squinks

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Posts by squinks

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  74

  my take...

  by teejay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ... on the watchtower society.

  i am not one who will ever bother to waste my time heaping praise on the jw religion as though it were some kind of improvement on society.

  i have no qualms in saying that it was, is, and always will be a dangerous religion ?

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  squinks

  Alrighty then,

  Thanks out! One point I tried to make was that JW's do not have a corner on the be nice market. Nice people who care about others exist in and out of the JW's. We may not be out there "trying to make the world a better place" with every move me make, but when we are kind or helpful or caring it can inspire the object of our kindness to do for others and that makes the world a better place.

  Did you ever take a walk in a park and pick up some litter and throw it in the trash? Well if you did you made that park a better place with a simple act. Same with kindness. If you are having a bad day and someone smiles at you it can make all the difference and you may be inclined to pass that along.

  When JW's are nice, it tends to be for their own. And when they are nice to others it is for the specific purpose of "giving a witness." That point gets pounded into the heads of JW's. When I was in my caring for others was always toward giving a witness. When I left I discovered that I like caring about people because I like caring about people. Imagine my surprise!

  And then I discovered that most people "in the world" are the same way. That discovery laid bare the great lie! You know the one, that this world belongs to Satan and is meant for destruction. You who praise the wonderful values you learned as a Witness-you probably would have learned them anyway, only without the superior attitude that comes with it.

  We all had it-the superior attitude. How else could we have possibly believed that we would live and the world would die for its wickedness?

  My experience upon leaving the JW's, the shunning by family and beloved friends has robbed me of my ability to form close friendships. I have my husband and children and casual friends, but even after more then 15 years I must have a deep fear of being hurt again, because I just don't enjoy friendship anymore, not like I did. I try so hard to get that back, the enjoyment of friends, but so far I just cannot manage it, too painful.

  That is the JW legacy for me. I cannot praise any values learned as part of a lie, not when I found out that the very same values are alive and well in the world I once feared as the form and function of some mythical evil called Satan. Yes there is evil in the world, but there is also evil in the JW organization.
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  74

  my take...

  by teejay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ... on the watchtower society.

  i am not one who will ever bother to waste my time heaping praise on the jw religion as though it were some kind of improvement on society.

  i have no qualms in saying that it was, is, and always will be a dangerous religion ?

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  squinks

  Teejay,

  My take on your take,

  I understand that you feel it wasn't all bad. If I understand you feel that despite the bad-you wouldn't trade the good. You praise, and rightfully so, the good witnesses who were a part of your life. But what about them? Have they labored their whole lives for a lie? Would they still have been good and caring if they had not been Witnesses? You are assuming that they were good because they were JW's. There are many people who are out there doing their part to make the world a better place who are not doing if towards dreams that will never come true for them or anyone else.

  They were doing it to help their "brothers and sisters" get by until the "new system" not to make the actual world we live in a better place. Not to be rude, but are you paying if forward? Are you out there making sacrifices for others like the ones that were made for you from the simple lives of those Witnesses? If not, then you learned nothing from their sacrifice. Their sacrifice was toward one end - to keep you as a witness, not toward teaching you to make the world a better place, because this world would not be here to continue to help, this world is meant for destruction, not salvation.
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  37

  Who here still finds it hard to celebrate Christmas?

  by dh in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was raised a jw and as i've probably said before, i left when i was around 18... i'll be 27 in a few days, and as i get older realise how i do not really know how to celebrate anything.

  being raised a jw we never had xmas or birthdays (or any celebration), and since none of the friends i had when i left the jw's were christian either, i have to this day never celebrated it... i am not christian and will openly admit that i couldn't care less about the religious side of christmas, but what i see around me, everywhere in the world are people who aren't really christian either, celebrating christmas, either for kids or friends or whatever, but i've never done that or had anyone around me to do that with... people look forward to this time of year so much, they buzz and rush around like it's a real event, and to this day i've never been able to feel that way.

  most of my christmas/birthdays since leaving jw's have been spent by myself, completely devoid of celebration, i want to get into that feel good spirit, but i don't know how, and if i try to fake it, i know it is fake.

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  squinks

  Well, here's how it went with me. My first Christmas was 15 years ago. I cried and cried because I still missed my "friends". But as time went by I began to make my own traditions and I cherish the Holidays for what they mean to me.

  I will never have the same feelings as a person raised in Christian home, but I have my own peculiar belief system. You will notice that I specified a Christian home. The reason is simple. I don't think Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians even though they claim to be. To them Christ is just a guy, he is nothing special, not really. Also one of the Christian values is love and JW's are sadly lacking in love.

  I cannot actually call myself a Christian because I don't really believe in any particular religion. But there are specific things about Christianity that I like.

