I wonder if wearing a t-shirt or placing an Internet ad to promote the website would count as field service hours.
Posts by rebel8
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66"We're calling on your neighbours to promote a website"
by Simon inwow, it's true - they don't call to 'promote god's kingdom' anymore but just their website!.
we just had an old lady call and tell us that was exactly what they were doing and it has "lots of good things on their for children".
yeah, right ... sparlock?.
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Contradictory geneology of Jesus
by rebel8 inso i'm reading another carl sagan book and he seems to invariably find a way to slam j-dubs in each one.
(i can't say i blame him.).
anyway, in this one he discusses the fact that the gospels give contradictory geneologies of jesus--differing lines back to david from joseph, and a different number of generations.
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rebel8
I remember the dubs shaking their heads because Jews didn't accept Jesus as the Messiah, calling them stubborn or something like that. I'm beginning to understand why the Jews didn't accept him! It's so obvious--even the holy book that prophecied about him said he didn't meet the qualifications.
smiddy:
Sagan was from near where I was from, which is why it all sticks out in my mind. wts kept misquoting him. We used to talk about him in the Tuesday book studies, how he really kept talking about proof of creation but arrogantly claimed evolution was true--stupid scientists, blinded by Satan even when the truth is so plainly in front of them! They really had a hard-on for Carl Sagan.
One of my defining moments was when I realized wts had misquoted him all along.
I bet all that misquoting probably irritated him a bit, so yes, he took a swipe back.
"Doctrines that make no predictions are less compelling than those which make correct predictions; they are in turn more successful than doctrines that make false predictions.
But not always. One prominent American religion confidently predicted that the world would end in 1914. Well, 1914 has come and gone, and -- while the events of that year were certainly of some importance -- the world does not, at least so far as I can see, seem to have ended. There are at least three responses that an organized religion can make in the face of such a failed and fundamental prophecy. They could have said, "Oh, did we say '1914'? So sorry, we meant '2014.' A slight error in calculation. Hope you weren't inconvenienced in any way." But they did not. They could have said, "Well, the world would have ended, except we prayed very hard and interceded with God so He spared the Earth." But they did not. Instead, they did something much more ingenious.
They announced that the world had in fact ended in 1914, and if the rest of us hadn't noticed, that was our lookout. It is astonishing in the face of such transparent evasions that this religion has any adherents at all. But religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof. The fact that religions can be so shamelessly dishonest, so contemptuous of the intelligence of their adherents, and still flourish does not speak very well for the tough-mindedness of the believers. But it does indicate, if a demonstration were needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry."
Broca's Brain, Carl Sagan (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979, pp. 332-33) -
63
pros and cons of anti depessants?
by Crazyguy inobviously i'm having ex cult issues, family still in and a wife that's all kokoo for cocopuffs as well as our marriage isn't good.
i would like to leave her, she has never been the kind of wife i wanted.
anyway the stress is getting to be to much, thinking about things all the time and its effecting my work as well as otherthings.
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rebel8
Try talk therapy and see a physician.
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36
It's my 25th yr anniversary of freedom
by rebel8 inapproximately 25 yrs ago today, i left the borg forever.. .
thank you jwn/jwd for helping me heal by listening to me.
there are not many greater gifts than freedom..
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rebel8
how do you foam at the mouth
I drool, but you could try toothpaste or an antacid.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/bubbles/a/How-To-Foam-At-The-Mouth.htm
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Just Curious About Something
by EmptyInside insorry,couldn't think of a better title for this post,without it being long.. i was thinking this morning,if ex-jws, who were born into the group less likely to join another religion after leaving.
vs. the witnesses who belonged to a church before joining the religion.. from my own prespective,being raised a witness,i have no intention of joining any religion.
and it seems that born-ins are less likely to join a religion after leaving the cult.. in my own experience,i think it's religious burn-out to tell the truth.
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rebel8
We want to be be christians(through our conduct) just as the bible teaches and will wait on Jesus to come again...Will be followers of Christ only
No way, not me. I would never want anyone to call me Christian.
