What I see in this and similar other earlier threads is that people will look at a current situation and find a way to fit God in it as if he had a hand in what happened or is currently happening. Since leaving the Society 20 years ago, everything I have experienced can be laid at the fott of random chance.
Sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes those things occured as a direct or indirect result of your own actions and sometimes it just happens.
If there was an all knowing God, it would know that there are more efficient ways to communicate its will than via old texts and personal anecdotal revelations. I have yet to come across anything that proves to me that the God(s) in the Bible has any more credibility than the thousands of other gods created by man.
op based on mr. freeze's topic - could attending the meetings/studying again sway any of you back to the org.
hearing the propaganda over and over again is pretty powerful i'm sure.
(i'm a non-jw, non-christian (no offense), stubborn as a bull and even i had moments of pause based on some of the doctrine (lasted 30 seconds) but i never had family/friends at stake or a background in this.
No way. I could never suspend all of the logical thinking required to accept their "truth."
just 68, he and the band lit up woodstock with i'm going home, one of the great songs to drive across the desert at sunrise.
i'd love to change the world had great vision and social commentary.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzruqatucpu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw5m5xljdci.
Wow, how Ironic. I just ordered the best of Ten Years After 4 days ago.
for years, i was told this..... " anyone who leaves the org is bitter, sad, and worse off, why do you think they come back???
guess what guys i am the opposite, now i quit cold-turkey (looking back, i should have faded correctly) i am planning on going to the memorial this month just to hear all "the friends" tell me how much they missed me.
since i have left the meetings, (jan. was my last meeting, i think).
I remember the year I began attending meetings (1982), they released a brochure called "Enjoy Life on Earth Forever." I remember reading its contents and looking at the pictures and thinking "wow, this is pretty cool."
Years later as I was waking up to reality, I was going through the brochure again and noticed how much BS was in its pages. The pictures depicting a meeting in progress show everyone with this gleeful smile on their faces. Another picture is of a young man witnessing to friends who are eagerly hanging on to every word he says.
I sat back and wondered "Why have I not ever seen these kinds of smiles in my congregation?"
I soon realized it was because it was all propoganda. It was all crap to keep one in the fold.
I definitley felt happier upon leaving the Society and I have never regretted it.
so my husband (who was never a jw) saw a christian bumper sticker today and asked me if the witnesses have any.
i said no (not that i know of anyway) so here are a few he came up with.. 'honk if you're a zombie'.
'my other car is noah's ark'.
We're the Thinkingest folks around
i was baptised --1963. left in 1978. fifteen years.
pre-baptism, another 5 years.
Started attending meetings in Jan 1982.
Baptized in June 1983
Disassociated on Sept 30, 1992.
So I was a member for just over 9 years.
about three years ago, i was walking past a local laundry mat and i noticed some of the society s publications laying on the chairs by the window.
so i walked inside and found an awake from 1995 and a watchtower from 1989. the latter one was funny to me because i was still in the organization when it was released.
i couldnt help but be shocked at how old these magazines were.
.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1441&bih=654&q=how+to+pick+your+religion+chart&oq=how+to+pick+your+religion+chart&gs_l=img.3..0i24.3120.8903.0.9221.31.16.0.15.15.1.205.2058.5j10j1.16.0...0.0...1ac.1.4.img.syy2hmj5xae#imgrc=vvicewc0cwngfm%3a%3bdabhdbtixg5fam%3bhttp%253a%252f%252fcontemplatingtruth.files.wordpress.com%252f2011%252f05%252fchoosing-your-religion-flowchart.jpg%3bhttp%253a%252f%252fcontemplatingtruth.wordpress.com%252fbreaktime%252freligions%252f%3b2112%3b1248.
bare with me as i figure out how to post pictures.. i thought this chart was hilarious on how to pick your religion..
That about says it the way it is.
based on the material below from the faithful and discreet slave, i was wondering if any of you experienced any of this "enlightment" during your jw sojurn.
based on your pictures, i would have to say you must have been weak in the faith.
what is puzzling though, is why did michael jackson dissassociate himself just before reaching perfection?
I feel for you Miss Jones. When I need to get very close to God I just have to stay indoors for several days. You folks really have to make an effort to please the Creator.
