Posts by PoppyR

167

Of Late Many Here Seem To Be Preaching Aethiesm..

by Qcmbr in

jw
friends

when i first came here a while back there was plenty of discussion around and about jw topics and general chit chat but of late i've felt quite a sharp increase in posts that are: .

1/ preaching aethism (as opposed to putting it forward in a respectful way as an alternate viewpoint.

2/ vitriolic attacks on those who dare have another view ('damn those stupid heretical believers') .

PoppyR

As a newbie.. I can honestly say, atheistic and sceptical viewpoints do not put me off, but sometimes I cringe when people say derogatory things about god or the JWS.. on the whole I STILL feel that most of the JWS are at heart good people. And I realise that in time my viewpoints may change as I pull further away. I have for example posted a question about which version of the bible to read.. and had responses from people such as 'Why bother' and 'it's a pile of shit' kind of thing. Well.. that's not the way I feel, and you saying it doesn't make me believe it!! And it's not really a response to my post.. I was asking those who still read the bible. I totally feel also that people who are new here WILL be put off by JW knocking. We all know how it is, the first few weeks and months are painful! You still aren't sure if you're right, and the guilt.. my mother would be proud of my guilt.. I totally agree, everyone here should be allowed and free to express their own beliefs, but to try and make someone else believe them.. surely that makes us no better than the JWs!!!

Poppy x

56

Do you still want to believe?

by daniel-p in

jw
friends

if the answer is "yes," please explain why.

.

(i don't think this question needs explaining - i think you all know what i'm talking about.

PoppyR

I would rather have remained "ignorant" and been able to live normally and happily

This is SO true, my mother who is the ultimate in guilt tripping said to me the other day that i needed to think of my children.. and I just had to be honest and say to her I wish with all my heart she had given me at least freedom of choice.. which is what I intend to do with mine. I just thank my stars every day that I just got wise whenI did, but I have wasted the best 20 years of my life (16-36) by not getting an education, getting a crappy job, no mortgage, cos why would you want one? No pension.. need I go on? But when I read Crisis of Conscience I felt so sad for the Franz couple and others who literally gave their life, no children, nothing. So no I dont WANT to believe, I still find myself half in and half out, that is I've stopped attending meetings etc, but cant quite shake the 'was it the truth' thing.. and I know it takes time. However the intense freedom and happiness that came the first time I finally realised that not only did I not have to do this anymore.. I didn't have to feel guilty about not doing it either!!

poppy x

7

lions and lambs, is it just me or is it hard to imagine them being buddies.

by PoppyR in

jw
friends

you know something i could never get my head around.. well another thing!

i have a dog, and yes i know dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet, but the smells are not great .

poppy x

PoppyR

You know something I could never get my head around.. well another thing! I have a dog, and yes I know dogs can SURVIVE on a vegetarian diet, but the smells are not great However I have always been under the impression that cats cannot.. and also they have this inbuilt fabulous ability to hunt and kill. Nobody teaches them how to do it, it surely could not have evolved.. so explanations anyone? Is it truly believable that the lion will lay down with the lamb?

Poppy x

21

DID YOU MAKE RETURN VISITS?

by badboy in

jw
friends

or couldn't you be bothered?

PoppyR

The more time I spend here the more I realise I was a crap witness anyway! I HATED return visits, I just knew they didn' want to see me! I stuck with my good old fashioned route calls, the ones who'd give me a cup of tea and chat for an hour about nothing! I always found it slightly embarassing to try and explain the truth to people, it just didn't ring 'true'! dont know why I didn't connect back then that it wasn't right for my very reasonable mind. I really hated it if one of them would come to the memorial, I would squirm in my seat as I was trying to work out what they were thinking of what was being said!! Think the JWs are better off without me!

20

So how does one fade away, dont want to be disfellowshipped

by JoeGeneration in

so how does one fade away without moving?

consider that the elders know where you live.

will the following line work?

PoppyR

Easy peasy... start missing meetings, let them come and shepherd, nod, say you're SOOOO tired, (depression does work well, they have no idea what to do with that one) and you will try.. etc, start missing more, and more, stop reporting, then stop going. Still smile every time you see someone in the street, but walk FAST. Some will shun you anyway, because they have judged you and found you wanting. Most will smile and look uncertain, are they jealous? I was always so JEALOUS of people that stopped coming!! If you have doubts about the truth of the truth.. dont say that to anyone. It takes time.. but before you know it you will be on the outside, and it's a good place to be.

33

making 1914 crumble

by googlemagoogle in

yet another 1914 thread?

there are plenty of threads already about chronology, babylonian kings, egyptian kings, median and persian kings, there is also lots of information available about old bible-students and jw literature.

even a simplified chronology including "fallen baby" and "evil duck" is available somewhere on this site.

