maksutov

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Posts by maksutov

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  13

  The Oesophagus of the whale shark and the story of Jonah

  by purrpurr in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in the wt's literature it is often theorised that the "great fish" that swallowed jonah was a whale shark.

  indeed looking at whale sharks with their wide huge mouths it seems reasonable to think that a human could fit in there.... ... until that is you do any research on it.

  while the whales mouth is huge, it's oesophagus however is only a few inches wide.

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  maksutov

  Makes me wonder - is there any fish or marine mammal that would theoretically be capable of swallowing a man whole?
  
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  43

  Do you find it hard to be around active JW's now?

  by EdenOne in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i do - actually, it's become close to unbearable.. and herein lies the paradox: i tried to fade in the illusion that i might keep contact with family and friends still "in".

  was it worth it?

  because not only most of them shun me anyways, but i find it almost unbearable to be around them, especially when the cult chit chat kicks in: every cute animal video clip triggers endless comments about glimpses of the future paradise and how "god did it"; those greasy praises to the organization and the governing body; the dumb awe about every jw broadcast and those cheesy music videos; the endless drivel against other religions when one knows perfectly well that we're no better than them; the endless flow of "experiences" of field service or spectacular conversions into "the truth"; the relentless congregation gossip; and so on .... i ask myself: is this why i am fading for ...?

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  maksutov

  Since I was forcibly disassociated, I have found life a bit more peaceful. The constant cult reminders were difficult to cope with before. Now I am p*ssed off about being shunned, but at least I don't have to listen to their drivel any more.
  
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  16

  Emma art

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  dark were my thoughts when i drew these after losing emma.....she was so beautiful...i thought i might say more with art than complaining......

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  maksutov

  umbertoecho: She was my daughter...she suicided...

  Oh no, how terrible. I can't even imagine the pain of that.

  You are very talented.
  
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  16

  Emma art

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  dark were my thoughts when i drew these after losing emma.....she was so beautiful...i thought i might say more with art than complaining......

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  maksutov

  They look fascinating, but can we see bigger versions?

  Forgive my ignorance, but who was Emma?
  
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  38

  Hello

  by Munster Abu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  new here but looking forward to joining in some of the discussions with you all.. a small bit about me: i'm shane.

  was raised as a jw in the uk by my mum (single parent family) from about 2 years of age.

  got baptised at 15 for all the wrong reasons.

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  maksutov

  Hi Shane, nice to see you here.
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  18

  Books by Former Witnesses

  by GiftsinMen in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am interested in reading books published by former jws which detail personal experiences of their time with the organisation.

  i know of coc, exiting the jw cult, mamas club, 30yrs a wt slave, and told ones were written by otwo, punk and terry.

  i'd like to spend some time making my way through them so titles, authors and links would be really useful.

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  maksutov

  I also wrote one. It is free to download as an e-book from here: http://scepticalmusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/jehovahs-witnesses-reasons-for-leaving.html

  Also available in paperback from Amazon. I don't get any royalties from it.
  
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  13

  New Child Abuse Lawsuit

  by maksutov in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  can't see this having been mentioned already - forgive me if i missed it and it is old news.. velicia alston brings lawsuit against watchtower (irwin zalkin representing):.

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=8nmgrvlmvxo.

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  maksutov

  Sorry - didn't realise this was an old-ish case - the video was only uploaded yesterday and I hadn't heard of it, but I should've googled it before posting really.
  
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  13

  New Child Abuse Lawsuit

  by maksutov in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  can't see this having been mentioned already - forgive me if i missed it and it is old news.. velicia alston brings lawsuit against watchtower (irwin zalkin representing):.

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=8nmgrvlmvxo.

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  maksutov

  Can't see this having been mentioned already - forgive me if I missed it and it is old news.

  Velicia Alston brings lawsuit against Watchtower (Irwin Zalkin representing):
  

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=8NmGrvLmVXo
  
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  26

  Buddhism Anyone?

  by LaurenM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, i have recently been delving in buddhism and i must say it all makes sense!

  like, the philosophies and ideas are what i've always believed but could never put a name to.

  for example, they don't believe in god, they teach acceptance of all faiths, that peace can be achieved - not by changing other people - but by changing yourself, that everyone has goodness in themselves, that happiness can be gained internally (not externally as a gift from god), and that life is temporary so we should enjoy it!

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  maksutov

  Whether or not something "makes sense" is a poor indicator of its truthfulness. JW theology makes sense in a circular way, as long as you don't mind the fact that it cannot be tested. All sorts of pseudoscience makes sense to those who believe in it. Quantum mechanics on the other hand, does not make sense, but it is nevertheless something that can be tested and verified to be true (in so much as anything can be).

  In favour of Buddhism is the fact that they have been practicing meditation for a long time, and have become quite good at it. There are elements of Buddhist philosophy and practice that probably have great value. But adopting a world view comes with the danger of filtering everything through that world view, rather than based on what can be observed, tested, and verified.

  I would wager that Buddhism is probably generally less harmful than JWism though!
  
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  83

  What woke you up?

  by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.

  so what woke me up?

  an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.

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  maksutov

  I spent 10 years feeling uncomfortable at the lack of any strong evidence for the existence of God (if he is real, and all powerful why can't he just make it more obvious that he actually exists?), and found it increasingly difficult to believe that Armageddon was still really 'just around the corner'. It was only after I left that I started looking at what apostates had to say, and I was so shocked and offended by the GB's dishonesty that I became a full-fledged apostate myself.