I know this might sound like a very unusual questions but I was recently talking to a ex-jw's girl at my school and she made a very good point that I had never thought of. She said that Christians and JW's try to impose "guilt and fear" in their members by constantly comparing what the Apostles and early Christians suffered such as "beheadings, nail to crosses, burned alive, thrown to lions" and all sorts of horrible things. She said they never just encourage you to serve God and Jesus without their being a hidden Doom and gloom message. It is always "serve Jesus or you will burn in hell" or Jehovah will destroy you at Armaggeddon. My schoolmate is right. Everytime you just want some spirituality it always turns into a threat of retribution. My friend said she will never step foot inside a church or Kingdom Hall again.
booker-t
JoinedPosts by booker-t
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16
Do you feel that "Christians and JW's" try to impose "guilt" on members
by booker-t ini know this might sound like a very unusual questions but i was recently talking to a ex-jw's girl at my school and she made a very good point that i had never thought of.
she said that christians and jw's try to impose "guilt and fear" in their members by constantly comparing what the apostles and early christians suffered such as "beheadings, nail to crosses, burned alive, thrown to lions" and all sorts of horrible things.
she said they never just encourage you to serve god and jesus without their being a hidden doom and gloom message.
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Do you think Pastors/Ministers should be "sued" for causing distress?
by booker-t indo you think that a church pastor/minister should be held "liable" for distress they cause a church member?
if a pastor knowingly "harasses" a church member for money(tithes), for more church service time, or harassing a member with "when are you coming back to church?
" phone calls to the point of the church member having a "nervous breakdown" should pay damages to that member's family.
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booker-t
Do you think that a church Pastor/Minister should be held "liable" for distress they cause a church member? If a Pastor knowingly "harasses" a church member for money(tithes), for more church service time, or harassing a member with "when are you coming back to church?" phone calls to the point of the church member having a "nervous breakdown" should pay damages to that member's family. I think that the church is protected way too much and is allowed to wreak havoc on people that attend. My granduncle is a Pentacostal Minister and he is very "fire and brimstone" with his church members. I found out the other day that one of his members was sueing him for "mental distress" and "harassment". I know how he can get because when I was a JW's he would always tell my family we would all "burn" in the lake of fire.
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Have you studied "Church History" to know that Christians murdered many?
by booker-t ini am a college student working on my ba degree.
i recently graduated with my "aa" degree and i just fell in love with school.
at 40 i don't mind going to school with 19-20 year olds.
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booker-t
I am a college student working on my BA degree. I recently graduated with my "AA" degree and I just fell in love with school. At 40 I don't mind going to school with 19-20 year olds. Being around them helps keep me young. But in one of my social science classes I did research on Church history and I was amazed to find out that Christians are not as "innocent" as they portray. Many people were murdered by the Church if they did not believe in church doctrine. The charge was "Hearesy" and many were burned at the stake for refusing to believe in the Trinity doctrine. Many women were accused of being "Witches" and tortured severly. When you bring this up to Church members today they will try and wiggle out of this by saying " that is in the past" we live in the present. But these same born-agains will condemn JW's and Mormons for all of the past crimes of the WTS and Mormon church. What is the difference? For years I used that feel sorry for Christians and thought they were so persecuted because of Christians that were thrown to lions, and other things that happened to Christians. But now I feel Christians are just as evil as people they condemn.
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15
What things about "Apostates" do you feel is "controlling" as WTS?
by booker-t inone of the things that i have noticed since i have been out is that "apostates"/ex-jw's tend to try and "controll" you the same way as jw's used to do.
for example: whenever you tell an "apostate" that you are no longer one of jw's they right away asume that you want to be a "born-again" christian and try to cram the "trinity" doctrine down your throat.
also if you tell an apostate that you don't share their views on hell-fire damnation they will immediately look at you with "contempt".
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booker-t
One of the things that I have noticed since I have been out is that "Apostates"/ex-JW's tend to try and "controll" you the same way as JW's used to do. For example: Whenever you tell an "Apostate" that you are no longer one of JW's they right away asume that you want to be a "born-again" christian and try to cram the "trinity" doctrine down your throat. Also if you tell an Apostate that you don't share their views on Hell-fire damnation they will immediately look at you with "contempt". Their is just noway around people trying to controll your life. The JW's try and when you attend a church just for some uplifting and spirituality the Pastor, Minister, Deacon etc; all run up to you and ask you if you want to accept Jesus into your life. I just want to fellowship with people that don't won't controll over you. The churches and JW's are good at "Love-Bombing" treat you like a king until you join their church then they toss you away like a used napkin. Now people get mad at me because I will not let them controll or try to controll me. I can interpret the bible for myself.
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Have you ever noticed how "Born-Agains" get angry when you don't believe?
by booker-t insince you have been out of the jw's have you ever noticed how born-again christians get angry when you don't believe in their "interpretation of the bible"?
it never fails since i have been out for over 15 years when i run across a born-again and they don't know my past they will try to force their interpretation down my throat until i show them that i am very versed in the old and new testaments.
i know all of the scriptures that they will bring up and if i disagree with them then i am going to "hell" according to them.
