I am not a JW, but blame them for the destruction of my marriage, family, my life. After 20 years of marriage they got their evil grips around my then wife and, well, the rest is history. They packaged her up very well to a point where I became an object in her life. If she had a choice of going out to dinner with me or attending a meeting, guess what, the meeting took precedence. Her augument in every case of choosing between doing something with the family, or me, was that she was going to die (spiritually) if she did not attend the particular JW function, and had to please Jehovah. Sick, sick, sick... I pay her alimony for 3 more years, but she refuses to get a job in preparation to augment her income after I cease my payments to her. Her claim is that the end is "soon" and that Jehovah will care for her. I feel so sorry for her, and angry with the organization that keeps her in her little pardigm box she's in, unable to find her way out. Her life, for all intents and purposes, is stuck in a religious time-warp that she can't escape from.
Posts by Hondo
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70Do You Know Of Malcontent ExJWs That Bitch About Life Because.....?
by minimus inthey were jws and blame everything on their jw past???
i know of people that never tried to get ahead or prosper themselves because they were witnesses.
never bought a house or a brand new car because they would rather rent and drive around in a jalopy that would break down.
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79
Six Billion Hearts Will Soon Stop Beating. . .
by ACEofCAD inannounced our circuit overseer last night in his talk about the urgency to preach because of the times.
followed by a silence that was broken with ohhhs and ahhhs.
he said that a couple of times throughout his part, simulating a beating heart with his fist.
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Hondo
Isn't this year suppose to be a maybe (they won't outright predict I suspect) year for the end? Something about Eve being born later than Adam or something.
Will Field work pick up a bit? Will proclamations from the pulpit become a bit more exclaimatory, as ACEofCAD reported.
Do more! Do more! and, Do more...!!!
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48
Can it be proven that the WTS is NOT God's personal organization?
by M.J. inimagine trying to prove to someone that firmly believes in leprechauns that they simply don't exist.
where do you start?
an excellent saying i have heard is "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
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Hondo
Thanks JT.
Each to his own I guess. I look at grandure of God, the existance of a heaven, of angels, of hell, etc. as 50/50 proposition; either there are these things or there aren't. You can either live as if they existed, or live as though they did not exist. When you pass you either turn into the dust of the earth and no one is the wiser, except for some obscure notation on the headstone or urn, or, maybe this whole God thing does exist and when you expire you're judged accordingling, etc.... I guess you could say I am somewhat of a betting man and and have chosen to live my life believing in the omnipotence, omnipresence, love and goodness of God; a universal God that I have, in my own way, established a relationship with in my heart. When I die if I am totally wrong then I've lost nothing and am none the wiser for it, and my headstone will have some nice words (hopefully) about a beloved father, son, or some other nonsensical BS. If correct, however, and there is a God, heaven, etc., etc... and I am able to live in the presence of God for eternity, I am all the wiser. In light of this, right or wrong, I try to bring God as close to me as possible, daily. Am I a Christian geek type? no way! I love to have a few beers and party with the best of them. I know who to turn to when those inevitable roadblocks of life hamper forward progress. It seems to work for me and I enjoy comfort and peace during my times of unrest.
I was moved by the recent coverage of the Pope's last few days and the follow-on funeral. Not only were there 1.2 billion Catholics (over 1/6th of the world population) paying attention to the proceedings, but more than 3 billion (over half the world population) viewed events on TV. I don't think all these people were people that viewed God myopically, but were people, Catholic, Muslim, Buddist, Protestant, Hindu, etc., who understood the overarching divinity of a supreme being.
Off my soap box JT. Sorry to ramble. It's miller time.
Take care.
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48
Can it be proven that the WTS is NOT God's personal organization?
by M.J. inimagine trying to prove to someone that firmly believes in leprechauns that they simply don't exist.
where do you start?
an excellent saying i have heard is "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
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Hondo
JT
I am not offended by any of you comments JT. In fact I think they are great! They just confuse me a bit. I am a devote Christian and thought you "Sphincter" comment was good. I am not sure what you mean when you say that Jesus or God has been reduced to some sort of man-made diety however. "little man-god-creator...!!!", not sure what you mean by this as well. I guess for a lot of people he has, but would counter to say that to many he is larger than the bounds of life itself.
I too like to look through telescopes, and the majesty of our simple evening sky, and dream of the of what is beyond. It is amazing. Being able to trace the outlines of the Martian canals, or the storms of Jupiter, is simply "out of this world." Or, to view through a microscope miniscule lifeforms, invisible to the naked eye, but alive. It always amazes me as I investigate the abundance of life in a single drop of water; there is seemingly another world there. Because of this I have not limited the boundaries of my thoughts or beliefs in Jesus or God to some man-made idea or concept. On the contrary, I have expanded these boundaries to as far as my brain will allow accepting all these incredible wonders as testimony to the existance of someone greater than I. I am of the belief that we, the earth, the universe, and most importantly, us humans, and not cosmic accidents. At the same time I also believe in the concepts of evolution (stange huh? There has got be a healthy interaction between science and religion. Pope John Paul II said this too. Those who believe in Sola Scripture, like the JW's, will forever be lost in the verses and chapters of the bible, believing they belong to the "right" group, waiting for the end of life, while life itself, and the universe passes them by. Sad, really sad).
