Trying to get a long with family doesn't have to be faking. You can just keep your opinions to yourself. Withholding your own personal viewpoints isn't a "dishonest" thing to do. Spare yourself the anguish and just roll with it....
daniel-p
JoinedPosts by daniel-p
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15
JW acting skills put to the test
by watch the tower ini've completely stopped taking part in any jw activities for close to a year now and will be visiting my jw family for the next couple of weeks.
they have no idea that i have become "apostate".
for all they know i am still an active jw.
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Theocratically approved RAPE!
by nicolaou inwould a loving god instruct certain men to rape certain women?.
"everyone that is found will be pierced through, and every one that is caught in the sweep will fall by the sword; and their very children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes.
their houses will be pillaged, and their own wives will be raped.
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daniel-p
Yeah, I have to say this is the kind of stuff I never really liked contemplating... only a cursory reading would reveal the "war-god" persona. Wouldn't Jehovah's justice be pure, unquestionable to mere humans? Why do we, if we are made in him image, see his brand of justice morally reprehensible and contradictory to before-said standards? What it comes down to, is ignoring our own objections based on our "good" morals and somehow believing that through it all, Jehvovah was never wrong, that everything he did he did in perfect justice. OR, that these ancient writings were simply the recordings of a large tribe that constructed some fabulous explanations and justifications for their conquests.
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Can the Truth survive the Internet?
by Dogpatch invirtual experiment
the truth vs. the truth.
by stephen cox.
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daniel-p
I don't know if it will matter in the long run, but...
... I got some info from an elder that the major theme of the recent KM school was "erring on the side of mercy." (!!!)
Heh, this is a no-brainer if you want to remain a growing religion.... -
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Jan 1st WT: Reaching out, Higher Education and Providing for one's needs
by truthseeker inwell, as a nice start to the new year, the jan 1st watchtower article, "how firm is your trust in god" blasts those who live comfortable lives, those who don't reach out, and those who pursue higher education.. definitely, they are taking a harsher stand, having completely painted themselves into a corner.. i highlighted the interesting comments.
i did not include all the text for each paragraph, just the main points.. .
1 a young man wanted to be more useful to the congregation.
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daniel-p
First, welcome, (((((((((HiddenQuestioner))))))))
Second, someone said above "THEREFORE, why can't they just trust their members to be balanced, to make the right decision for THEM, why can't they just trust that through prayer and meditation, they can find the answer as to whether or not they should go to university or college, THEMSELVES???"
This is the PRIMARY reason I came out and spoke up about how I felt about the education issue. The Governing Body are leading the R&F as if they were all little children.
The R&F are "sheep" because of their percieved obedience and Christ-like spirit, NOT because of their inability to live their lives rationally and think for themselves. Of course, this is the inevitability after a lifetime of not "trusting in yourself." -
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Did you record your hours in field service correctly?
by free2beme ini always hated the shepherding call where they asked you to try and spend more time in field service, as they saw your hours turned in were low.
at a young age, i learned how easy it was to just write down what ever felt right.
i spent about 30 hours a month in field service as a pioneer for two years and never had anyone say anything to me.
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daniel-p
I have been botching my time reports for about 6 or 7 years now. Why? Because I'm too much of a schmuck to not be an "exemplary" brother. All my adult life and more I've been "exhorted" to reach out for priveleges and so forth... but I never felt any zeal for the ministry. I'm happy to run mikes and do the small stuff, in fact if I could just do that and nothing more I would be happy as a clam, but it's the Saturday mornings spent driving around town very slowly and stopping for coffee and doing calls which you know are NOT AT HOME, and all the while not really caring, that gets me.
Simply put, the ministry has become a sham for the majority of JW's. Everyone knows those hours published at the end of the year WT are completely fictitious, I mean hell, about 150 of those reported hours are mine and almost all of them were spent doing nothing or very little.
