OneEyedJoe

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Posts by OneEyedJoe

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  4

  If the meetings are SO valuable and vital, why do witnesses love having a day off from them?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  have you noticed how happy witnesses are when they have a change in meeting schedules, so that a meeting is missed?.

  eg, the week of an assembly, the midweek meeting is not held, and they all say "oh it will be nice to have a night off".. or if a public speaker doesn't come for the talk, and the meeting has just the wt study, they all enjoy "an early mark".

  or if they go on holiday, they say "oh we are on holiday, we won't go to the meeting".

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  OneEyedJoe

  They hate the meetings but feel guilty when they miss them, so they're so relieved when they get a guilt-free day off.
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  10

  I can't just walk away, I need to keep reinforcing what I did was right (Leaving the org)

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  when i speak to my mum about things, she says why do you keep looking on the internet and news etc... why don't you just live your life and forget what you learned growing up.. maybe i was so so indoctrinated as a child that even though i have woken up and learnt ttatt, i still need to keep up to date with new findings from ex and fellow brothers and sisters.

  listening to their testimony about why they left.. this was to me and all of you i'm sure, the truth.

  so to finally wake up is absolutely massive.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I suspect it's a bit like the drive some have to meet their biological parents when they learn they're adopted. So much of who we are has come from the cult influence and, at least for me, there's a drive to understand it so that hopefully I can learn something about myself.
  Of course there's also a human need to find understanding from others and it's hard to find someone that can relate to being in a cult anywhere else. And I think most that leave have a natural desire to help others that have been through the same challenge. I've found so much support from this community that I want to repay that where I can.
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  20

  Just threw away...

  by stephanie61092 in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  so even though i don't drive much because public transit is so good where i live (and parking is a living nightmare), i always had a paper taped onto my glove box that said "no blood transfusions - jehovahs witness.

  see legal documentation in wallet.

  going through this "wake up" process as been a very crazy, emotional experience.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I remember doing that myself. It's odd how much of a pull that piece of indoctrination has - it took me a week or so after waking up to tear up my card. At that point I was ready to admit to myself that I was an atheist but for some reason I still had some hesitation. Luckily that went away reasonably quickly. No regrets at all on tearing that thing up.

  As some have said here, that card was a suicide note that you carried with you. Now that you're not planning to die, it's time to get busy living!
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  92

  Only a few days ago I was entirely lost and without hope the rug was pulled out from under me

  by elderess in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  only a few days ago i was walking around the house in a mindless wander thinking if i needed to seek professional help.

  then i got the courage to seek the comfort of complete strangers on the internet and found a world of support here on this website.

  thank you simon and whoever else has made this website possible.

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  OneEyedJoe

  That's amazing! It's always great to hear another success story of a couple beating this cult. It's destroyed so many families that a victory like this is really something special. The whole world is open to you! Have fun exploring the possibilities!

  How old are your children? If they're still young I'm sure they'll come out of this just fine. Kids are resilient.
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  32

  Strange sounds from the mens toilet ,late 80s early 90s

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so as a young boy bored and wanting to stretch my legs i would sometimes take a trip into the toilet just to get away from the main meeting room.

  did my little mind know what certain sounds were coming from behind the cubical?

  no.. but now in my 30s i'm fully aware what that sound was.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Probably one of the mic runners taking care of things after looking down that well-endowed sister's shirt.
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  23

  New June Awake with Misleading Statements about Evidence for god

  by ttdtt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the article (faith) is all about why you should have solid evidence based reasons for belief in god.

  it's not good enough to believe in god just because you were raised to believe in god.. (from the article).

  but god wants those who worship him to have genuine confidence in his existence and in his love.. then it goes on to tell us how we can get that genuine confidence that there is a god.

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  OneEyedJoe

  And kodos for you OneEyedJoe! Guess you had a CO visit recently?
  

  Nah, it just always stuck out as stupid that they would cite how pleasing variety is as proof of god (or his love, as the case may be) when variety is also direct evidence that the biblical flood account is inaccurate.

  That and a lot of species of apples are really grainy and not very good. The variety is equal proof of a loving god as it is proof of an asshole god that tries to trick us by making some of the apples good and some of them gross.
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  38

  Proof of any Dragons

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  does anybody have any proof of the existence of dragons?.

  we read in revelation about satan being the dragon, but aren't dragons mythological creatures?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  There are books that talk about dragons. Isn't that proof enough that dragons exist?
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  23

  New June Awake with Misleading Statements about Evidence for god

  by ttdtt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the article (faith) is all about why you should have solid evidence based reasons for belief in god.

  it's not good enough to believe in god just because you were raised to believe in god.. (from the article).

  but god wants those who worship him to have genuine confidence in his existence and in his love.. then it goes on to tell us how we can get that genuine confidence that there is a god.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Good catch about the bait and switch. It's crazy what they get away with.
  Also, I did get the apple reference :)
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  42

  Today's Daily Text - Being Uneducated And Ordinary... WTF!!!

  by Divergent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thursday, march 3. they were uneducated and ordinary men.—acts 4:13.. in recent years, the spiritual instruction provided by jehovah’s organization has reflected an increased emphasis on simplicity and clarity.

  consider three examples.

  first, there is the simplified edition of the watchtower.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Wow this is really something

  In recent years, the spiritual instruction provided by Jehovah’s organization has reflected an increased emphasis on simplicity and clarity.
  

  This statement really reminds me of moses taking credit for producing water from a rock - the act that got him barred from entering the promised land. They're giving credit to "Jehovah's organization" for the spiritual instruction, not to jehovah himself. Which brings me to:

  Third, there are the recent refinements in our understanding, such as the clarified understanding of “the faithful and discreet slave.
  

  They started out by taking credit for everything, and giving none to god. So are they implicitly admitting that the "recent refinements" in doctrine are from men and not from god? Are they saying that they've changed doctrine so that people can understand it better? Who would consider this a good thing? This is like a physics professor teaching his students laws of physics that are not accurate but easier to understand - they may be able to learn them more easily, maybe more people will get physics degrees but the knowledge will be completely useless! If they're claiming that the doctrinal changes were intended to make things simpler, then they're admitting that they're teaching false doctrine.

  The doctrine is from men, and they know it's not even true - it's just convenient for them because it makes it easier to indoctrinate people into their cult.
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  53

  How did you feel when they eliminated the Con. Book Study?

  by Freeandclear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  years ago when i was "in" i loved the book study.

  it was my favorite meeting by far.

  mainly because it was a small group.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I was really conflicted when they announced this. In my case it was compounded by being at a convention when they did the announcement - so you're in expectation of more "spiritual food" when they make announcements but they were telling us there'd be less.

  On the one hand I was relieved to have less meetings to deal with and a free night at home, but at the same time one of my first thoughts was "do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together as some have the custom, but encouraging one another all the more so as you behold the day drawing near." So while it was one of those things that I didn't want to argue with because it was actually beneficial to me, it went in my mental file for reasons this might not actually be "the truth."