Barney made some interesting points there, but as another post said, you might not join the army but if someone breaks into your house you would call the police and if they had to kill such an individual you would not object to them protecting your life. So is the policeman evil? What makes him different from a soldier? As for the bible, it contridicts itself on this subject. I believe the bible but i am not blind either, Jehovah or God whatever you choose to call him, often sent the jews to war, and they did some pretty awful things to their enemies, things that would not be widely accepted during warfare today, yet Jesus told Peter not to fight. Could that possibly be because he knew what had to take place and didn't want Peter screwing up the plan? Jesus himself is supposed to come back directly a heavenly army, so is it fair to assume that God wouldn't approve of protecting ones family and country?
Posts by mama
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7Just wondered......watching a movie...
by anuva injust yesterday nite, i watched "tears of the sun" * ing bruce willis.....and wondered sitting....that .
how by being a jw i have to condemn "peacekeeping forces"..who save many homeless, and hungry people, from evil .....as the ones who are evil and will be killed by god at armageddon...until.......they accepted wts..and baptised as jw.
what would have happened had i surrendered my conscience to get the love of jw girl ..........?
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Why Let The Elders Tell You What To Do?
by minimus inif any are still going to meetings or allowing the organization to control you, i'd like to know why are you allowing the elders to dictate to you what is right and wrong.
the elders are no better than you!
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mama
Hey maverick, guess what? there are many elders who don't follow their own policies behind closed doors too. Sorry, had to add that to your post. I have known of elders who are pedofiles, internet porn surfers, cheaters, tax invaders etc. It always made me think when I was still a witness, what are they doing secretly and then going up on the platform blabbering on about the rest of us for. makes me that I used to have so much fear of them, terror actually. Now, if they came to my door i would tell them right where they could stick it.
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help with my parents
by boydarwin inat times, i have shared my feelings, questions and doubts with my father.
i am always careful.
i never try to force anything on them.
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mama
I am so sorry to hear about your brother. You and your parents have endured a loss so painful is hard for any who haven't experienced it to understand. I think many of the replies to this post are correct. Your parents have spent most of their lives clinging to their beliefs, if they left would they be happier or more depressed thinking they have wasted their lives? I know for my parents, they would be lost if they left know, all their friends and most of the family are in the religion. My parents and I have a fairly good relationship now but it took some time to get there. I don't say anything against their beliefs but I also stand up for mine if they are attacked. We have kind of adopted the "let's not discuss this" approach because they don't want to know what I know or believe and I don't want to be preached at. I think that your family will still have a relationship with you from the sounds of your dad's remark but I caution you to treat them with kid gloves right now. They are in alot of pain and a direct confrontation may push them to shun you in response to doubts they may harbour themselves. The best advice I can give you is to show them how loving a son you are, how christian you are, ( and i mean christ-like, not witness-like) and hope they see that they have done something right, they raised you to be a good kind person. Hope all goes well, and take care. mama
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I am new and scared
by franki ini am terrified to be writing this because i am officially being bad.
i am talking with other "sinners".
i do not want to be a witness.
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mama
Hiya, tears welled up in my eyes when i read your post. All i can tell you is that i left in my early twenties and then went back to it to please my family. I was so unhappy. I tried to convince myself I was doing the right thing. I met a witness guy and got married. We were both disfellowshipped for having premartial sex even though we went and told on ourselves, long story, they needed a scapegoat or two. Anyhoo, when we had children I struggled with raising them in a religion i didn't believe in. I tried to keep up appearances for a few years, even being pressured to go the meeting when my parents came down to visit. I will never forget sitting crying on the side of the road with my 3year old little girl in the backseat, because I didn't want to go there. Pleasing my family meant being untrue to myself and my kids, so I stopped. It has taken a couple of years for my family to accept it, but they had to. I prayed for God to give me the answers to my dilemma and I mean prayed, tears running down my face. Then, one thing after another happened that made me realise that God didn't want me to hate serving Him, He wants me to love Him. That simple. For me, finally facing my family and telling them I wanted no part of that religion was the most painful, and joyful experience of my life. I never look back and wonder, did I do the right thing? I know I did. I hope you find what that right thing is for you, please know that there are people that will love you and accept you, like your boyfriend, no matter what you choose. Most important, God or Jehovah does. Please remember that.Mama
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7
Why is it so?
by ozziepost inever noticed that doctors' offices are always in hard to park places?.
this week mrs ozzie and i have had appointments at a seemingly never-ending list of doctors and radiology establishments and each time there's nowhere to park.
what the heck do you do with a patient who's an invalid?.