As of yet, I haven't got the gumption to just report my 3 hours or something... lying is an awful trap... I don't blame anyone else (including the WTS) for any of this... it's just a reflection of my own faith which I guess has been in shambles for much longer than I ever thought. -
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Pioneer budgets:the simple life
by Virgogirl infor those who pioneered, how did you support yourselves?
did you struggle to pay household expenses, or live at home?
how did you get by without starving?
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daniel-p
I lived at home while pioneering for the majority of the time. I still tried to pioneer while I was living on my own, with a full-time job making 7.50/hour, it took me about 5 months before I figured out it wasn't going to work.
btw, no one knows how to freeload better than a Bethelite. It's the best Freeloader school there is. -
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Theocratically approved RAPE!
by nicolaou inwould a loving god instruct certain men to rape certain women?.
"everyone that is found will be pierced through, and every one that is caught in the sweep will fall by the sword; and their very children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes.
their houses will be pillaged, and their own wives will be raped.
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daniel-p
I don't interpret that scripture as a command. It sounds more like the inevitable outcome of war.
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Public Speaker-No call no show
by gringojj inmy wife went to a meeting today and a funny thing happened.
the public speaker from out of town did not show up!
so instead of ad-libbing for an hour they just ended the meeting an hour early!
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daniel-p
There is no limit as to how far in advance you are supposed to schedule talks. I had mine done at LEAST 6 months in advance, sometimes a whole year. I was the coordinator for 2 years. That job sucks, plain and simple. Especially when you get these joker Talk Coordinators from other towns who don't know how to do their job. One of the coordinators from a nearby cong. matched the wrong dates to ALL the brothers we had scheduled from his hall. So every single week they would announce the name of the talk and the name of the speaker and every single week we would get the wrong speaker giving the wrong talk. Everyone looks at me and wonders what the heck is wrong with me and why can't I do my job. ARG!!!!!
And then, you'd inevitably get some old fart of a speaker who just throws random scriptures around with no theme or application except the typical jargon we've heard for 30 years. They didn't come that often, but if they did, I would put a little red dot next to their name in my book - in other words, NOT ACCEPTABLE - DO NOT INVITE BACK. Some talk coordinators think that if you're an elder, you should automatically go on the Outgoing list. This is not the way the Society wants it done... only those with "exceptional speaking abilities" are supposed to be giving outgoing talks. I think in some areas where there are not many excelling speakers, especially rural areas, they are a little lax with this rule in order to just have some variety of speakers.
I actually kind of liked the job, in a masochistic sort of way.... -
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WT Study on Education - How did it go?
by Inquisitor ini didn't attend the meeting today and i haven't spoken to any fellow witnesses about the study yet.
anyone care to share how their meeting went?
any interesting comments made for or against the wts policy on higher education?
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daniel-p
I picked up the Luke/physician assumption as well. If Luke was called into the ministry in 30 C.E., and 1 Thess. was written in 50 C.E., and Luke was STILL known as the "beloved physician," it would indicate he was still practicing and not that he had ever given it up.
Every paragraph someone just paraphrased the answer straight from the WT. One old codger piped up and mentioned how his daughter went to vocational school and now makes $50,000 a year or some such nonsense. Of course, no thought to what the young ones might WANT to do... it's only about money.
This WT study was pathetic. Never before have I been so vehement in opposition to the WTS. Every comment I just wanted to stand up and say "you people have no idea what you're talking about and neither does the WTS. This is bullshit - F*** you, f*** you, f*** you, and f*** you. I'm out." I woulnd't even have gone if it wasn't for the fact that no one knows of my "discontent" with the WTS. The entire time sitting there I was just thinking of how much I could use a drink.... -
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Comments You Will Not Hear at the 11-13-05 WT Study (Education)
by blondie inreview comments will be in red
wt material from todays wt will be in black
quotes from other sources will be blue
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daniel-p
Im very tempted to bring my sudoku puzzle to the meeting today so I can endure the general imbicility....