PoppyR

Thing is.. they dont understand and it doesn't make them question. They just feel that you are an apostate and should not listen to this sort of reasoning, and should 'trust' the faithful and discreet slave. I am very new to all this, but quickly realising that no-one who is not ready to listen, will listen, and I was just the same, so I cant criticise. Now I have started to see the hypocrisy I feel like the floodgates are opening. tonight we had the book study at our home, it's the last vestige! I have asked for it to be moved but it's taking time. Anyway, we studied the daniel book and suddenly all the quotes like "one famous historian said" and this means this, and this means this... suddenly I had an urge to run upstairs log on and see if anyone else had a different view, because why should I accept that means that???? Who SAYS it does! I'm just reading Crisis of Conscience, and realising how the books are written is quite eye opening, I dont know if I thought Jehovah personally oversaw them, but when you realise that they are just the works of one person often... scary! Very interesting too that one of my all time favourite society books was 'Commentary on the letter of James' and if I was down I used to get it out to study.. now I find the brother that wrote it was disfellowshipped for apostasy!! But it was obvious to me even then it was written by someone with a real deep spirituality.

14

Can anyone tell me about the UN

by PoppyR in

i'm so sorry that i'm sure everytime somone new joins you're going over the same thing again, but all this is very new to me, in fact i've done very little this past week except read articles and cross reference the wt cd rom..lol, everyone thinks i'm getting spiritual again, anyway!

i have read several references to the jws and the un.. can anyone shed some light on the matter, ie point me in the direction of good posts or articles about it, as i'm still unclear what has been going on.

i'm most interested in the facts of the case which is what i think this board is best at!.

PoppyR

THANK YOU! Thanks everyone for your fantastic posts, I did look in the 'Best of' section, and that is what sparked my interest, but I didn't find it really answered my questions as to what had happened. Thanks to Jeff, that one very simple piece of advice did have my jaw dropping. And it's irrefutable. And to legolas,I have yet to read through ALL of the articles, but intend to do so. I am surviving on about 5 or 6 hours sleep a night because I keep getting enthralled in yet another article! And to all of you for your replies, which as usual were FACTUAL. I think it's so true that if the WTS had nothing to hide they would not have dropped it like a hot potato! And come on.. they are not stupid, they aren't just going to register with any old organisation.. this is big.

14

Can anyone tell me about the UN

by PoppyR in

i'm so sorry that i'm sure everytime somone new joins you're going over the same thing again, but all this is very new to me, in fact i've done very little this past week except read articles and cross reference the wt cd rom..lol, everyone thinks i'm getting spiritual again, anyway!

i have read several references to the jws and the un.. can anyone shed some light on the matter, ie point me in the direction of good posts or articles about it, as i'm still unclear what has been going on.

i'm most interested in the facts of the case which is what i think this board is best at!.

PoppyR

Hi! I'm so sorry that I'm sure everytime somone new joins you're going over the same thing again, but all this is VERY new to me, in fact I've done very little this past week except read articles and cross reference the WT cd rom..lol, everyone thinks I'm getting spiritual again, anyway!

I have read several references to the JWs and the UN.. can anyone shed some light on the matter, ie point me in the direction of good posts or articles about it, as I'm still unclear what has been going on. I'm most interested in the facts of the case which is what I think this board is best at!

Thanks in advance!

Poppy x

6

This is not a brighter light it's a lie

by PoppyR in

ok... i just found this and i know it's been posted before, but i had to comment!!

i have tried to justify some of the changes, but this one can only be a lie.

it's a direct quote apparently from something somebody said.. so he either said 'within fifteen years' or he said 'soon'.. it is not possible it's just become clearer what he said, or they misheard him the first time.

PoppyR

Ok... I just found this and I know it's been posted before, but I had to comment!! I have tried to justify some of the changes, but this one can only be a lie. It's a direct quote apparently from something somebody said.. so he either said 'within fifteen years' or he said 'soon'.. it is not possible it's just become clearer what he said, or they misheard him the first time. It was either misquoted the first time, or changed ... I can hardly believe my eyes. Does anybody know if this is a real quote and what he actually said?
*** The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life (book) 1968 pg.9 ch.1 Grand Blessings from God Near at Hand! ***
[As published in original 1968 edition]
Also, as reported back in 1960, a former United States Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, declared that our time is "a period of unequaled instability, unequaled violence." And he warned: "I know enough of what is going on to assure you that, in fifteen years from today, this world is going to be too dangerous to live in."
[Emphasis Added]
*** The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life (book) 1981 pg.9 ch.1 Grand Blessings from God Near at Hand! ***
[As published in 1981 edition]
Also, as reported back in 1960, a former United States Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, declared that our time is "a period of unequaled instability, unequaled violence." Based on what he knew was then going on in the world, it was his conclusion that soon "this world is going to be too dangerous to live in."
[Emphasis Added]

27

What was the truth when you joined the Org?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

when i joined the jw org.

the truth was that we were separating sheep from goats by preaching door to door.. today this isn't so.. name a few truths that were true back then but are lies today.. .

PoppyR

You know what I could never understand, and this has not changed, so sorry if it's off topic! They say Jehovah has 'lovingly' allowed all this time to pass so that more people could be saved, and last week the brother said.. look around, how many of us would not be here if the end had come 10 years ago!!! And i just couldn't believe he said it cos 10 years ago our hall used to be full, and now it's half empty and most of the people that regularly go are the old ones. There are very few young families going along now. And when I voiced this to my OH he said.. well it's a time of testing so the ones that survive are really worthy... so is that fair on the person that has JUST got baptised when someone else served 30 years then got tired???