Mabye the first thing you can accept is that NOBODY can figure everything out. Life is a journey that can last a long time. Use your powers of objective thinking to research and study. If you choose to remain Christian, start by learining the basics about Jesus. Read the Bible without having somebody elses interpretation hanging over you. You won't have all the answers today or tomarrow, but that is not the point.
Good luck to you
drew sagan
JoinedPosts by drew sagan
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33
How do you choose......
by EC ini was born and raised a jw.... right now i know i am still going through the deprogramming, but in the pit of my stomach i so want to believe in something.
i don't know if it is because i always have had a regular "schedule" with god, but to leave and not believe anymore to me is very lonely.
where do you start?
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drew sagan
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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT VIDEO TAPING
by juni inmy friend, who is still attending meetings, tried to video tape a part on the theocratic school.
he was told to take it down.
is this one individual's opinion?
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drew sagan
Taping at meetings? That just seems a litte strange, I can see the elders saying take it down. Unless your taping it for some old sister or something. If you where going to tape and assembly or convention? They will not bother you. Each year at our assembly they said you could, but you wern't allowed to plug your camera into any of the power outlets and they didn't want you blocking the stairs or anybodys line of sight.
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I went to church yesterday...
by mrsjones5 in.
omg i love going to church, the music, the people, the sermon, the pastors, the childcare (sunday school .
josie
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drew sagan
I'm glad you have found a group you are happy with. Personally, I will most likely never join another church just because of my views of organized religion in general. I hear what your saying though. A loving spirit can be found in more places than just the KH.
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Need some opinions!
by homunculus ingood morning to everyone,.
it's been a while since i have last posted, but i do want some opinions or advice if possible.i have long ago faded from the whole jw concept but keep being "officially" part of this bogus group for obvious purposes....i am fully aware of what is going on for the past 3 or so years and have fully cleaned my system of thinking and functioning from all these years of indoctrination and brain washing...my problem is my mother...she is literally obsessed with the whole jw organization idealogy...when i first opened my eyes i tried to reason with her but clearly i saw that i will get absolutely nowhere...for me it was a blessing that i left europe and came to the united states to pursue a masters degree and am still in the us....it just kills my heart seeing her lose all the simple beauties of life, by being attached to an organization that has foundations constructed by fundamentalist,conservative,and the list can go on and on freaks.... here i am enjoying my freedom,meeting beautiful people from any given color,race,background but on the other side i am seing a very close to me person getting psychotic and paranoid because her sons (thank god my brother is in the same boat with me) are getting "spiritually" "weak".... i am absolutely comfortable with the idea of playing theatre in order to keep my circle unbothered...as a matter of fact it gets really fun sometimes!!
!on the other hand, what would everyone who reads this post recommend?do you get accustomed with the idea that your family will just continue in this lie?having tried all the methods posted either in this forum or from other sites i have gotten absolutely nowhere.... the thing that really pisses me of though is that a good majority of jw's are just living their lives and not getting stressed anymore by the classical issues of armagedon,spreading the news,avoiding "satan's traps,etc etc...i think at this point the whole group is just a social get together with a few hard core members that are getting more and more fu%^&* up seeing that i)the end isn't coming ii)most of their "brothers" have been disillusioned.... is anyone in the same situation with me?do you have family members that are still part of the "hardcore" group within the group?have you found any kind of approach that at least makes them think a little?some feedback would be highly accepted.... at this point i want to publicly thank randy for opening my eyes...although i went through many websites before getting into freeminds,your info randy was the one that made my whole jw world just crumble down within days....i owe a lot to "apostates" helping me make serious decisions in my life lately.... being tired of dealing with religion my whole teenage and early adult years i decided to focus the past few years and many other things that i haven't done...now that i "cleaned" my system i feel the urge to participate in religious issues and if possible help other people realize what i have.... all enjoy your week and i am looking forward to reading your posts.
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drew sagan
After attending the latest special assembly program I can tell you that more and more are simply going for the social atmosphere. The material of the talks tells me that most people are not really making being a witness as important as the simple pleasures and draws of life. The hard core are slowly being reduced.
Personally, I was of the hard core believers around 99-02. I was in deep. I have tried to think about what could have got to me at that point in time and I realize that nothing could. Way back in 2000 I was on freeminds.org Because I was so deep into the Watchtower I didn't really make much of it. Instead I saw it as kind of a joke. This is the best apostates can do? It had no effect on me. What I read really didn't get past my brick wall. I was very curious about Ray Franzs books, but assumed that they would be filled with lies. When I asked a friend about Ray Franz he told me that Ray had tried to use his position as a GB member to hold power in a local congregation, and when it didn't work left and got DF'd (could there be a more inaccurate recount of what happeded?) This was enough for me to realize that the books wern't worth reading.
My own thinking ability OVER TIME helped me finally see through it all. When I was ready to finally look at it from an objective viewpoint, I could finally understand things and see them for what they where. It's something that is personal, I don't know if it can be shown or proved.