I hope I made sense here. I have nothing against your comments. I just want to present another way to look at the universal phenome know as God.
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What's the purpose of restrictions after reinstatement?
by truthseeker inthe parable of the prodigal son.
i will set out and go back to my father and say to him: father, i have sinned against heaven and against you.
" "my son," the father said, "you are always with me, and everything i have is yours.
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Hondo
Wouldn't have to worry about reinstating and the associated follow-on restrictions if dissassociations, shunning, etc., etc., etc.... were done away with (fat chance of this happening of course).
CONTROL, CONTROL, and more CONTROL, plain and simple.
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Witness School
by loosie inhas anyone here ever gone to a witness school.
you know the school jw's set up to keep their kids separate from the world.
you would have the daily text every morning and of course a kingdom song had to be sung.. i'd love to hear your experiences.
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Hondo
Any sports? Junior or senior proms? Cheerleading? Field trips? All the normal stuff... Etc.
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The Pope is NOT the voice of God on Earth
by Survive1999 ini have always been a little bit puzzled by jws loudly proclaiming that the pope is not the "voice of god on earth", and turning around and vernerating the watchtower as "the voice of god on earth.".
i have repeatedly told jws to apply the same standard you do against the pope to the watchtower and you will be more than a bit dissapointed.
the best answer i could ever get was, "well that's different".. can any exjws explain this?
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Hondo
integ
Pope - currently appoint by men but through a succession scheme (albeit a not always perfect scheme, especially during the inquisition years, and one that at times has been fraught with ugly power struggles. Men will be Men I suppose!) originally appointed by God (Jesus appointing Peter ... Upon this Rock, build chuch, and so forth and so on...etc... there have been 200+ Popes to date selected as part of the initial "Godly" appointment)
Governing Body (when there was a Governing body) - always appoint by men, and involving numerous of power plays, the ugliest/meanest being with Rutherford where he simply got rid of his opposition before naming himself as the "Bit Chief."
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19
The Pope is NOT the voice of God on Earth
by Survive1999 ini have always been a little bit puzzled by jws loudly proclaiming that the pope is not the "voice of god on earth", and turning around and vernerating the watchtower as "the voice of god on earth.".
i have repeatedly told jws to apply the same standard you do against the pope to the watchtower and you will be more than a bit dissapointed.
the best answer i could ever get was, "well that's different".. can any exjws explain this?
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Hondo
zugzwang
Why just pick on the RCC or the WTS. Every religous organization does the same thing; Lutheran, Baptists, Episcopalians, Buddist, Muslims, etc... Everyone needs to survive and most organizations will adapt and change where necessary, to the point of changing an entire doctrine (as you correctly suggest the JW's will do with their murderous blood policy) to stay in business.
The RCC is very convenient to knock because of its prestige in the world (1.1 billion + or - at last count and growing) today, and have survived for 2000 years, even through the "bad inquisition years" because of changes at the right time, but not changes that alter it's central doctrine. I would suggest that we may see woman priests (a major change in the RCC) within the next 10-15 years. Good? Bad? who knows? We all interpret the voice of God within our hearts. If some think that voice is reflected in the Pope, or a Bishop, fine. If in the voice or doctrine of the Lutheran heirarchy, fine as well, etc..
We talk of the WTS because this is the discussion forum we are all on. If they were just another pithy nobody of a group (which they really are. Most people, and major religions pay no attention to them) they would be as uninteresting as most cults are, other than when something occurs where there is a mass suicide, or something similar. But because there are so many ex-JW's that have the courage to discuss the lies and deception we have these conversations.
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19
JW Reaction to Pope's death
by Hondo ini'm not sure how to ask this not being, never have been, a jw.
with millions, maybe billions, of people around the globe paying their respects to this great man, what is, or what would be, reaction from jw's (a gb member, a co, do, an elder, anyone?
) about the death of the pope and all the network(s) coverage surrounding his passing?
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Hondo
It will be interesting hubert. Just about every other religion is paying some sort of respect to the man. I figure the Watchtower Society and JW's, as God's "chosen" (???) organization and people, would have something to say. Your right, they may wait till next WT or awake.
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19
JW Reaction to Pope's death
by Hondo ini'm not sure how to ask this not being, never have been, a jw.
with millions, maybe billions, of people around the globe paying their respects to this great man, what is, or what would be, reaction from jw's (a gb member, a co, do, an elder, anyone?
) about the death of the pope and all the network(s) coverage surrounding his passing?
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Hondo
I'm not sure how to ask this not being, never have been, a JW. With millions, maybe billions, of people around the globe paying their respects to this great man, what is, or what would be, reaction from JW's (A GB member, a CO, DO, an elder, anyone?) about the death of the Pope and all the network(s) coverage surrounding his passing? Happiness? No reaction? Negative reaction (after all the Pope's life, as are ours supposedly, is/was controlled by the Devil, right???)? Jealously (when a GB member, or a great JW person (are there any?) dies nothing like this happens!!!!)? Would there be a special JW prayer said for Pope John Paul II? Would there be sympathy? Any condolences sent to a local Catholic church?
Just curious.
Thanks