rebel8

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Posts by rebel8

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  21

  Turning 60 today (Happy Birthday to me)

  by NewYork44M in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is my birthday today.

  given that i turn 60 today means that i graduated high school in 1975. time flies when you are having fun.. i remember the council i got about not worrying about a career because this wicked system was rapidly coming to a conclusion.

  now i am 60 and most of those bastards are dead and the end is still in the future..

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  rebel8

  wow, congrats!
  
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  68

  What was it like being a JW in the 1960's and 1970's

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is obviously a question for the older generation.

  i'm really curious what it was like to be a witness in the 60's and 70's?.

  was the society as strict as it is today?.

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  rebel8

  Disco, by the way, was completely vilified. Disco was not allowed in any way--you could not even see movies if they had disco soundtracks! In fact,

  I was not allowed to have further contact with a longtime non-jw friend because she watched Saturday Night Fever and had a strobe light in her play room. (We were pre-teens.)
  

  We were told constantly from the platform that disco was created by tribes as a demonized fertility ritual that promoted homosexuality. (Don't ask me how a fertility ritual promotes homosexuality. I have no clue!)

  And WHY would you tell kids they will become demon possessed homosexuals if they listen to music...it's just wrong to treat children that way.
  

  One of the elders quit his job in 1975, and became a pioneer in October (in spite of having to support his 13 children). He also trained himself to eat leaves for when the great tribulation arrives.

  ^WOW
  
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  49

  Do religious people fear that their religion may be wrong???

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  because there are so many religions in the world and it is obvious that no matter what the truth is, a large population of people will be wrong about it.

  we at one time believe we had the truth and 99% of the world population were in darkness, but i wonder about folks in other religions today.

  speaking with a christian friend about this and he told me," that's for god to decide, i hope i'am serving god"...the sad thing about all of this if one die and still believe in his religion, he will never know he was in the wrong religion.

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  rebel8

  Many members of mainstream religions I've known don't think of it that way at all.

  They basically think of it as a club they belong to and participate in at arm's length. They don't agree with everything the club does or says or its rules. They just smile and participate to the extent they want to and shrug their shoulders at the rest.

  I do believe most members of cults, deep inside, question the veracity of the "absolute truth" they are being fed. This is because cults are fundamentally different than mainstream religions in that they consume the cultist's entire lifestyle.
  
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  68

  What was it like being a JW in the 1960's and 1970's

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is obviously a question for the older generation.

  i'm really curious what it was like to be a witness in the 60's and 70's?.

  was the society as strict as it is today?.

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  rebel8

  I was a child in the 60s/70s so my perception is limited, but let me paint you a picture of what I remember it to be like.

  Remember the FLDS compound on Big Love that lived by its own sick set of laws? Yeah. Like that.

  YMMV if you have a penis.
  
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  16

  Toxic Person?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i read a fantastic quote that applies to the way the society treats those who choose to leave...:.

  "when a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try and control how others see you".

  just wanted to share....

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  rebel8

  It seems people are quite brave hidden in anonymity, behind their keyboard. I imagine they'd be far more polite and reasonable face to face.

  It's interesting you say that. When I left dubdumb, there was no Internet. There was a fad among the dubbies to write letters if you had trouble talking to a person. I got letters after leaving, which I refused to read. My mother asked me why and I told her it was not an assertive, grown up way to communicate. Also I didn't want to communicate with them, lol.

  I remember one person writing me a note who was a sincerely nice person--the exception.

  This other childish, self-centered douchebag bully was big into writing letters. I suspect she liked it because she felt she could always have the last word. I ripped hers up. Years later, I ran into her and told her off. (I am the opposite of the quote above--I am more polite if I can censor my thoughts by electronic means.)
  

  I think this quote originates on a web article dealing with narcissists.

  Probably and it's apropos. Narcissists are very emotionally immature and center their entire selves around themselves. It fits dubs very well.
  
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  61

  Would human settlement of Mars invalidate Bible prophecy?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't think this topic has been discussed before but yesterday i read something to the effect that trump wants a human mission to mars to be completed within his presidency.. with that being said, the watchtower teaches that what started on earth ends on earth, in other words, the fall of adam and eve would end with the passing of the 1,000 year millennial reign when christ destroys all his enemies, rebellious "perfect" humans, and the devil and his demons who are let out the abyss for a short while.

  he then hands the kingdom back to his father.

  an elder in my old congregation once told us during a public talk that he was an ardent astronomer but then referenced the scripture where it says, "the earth he has given to the sons of men" (psalms 115:16).

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  rebel8

  wt teachings, like all other religions, have their own ever-evolving fan fiction based loosely on the bible.

  Whenever anything disproves the bible, a handful of fans wake up and the rest just reinvent their mythology.

  This has already happened, time and again.
  
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  13

  New York's Bethel tunnels are no more . . .

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.brownstoner.com/neighborhood/brooklyn-heights/jehovahs-witnesses-brooklyn-heights-tunnels/.

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  rebel8

  The jw rumor back in the day was the tunnels were kept to allow the Bethelites to not come in contact with Normals.

  A cult with a commune that restricts outside contact.
  
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  12

  Only Jehovah's people

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today i went to a large talk.. there was no arguing or swearing, just kindness and respect.. it was orderly and calm.. trash was put in the proper place.

  people were even picking up litter that wasn't even theirs.. the speakers were passionate and inspiring.. the entire event was orchestrated by volunteers.. it was march for science, not a dub ass-embly.

  so much for "only jehoopla's people" behaving like this at large events..

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  rebel8

  no "please be seated" or "quiet" signs being carried around by some snot nosed kids

  LOL I totally forgot about that! How strange that they do this.

  I remember feeling as though I had to obey them because they were boys.
  
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  57

  Your opinion is watchtower extremist?

  by poopie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  court gave 4 reasons you agree disagree.

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  rebel8

  Ditto to what Orphan Crow said.

  Letting yourself and children die to obey people in Crooklyn--for a reason not supported by science or scripture--makes them way beyond quirky and slightly conservative!

  So do many other teachings and acts that are kept secret. Need I tell you the gory stories of my own childhood? For example, why I was not allowed to wear a bra or shave because it would "make me have sex"? And why I was not allowed to take hormone pills that would make my bleeding disorder vastly better because it would "make me have sex"? And why I was called a vampire and demon possessed as a child because only Satan could cause a medical condition that requires blood transfusions? And why it was totally expected that I would bleed to death as a child as Jehovah's loving way of allowing me to pay the wage of death for having this disease so I might have everlasting life (which would be celibate because resurrected people can't marry)?

  How about the girl in my hall who took birth control pills for a different medical condition, only to have the whole hall gossip that she was growing a penis and had become a prostitute because of the pill? I heard she committed suicide.

  What about another girl in the hall who had herself declared a fornicator from the platform, at age 14, for making out with a boy?

  How about the boy from my hall who lost his privilege to carry microphones because he shaved off his sideburns in the 80s?

  How about the ban on dating when you're an older teen, because you're not "at the age of marriage"?
  

  Need I continue?
  
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  14

  If you had to choose

  by dothemath in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you had to choose to belong to 1 religion, i was curious as to what any on the forum would pick.. i realize most here are likely atheist (i would have to say i'm agnostic), but if any would like to share their opinion, and maybe why?.

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  rebel8

  Secular Humanism.