rebel8

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Posts by rebel8

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  19

  Back again to say hi! Life update after walking away from the cult.

  by Darkknight757 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i hope all is well.

  my last post over a month ago was going to be the last considering i wanted to get away from all things jw but this place is much harder to ignore than previously thought.

  life has taken some very interesting turns since late last year.

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  rebel8

  great story!

  but you have me worried by quoting Osteen.
  
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  21

  Serpent in the Garden of Eden is not Satan

  by anointed1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many interpret serpent in the garden of eden as the satan hence miss the whole point because satan himself does not exist.

  he is a fictional character [for example, in the temptation account, satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (mathew 4:8, 9) the fact that jesus did not correct the mistaken view of satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical.

  further, jesus knew that satan was only a personification of evil (mathew 16:23; john 6:70) and categorically declared that “all evil thoughts proceed from one’s heart,” not from satan.

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  rebel8

  Satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking Jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (Mathew 4:8, 9) The fact that Jesus did not correct the mistaken view of Satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical.

  The conclusion you drew (bolded)--think about that some more.

  What are all other possible reasons for Jesus not correcting Satan's statements implying Earth is flat?

  Out of all of those other possible reasons, what made you conclude only the reason you gave is the correct one?
  
  
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  2

  precise and specific

  by Jerryh in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  *** insight on the scriptures vol.1 page 1007 ***.

  greek.

  vocabulary.

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  rebel8

  The bible is fiction, honey.
  
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  26

  My Story

  by WeatherLover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm a 4th generation jw.

  i started to realize it wasn't the truth over 2 years ago in late october/early november 2014. i don't know how exactly it happened.

  i remember i had just heard about confirmation bias, and it hit me: i realized that i would be guilty of confirmation bias if i didn't look at the other side.

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  rebel8

  I really can't stand the thought of bringing my mom to tears.

  No healthy, normal mother would be sad about her child being honest, using his intelligence and logic, and doing the right thing.

  If she is brought to tears over this, it is because her chosen religion has misled her to believe falsehoods about nonbelievers.

  Therefore: Not your fault.
  

  Imagine if we were talking about a person who believes in Thor, doesn't believe in going to college, dating, having careers, and insists everyone skip medical care, holidays, and many other normal/healthy things to serve Thor. Are you supposed to go along with this just because she might cry if you don't?
  

  to stop preaching a message that I don't agree with

  Yes, and more. The message destroys and actually ends lives. I nearly bled to death many times during childhood because of it--no exaggeration. And think of all those who have committed suicide or done other deeply self-destructive things because of the teachings and shunning. You can't preach a message that could result in someone's death. It's not right. (You know this.)
  
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  19

  Evolution knowledge prevailing over a Jehovah’s Witness!

  by anointed1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  yesterday i had an interesting visitor—my long-time school friend.

  we both studied with jws together, and he progressed to dedication and baptism whereas i stopped before the final step and got transferred to another place.

  after the routine conversations, he said: “you know how much your family members long to see you take up the truth ….. before it is too late, i would suggest you start tasting jehovah.”.

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  rebel8

  I can't believe nobody is mocking this comment:

  I would suggest you start tasting Jehovah.

  Let's generate some comebacks:

  So you mean I should become a Catholic so I can take communion and eat the body of god?

  I did taste him once but I didn't like him. I kept trying him, because I thought maybe he was an acquired taste, like beer. I just never learned to like the taste.

  I did and he left a bad taste in my mouth.

  Does he come in salted caramel mocha latte flavor?
  
  
  
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  62

  What have been some of the funniest local needs talks that you have heard?

  by DaPriest in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i remember once in berlin south germany there was a local needs part for the men only, and how they should use the toilet.

  in all seriousness for ten minutes a retarded nigerian was going on about how men need to sit down when using the toilet.

  no mention of anything else.. it transpired that some little kraut boy from an "interested" family would aim for the side of the toilet and leave a great big puddle for others to clean up.

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  rebel8

  Back in the early 1980s when they were disfellowshipping unbaptized people (which they called disassociating), we had a lot of special needs talks. Most of the 12-18 year olds in the congregation were disassociated within a few months' time.

  The announcements back then would be followed by a scripture reading about what they had done wrong. Imagine the sick &*(%$#@ing cultists announcing a 13 year old being ritually shunned for fornication!!! OMG! Then these were followed by a special needs talk about how girls needed to control themselves because they are like cows in heat and it is up to them to prevent sex blah blah blah.

