welcome to the forum, Dustin
you are among friends
frank
i got ahold of the latest watchtower cd-rom (2001) from my grandmother, who is still an active jw.
i've added below a few direct qoutes from various publications... in one instance below the watchtower says that the bginning of christ's thousand-year reign will begin in 1975 with noted exception in error of "weeks or months, not years" then in 1975 they say that "it does us no good to speculate" on the date his reign will start!
because after his creation adam lived some time during the ?sixth day,?
welcome to the forum, Dustin
you are among friends
frank
i was last saturday at the verizon store, getting my cell phone fixed.
i am standing in line and waitin for the next salesperson to help me.
out of the corner of my eye is this guy standing, shaking his head at me.
sounds like you handled it very well.
Sometimes I think that most people in the WT are just jerks; and they would be jerks no matter what religion they followed. It tends to appeal to a "certain" mindset of individual.
totalitarian organisations all have similar features, all resort to the force of power over its members or citizens.. is the watchtower totalitarian?
it may be helpful to see how it resembles another totalitarian government.
the book "shadows and wind" a view of modern vietnam, robert templer, abacus 1998 gives some interesting insights into the governing of viet nam and, at the same time, may alert us to the totalitarianism of the watchtower.. as we go through some of the book's insights, it's worth comparing each one to what is found today in the wts.. effects of internet.
For those of us who have experrienced it first hand; and I include myself; yes, the Watchtower is most definately Totalitarian. It may masquerade as something else, but the results are the same.
The only difference is that Watchtowers has no "teeth". It cannot physically harm you. Its effects are all emotial and psycological--and that can be just as devastating.
It is just another Fascist government.
Fascism is an ugly word. With ugly deeds and results. We here on this forum can all attest to it.
i've heard on a couple of occasions that it was a frequent practice in bible times for people to use hemp oil.
has anyone else heard this take on the bible before?
is there a way to prove whether its true or not?
Some of those prophesies ( Ezekiel) and the book of Revelation sure sound like a drug induced hallucinations to me.
I would not be surprised....
the feb. 22, 2004 awake has this article.
here's some comments that i thought you'd appreciate.
"telephone sex, however, promotes coldness and anonymity...... telephone sex is one of the means that satan the devil is using to corrupt young ones today.....if you are currently engaging in telephone sex, why not get some help?
Phone sex? Sounds a bit....physically uncomfortable.
I must be a tactile kind of guy....I have never tried it.
http://www.davesdaily.com/strange-over25_02-04.htm
according to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's probably shouldn't have survived.
our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.
interesting perspective on all this....
can you imagine the technical innovations our children will see in their lifetime?
here's mine:.
soul limbo / booker t & mgs.
dreadlock holiday / 10cc.
anything by Xavier Cugat...how could anyone stay still?
i just got back from the city, and it was an experience to say the least!
i nearly died, lol!
i came within a hairs breath of a head-on semi crash.
hey Shamus, old buddy
you have a PM
i was wondering if the witnesses still get together and study the watchtower as a group before the sunday meetings i remember in the old days this was very common, also picnics at the forest preserves evrybody seemed to be upbeat helping each other out with either rides to the meetings or wedding and baby showers .other than the hassel we got at school things weren't that bad.
i haven't been to a meeting for awhile and was wondering if it is all the same.
I was a full time pioneer in the middle 1970s, and yes, I remember getting all the "Young people" together to prepare for the sunday Watchtower study. We would meet at someones house and prepare as a group, and usual have a small social event afterward; or go to a movie afterward.
Since I was a pioneer, I was expected to take the lead with other kids my age and younger to "Set a good theocratic expample". I took it seriously and we did many things together, besides meetings and field service. There were several of us younger people and we did give rides to others; along with some social fun things also. Unfortunately, none of these old "friends" will acknowlegde me now; much less talk to me.
So what to do? I went out and made all NEW friends and the FUN WE HAVE can just not compare to any of that theocratic nonsense. Needless to say, I do not miss them.
i'm not baptized, but i do go out in service, not much now that i'm getting a post secondary education.
i wasn't raised a jw and this is where i run into a lot of problems, the things i like to do don't really jive with the wts.
i played comptive sports in high school and college.
Welcome to the forum, JV
My advice to you is GO AND HAVE SOME FUN.
Go with your friends from school.
Go and join as many athletic teams you can handle and HAVE FUN.
Join as many clubs at school as you want to.
Forget about JW meetings; YOUR SECULAR SCHOOLING AND ADVANCEMEMT TO COLLEGE IS VERY IMPORTANT. If you still have time to go to meetings, ( and want to) than by all means go---but remember--they will try to talk you OUT of anything secular; friends-school-sports.
Keep you chin up and move passed them. You sound like you might have many friends at school to spend time with. Good. Once you establish relationships with them you will feel like you belong and that will make you feel better about yourself.
If you are still interested in JW meetings--remember that you can ALWAYS go back to it after your education
good luck!
Frank