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30
Contradictory geneology of Jesus
by rebel8 inso i'm reading another carl sagan book and he seems to invariably find a way to slam j-dubs in each one.
(i can't say i blame him.).
anyway, in this one he discusses the fact that the gospels give contradictory geneologies of jesus--differing lines back to david from joseph, and a different number of generations.
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rebel8
millie, one of those scriptures states Heli was the father of Joseph. I read an apologist article stating that he was really Mary's dad but the bible deliberately stated he was Joseph's dad because of property inheritance rights for males only. That logic is so convoluted! The bible deliberately said something wrong...mmkay...isn't that a lie? And how do we know it was deliberately wrong?
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Contradictory geneology of Jesus
by rebel8 inso i'm reading another carl sagan book and he seems to invariably find a way to slam j-dubs in each one.
(i can't say i blame him.).
anyway, in this one he discusses the fact that the gospels give contradictory geneologies of jesus--differing lines back to david from joseph, and a different number of generations.
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rebel8
So I'm reading another Carl Sagan book and he seems to invariably find a way to slam j-dubs in each one. (I can't say I blame him.)
Anyway, in this one he discusses the fact that the gospels give contradictory geneologies of Jesus--differing lines back to David from Joseph, and a different number of generations. Also, he mentions the geneology should trace back to Mary, since she was his bio mom, not Joseph.
And I had one of those "d'oh!" moments. I don't remember noticing that fact. That is a dead giveaway that the bible is not inspired of a single, omniscient god, IMO.
I looked this up and it seems rationalizations abound. Thoughts?
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just what am I supposed to believe now??
by purrpurr inwhile i'm glad i found this site, it has also crumbled to bits everything i've believed in my whole life.
i feel like the certainty, magic and wonder has gone out of my life.
this has left a huge hole in my soul.
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rebel8
There is so much wonder and magic in the natural world. There are some awesome books you can read to begin your journey to recapture that sense of wonder, for example, Broca's Brain.
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It's my 25th yr anniversary of freedom
by rebel8 inapproximately 25 yrs ago today, i left the borg forever.. .
thank you jwn/jwd for helping me heal by listening to me.
there are not many greater gifts than freedom..
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rebel8
Thanks everyone!
What would you say have been your major accomplishments since leaving? (Other than feeling freedom and enjoyment of life)
Lots of college, decreased many irrational fears caused by brainwashing, learned how to (mostly) not judge others, vote, celebrate holidays, went to other churches without lightning zapping me , got a career, moved far away from the area filled with jw memories, admitted my jw past to a limited number of people IRL, read many non-jw books, pursued a hobby for its own sake, had days off without having to go door knocking, helped lots of people escape, became an apostate & wrote books/ran a website, got the Holocaust Museum to add the Declaration of Facts and Penton's book to their library, spread the sign language masturbation video all over the Internet (along with others, after someone else discovered it!) which ended up on comedy shows and got a gajillion hits--hopefully preventing lots of people from ever suffering the way we did, got my heart broken several times, got married to a normal person, bought property, studied and understood scientific and mathematical concepts, disproved creation and the bible, experienced normal joys and heartaches, was in the metaphorical foxhole and remained an atheist, kicked the ass of cancer and other assorted major and minor illnesses, told some really petty jw bullies exactly where to stick it, developed a talent to freak out jws by acting demonized (only when they deserve it).
What I have not accomplished yet?
Become 100% free from intrusive memories, 100% free from irrational fears caused by brainwashing, 100% free from social awkwardness in connection with lessened ability to relate to others due to my weird past, 100% free from sadness related to my past
So yes, to those who say, "Move on," I have. And that doesn't mean that remnants stick around. We are a product of the sum total of our experiences. No way around that.
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Hubby's tempted to go back
by jgnat intoday he kept bumping in to (or rather dodging and weaving from) fellow witnesses.
he's talking about returning but can't figure out a way to do it without enduring a fair amount of humiliation.
i did not panic.
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rebel8
My best advice would be to say, "I have a brain and a pair of balls, so I couldn't imagine ever going back."