Finkelstein - How is Halloween even remotely frightening? What kind of sheltered children are too terrified to dress up and go door to door for candy? I honestly cannot get a grasp on this, as Halloween has been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember.
It's actually gotten less scary over the years. I remember my mom telling me how much scarier costumes and haunted houses were when she was growing up. I've seen pictures, so I don't doubt her. By and large, Halloween has gone from PG-13 down to G. PG at worst. And to top it all off, most trick-or-treating is done in broad daylight (here in California, at least). As a kid in the eighties, I recall not going out until it was almost completely dark. Sure, there are still many kids trick-or-treating after dark these days, but most of them start before dusk and finish up before eight o'clock. And it's usually the older kids.
Nevuela
JoinedPosts by Nevuela
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44
Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
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44
Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
wizzstick - If you had actually read any of my posts in their entirety, rather than scanning them for key words to try to prove some kind of baseless point, you would see that I made it very clear that I don't know whether to believe in all the things the conspiracy theorists claim the Illuminati is doing. THAT is what I meant. When people talk about the Illuminati, they are, more often than not, referring to them in terms of conspiracies, not disputing their very existence.
They have existed in some form or another for centuries, but to quote my earlier statement: "To what extent they exist as an organization hellbent on taking over the world, nobody knows. They could just be a harmless old boys' club, or they could be something more sinister."
Ironically, this statement comes from the same post you're quoting from. It looks like you just conveniently stopped reading it when you got your third and final quote as ammo to use against me, because literally the very next sentence is what I quoted here. If you're going to try to pick fights with people, do a bit more research on them first. -
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Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
Giordano - I tried exactly what you said, but as you can see, it didn't highlight. :(
I am writing this part before I pull your quote as I find it easier to 'escape' from the yellow quote box if I want to continue a point of view. Just a couple of words will do. Then I am going to copy and paste your statement. Then highlight that statement, click on the quote option. -
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Obedience At Its Blindest
by Nevuela injust a little something my "anointed" roommate posted on facebook a few months ago, along with replies from her fellow jws.
it was chilling to read, so i took a screenshot and saved it for future reference.
please feel free to share your own stories of blind obedience within the org.
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Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
My roommate has told me about how her previous congregation (before moving) helped a worldly woman who came to them pretending to be a JW after the Red Cross gave her a single can of soup to feed her and her kids. They knew right away that she was not a JW because she requested Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters along with the various foods her family needed. They gave her everything she asked for, minus the candy, and told her she didn't need to lie to get help. Hard to believe, huh? But my roommate was there and was one of several who donated food to the woman.
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Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
fukitol and startingover - I've often wondered the same thing myself but have always been afraid to question it. All I know is that my roommate has been a JW since childhood when her mother joined. In her family, only her mother, sister and one brother became JWs, while her father and her three other brothers did not. There's a lot that defies the rules, and while several people in her congregation know all about her family and even about me, nobody is questioning anything, apparently. I don't know whether any of the elders know, but it seems unlikely that you can keep such a secret from them. I honestly have no idea. Her last roommate was not a JW either.
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19
Obedience At Its Blindest
by Nevuela injust a little something my "anointed" roommate posted on facebook a few months ago, along with replies from her fellow jws.
it was chilling to read, so i took a screenshot and saved it for future reference.
please feel free to share your own stories of blind obedience within the org.
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44
Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
millie210 Thank you for the warm welcome. :) My roommate really is the kindest and happiest person you could ever wish to meet. No love bombing at all. She is 100% legit. And truly, if anyone deserves to be anointed, it's her. I just don't know what to believe, personally. I want to believe there is an all-powerful being that can and will right all the wrongs of the universe, but only if He/She/It is as loving, compassionate and forgiving as my roommate and my mom. The possibility of anything else terrifies me.
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44
Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
Wayward - I have another friend, in her mid fifties, who was born in and is still very loyal to the org, and I remember her telling me that when she and her husband first got married, she didn't think her children would grow up in this system. She was certain that Armageddon would come and go long before they reached adulthood. I know JWs have been known to discourage couples from having kids, but despite this, and despite how "close to the end" she thought the world was at the time, she went on to have four children, the oldest of whom is my age, and the youngest maybe 28 or 29. She also has three grandsons now. And yet, still loyal.
My roommate has a niece close to my age, also a JW, and she and her husband decided not to have any children until after Armageddon. It's such a shame higher education is frowned upon. Higher education = higher income = being able to afford to adopt a child = fulfilling desire to become a parent while avoiding "Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days" + BONUS! Saving a worldly child via indoctrination. You'd think that would be a perfect solution where everyone is considered a winner, right? :p -
44
Ponderings of a Worldly Person
by Nevuela in35-year-old female in california here.
never a jw, but have had bible studies and attended several meetings and even a convention once.
i've always been agnostic with leanings toward the belief in some deity or other, although the more i learned from the jw's, the more i've learned to doubt, not just their teachings, but the fundamental teachings of all religions.
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Nevuela
DesirousOfChange - that's what I thought. I can find nothing online anywhere about the JWs believing that the tribulation has already begun. And isn't it only supposed to last seven years? It's incredibly dangerous and short-sighted to make any kind of claim about it already having begun, because you will only have seven years max before the chorus of "I told you so!" begins when Armageddon fails to arrive.
The only problem is, I have known my roommate for over a decade now, and absolutely NOTHING she has ever said or done (apart from claiming to be anointed) could even begin to hint at the idea that she is crazy. Even her conspiracy theories are presented as sound arguments. Of course, I can only find them plausible to a degree before I begin rolling my eyes. I know people can suffer from a single delusion but otherwise be completely mentally healthy, so... that's probably it.
BTW how do you put other people's quotes in those yellow boxes when you reply to them? I can't figure out how to do that on this site.