boa

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Posts by boa

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  41

  Incense Burning - Geez, These Guys Have a Rule For Everything!

  by worldlygirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there seems to be a problem with incense burning now!

  this is from the watchtower website: http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2003/6/1/article_01.htm.

  a) they are running out of crap to publish.

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  boa

  cyber-sista You make a great point with the 'stumbling' tactic. Although in that particular quote you used, they don't use the 's' word, I agree it would be what one would generally think of before burning incense and considering 'the feelings of others'. I'd love to turn this great concern for possibly 'stumbling' others in smaller things, to a very important matter to me, namely, the covert and overt deception of the wts in a variety of subjects and issues. In reality, I have been 'stumbled' out of the org by the GB! and possibly any future christianity. At this point I would prefer to believe in a God and in some future hope but am also willing to let the chips fall where they may (like I have a choice anyway) if there is no such hope and belief in reality. Its kinda early to know where this all will lead. I've long considered that people who could possibly be stumbled by such ridiculous things like this subject and others (like a well trimmed beard), really either need to grow up and/or learn more about the world they live in, its wonderful diversity, its grey nature when it comes to beliefs, standards of conduct, and traditions - I like to call it being self-aware. just my opinion of course, boa
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  47

  Somebody talk to me

  by Puternut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am having one of those really down days.

  things aren't going right.

  i can't concentrate on my work, and i don't feel well.

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  boa

  k, i'll talk for a sec

  hang in there, and in some very dark moments of my life, lack of sleep definitely encouraged the dark outlook (there were problems no doubt but they were MUCH worse being tired or thinking about them late at night)

  also, in some dark depressing times well after being an 'active' jw, prayer to Jehovah actually helped to comfort me - my theory of this is that prayer helps us to hash out our feelings and refocus again more than any mystical benefit

  just what helped me cope, everyones different

  take care,

  boa
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  49

  My life ... and how JWD came to be - Part 3

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for me, the walls of the watchtower were not destroyed by a single giant cannon-ball but rather every brick had been weakened and suddenly the whole thing just 'collapsed'.. i've alwys been an avid reader and a firm believer that you can learn anything and everything from a good book.

  anyway, i was reading a bad book, the creation book, and this time things were different.. normally, the mere thought that the wts could "not be right" could not even be contemplated.

  it was like you can't even comprehend the concept or understand the question, least of all imagine it.. yet now, i read the book and things were screaming at me from the pages.

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  boa

  hi Simon,

  thanks again for your story and this site. I feel I have a common story when you said

  For me, the walls of the watchtower were not destroyed by a single giant cannon-ball but rather every brick had been weakened and suddenly the whole thing just 'collapsed'.

  I've been five years out of bethel working through my own tumultous crisis of faith, then 2 weeks ago I end up here at this site and all the wt bricks have collapsed for me as well.

  boa

  will 'keep on the watch' for the rest of the story...
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  69

  This Forum.....What Benefit is Is thesedays?

  by ScoobySnax in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  firstly .......i don't mean for one minute the end of friendships that may have been cultivated here.....or the "help" that may have been extended to those who needed it.... there are some good people here.

  but......... but...... how often can the same old topics be bounced about and re-cycled amongst the topic threads here, usually created by the same few, for an imaginary multitude that i just don't see.

  ok you say many may look in here, and may not comment.

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  boa

  maybe a newbie to an inet site like this, but not in life - this guy don't deserve jack.
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  22

  For Celtic - A New Home $8,000

  by jgnat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  click on the link below, and voila.. http://www.saskatoonagents.com/cudworth/saskatchewan/homes/area_7_-_saskatoon/cudworth/listing_76327.html.

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  boa

  sounds like a good deal. if yer even moderately well off, you can bulldoze the shack (or save it for yer dog) and build a new one

  boa
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  17

  The Preaching Work: A Colossal Waste of Time

  by Scully in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  many people who post here have had similar experiences to my own: x number of years going door-to-door, informal witnessing, placing books, magazines, doing return visits, but having no one ever come into the truth?

  by virtue of their efforts.. members of my own family who are still jws similarly have nothing to show for their trouble of regularly engaging in the ministry over many years (decades, actually).. any guesstimates out there as to how much of your life you wasted participating in the preaching work?

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  boa

  jv, hopefully I won't go to any more conventions - I'm gonna work on getting out of the one friends are coming up here to stay with us on this summer.

  but yes, I did pioneer 1yr ox, 4 yrs reg and 1 yr special full time as they call bethel. Still have my 'shining as illuminators book' , in fact was rifling through and boxing stuff up when I found it. I was on several conventions with pio experiences or skits etc etc etc.

  Any regrets? I 'shun' regrets as they pop up cuz I can't change the past (still waiting for that Star Trek whip around the sun thing to go to the past to become available - Star Trek IV). However, I'm licking my wounds at the whole tragic comedy of my life in the org.

