Since I know who you are and since I was in you neighboring Kingdom Hall and since I was trapped for 49 years in the religion, I can cerainly empathize with your pain of uncertainty. Your thinking, what do I live for now? Let me tell you, there's lots of good life out there. Enjoying the simple things. Sitting on the porch of an evening watching the children play, the sunset, smelling the flowers, enjoying a cool drink or a bowl of ice-cream. Imagine doing this while everyone else is at all those damned old meetings. As an elder's wife you spent all that time getting the family ready for meetings and field service. We were kept so busy serving we never experienced living. Is it out of fear of not pleasing God that you're asking about going to another church? I went to some others churches 3 times. I couldn't get real excited about what they were doing. If you notice some of my posts and replies to posts I have steered away from religion of any type. I don't need their God of fear and I don't want their control in my life. I sat down a few years ago and said a ferverent prayer not necessarily directed to any being, but in this prayer I said I want to know the truth and I'm willing to pay the price the answer may require. Within a short period of time tons of information came flooding in to me but the information and direction wasn't to any church. The information turned out to be in short that God, whoever or whatever he is has to be bigger than the Bible and religion. I started to rethink God without the concept of being born in sin and needing a saviour. I started looking at history, archaeology, science, and modern discoveries to format my thinking. I've concentrated more on being a good person, a good neighbor, and the father to my children that I never was. I love everything about life more than ever and I try to get the most out of each moment of life. Sometimes I catch myself meandering as you call it when I can't get a handle on what I'm trying to say. I don't know if what I just tried to say makes any sense, but one thing for sure is that my life is better than it ever was as a witness. I'm not trying to tell you or anyone else on this board the answers to life and where to find them. There's just life and I think we should be busy living it!!!
THE SHOOTIST
JoinedPosts by THE SHOOTIST
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21
Where is the Passion now?
by sammielee24 injust a question.
many of us were passionate about the 'truth'.
our lives were the watchtower.
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THE SHOOTIST
The JW religion is not good, we all know that's a fact. However, there are some good JWs who are loving and sincere people. I think the good ones are feeling trapped and gut shot over they things they're seeing on the inside. One of my dear friend was an elder and PO. He stepped down and just sits at the meetings with his family. I don't believe he goes from door to door any more. He is greatly loved by the worldly people in his community. I won't go and see him because I know he would talk to me and go out to dinner with me if I asked. If he is seen with me, he would be disfellowshipped. I could call him right now if I needed something and he would help me. That's a good friend no matter what religion. Eventually people like my friend in Wyoming will leave the religion. If he never leaves I will still consider him a good man and a great friend.
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Question for JWs still on the "inside":
by Hellrider injust a question: if you are still jws (for any reason, many just can`t leave because their entire families are wrapped around it, etc), but don`t believe in it, and lead a "double life", how do you cope with going door to door?
i just can`t imagine how it must feel like to go out there and try to tell people at the doors or in the streets things you know are just bs!
how do you deal with that?
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THE SHOOTIST
I am simply amazed at the number of you on the board that still go door to door handing out the the unfaithful and indiscreet slave's BS journals. Why not try this when you go from house to house. Ask the householder if they would please tell you why JWs are so full of crap. Tell them you're doing an honest survey with your neighbors. Ask them about blood-transfusions, the UN, disfellowshipping, your (we're the only ones with the truth and everyone else is going to die) theory, and last but not least, Armageddon is right around the corner and has been for the last 130 years. Turn in the results with your next field-service report. Just a thought, aren't you just the least bit scared that you could hook and kill some mindless fish. According to your religious stats, it still happens from time to time. There are some people out there like J W Scholar and PMJ. They still believe the earth is flat, prime candidates for JWs.