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booker-t
Since you have been out of the JW's have you ever noticed how Born-Again Christians get angry when you don't believe in their "interpretation of the Bible"? It never fails since I have been out for over 15 years when I run across a Born-Again and they don't know my past they will try to force their interpretation down my throat until I show them that I am very versed in the Old and New Testaments. I know all of the scriptures that they will bring up and if I disagree with them then I am going to "Hell" according to them. I never meet a christian that will just say "We have different beliefs about some things but I accept your viewpoint on that passage." If I heard a Christian tell me that I would probably have a heart attack from shock.
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Do you feel that the "Rapture" is close now that you are a christian?
by booker-t infor all ex-jw's that are now born-again christians.
do you now believe that the "rapture" is close?
have you traded one lie "armaggeddon is around the corner" that jw's insist on to jump ship and believing another "lie" by born-agains that the "rapture is very close".
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booker-t
For all ex-jw's that are now born-again christians. Do you now believe that the "Rapture" is close? Have you traded one Lie "Armaggeddon is around the corner" that JW's insist on to jump ship and believing another "Lie" by born-agains that the "Rapture is very close". When will the madness end? It is like jumping off one merry-go-round for another merry-go-round.
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Does Rev 1:1 and Rev 20:4-6 and Rev 22:4-6 prove Jesus is an "angel"?
by booker-t ini was just reading some things about jesus one day on the internet and i came across an argument that jesus is an angel.
because in rev 1:1 it talks about a revelation that god gave him to show "his slaves" of the things to come.
then if you cross reference it with rev 20:4-6 and rev 22:4-6 it talks about an "angel" showing his "slaves" of the things to come.
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booker-t
I was just reading some things about Jesus one day on the internet and I came across an argument that Jesus is an angel. Because in Rev 1:1 it talks about a revelation that God gave him to show "his slaves" of the things to come. Then if you cross reference it with Rev 20:4-6 and Rev 22:4-6 it talks about an "angel" showing his "slaves" of the things to come. I almost fell out of my chair because this backs up the JW's when they insist that Jesus is Michael the Arch-Angel. Any comments on this posters?
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When are ex-jws/Apostates going to get on with their lives?
by booker-t ini went to a ex-jw's potluck the other day and it will be my last time going.
there were about 20 ex-jw's there just bashing the watchtower society for 2 hours.
i had all i could take and left.
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booker-t
I went to a ex-jw's potluck the other day and it will be my last time going. There were about 20 ex-jw's there just bashing the Watchtower Society for 2 hours. I had all I could take and left. I know initially when JW's come out of the WTS they need a support group with people that understand the way that they feel. I know when I left in 1993 there was a small support system like it is today. I did not have access to the internet and I was too afraid to look at Apostate literature. But what I don't understand is when a person has been out for over 10 years why do they still bash the WTS? One of the guys at the potluck is an ex-elder and he spends his life picketing at JW's assemblies. His son also an ex-MS carries signs at Assemblies. I saw one young girl that just left the WTS get up and leave. I saw her later on as we were in our cars at a supermarket and we talked for about an hour. She told me that "Apostates" scare her because they are so "angry" and she wants to be around "happy" people. So we enchanged phone numbers and we promised not to "bash:" the WTS. I love my life now I got my College degree and I am working on my BA degree. I spend so much time doing positive things that I won't let negatives thoughts of any kind keep me down. I spent many, mnay years in the WTS and like leaving an abusive job or workplace you have to move on and live you life. Ex-JWs that are now born-again are constantly talking about how miserable they were in the WTS but they still seem miserable to me now that they are out of the WTS.
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If the Apostles "expected" Jesus to return in the first century is that fp?
by booker-t inwhat is the "difference" between what early christians and biblical prophets did in expecting jesus to return in the 1st century and what jw's have done for over 100 years of false expectations?
i am in no way trying to excuse jw's and their false prophecies but why is it so different when born-agains and other christians set a date for something but when it fails no body says one word about it.
but when jw's and mormons do the same thing all hell breaks loose.
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booker-t
What is the "difference" between what early christians and biblical prophets did in expecting Jesus to return in the 1st century and what JW's have done for over 100 years of false expectations? I am in no way trying to excuse JW's and their false prophecies but why is it so different when Born-Agains and other Christians set a date for something but when it fails no body says one word about it. But when JW's and Mormons do the same thing all hell breaks loose. I did some reseach on in the library on early christians and I was shocked that they set many dates for the rapture and the return of Jesus and also the Catholic Church did the same as well. Even modern Born-Agains such as Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, Jim and Tammy Bakker and many of the prophecy teachers have set dates that did not materilize. So is there a "double standard" against JW's and Mormons from Christians on date setting?
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Does the bible tell whether Joseph(Jesus' father) was a virgin before Mary?
by booker-t ina co-worker of mine jokingly brought up a good point that i had never thought of before.
she said that people are always concerned about whether mary was truly a "virgin" when she married joseph but what about joseph was he a "virgin" as well?
is there a "double-standard" for men in the bible?
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booker-t
A co-worker of mine jokingly brought up a good point that I had never thought of before. She said that people are always concerned about whether Mary was truly a "virgin" when she married Joseph but what about Joseph was he a "virgin" as well? Is there a "double-standard" for men in the Bible? Did Jehovah allow men to have sex before marriage and condemn women the same pleasure?