  it feels icky and disgusting to have to pretend and nod your head at such platitudes as "you just need to have faith"..."trust in jehovah"..."jehovah will correct it"..."remember ray franz?

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  Divergent

  Happy not-Thanksgiving, Cappy! Hope you have a great unspiritual weekend (if possible)
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  27

  JW sisters reaction to the cutbacks

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i had gone away for a rest and came back to pick my animals up.

  (yes we share one common thing.

  the love of animals).

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  Divergent

  Good to see that the arrogance is dying down. You know things are bad when even the die-hard ones start to show signs of discontentment! By the way, how's your nephew doing?
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  18

  Scripture fatigue

  by New day in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i wondered why i felt so fatigued over many years from hearing the same things again and again at the meetings.

  even the scriptures become too familiar.

  a few days ago i quickly read through all the gospels and realised i knew all the verses in detail.

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  Divergent

  I always wondered if the Bible was really inspired of God, couldn't he have done a better job? Why on earth does everything have to be so confusing & complicated? Why the heck do we have to flip all over the place, looking for scriptures here & there, when the Bible could have been arranged in a more logical way? Why is it so difficult to use the Bible to explain / defend our faith? Why are there so many inconsistencies & controversies in the Bible? Why do God's laws & standards change from time to time in the Bible? Why are Bible "prophecies" vague & unconvincing? Why do people get stumbled by reading the Bible? Why is it so easy to challenge & dispute the Bible? Why does reading the Bible result in more than 40,000 Christian denominations? What's the point of having an "inspired" book when even Christians themselves can't make sense of it???

  If I was a loving God writing a book that is to serve as a guide for my children whom I deeply treasure, I would write it in such a way that it is logical, uncomplicated, clear, concise, convincing, conclusive, straight to the point, leaving no room for any misinterpretation, dispute, or doubt!

  
  

  Read this & form your own conclusions
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  25

  The new brchoure

  by Sabin in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the gestapo body, brought out a brochure, i believe it was called return to jehovah.

  in it they gave 3 reasons why some-one left the borganization.

  if i remember 1 was because the person is angry at some one in the cong, or something along those lines.

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  Divergent

  The 3 reasons:

  1. Anxiety

  2. Hurt feelings

  3. Guilt

  The reasons were irrelevant to me, except for the hurt feelings part. But that was not the main reason either. My main reasons were:

  1. Gross misinterpretation & misapplication of scripture / man-made rules - 2 witness rule, blood, organ transplants, etc.

  2. False prophecies - 1914, 1975, millions now living will never die, etc.

  3. Changes in doctrine / flip-flops - this generation, etc.

  4. Scandals - Child abuse, Malawi, UN, etc.

  5. Hypocrisy - JW's are supposed to be "no part of the world". Then why is the organization "riding on the back of the wild beast" by being affiliated with the UN???

  6. Lack of remose for actions - The organization has NEVER once sincerely apologized for the damaging effects of its policies even after backtracking or being proven wrong! On a side-note, neither does it apologize to those who they are trying to reach out to in this brochure. Something like: "We are deeply sorry if you have been affected in any way by the actions of some fellow believers. Please let us know what we can do to help!" A sincere apology goes a long way. Sadly, this is not the case in WT-land

  7. Lack of love in the congregation - The brochure addresses "hurt feelings", but misses the root cause of the problem altogether! There wouldn't be hurt feelings if there was true love in the first place! The brochure attempts to put the blame on the individual who was hurt, RATHER then telling the individual that if they return, the elders would do their utmost to address any problems with the individuals involved!

  8. You can NEVER do enough - The 2nd part of the brochure is titled: "Anxiety - Hard-Pressed in Every Way". My problem was that the congregation WAS the source of that very anxiety & causing me to be hard-pressed! Asking me to "DO MORE" does not help!!!

  9. I couldn't believe it anymore - I couldn't believe the common belief that God would destroy 99.99% of the world's population at Armageddon & only JW's would be saved. Wait... NOT all JW's would be saved - those "spiritually weak" ones would probably be destroyed as well. That DOES NOT fit the description of a loving God at all! I realized that the only reason why I was a witness was because I was born-in. If I was not, there was no way that I would be!

  10. I am NOT proud to be a JW anymore - It is an undeniable fact that the organization has more negative points rather than good - If you ask people what their impression of JW's is, would it be more positive or negative? If you think about it, the organization has brought more reproach upon God's name rather than glory, by means of all their scandals & man-made rules! They can't blame Satan as they are the ones shooting themselves in the foot!