tetrapod.sapien

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Posts by tetrapod.sapien

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  14

  Blessings and Curses? Do they exist?

  by ljwtiamb in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jw experiences abound with testamonial proof that god's blessing& favor is on them and the org, as well as, opposing curses that afflict their enemies.

  all sorts of positive things are attributed to god, while anything negative is god's allowance of satan's influence.

  (i was just as good as anybody at telling these kinda stories!).

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  tetrapod.sapien

  My question is, how do you NOW explain/resolve what was once evidence of your personal relationship with god and that you had the truth & his favor?

  i now explain it as coincidence. if something good happens to me now, i do not attribute it to god helping me, but rather to coincidence in nature. same with evil. if something bad happens to me, i do not blame satan. i blame myself, or nature. it's like the example of the raindancer. he keeps dancing for rain. when it finally rains, he says: "behold! god looks kindly on my dancing!" and when it goes into a drought he says: "behold! an evil and wicked people you are! i have been dancing like a mad man, and you have been sinning all along, bringing gods disfavour on us!"

  Do you still experience such blessings/luck/fortune in your new religion or other post JW life?

  no. nature is neither kind or evil. just indifferent.
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  18

  A relationship with God or the organization ?

  by vitty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been thinking about this for a while, so here goes.

  when i was in the "truth" i truly believed in god, i prayed and tried to do what was right ( wt style) then when i started reading stuff and the experiences on here it didnt take very long before i knew the "truth" wasnt true after all.. so after 20 years as an adult that i spent in, it litrually took a few hours to come out.. ive asked myself how and why did this happen?

  and so quickly.. at first i felt i still believed in jehovah, but if the wt was wrong, where did that leave me.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  well written!

  i felt that i had a relationship with God more than the org. i always thought that if the org was destroyed, or proved a false prophet, that somehow i would still have my relationship with god. not so!

  So after 20 years as an adult that I spent in, it litrually took a few hours to come out.

  Ive asked myself how and why did this happen? And so quickly.

  i have wondered this exact thing as well. how could it take me years to build up my faith, but as soon as i broke the cult tactic of having no "outside" information by going online, my faith was almost immediately destroyed (in lifespan terms)!! i really think that the answer lies in the definition of "faith". belief without evidence. evidence speaks louder than any ignorant professions of faith! IMHO. this is why it was able to crumble so fast for me.
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  12

  Welcome Crazyblondeb

  by kls in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  welcome to you and all the newbies, we are glad you is here.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  yes, welcome crazybloneb!

  and thanks kls, i can't say how great it is to be here. or, er..i guess i just did. :)
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  14

  What is your favorite Memory?

  by swiftbreeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hope this has not been a topic lately.... it was christmas day...and i had went to visit some non-jw relatives i was 15 yrs old...and a group of other kids from the neighborhood had all got together on the block, it was snowing and the snow was so fluffy and pretty, so we all started walking down the street singing x-mas songs (we had sipped some spiked egg nog) everyone exchanged little gifts.

  we went to different houses visiting and eating.

  toward the end of the night we went to my sister's friend house and danced till around 2:00 in the morning..." for the first time in my life i felt free and happy.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  one of them is camping out alone on a remote beach in the Queen Charolette Islands in canada for a week, the summer after i graduated from highschool. just me, my tent, books, a fire, salal berries, a flute, orcas and seals.

  thx, that was nice...
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  37

  TIME WILL TELL (Did you fake your hours in Field Service?)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know for certain that brothers in our congregation often lied about their time on field service reports.

  (yes, we had to fill out quota reports back in the old days).

  one brother, harry, would dump magazines in the storm drains!

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  tetrapod.sapien

  (I say "I was enrolled" rather than "I enrolled" because I was told I was to become a pio, it's not something I chose.)

  rebel8, same thing happened to me. i took it instead of my dads offer to fund me through university. i thought what a wonderful sacrifice i was making, and that YHVH would reward me greatly for it. and then i ended up getting depressed and faking my hours anyways!
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  37

  TIME WILL TELL (Did you fake your hours in Field Service?)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know for certain that brothers in our congregation often lied about their time on field service reports.

  (yes, we had to fill out quota reports back in the old days).

  one brother, harry, would dump magazines in the storm drains!

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  tetrapod.sapien

  i lied about my service time for years, but kept track of it hoping to make it up to jah in the future. even when i was a regular pioneer, if i only had 67 hours, i would "round" it up to 70. what a joke.

  whew! now i can go hiking on saturday mornings instead!

  How much fake witnessing goes on because of the pressure?

  How much of the Society's worldwide preaching figures are BOGUS?

  personally, i think a lot.
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  24

  Thoughts on Reading CoC

  by love2Bworldly in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am reading crisis of conscience and am wondering what goes through people's minds when they read it, i am on about page 115. i find it slow reading because of the way it is written.

  even though i have been out of the org for going on 20 years, i am a little shocked at some of the stuff i'm reading and i feel like it shouldn't shock me.

  i remember when i was a jw, how the governing body was put on a pedestal; everyone assumes they spend all their time studying and praying over matters from a scriptural standpoint.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  i can't wait to read it! thanks for the semi reviews!
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  25

  Has Your Family Life Changed Since You Left Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are things better, worse or unchanged?

  are you still associated with or are you shunned?

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  tetrapod.sapien

  i am shunned by even the most liberal of good witness "friends". it doesn't surprise me, but it hurts. my close family (mom and sis), have been great and still associate with me. my dad is a hippie hermit way back in the mountains, and i haven't been able to locate him for over a year. but he is not a witness, obviously. oh and today is his 64 birthday. happy birthday dad, wherever you are...

  my wife has been great even though she is staying in the borg. i have hope for her.

  in-laws pretty much hate me now.

  and my personal life: it has NEVER been better. loving every minute of it. so happy i am out, with no matter to what friends i have lost.
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  137

  What Is "Must See" TV For You?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i like american idol.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  • in canada we have this sweet show on our Discovery channel called "Daily Planet". all about science and technology.
  • myth busters
  • alien planet (speculations on what life will be like in 50 000 years).
  • stargate
  • charlie rose
  • dinosaur planet.
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  62

  HURRY ,HURRY ,YOU GOT TO SEE THIS,,,,,,,,,

  by kls in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i knew i would get you to look.

  congratulations to me.

  congratulations to me.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  kudo's! :)