Every generation thinks the prior generation is hopelessly old fashioned and the next generation are stupid and doomed. I suspect things will keep getting better for a good while.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
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14
Do you have hope for mankind?
by noontide inlet me start off by acknowledging that my current mood/thoughts reflect the fact that ive watched a few documentaries recently (blackfish, surviving progress, etc.
) and they got me thinking about the future of mankind.
mainly the question, do i hold out hope for the future of mankind?.
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Apostate with the HIGHEST ENTERTAINMENT VALUE has to be this lady
by Terry inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swgzcvh3rns&feature=youtu.be.
she is magnificent!
katie kitten.
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OneEyedJoe
She's pretty good. And she nailed it with her prediction of a campaign to tell people to go to their website!
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59
Does The State Have The Right To Quarantine Someone Because They Might Have Ebola?
by minimus inno doubt you have heard about the nurse that thumbed her nose to the state and went out of the house in spite of being ordered to stay at home.
what is your opinion on this?.
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OneEyedJoe
Did she have any symptoms? But wasn't she tested and no Ebola was found in her blood? Is this approach medical or scientific? Do only people in those countries have Ebola?
My understanding (I could be wrong) was that she had a fever (as measured from her forehead) upon arriving in the US, but the fever was likely because she was flushed and angry at the time it was taken, a later measurement of her internal temperature showed no fever. She's continued to be asymptomatic, with multiple blood tests showing no ebola.
To me, this mostly seems like a political move, and a poorly thought out one, at that. I do believe that the government should have the ability to forcibly impose quarantine, but I don't think this one was done properly.
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Recent Update - Service Report
by Da.Furious inon oct. 22, eight brothers were released from prison in turkmenistan by presidential amnesty.
(see 2014 yearbook, p. 31) the ninth brother is still imprisoned, but it is hoped that he will be released shortly.
some were already in prison for three or more years and had been severely mistreated.
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OneEyedJoe
the area I am at the # of witnesses appears to be shrinking.
Same here.
When I was a kid (lived in the same area) there would be a congregation splitting every couple years, and constant complaints about how full the KHs where (in some cases there would be 7 congregations to a double auditorium KH while they waited for a new one to be built). There was apparently huge growth in the area all through the 90s and early 2000s. A lot of the growth was just due to the growth of the city in general, but there where probably 3-6 baptized in my congregation at every convention and 1-2 for every assembly. Now, I can't remember the last time we've had a congregation split. The KH that used to never have less than 6 congregations in it now has 4. There hasn't been anyone baptized in our congregation in years, and the last assembly with over 1000 in attendence saw 3 born-ins baptized.
They may be growing, but it's not here, and if they're growing in any developed coutries, it's not by more than 1% annually and poised to start declining.
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My Relief
by Smart inwhat a massive relief!
thank god i have just found this site the other day!
i don't know where to begin!
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OneEyedJoe
It's interesting reading the experience of a more recent convert, as I was born into the cult myself. A lot of the stranger things (you need to wear a suit, you need to report your time, etc) just seem normal when it's been that way your entire life.
They love-bombed you until you were locked in (baptized) at which point they switch and just saddle you with as much "priveledge" as they can. I'd echo the sentiments of others here, if you have no family in the cult, just stop going. They only have power over you if you give it to them. Personally, if my wife wasn't so indoctrinated, I'd dissassociate myself just to shock the congregation...in your case, though, everyone would probably assume that you relapsed and were disfellowshiped and no one would think anything of it. Just stop going, and if any non-elders call, maybe share a little TTATT (the truth about the truth) with 'em.
It's so remarkable to me that everyone's journey out of the cult is so different. For me, it was entirely problems with the doctrine, but for others it's issues with pedophiles, injustice in the congregation, or the importance of status to having any social circle, or like you expressed, the clear lack of personal concern for you until they decide that they need to push you to "confess" something.
Be grateful that you saw the cult for what it was so quickly. Many get married to a JW, or employed by one, and end up trapped for the sake of those relationships. Regardless of that, though, it's definitely a mindf*** waking up to the reality of the cult. I encourage you to seek out your family and true friends outside of the cult and get their support ask you remove yourself. Humans are social beings and huge changes to our social structure can be tramatic, so be prepared. I wish you the best of luck with your exit and continued sobriety.
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Recent Update - Service Report
by Da.Furious inon oct. 22, eight brothers were released from prison in turkmenistan by presidential amnesty.
(see 2014 yearbook, p. 31) the ninth brother is still imprisoned, but it is hoped that he will be released shortly.
some were already in prison for three or more years and had been severely mistreated.
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OneEyedJoe
I'm going to guess that in reality out of every 10 baptisms, perhaps 1 is a result of someone actually knocking on the door. All the others are kids, family, friends, co-workers or current witnesses.
I suspect you're pretty close. Of course any time there's a talk on informal witnessing (or whatever the hell they're calling it now...) they'll always end with "of course the door-to-door work will always remain our primary method blah blah blah"
It's pretty clear that the door-to-door work is just about keeping people busy.
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their beliefs and practice's don't tally- tonights book study
by purrpurr intonights book study in part is about jesus throwing out the merchants and money lenders in the temple... how do they manage to tally that up with asking for funds for all their various projects?
it seems hardly a meeting goes by without some kind of money plea?
don't they realise that they are doing the same thing that jesus got so angry about and threw out of the temple?
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OneEyedJoe
I'm ok with the money part as they can't force us to give. The part which got to me was paragraph 8 onwards about man-made rules
Particularly the part about how the religious leaders of the day demonized non-jews and encouraged predjudice against them. I was sitting there thinking "is anyone else hearing/reading this?" How is the frequent encouragement to limit your association with non-JWs (often followed with condemnation of their acceptance of homosexuality, casual dating, premarital sex, etc) any different from this?
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My Relief
by Smart inwhat a massive relief!
thank god i have just found this site the other day!
i don't know where to begin!
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OneEyedJoe
Welcome! We'd all love to hear your story.
You've happened upon a great forum with a lot of different personalities, you're sure to find many here that you relate to (and probably more than a few you'll clash with, but that's OK)
Glad to have you!
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Show this to the young ones in the congregation
by EdenOne inhopefully it will make them think.. .
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eden.
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OneEyedJoe
It really pisses me off that the WT library starts at 1970 for awakes because of this quote.
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Find What Your Social Status Was in the Congregation
by Mary inever notice how the "happiest people on earth" are also the most class-oriented?
the social structure in the congregation is more complex than the blueprints of a nuclear warhead, but just so that you "remember your place", see if you can find where your niche was/is:.
1. at the top of the social order of things within the congregation is of course, the presiding overseer and his family.
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OneEyedJoe
I'm a 5/8 but my current goal is to work my way to a 7 .