Spook

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Posts by Spook

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  46

  So, Was Your Life RUINED Because You Were A JW?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the fact that you were a witness, did it actually "ruin" your life?

  ?.

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  Spook

  On a scale of 1-10

  One being a child who was sadistically abused

  Ten being a child with emotionally healthy parents who support, encourage and thrive, and are also financially able to provide a full range of life experiences...

  I'd give my childhood a 4. I think that without JW theology it would have been a 6. My parents probably would have gotten divorced, but they needed it.

  On the plus side, I had a LOT of friends. I was extremely popular in Wisconsin and the mid-west as a teen / 20 something. From that standpoint, I had more fun even than many normal people who got to be naughtier than me.

  However, I missed out on valuable life experiences, had forgone choices I badly wanted for no reason other than JW theology, and wound up passing up academic opportuny.

  The wasted time was a huge part of this. Who knows what a few 1000 hours in my formative years could have done.
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  30

  Non-Bible Believers: What verses still have value to you?

  by Open mind in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  ok, if a bible believer wants to join in too, please refrain from citing john 3:16 or verse like it that clearly call for a christian perspective to be appreciated.. .

  i'm looking for kernels of wisdom that transcend religions and the necessity of faith.. .

  to get things started:.

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  Spook

  "If the resurrection has not occured, then we of all people are most to be pitied."
• 
  318

  IRAN-Deja vu all over again?

  by JWdaughter in

  1. social
  2. current

  any of the rhetoric, demands, conciliation, etc., etc., remind you of anything?

  wasn't this all how this war started in iraq?

  (or the justification for it, anyway?

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  Spook

  Options are limited:

  1. Allow them to get the bomb.

  2. Persuade them to forego or postepone getting the bomb.

  3. Prevent them from getting the bomb.

  Choose.

  Just remember that with #1 we will have no future room for #2 or #3.
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  196

  The struggle against the immediae danger from false teachers

  by mrsjones5 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  golly, i feel like a householder.

  you're counting time here, aren't ya?

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  Spook

  This thread was answered in the first two pages: The quoted text has nothing to do with our modern time, as any serious theologian could (or reader) should immediately infer.

  The effort to twist secondary meanings - pulled from the air - would seem to me to constitute violating God's wishes - were he to exist.
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  8

  The long term effects of losing friends and family through shunning

  by finding my way in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've recently been thinking about this topic as i've been finding old friends on facebook etc.

  that were just gone one day because either their whole family da'd themselves or they had been df'd.

  not to mention the friends i lost when i myself was df'd.. most of my life i found this losing of friends normal because it was what i was used to.

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  Spook

  I've realized that people loose touch in life for many reasons. I don't have a good relationship with my family - but many people have the same for other reasons.

  I lost a lot of friends - but most people drift away from a good protion of their childhood friends anyway and tend to make new friends in their late 20's who are more likely to stick with them through life.

  I found that rebuilding past relationships sacrifice because of JW's is a great way to go. People are very understanding when you tell them "Sorry I was such a douchebag, my family was in a cult."
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  11

  Pondering the Flood...

  by 2pink in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is only my second thread here on this forum, so forgive me if i put this on the wrong board.. i'm a jw on the way out....past few years and esp past few months of thinking have pretty much sealed the deal for me.

  i'm done.. so anyway, as i allow myself to think more and more and question more and more of the bible, something i have always wondered about is the flood.

  did god regret doing that, hence the rainbow promise??

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  Spook

  You cannot reconcile it because it did not occur. The story itself makes no sense because it was co-opted from other prior religions and inserted into Jewish theology.
• 
  159

  Breaking News: Big Trouble with the Watchtower

  by Bethelite Elder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.

  i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.

  evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.

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  Spook

  Love to hear some details.
• 
  36

  Why Some People are Better Off in Cults

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why some people are better off in cults.

  familiesthe family unit has always been the core of mankinds strength to survive sometimes insurmountable odds against nature, other men and the arbitrariness of life.

  when you stand alone, you have no one there to hold you up, defend you or take care of you.. if, on the other hand, you are part of a nurturing family, you have access to the helps of others, and in turn are obligated to be there when another in the family suddenly needs you.

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  Spook

  Yes,

  Those who JOIN cults are much different than those who are raised in them. Many who leave have a strong element of "wanting to be left alone" rather than "wanting to belong."

  Nobody joins by studying. They join by coming to the Kingdom Hall and experiencing the controlled the community.
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  232

  Is Atheism a Form of Blind Faith?

  by passwordprotected in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if god is outside of nature and therefore cannot be proved or disproved by science, is atheism a form of blind faith?

  after all, it cannot be defended on the basis of pure reason.. steven jay gould said;.

  "science simply cannot by its legitimate methods adjudicate the issue of god's possible superintendence of nature.

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  Spook

  What is the Atheist evidence for the posit "there is no God".

  I have answered this at painstaking length and am done with this thread. If any theists want to have a serious discussion about this, by all means start a thread where we can discuss arguments which were not abandoned by theistic philosophers several generations ago.
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  81

  An Elder wrote anomously...

  by Butterflyleia85 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realize as an elder that i am speaking out against the very organization i try to faithfully represent, but i personally think that the governing body is wrong by teaching that only what they teach us, as printed in the watchtower publications, should be considered to be the truth.

  theyve made the expression of any personal opinions or group debates over their official versions of biblical truths subject to disciplinary action often leading to someone being disfellowshipped.. .

  that is why i feel that i must keep my own identity somewhat anonymous.

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  Spook

  At one time or another I’ve probably seen most of the so-called “apostate” websites. I have to say that by far the majority of them are junk – poorly written, angry, and ridiculous.

  I'm an atheist and I have to agree with this. The attacks of other religions upon Jehovah's Witnesses are cannon fodder for those who prefer to be dismissive.

  Unfortunately, a great many witnesses are incredibly stupid. Well written articles (Alan F had many of these) are beyond the comprehension of many of them.

  The bottom line has always been that the leaders of the religion have no evidence for their purported authority. It must be taken on faith that they occupy such a position. Most of their doctrines have as bad or worse support in the texts than those of other religions. The response to disagreement is - in itself - adequate evidence that no god would use such men.