  However, most of pioneering time was spent with some really fun people (avoid going out with the non-fun ones) and the greatest difficulty I had was financially - very stressful. I studied with several but none straight through to baptism. Jeece I wish they had changed the hour requirement while I was still reg pio.

  Also, a side point to all you who reg pioneered, remember when a publisher would do his(or her) once a year ox pio and they were all serious and hardcore on their time and hours - what downers imo!

  I also, while reg pio, about a year before b, started using the Bible more and more and also began to evermore appreciate studies and good rvs over door-to-door.

  Funny how if yer a bro, pioneering pretty much leads to 'fast-tracking' for ms, elder, bethel etc.

  boa

  ok now i gotta lick some wounds i just remembered again
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  37

  Looking Back, How Did You Really Feel About "The Truth"?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  did you love it?

  were you in awe of it?

  were you a true believer?

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  boa

  Looking back - I was a believer. Being born into the whole thing is its own trap. I have particularly idealistic relatives and this leads to a severely distorted view of the world imo.

  I also believe that my deep down person who I am inside would inevitably reveal itself and oppose such strong control. It was critical I think though, for me to have 'irregular' (another jw term) for several yrs so I could start to think for myself. Of course 'independent thinking' being a great sin in the wts.

  BluesBrother I like your points. I 'sacrificed' much to build my whole life around kh activites. I fought with the idea in the last 5 yrs of 'how can I know better than the much smarter bros in the gb?' and your 3rd point - It also took something special for me to go down the path (took 5 yrs) of realizing its baloney, namely, bethel, and reading the Bible from start to finish as required in 1st yr b.

  And I really love how most in the org would be looking at me now thinking I'm a weak one - arrrrgh! It might even be true but convicted only because of a lack of meeting att and (counted) service hrs cuz for the last year or so anytime I 'witnessed' I didn't count the time anyway - ha.

  boa
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  18

  I finally finished "Crisis of Conscience"

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last night, i decided to finally finish off the book.

  it takes me forever to read a book, and after a year, i've finally completed it.

  quite a good book, although i found myself skimming through the last chapter called "perspective".

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  boa

  Great post bringing up this book again.

  As I mentioned elsewhere, I pretty much made up my mind about the org and leaving it (though not publicly yet) before joining any site like this one. However, on this site that book was mentioned and I immediately went to lib and got it and finished it in a few days. I found it a great but disturbing read coming from 30 yrs in the org. I wasn't really super surprised but still it really really hurt to come to the conclusion that the men at the top are just men and that the history of the org is full of hypocrisy and or hokey pokey chronology stuff.

  I'm like a freight train heading out now with my family but am still careful as I need to show discretion and care to those I love still in - but they cant' hurt me anymore if it comes right down to it!

  I thought the book was written in a way that is credible and reasonable - a sure fire way to mow down a one-sided defense the wts puts out to avoid 'apostates'. I'm gonna read his other book as well as the Carl Olaf Johnson one on chronology stuff.

  Take care,

  boa
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  59

  JW Urban Legends

  by ZeroKool29 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was once told that john denver (folk singer of songs like rocky mountain high and such) was on the tonight show one night.

  he was a huge patriot and apparently had no love whatsoever for jw's.

  apparently as the story goes, john gets up to sing a patriotic song and before he begins tells the audience "if there are any jehovah witnesses in the audience, you may want to leave right now.

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  boa

  i've heard of both the jd concert and the jc show incidents but of course i've moved mentally from where I used to live and now reside mentally in missouri where you now have to 'show me'

  i also heard of another rumour that at a Genesis concert many years ago there was a levitation act and that before it was done, someone in the band (mighta been when Peter Gabriel was the singer, not sure) asked for all jws to leave so it would work. Sounds like typical bs rumour to substantiate that somehow God is protecting witnesses everywhere from imminent demonic activities and if they're there, such activities won't work - sheeeesshhhh. It really pissed me off this rumour cuz that was and still is my overall favourite band and when I was really 'in', I had to somehow ignore this rumour - successfully I might add. Love of music was greater than shadowy superstition.

  ah well, i'm kinda bitter about all this stuff right now, so excuse the sarcastic tone

  boa
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  38

  Would You Buy Lottery Tickets In Front of a Jehovah's Witness???

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...just curious.

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  boa

  funny you should ask. I just told my wife this morning that i'm gonna buy a lottery tickey - it would be the first one in my life, and we chuckled about it.

  Still not sure if i'm gonna do it if I know another witness is watching but then again, whatever.

  After drifting to this point with the org for the last five years, i'm quickly heading towards taking my family and leaving all the mumbo jumbo behind

  Maverick - love the cigar story. I finally had one 3 yrs ago - first time trying smoking which is something I normally hate, but ohhhh was it fine (so was the rye i was having!)

  boa