bitca, it sounds like you had a lot to overcome, congratulations on making it so far. Your story was very poignant. Enough so that it brought skyman out of lurking.
Welcome to both of you.
Posts by ivy
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33Introducing myself
by bitca ini've been lurking here for a while, so i figured it's time for me to introduce myself.
i was raised in "the truth".
both of my parents were witnesses, and so were their parents.
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ivy
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56
What religion have you changed to now that no longer a witness?
by AK - Jeff ini know many have rejected the idea of organized religion.
i teeter on that myself.
but i have toyed with hooking to a little country church with some friendly people to associate with.
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ivy
I haven't joined any other religions, or even reconciled with my own beliefs. I'm still too jaded.
I do miss something though. I don't think it is the interaction with others who think like I do. (I get that with my friends). This isn't going to sound quite right...but the closest I can come to explaining is that I have lost touch with my spiritual side.
I have a friend, ex-nun, who is a member of something she calls a Spirit Group. I know, it sounds corney when I type it. It's this small group of people from various religions, Christian and non, who just get together every now and then to learn about and talk about spirituality. They practice meditation and go on field trips and such. They are not looking for "the truth" they are just interested in the journey. It sounds really healthy.
If I every do regain any type of spirituality, I think that's the closest I would come to an actual organized religion. -
27
unforgivable sin
by MerryMagdalene intijkmo's post on watson's "hypothetical" thread got me wondering again...just what the heck is it to sin against the holy spirit according to jw beliefs/teachings?
for something so important as to be "unforgivable" it has always seemed awfully vague to me (so vague that i was sure as a kid that it must be masturbation and for years i felt the great weight of ultimate doom heavily upon me).
is it intentionally vague, do you think, just to keep everyone on their toes and hyper-paranoid or am i missing something?
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ivy
Some people who were once faithful Christians have purposely drawn away from God, perhaps because of bitterness, pride, or greed, and are now apostate fighters against God's spirit.
This is pretty much what I was brought up believing, and it follows what some of these posts have said. If you knew about the JW teachings, and turned your back on it, then you (being me in this case) have committed the ultimate sin.
I'm not sure about the being a false prophet part though. Is that what they mean by being an apostate fighter? Is it ok then to know and leave, as long as you don't talk about it?
No wonder it took me so long to join the forum. I was working up to that truly ultimate sin. -
29
Hi, I'm new
by JE1234 inhi iv'e been lurking around for a few weeks.
getting the nerve to post something..i'm from ny.
iv'e been inactive for 8 years.
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ivy
Welcome JE1234
Isn't it amazing who you can meet on the net?
I'm fairly new to this whole thing too, but I have already learned so much. I hope you find it as valuable. -
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Ok so you left the idea of God - what would it take to come back?
by Qcmbr inone point that has played many times on my mind (and is fairly central to my world view) is that if god exists its up to him to prove it.
what would it take for you to accept god?
starters for ten: .
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ivy
what would it take to come back?
I want an apology -
11
JWD soundtrack
by Bas inok, here it goes, everybody can put up one song for the official jwd soundtrack, mine:.
"fu-gee-la" by the fugees.
[(lauryn) repeat chorus 2x:].
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ivy
REM - Losing my Religion
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104
mmnnnnn ... who makes you just "melt"
by Simon in.
for an oldie i'd pick audrey hepburn singing moon river ... mmnnnn, i never get tired of that.. currently i'm listening to norah jones an aweful lot.
she is very easy on the ears and is my "audible-heaven" right now.. so who's voice makes you 'melt' ?
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ivy
Wow, some real greats have already been mentioned. Since I love just about every type of music out there, I agree with every bit of it. A few that I haven't seen yet...
Lucinda Williams - I've done some serious melting to that.
Roy Orbison - just grabs the heartstrings.
Jonny Lang - Can't believe that voice came out of that kid. -
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of the mouth of babes
by Crumpet ini don;t know what made me think of this as its a memory i haven;t retrieved in 17 years at least but it made me chuckle and it was a favourite story of my parents!.
when i was 6 and my little sister was 3 we were at a thursday night meeting, when she began to whispher to my mum " i want a smack".
my mother thought she had misheard and looked away but no lil sis said it a bit louder tugging at her arm, "mummy i want a smack.
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ivy
That was a very funny story. Twisted, but funny.
One of my parents favorites, was a time I was also bored at the meeting. I think I was 4 or 5. I was squirming around and generally misbehaving, and after repeated warnings my father decided it was time to take me to the back and teach me a lesson. Well, 1/2 way up the aisle, being carried over my father's shoulder, I reached my hands out and said loudly, "Jehovah, save me."
He didn't. -
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What made YOU drop Christianity?
by GetBusyLiving inafter i read coc and left the dubs for a short while i considered myself christian.
the way franz explained it, all that is required is to have faith in jesus and to love your neighbor as yourself and then you will be 'saved'.
the more i started pealing away at the onion though the dumber the premise of someone dying for my 'sins' seemed, and i just lost faith in it altogether.
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ivy
I did cling to the Christian label for a while out of fear for my eternal life. But at some point it's just not worth it. It has already been pointed out that the all-knowing god is going to know how you really feel. If you believe that, pretending will do you no good. I can't make myself agree with him, so the fear was going to be there regardless. Dropping Christianity was one of the most liberating things I've done. Sure, I may lose my life in the long run. But I wasn't going to want to live in his version of Utopia anyway.
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What made YOU drop Christianity?
by GetBusyLiving inafter i read coc and left the dubs for a short while i considered myself christian.
the way franz explained it, all that is required is to have faith in jesus and to love your neighbor as yourself and then you will be 'saved'.
the more i started pealing away at the onion though the dumber the premise of someone dying for my 'sins' seemed, and i just lost faith in it altogether.
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ivy
I was the rebellious child of a tyrannical, overbearing father. My life?s experiences just made me feel more compatible with satan then god or his perfect son. I left Christianity because it is ?preposterous that a god could set up something so unfair and nonsensical?. And yet, that?s god for you.
This thread reminds me of a great line in a Concrete Blonde song:
"I told the priest, don?t count on any second coming
God got his ass kicked the first time he came down here slumming.
He had the balls to come, the gall to die and then forgive us.
No, I don?t wonder why, I wonder what he thought it would get us?"