Personally I have found that if you really do your research and KNOW YOUR TOPIC FRONT AND BACK, asking questions about things for which the typical witness has no answer is the best way to go. Get them stuck. I allways do this, not in a way to try and prove anybody wrong, but instead I ask questions out of sincerity, that I really want to know the answer and I wasn't able to find it. It's with these kind of little "seeds" help can be given to those still "in".
Good luck to you. I wish you the best in all your efforts. -
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Just want to gain insight on the overall attitude of most on here.
by stillAwitness ini am on here a lot.
leafing through posts, taking the time out to read individuals' profiles, their topics.
i like to gain insight, get perspective on what it is like to be "on the other side" i guess you can say.
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drew sagan
If I am ever bitter, it is simply out of frustration to speak my mind without fear of being rejected.
I actually don't feel bitter. Mainly because I realize that from the bottom up everyone in this org pretty much totally believes what they are a part of is the true religion. There is no conspiracy to ruin the world, or it's members. It's simply imperfect men doing what they think is right.
I try to look at just the single believer, just like I was. I was once part of the same mental additude. To be bitter that other people are as well just dosn't seem right. -
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Got any good questions about Blood issue?
by whyizit ina dialogue has opened up between me and a jw friend about their stance on blood.
just wondered if any of you were ever asked a question that made you think twice, or if you have any questions that you think would be good to ask?
(i don't want to offend this person.
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drew sagan
I think some great points about this are made in the book "In Search of Christian Freedom". My favorite point brought out is in dealing with blood plasma. The components of blood plasma are as follows (shown in percentages).
Water ~92
Proteins 6–8
Salts 0.8
Lipids 0.6
Glucose (blood sugar) 0.1
You can see that it mainly contains water and proteins. These proteins include:
Albumins
Globulins
Fibrinogens
Hemoglobins
The Watchtower holds that blood fractions, including these proteins can be acceptable for Christians, but that blood plasma can not. The question is, why not? It is simply because they feel that plasma is a "major blood component" and that is a good enough reason to reject it.
I had a discussion with a friend about this who is a pretty knowledgeable JW. He couldn't answer the question why the fractions would be acceptable, but not the component. The only difference is the add-on of a few proteins and WATER!!! But yet it becomes unacceptable for Christians because of this? Who makes this decision? Who gets to choose and define "major" components and "minor" ones. My friend could only reply that plasma was a major component and that it violated Gods law to use it. But he could not answer the more important question WHY? -
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im hurt, desperate, confused and considering this religion - advice?
by very_confused inlike the subject title says, i'm hurt, desperate and confused and don't know what to do anymore.
i'm so desperate to have something to live for that i'm considering converting to something like the jehovah's witnesses.
i know this might seem a bit extreme but please hear me out.
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drew sagan
You've got many opinions from everyone here. Not much more I can add but this:
Entering a system of worship will have it's pros and cons. The happiness that can be attained from making new friends and finally having a "purpose" in life can bring some temporary joy. But like all things, this will begin to fade in time.
In your distress I encourage you to reach out to your creator himself if that is what you wish to do. If it's the Bible you wish to learn more about, then read it. Don't rest your hopes and dreams of happiness on somebody elses faith. Start to build your own.
I really don't think any particular relgion will ever be able to solve your problems, or make you truley happier. Instead, you must be willing to comfront yourself, the issues you struggle with, and the faith you wish to build.
Take your time and don't rush. Remember that if being a Christian is what you want to do, I would start by simply reading and following the teaching of Jesus. It seems pretty basic, but it might be a good start. -
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Reproof and "discipline"
by maxwell inso i had this not quite random idea come into my head today.
most jw, ex-jw are familiar with the fact that when someone is reproved they may be given some other "discipline" such as being prevented from commenting at the meeting for some time.
what do you think would happen if someone rebelled against their "discipline"?
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drew sagan
Yeah, you would be DF'd without a moments notice. I would make it a good comment, cause it would probably be the last one you make. Something to the effect of:
"I have to go to my stanic apostate ritual now, See you all in the New System"
then walk out doing a "silly walk" like on monty python flying circus, thats my idea. -
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What I learned in PSS
by zack ini actually learned to doubt.
the info presented there served to open my eyes to practices that i never knew were acceptable---like.
segregation in congs.
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drew sagan
I went in 2002. The school pushed me more into the JW world. I became knee deep. It did open my eyes to a few things. I remember certain things the CO said that didn't chime with what people generally understood. I came to see how many in the cong. are quite distant from brooklyn and what is going on. It was a small class, I liked just about everyone. But I can say that it never really helped me go any farther in the ministry. I quit being a pio 5 months later. Almost everybody I was at the school with has stoped as well.
Did they tell you at the end of the school to "watch out" for the post PSS blues? I guess people get pretty down when it is all over. I was kind of glad, 2 weeks is a long time to take off of work, especially when you work part time. -
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Getting even with the WTS
by greendawn inafter being emotionally traumatised by the wts through their shunning policy due to being disfellowshipped or disassociated, or because of other issues that hurt you as a jw, did you manage to get even with them by harming their interests for example by helping jws to leave or directing interested persons away from them or any other way?
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drew sagan
Not yet, i'm still on my way out. I'll keep you posted.