dedpoet

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Posts by dedpoet

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  16

  Imagine an elder stepping up to the microphone and.....

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  imagine an elder stepping up to the microphone at the hall, and instead of doing his part, he would just talk about all that's not right in that religion and take his time talking about his doubts before stepping down as elder.....and no one would stop him from talking because he is respected and because he would be the head elder and every other elder would be taken by surprise and wouldn't know what to do..... has this ever happened, do you think it could ?.

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  dedpoet

  Little Toe resigned and disassociated from the platform during a
  public talk, but I doubt its' happened too often. I would think that
  if an elder or any other jw began expressing doubts from the platform
  he would be interrupted before he got too far. I don't think the elders
  would want the congregation to hear his reasons somehow.
• 
  17

  SURPRISED AND SHOCKED

  by Raphael in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my dad passed away in december and i had to fly to south africa for his funeral.

  both my parents and just about all the extended family are devout witnesses.

  the funeral talk was held at the local kh.

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  dedpoet

  (((((Raphael)))))

  I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

  At least your relatives were prepared to lay aside watchtower rules
  on this sad occasion.
• 
  48

  E-watchman says Ray Franz is 'animalistic' LOL!

  by yaddayadda in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a critique of 'captives of a concept', robert king accuses anyone who can't get past all of the watchtower society's 'obstacles' as animalistic and lacking spirituality, including don cameron and ray franz.

  it's mindblowing how this bloke can consistently call the watchtower leaders liars, blind, false prophets, dishing up vomitous things, etc, yet continue to preach that they are still a 'faithful steward' uniquely appointed by christ.

  so, while it is true that jehovahs witnesses have not come to know the judgment of jehovah, cameron is similarly captive to a concept; and hence, ignorant of jehovahs judgment.

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  dedpoet

  Maybe I'm missing something, but I have no idea who Robert King is. Will you fill me in?

  Robert King is an ex jw who runs the E-Watchman discussion forum,
  which tends to promote the wtachtower. Although he is critical of the
  jws governing body, he still appears to regard them as the faithful and
  discreet slave. He used to post on JWD under the name of YouKnow,
  and his posts can still be viewed, though I'd advise you to have a sick
  bag handy if you take a look.

  As for his "review", it clearly reveals his apologistic nature, whatever he
  may say about the wtbts.
• 
  4

  Speculation.....

  by winnie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the settlement of the 17 child abuse cases, now that there is approx another 7000 pending lawsuits (or so i have read), if the wt settles (or loses) these cases if they ever reach the court rooms, what do you think the outcome would be??.

  i think that (i'm praying it happens) this will ruin them financially and be the end of jw's..

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  dedpoet

  I know they have plenty of money, and can continue to settle
  out of court for the time being, but it's bound to hurt them in
  the long run once they sell all their properties off and make
  all the cutbacks on production etc they can make without
  being in danger of losing control.

  The negative publicity they receive will hopefully stop them
  making many new converts, but the watchtower will tell
  the current members it is persecution, and sadly many
  will believe it.
• 
  38

  What told you that no holy spirit was moving the BOE?

  by Crumpet in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i've read on and off here of various things that told people that god's spirit was not directing the organisation.. personally for me on the last time i got dfed it was the fact that i got reinstated by a meeting of the boe at the exact same moment i was smoking my first cigarettes in 7 months.

  i didnt question it exactly but it did seem odd.

  i mean i had no idea that they were discussing my reinstatement at that moment that i succumbed and had decided in my favour.

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  dedpoet

  When I was an ms, I saw and heard a few things that caused me to wonder
  whether the org had the truth or not. I did my own independent research, and
  came to the conclusion that it was all bs. At the time, I was still an ms, and
  the boe approached me with the view to becoming an elder, although I no longer
  believed in watchtower doctrine. If the holy spirit exists, which I personally
  don't believe, you would think it wouldn't have directed the boe to invite me
  to join them. Even though the elders didn't know about my research, jah
  would have.

  Needless to say, I turned the offer down, resigned as an ms, and stopped
  attending meetings shortly afterwards.
• 
  15

  What was your perception of cults?

  by brinjen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  before you realised you were in one...... did you picture pale sickly people in robes who had all their members living in villages?

  or was your 'mental picture' a little more "human?".

  how does that image compare to now?.

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  dedpoet

  I used to think that cult members were deluded people who were
  so brainwashed by their leader(s) that they weren't capable of
  thinking for themselves.

  I see jws in exactly the same way nowadays
• 
  25

  What Is Your View Toward Religions & "Religious" People?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my take on religions in general is that they all either give hope or some type of contentment for the person who takes their religion seriously.

  if they're good, they go to heaven or to some better condition.

  some religions are more radical than others and these types, i stay away from.. regarding those that are very religious, i'm generalizing here, but i think most of them are extremists in one way or another.

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  dedpoet

  How do you look at religions now that you are out of a cult?

  As something I no longer need to be part of. I tend to view all
  religions as cults anyway - they are all controlling, or at least
  try to be, to a degree, as they all appear to try and exert some
  influence over the lives of their followers.

  Do "religious'' people positively or negatively affect you?

  It depends on whether or not they try to push their beliefs. If
  someone feels the need to be part of a religion, that's their
  decision. It has no impact on my feelings towards them either
  way unless they try to get me to join. I tend to avoid contact
  with such people
• 
  8

  Will they encourage marriage and having many children?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since 1995 and the "generation" change, many jw's have gone ahead and had .

  fairly normal lives instead of waiting until the new system.

  by 1995, the 1975 mentality .

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  dedpoet

  Maybe they won't actively encourage it, but I suspect that they won't
  discourage it either.

  As you say, in countries in the west, their numbers are only sustained by
  their own birthrate, and the ability of elders, co's and parents to pressure
  pre and early teens into baptism, and they still experience negative growth
  in many places despite this.

  I can see even younger kids being coerced into baptism in these places
  in the next few years. It's become the only way that they can continue to
  report any kind of growth as those coming in through the door-to-door work
  tails off, adults contiue to leave the org and armageddon shows no sign
  of happening.
• 
  48

  Posting Here: secretly or openly?

  by AllAlongTheWatchtower in

  1. social
  2. family

  just curious, how many of you have to hide the fact that you post here from family?

  i'm especially thinking of those with spouses who are in, while they themselves either never were, faded, dfed/daed, etc but if you are a child hiding it from parents, that applies too.

  if you are posting secretly, how secretive do you have to be?

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  dedpoet

  Openly.

  My age and location are correct, although that isn't me on my avatar, so
  I posted my picture below

  Trevor Spencer
  Derby
  England
  UK
• 
  38

  Baptism at age 11 next Saturday

  by Fatfreek in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just learned that one of my grandsons (whom i've never met) will be baptized on saturday.

  he will be twelve in november.

  what's happening within the publishing company to inspire this sort of thing?

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  dedpoet

  I was told when I was a jw that being baptised was an adult decision, and
  I don't recall meeting too many 11 year old adults. I've heard of kids younger
  than 11 being baptised, as young as 8 in a couple of cases.

  The watchtower are playing the numbers game here - they love to boast about
  an overall increase in membership in their annual report, and if the only way they
  can sustain this is by blackmailing kids into baptism, then I guess that's fair
  game as far as they are concerned.