  There were others about clothes, makeup and hairstyles. Boys who shaved their sideburns, wore skinny ties or spiked their hair were not allowed to carry the mikes. (This was the 1980s.)

  Girls who wore black pantyhose, straight skirts, skirts with slits, skirts that did not fully cover the kneecap--god they were focused on skirts!--lipstick, spiked hair, yadda yadda were unspiritual and bad association.

  Then there were the anti-college talks. The only acceptable future plans were full time service. Planning for anything less is not putting the imaginary bearded sky daddy first.
  
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  22

  Does the Jehovah's Witnesses religoius cult create people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the american psychiatry association lists nine symptoms – if someone ticks five of these, they could have narcissistic personality disorder.

  the nine points of narcissism.

  has a grandiose sense of self-importance.. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.. believes that he or she is ‘special’ and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people.. requires excessive admiration.. has a sense of entitlement.. is inter-personally exploitative (takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).. lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.. .

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  rebel8

  xian fundies tend to be this way. It attracts people who have an immature emotional need to be better than everyone else. And they get that need met in fundamentalist settings.
  

  Fundamentalism also disregards the importance of intellect, logic, learning and critical thinking. Possessing those things tends to eliminate egotism.

  Once you learn and understand the fact that there is no god and we are all equal products of an indifferent universe, it's more difficult to be narcissistic.

  most personality issues are attributed to exposure. If you are surrounded by narcissists, then it is easy for you to become one

  Yes, and possibly genetics as well, which is an issue for jws because many are born in or bred from >1 family of jws.
  
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  33

  "It is the victims right to approach authorities" The weak excuse used by the society

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  we have seen that the society falls back on the line "it is the victims right to approach the authorities" during all the abuse claims.. they use this excuse to try and defend the passive lack of action in failing to report suspected cases of abuse.. a comparison came to mind:.

  if we came across a person lying in the street who says they were hit by a car, would we say "it is your absolute right to call the paramedics and police"?.

  or would we take the initiative and call those authorities ourselves to help the person?.

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  rebel8

  I was a manager in a hospital and somebody else's staff member called me to talk. I had never met this person and she didn't report to me, but she heard maybe rebel8 would listen.

  I went to her and she had been attacked by a patient. I think she had an injury but was still able to work. She had told her manager she wanted to file a police report--this patient did this deliberately. Her manager replied that she was free to file a police report if she wished, but she would not be aided by the hospital.

  IIRC, they even discouraged her from calling the police to the hospital, suggesting she do that outside of work.
  

  While this is true, the employee really needed the support of someone in management. She was quite disturbed about the incident. The hospital's response made her feel concerned she would be punished for reporting it. She reasoned that if the hospital was so cold as to not even support her as she had the courage to have the perp prosecuted so he never did it to someone else, then they must actually not want her to report it.
  

  While the statement in the OP (that victims have the right to report the crime themselves) may be factually true, the failure to offer support in that process probably does have the same effect. Add to that the borg's pervasive history of punishing victims, and you can imagine the victim's concerns.
  
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  43

  Jehovah sure loves foreskins!

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  an atheist (never jw) friend of mine is an rv for a jw who he is trying to deprogram.

  he started this totally on his own and just telling me about it.

  it's quite amusing what he comes up with.. point 1: why the s & m stuff with foreskins?

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  rebel8

  ewwww, Vidiot!

  See what you did, rebel8?!!! Lol

  Well, I've started controversies many times. LOL

  But truly, this time, I am just telling you a story of what a non-jw is doing to try to deprogram a jw. This was not instigated by me in any way. The topic of foreskins was chosen by him.
  
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  401

  So, the Womens March ... What Is It For?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  it seems like mobilizing after the election, which seems pointless.

  i keep hearing demands for equal rights but don't understand what rights they are missing exactly.. normally a march is to show the support (and potential votes) for a cause, but ... votes for what?

  ... and the election happened already.. is anyone else confused?

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  rebel8

  It is nice to feel a sense of community and support, but beyond that, I don't know what the march accomplishes.

  I have zero expectation that Cheeto gives a flying you-know-what about women's marches.

  There are so many well-intended advocacy efforts done improperly that result in no or negative impact. This is especially true when there are strong emotions and lack of professional guidance. We see this a lot in the ex-jw world.
  

  I was tempted to go, and tried to find out about the event and its aim. The website (for my city's march) had 2 vague sentences about its purpose, which was basically, "Stand up for your rights."

  Advocacy without a good strategy is just venting your feelings. I can do that at the corner bar.