i have finally decided that i've seen enough.
i have written my official dissassociation letter from the organization call "jehovah's witnesses".
would someone please give me the address and example of a letter head to the society.
Way to go! Someday I hope to do the same. Like everyone said its best to send it to the congregation that last had your publisher file (in particular to the presiding overseer). They'll send a copy to HQ.
But if you want to have the addy for the US here it is:
25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY, 11201-2483.
i have been dealing with one for the past few years.
not constantly, but about once every three months.
for those that don't know, an incubus is a demonic presence that only bothers women when they sleep.
Forscher
Many people who've experienced sleep paraylsis, report visual or auditory hallucinations along with paralysis/weakness. But there's also a portion of them that report experiencing physical manipulation (even painful), mostly in the chest as well as the limbs.
Here's just an excerpt from this webpage:
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html
People frequently report feeling a "presence" that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on, the bed. On some occasions the presence may attack, strangling and exerting crushing pressure on the chest. People also report auditory, visual, proprioceptive, and tactile hallucinations, as well as floating sensations and out-of-body experiences (Hufford, 1982). These various sensory experiences have been referred to collectively as hypnagogic and hypnopompic experiences (HHEs). People frequently try, unsuccessfully, to cry out. After seconds or minutes one feels suddenly released from the paralysis, but may be left with a lingering anxiety. Extreme effort to move may even produce phantom movements in which there is proprioceptive feedback of movement that conflicts with visual disconfirmation of any movement of the limb. People may also report severe pain in the limbs when trying to move them.
Note that the chest (a primary target) includes erogenous zones for women.
I've publicly invited any supposed succubi to prove their existence to me (in gest mind you - but the invite was there none the same) several times. Nothin'
Possible conclusions (not meant to belittle, just throwing in some fun)
Sista
Take care. I hope things get better for you soon.
jehovah's witnesses are told to never talk against the organization.
they say that talking against the organization is the same as talking against jehovah god himself!........so, now that we have the freedom to speak our minds, say something true.
Helped us to learn our Bible? Puleeeeze!
It took a non-jw commentary on the NT for this dolt to see how parts of Ephesians were lifted from Colossians and 2 Peter from Jude. Inspired to plagiarize I guess.
And to my shame, I was made a ministerial servant and sorta convinced myself to try it despite having had doubts for years. My service record was sub-par to boot. So much for Spirit-Directed appointments.
chief rabbi leon ashkenazi said: "the difference between an atheist christian and an atheist jew is that an atheist christian does not believe that god exists, while an atheist jew believes that god does not exist.".
i'm not so sure about the jewish-christian borderline, but i love the nuance.. so which sentence suits you better?.
"i don't believe that god exists.".
I'm a fence-sitter. There thats out of the way. But in the moments when I'm leaning on to the atheistic side, I think the statement "I don't believe God exists" applies to me.
In the vein of AlmostAtheist's reasoning, I think it says something about one's approach to knowledge and how its attained. I'd be making my call on the facts as I see them, from a practically materialistic POV, which precludes the supernatural.
"Believing" as the starting point, and then seeing whether its negative or positive, for me anyways, seems to mean one is including intuitive and revelatory sources of knowledge, if not mostly going on their "gut" with it.
Edit: to clarify: one way you don't have all the info you need, so no certainty, the other you're saying a certainty which means you somehow have a a tap into supernatural things as well
one of my stellar favorites was the flintstones and a close 2nd the jetsons.
their appeal to family values are things i have ascribed to in my adulthood.
willllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
FMZ
You had excellent taste for a youngen'
LT
I'm like a decade older than FMZ going by his profile. I'll admit some of them were geared more towards his age group. I was just trying to catch up on as much of a childhood as I could when not in service or meetings.
Nosferatu
I forgot about The Fonz and the time machine!!! Thanks for that link.
Leolaia
Admit it, even as a kid, you'd be dissecting these toons every which way, looking for agendas, and thinking how could the other kids be buying into all this crap?
no im not crazy now... but maybe i was back then.
did you ever prayed for guidance and opened your bible in a passage that seem to show you the way?.
did you get a innocent comment from an old sister at the hall that seemed at the time like advice from the almighty?.