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Burlington N.C. newspaper does article on JWs and Bood
by THE SHOOTIST inmy uncle told me that the burlington, n.c. daily times news did an extensive article on jws and blood transfusions that was supposed to put them in a negative light.
he said it talked about lots of witnesses dying unnecessarily and law suits.
he has a tendency to exaggerate things, so i'm asking if anyone on the board saw this article and was the article in any of the local newspapers in your areas?
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THE SHOOTIST
My uncle told me that the Burlington, N.C. Daily Times News did an extensive article on JWs and blood transfusions that was supposed to put them in a negative light. He said it talked about lots of witnesses dying unnecessarily and law suits. He has a tendency to exaggerate things, so I'm asking if anyone on the board saw this article and was the article in any of the local newspapers in your areas?
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Symbolic generation. Does it extend batting time for WTBTS?
by Spectrum inbefore coming on this forum i didn't know that the jws had changed the generation definition from literal to symbolic and i obviously predicted that this religion will be finished when that last 1914 codger dies.
when i found out that they had changed their definition i thought, bloody hell this religion is going to go on forever.
then i thought that no, they are going to fade out, then i settled on, they are going to survive just like the catholics and orthodox.
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THE SHOOTIST
I don't think the generation changes really changes anything for the average witness. Most of the thinking witnesses have left or are currently sneaking out on the side-lines. Then there are the witnesses like my father. Having a 10th grade education and a blue-collar job meant he was pretty low on the social totem-pole. However, being a witness, the old congregation servant, elder, PO, and member of the regional building committee guarantees him being a somebody in his no-body world. He's a smart with his hands, hard working guy who has climbed as high as he can on the JW social ladder. He loves his life and his position. He likes giving his parts on the assemblies. He once told my daughter that this is the way he wants it even if it was wrong. Now in his mind's eye he is not wrong nor will he and his religion ever be. Anything you show him is a lie and Satan at work to disguise the truth. His religion is a simple answer for a simple man. He's the member of a special club that has an elite membership. He's got the inside scoop to all truth. If you don't see things his way you're being blinded by Satan. Armageddon has been right around the corner for the last 55 years and continues to be right around the corner. In another 20 years this religion will probably be around with people like my father at the helm declaring Armageddon and the end of the system and you better serve Jehovah. No matter what crap the governing body feeds them, they'll choke it down with a smile and swear their eating chocolate.
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Who is more powerful? the convincer or threatener?
by DavidChristopher inis it the guy who has a gun to somebodies head trying to force them to do what he wants, or the guy who convinces him to put away the gun?
who is the most powerful of the two?
can being curious outweigh the desire to control, threaten, and punish others?
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THE SHOOTIST
Let's say you're a native, raised in some remote village, and you contract a disease that requires inocculation to survive. Your witch-doctor has told you from infancy that anything sharp punctured into your body let's in an evil spirit and you will die. Some unknown doctor comes to your village and tells you otherwise and that a neetle will save your life. Do you think he could reason you out of your religious conviction? Would you be mad at him if he threatened you at gun point and made you take the vaccine so that you lived while others around you died? Would you have to be forced at gunpoint to take another vaccine if you were faced with a similiar situation in the future? You can only convince the convincable. Truth at gun-point is still the truth.
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Jehovah, The Imposter God
by THE SHOOTIST inwhat was jehovah thinking when he put that tree in the middle of the garden and the told adam and eve not to eat of its fruit?
the real all-knowing god would never have done such a thing.
didn't he know that making the tree and the fruit would absolutely ruin this perfect man and woman?
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THE SHOOTIST
MDB and EZRA,
Do you realize what you're saying about your God? It's all about fear and you better be scared and he carries a big stick and he will whop you because you don't reason the way he does. This is JW theology to the max, the same crap I ran out the door to get away from.
In the Genesis fiction account he did put the tree in the middle of the garden and he did set up the whole situation for failure. Your all knowing God set up his ant farm and got out his magnifying glass and he's been playing games ever since. You said he had future plans for the tree. What plans? You mean God's plan failed? This great all-knowing supreme being got his future tree plans messed up. Just how great and powerful is this Wizard of Oz?