  If this is your first Christmas, of course it will feel sort of strange but believe me-it grows on you.
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  31

  Out of Curiosity...Does Anyone Believe Anything They WereTaught??

  by confuzzed in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i think the question speaks for itself?

  while there is much we don't believe, there are some things we can't ignore.

  anyone agree???

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  squinks

  Absolutely Not.

  The good things I believe in: honesty, dignity, love, kindness, sharing, helping, integrity are things that the Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the right to claim as their invention.

  So the answer is not one single solitary thing. Zip, Zero, Nada.

  You see, I love my family and friends and I would never abandon them or make them live in fear of losing my love if they do something that I do not approve of .
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  51

  Interesting conversation with a well known Elder in Brooklyn

  by pratt1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on my way home last night from work i ran into a prominent elder from brooklyn.

  this guy is always featured at circuit assemblies and his family was presented as the model witiness family in the 80's.

  well imagine my shock and surprise when i realized that this dub had just bought a lottery ticket.

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  squinks

  I wonder how many times this particular piece of shi% participated in the disfellowshipping of some poor schlub who smoked or perhaps, oh I don't know. . . played the lottery?

  How can this &^*%$# live with himself if he has helped to disfellowship even one person!

  How many families has he destroyed, but now Jehovah understands?

  I gotta quit I'm getting SO MAD
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  34

  The JW's came to the door today and asked my son to go to meetings

  by redhotchilipepper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my son answered the door this morning.

  the couple that my mr.horton and i had been studying with when we were considering going back to the truth finally got ahold of him.

  the did the usual routine.

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  squinks

  Red,

  If it were me I would consider calling the police. Your child is a minor and they have no right to come over and tell your kid they will come and take him ANYWHERE without his parents.

  This may sound extreme, but what if they were able to manage to convince him to be a witness-you would lose your kid the same as if he were kidnapped.

  It's time for a court order!
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  32

  New here, would like to say hello.

  by puff candy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just registered right now.

  i would like to introduce myself.

  i am a 30 year old female and not a jw but my mother is so thats how i came by this site.

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  squinks

  Hi Puff-Welcome!!!

  You have already shown great strength to resist that awful religion when you were only 16. But I'm sure you need the occasional "transfusion" of courage in order to cope. We all do.

  The Witnesses of course are so very manipulative and will cheerfully resort to lying in order to get what they want. They call it "theocratic warfare." Read up about it and you will see.

  They are cruel, intolerant and self-righteous. Oh and did I mention hypocrites? Spend time here you will learn and be strong.

  A word about guilt trips: they are very destructive and cause pain so refuse to listen to guilt trips. Insist on logic and reason, that shuts them up every time.

  I don't want to live in paradise without you is a classic example, and obviously a load of kaka, because that is obviously what she intends to do or she wouldn't stay in the religion.

  Try telling her that you "don't want to die at Armageddon without her" so couldn't she at least try to spend 1/2 hour a day reading apostate literature?
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  120

  We walked out of my mom's memorial service

  by tyydyy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  my brother, my sister, myself, xena and those with us walked out when we were called aside and asked not to attend the reception after the memorial.. more details to follow....... timb

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  squinks

  Just effing unbelievable. I am so sorry for your loss. The JW's just never stop shocking the stuff out of me. You should think we would all be shock proof by now!

  They have all been robbed of any natural feeling or logic. All they feel or think is what they have been told to feel or think.

  Morons!!!!!!!!!!
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  42

  Depressed and about to lose it

  by AloneinOh in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once i left i became about as "worldly" as a person could get.

  world that once i left i went totally out of control.

  when i left, .

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  squinks

  Alone,

  Yup, the shock is enough to kill ya! But don't let it because you have a lot of living to do. Believe it or not you will get your life back and cherish every minute. The hurt and anger will subside and joy will grow. Trust me I left about fifteen years ago and sometime I wonder how I lived through the pain, but here I am.

  Oh and Wolfgirl, I didn't just want to throw up - I did, when I learned about the UN. I had been out and living my life and just had never heard about it until I found the forum. When I realized what the WT had done I had to run and drop to my knees before the porcelain god!!

  Anyhow Alone you have found love, understanding, community and the actual really Truth right here. Soon you will need to change your name - cuz you aren't alone anymore.
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  35

  JW Shot Outside Blockbuster Refuses Transfusion and Dies!

  by Voyager in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  http://news4colorado.com/topstories/local_story_324190649.html .

  http://news4colorado.com/topstories/local_story_324190649.html .

  homepagenewsweathervideosportsbroncosentertainmenthealthtrafficcity cam networkslideshowsinvestigatesbusinessconsumer alertprogram guidecommunitycontestsseen on news 4about cbs 4ask the gmcontact ussearch top stories.

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  squinks

  This was not a random shooting, the Witness engaged in an argument and hit the guy, not to blame the victim but what the heck was he arguing with the guy about? Not Christian enough to turn the other cheek but too Christian to accept a blood transfusion. Wierd