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mama
I hear ya ozzie, we have the same problem here in Canada, I think it does come back to doctors being cheap. I recently had to take my two daughters 5 and 6 to a pediatrican's appt., there was no parking at all, just a driveway with a card in it. I had to park in a sub shop parking lot and hope i didn't get towed. Funny that a sub shop can provide parking for its customers and a doctor's office can't. Drives me nuts too!
Mama
P.S. maybe post a help wanted ad on the doctor's office door when you leave, i am going to try it, he he. Here's a sample,
HELP WANTED
PARKING SPACE FOR BUSY DOCTORS OFFICE REQUIRED
CAUSE IF I CAN'T FIND A SPACE NEXT TIME SOMEONE'S GONNA NEED A DOCTOR!
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17
Home among the gum trees
by unclebruce inabout 120 or so of us hippy-surfy-bushy-arty types rocked the night away at the old tanja hall.
it was a very big turn out for our small community.
this is truly a wonderful part of the world ?
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mama
Hiya Bruce, I was looking for a different post by a friend when i saw your post about the gum trees and peaked in. Very interesting read. It sounds like you have made a very wonderful life for yourself. My family and I hope to someday visit Australia and your post made me even more determined to do so someday. Is Tanja in south australia? Why am I thinking its west australia? Take care and keep up the great posts!
mama
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25
Do you let your dub relatives watch your kids?
by avishai inthis was mentioned on another topic but it needs it's own thread.
ok, i'm gonna say it again.
if your relatives will not speak to you.... do not let them have any contact with your children, period.
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mama
i guess i am lucky cause even though my parents don't see my kids as much, i have laid down the law and they follow it. if my kids visit them no taking them to meetings, studying with them etc. my kids talk about christmas in front of my parents and they just say thats nice. otherwise they wouldn't see them, period.
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Sin in the New System...?
by stevenyc in.
does anyone know what would happen to a person in the new system if they committed a sin?.
steve.
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mama
i had to reply to this thread cause thats a question i always wondered, along with, if perfect angels in heaven could sin and turn against Jehovah what chance is there that a perfect human would always remain perfect?
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God's intervention?
by disciple indo you perceive that god intervenes in your daily life?.
for instance , if you were not making enough money to cover your unexpected expenses would you pray specifically to god for that expense or expenses to be covered?
did he provide?.
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mama
grace of God? umm, from what i know of the bible God isn't supposed to directly intervene in the affairs of the world again until Armageddon. It used to make my literally sick to here at assemblies about some witness who needed new service shoes in a third world country and Jehovah provided them yet many of you may remember the news story of several years ago when a pregnant witness woman in the u.s. was murdered and her baby cut out of her womb! I guess she wasn't zealous enough to warrent protection. I don't believe for a minute that God can be held responsible for good or bad outcomes in our lives. I think we can pray for strength and guidance and recieve it, but as for actual intervention in our lives, how pompus to think that God would make a car start for one and not save the life of an innocent child. That's not a God i want to believe in.
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watchtower red flags
by Ticker inwhen i was studying and in the org i never did put two and two together becuase first off it was peer pressure and a young baptism age.
i was indoctrinated as a child so i never got a chance to ever use sound reason and judgement toword the validity of the society's claims.
but anywho i was thinking the other day about certain things that are obvious red flags and far fetched claims that the org makes.
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mama
one thing that became a big red flag for me was the fact that every year the wts posts its pub. averages etc., but never will you see a financial report in the watchtower. funny, we needed to be informed on the increase in some obscure country but we the mass collective did not need to know exactly what the wts was worth or where the money is going. this always bugged me and i really believe the common jw believes the wts is basically running on broke, how little they know!