Let me tell you some reasoning on the Bible God. He lets Satan walk into his presence and then he points out good old Job. Yea, he's mine and what can you do about it? I tell you what Satan, kill his kids, take his possessions, get his friends and wife to talk crap on him, strike him with ghastly sores from head to toe, and make sure he lives through the torture. Now the all-knowing Jehovah was without a doubt making a sure bet on imperfect Job. This same all-knowing God put Job through proverbial hell to prove a point he already knew the answer to. There we go again, the big nasty kid with the ant farm and Job under the magnifying glass getting his ass burned. If Jehovah knew Job would succeed, he also knew Adam and Eve would fail. He still playing his nasty little games if you believe the Bible.
Remember, Jehovah got pissed because Adam and Eve found out what was good and bad, they didn't want to be mindless puppets any longer. God even said now they have become like us (gods) knowing good and bad. Then he says they've got to die, and their children because I don't forgive anyone finding out about good and bad. Now I want the blood of millions of animals in sacrifice and then a human sacrifice of my perfect son, and they're still going to die after this sacrifice because they may not be kissing my ass just right. Then I'm going ressurrect them so I can let my trusted game player, Satan, out one more time. Then I can continue to play my games and test, test, test, and kill, kill, kill, because testing and killing are what I've proven myself to be so good at. I mean, look at my old testament account, I was great at testing and killing. Heck, one of my greatest feats was killing the 70,000 Israelites because my good friend David numbered Israel. Then that she-bear incident, you know, getting the 42 children ripped apart. That's almost as good as watching Freddy and Jason at the movies.
This all-knowing Jehovah, don't you just have to love him as your knees knock and your knuckles turn white with fear. That what real faith in the Bible does for you!!! -
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Jehovah Condones Rape!!!
by THE SHOOTIST inwhen jehovah's goldly sons came down and cohabited with the daughters of men and things got out of hand, who was supposed to be in charge?
it wasn't the daughters of men who saw that the "gods" were fair, making the first move, but the "gods" who saw and took all they wanted.
today that conduct would basically be called rape.
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THE SHOOTIST
When Jehovah's goldly sons came down and cohabited with the daughters of men and things got out of hand, who was supposed to be in charge? It wasn't the daughters of men who saw that the "gods" were fair, making the first move, but the "gods" who saw and took all they wanted. Today that conduct would basically be called RAPE. Not until things got out of hand with their offspring and wickedness sprung up all over the place did Jehovah decide that something was wrong with this cohabitation and he had to rememdy the situation. What was the rememdy? KILL THEM ALL, ANIMALS TOO!! Think about it, if Jehovah had kept his perfect boys in line and not turned a blind eye to rape, he wouldn't have had to cause the flood. I think Jehovah is just a big, mean kid with an ant farm and a magnifying glass. The flood was a big movie epoch for his entertainment. I really don't believe in Biblical fiction and only a fictional God could do these things. What do you think?
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My husband had a heart attack
by MsMcDucket inhello all, the last 24+ hours, i've been at the hospital.
i took my husband in because he was having chest pains.
come to find out his cardiac enzymes were elevated and his ekg was abnormal.
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THE SHOOTIST
My best friend had the same thing happen to him 18 months ago. They put stints in him as well. With proper diet and exercise he is better than ever. Best wishes for a great recovery.
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HOW MANY ARE REALLY TRUE TO ORGANIZATION TEACHINGS???
by chuckyy inmy experience since leaving the jw's, knowing certain ones who still have contact, is that many jw's in good standing have done, or are doing things that could merit expulsion.
celebrating new year.
agreeing to blood transfusion.
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THE SHOOTIST
The orgainization is just like their God. "Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous god; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." Joshua 24:19 As this heartless demon set up the first humans for transgression, so has his organization set up their adherents. "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." Isaiah 45:7 "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to the one who is striking at the root." Henry David Thoreau