I can definitely say no in the most common understanding of being talked to.
But there's also a part of me that wonders if we should look for the message in the loving actions of people that look out for us - even at cost to themselves at times. The WT program always wanted to make me tune out. The charitable works being done by other teenagers in my highschool wanted me to try and tune in. I'm still not sure if I'm even on the right badnwidth, let alone closing in on the frequency.
after much, much soul searching this past weekend i was once again confronted with the possibility of what can be called the divine.
it was not exactly a pleasant experience, as i have been denying, even ridiculing the idea of god basically since exiting the jws (guess i was more traumatized than i thought).
during this last year i have been convinced that i must have been crazy for believing in god.
I think they play off of one another in a way.
I once read the hypothesis that the more popular beliefs are concepts that fit into the few archetypal templates people have (e.g. templates for PERSON, ANIMAL, TOOL, NATURAL OBJECT) but also have one counterintuitive detail that makes them stand out from other prosaic entries in our minds. But here's another interesting point. The more popular beliefs have counterintuitive details that still leaves in place all the rest of the default inferences that go along with that template, so one can still make many inferences.
Ghosts are popular beliefs because they are just like "PERSONS" except for the counterintuitive details that they're non-material and walk through walls. But we still can infer logical actions attributable to other people.
The idea of gods that are watching us and they notice everything we do but then forget them instantly is a rather useless religious idea because it stops any other inferences cold. There's nothing else to go on from there. So it looks like the more popular beliefs and logic seem to work together.
I've got to look deeper into this. Hopefully I've portrayed it correctly.
i was watching independence day last week, and i got to thinking "what would happen if a ufo (or several for that matter), did land on earth?
what effect would this event have on religions that teach that god has only created life on planet earth?
specifically, how do you think the governing body would attempt to explain this to 6,000,000 people that they've told in no uncertain terms, that there is no other intelligent life out there.
Mary you are spot on with the WTS saying Satan and the Demons would be behind the aliens.
Here's something from a magazine I actually thoroughly read for a change.
g96 7/8 p. 27 UFO?s?Messengers From God? ******
Who may try to steer mankind away from God?s means of survival, yet claim to represent God? Ed Conroy, in his book Report on Communion, states that "serious ufologists [those who study UFO?s] with training in the psychological and social sciences" include comparative studies of "?bedroom visitors,? ghosts, poltergeists, apparitions, religious visions, and what have been regarded as demons." Many ufologists and those who claim to be extraterrestrials in human form state that using spaceships to travel is mostly unnecessary. They say that these beings can travel invisibly and materialize anywhere on earth without arriving in spacecraft.
The Bible warns that Satan and his demons are intent on misleading mankind. They take advantage of mankind?s despair and hopelessness to offer attractive, but false, solutions. (2 Corinthians 11:14) Hence, the Bible warning: "In later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons."?1 Timothy 4:1.
In like manner today, any supposed visits and seemingly beneficial guidance from such beings should be rejected, whatever form they may take. Those who would rather follow the advice of "extraterrestrials" than God?s Word are bound to be misled?a terrible mistake to make in these critical times.
one of my stellar favorites was the flintstones and a close 2nd the jetsons.
their appeal to family values are things i have ascribed to in my adulthood.
willllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
I can't believe I forgot about G-Force/Battle of the Planets!
There was this other anime cartoon I can't for the life of me remember the name of: It was about a crew from earth that would battle an alien force and the spaceship looked like a real ocean going battleship.--- Captain even had the seacaptain hat. It also had a massive laser-like cannon/torpedo bay in its nose?
one of my stellar favorites was the flintstones and a close 2nd the jetsons.
their appeal to family values are things i have ascribed to in my adulthood.
willllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
I only got to watch Saturday morning cartoons if I was sick.
But when I did I loved to watch:
During the weekdays I liked watching:
And even as an adult I liked watching:
