joelbear69

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Posts by joelbear69

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  11

  Guilt

  by joelbear69 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as many of you know i have been battling extreme anxiety and depression for almost a decade now.

  well, generally i do okay, taking things one day at a time.

  i recently had to make the decision to extremely limit my contact with my parents who .

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  joelbear69

  As many of you know I have been battling extreme anxiety and depression for almost a decade now.
  
  Well, generally I do okay, taking things one day at a time.
  
  I recently had to make the decision to extremely limit my contact with my parents who
  are still active JW's and my brother's family who are in some sort of quasi-witness,
  ex-witness state.
  
  I am feeling rather guilty for this, but I swear I'm doing it for my own survival.
  
  My parents have been witnesses for over 60 years. If they are an example of what
  living among the "happiest people on earth" does to someone, then whoa, you just
  have to pity anyone who stays in that long.
  
  My efforts to try and bring even minute amounts of positivity to their lifeview have
  been thwarted.
  
  I feel bad to have given up, but my recovery is still occurring and it is fragile.
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  8

  Generation ?

  by Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok, i haven't been here for a while, so is there a change again in the generation ?

  .

  please, only explain if you are certain of how it is now perceived.

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  joelbear69

  how many lives have been altered by this one doctrine alone?
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  59

  Do you ever miss it? Ever?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for me - rarely would be the correct word.

  i don't miss the indoctrination.

  i don't miss the wasted time in service.

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  joelbear69

  i miss my friends, but I don't miss anything about being a witness
  
  i enjoy intellectual conversation and debate too much. i also don't
  miss having to pretend to be someone i wasn't and pretending to
  believe things i didn't
  
  but i did have many people that i cared about very much and i do
  miss them.
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  3

  Yahoo Article

  by Wordly Andre in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  america's unfaithful faithful .

  by david van biema 2 hours, 20 minutes ago .

  a major new survey presents perhaps the most detailed picture we've yet had of which religious groups americans belong to.

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  joelbear69

  2/3 of us raised JW's leave. This doesn't capture later converts who also leave.

  churn churn churn
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  46

  Friday District Convention notes: Control, control, control

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, one third of the convention is over, i had no choice but to attend due to my current situation.. the talks were worse than last year, and as usual if you have seen the program you will not find jesus in any of the talk titles - in fact, the only time jesus is mentioned is during a prayer or in connection with the ministry.. when you become aware of how sidelined jesus is, you can't help but notice that jehovah's witnesses are a modern version of the old testament religion - it's all about control, be attentive, obey the "faithful and discreet slave" etc etc, in stark contrast to belief and salvation through jesus.. only the talks with midly interesting material or that had ridiculous phrases used by the speaker are shown here.. friday.

  9:50 be attentive to jehovah's promises of deliverance .

  would you believe that this 20 minute talk was solely about being attentive to the program?

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  joelbear69

  don't forget to bring lifesavers candies to suck on and keep you awake.
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  46

  IMPORTANT: Elders Mtg at Patterson

  by confusa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a witness just informed me about a couple that we know who had their assembly recently, and it was announced at the private elder's meeting that there will be a special meeting with all the elders in the us in patterson.

  it was mentioned that we are now living "in the end of end of times" and that the un is talking about prohibiting religions.

  has anyone heard of this??

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  joelbear69

  Soon we will be living in the end of the end of the end times.
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  7

  The Latest Issues of the Watchtower and Awake

  by joelbear69 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  mitch found the latest issues of the magazines stuck to our door yesterday.

  its the first time i've seen them in quite a while.

  wow!

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  joelbear69

  Mitch found the latest issues of the magazines stuck to our door yesterday.
  
  Its the first time I've seen them in quite a while.
  
  Wow! they are so much smaller and thinner than they used to be. More
  like the old pamphlets that we charged a nickel for. It was really
  weird to see them look so different.
  
  Are they having to cut back on expenses that much. I don't believe that
  with the billions they have in real estate. I think they are hoarding
  more money than ever.
  
  The new small mags are not impressive. But then, do people get information
  from print magazines anymore? I only read magazines in airports or on
  airplanes.
  
  Don't most people get their information from the net and from TV today?
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  38

  WTBTS refuses to return 100,000 pound donation from DF man

  by dozy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  watchtower society declines to return disputed 100,000 legacyby emilie filou, third sector, 13 february 2008 .

  the charitable arm of the jehovah's witnesses should return a 100,000 legacy from a man it expelled for trying to convert call girls, one of the man's relatives has said.. martin davis said the watchtower society should return the money left to it by his cousin donald kennett so it could go to kennett's nephew, who is autistic.. accepting money from a member who had been expelled would damage the charity's reputation, said davis, of dulwich, south london.. kennett was befriended by a jehovah's witness in the 80s when recovering from a serious car crash and joined shortly afterwards, davis told third sector.

  he was 'disfellowshipped' from his group in stockport in 2001 after members discovered that he was contacting call girls.. when kennett's mother died in 1994, she had left half her estate to him and half to his autistic nephew.

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  joelbear69

  I came to the conclusion a long time ago that its all about
  the money. This just adds more proof to that.
  
  Just like any bureaucracy, the guys on top get the large
  majority of the benefits.
  
  Basically every organization is a bureaucracy, some are
  commercial, some political and some religious.
  
  The way to beat them is not participate.
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  53

  Things You HATED About Being a JW

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there were a few things that i hated about being a witness.. i love music and live concerts.

  quite often i'd have to play my music privately or hide an album cover for fear it might "stumble" someone.

  i hated worrying whether someone was going to somehow get "stumbled.. regarding going to concerts, it seemed that certain artists only came to town on a meeting night and i'd miss the shows.. what did you hate about being a jehovah's witness?.

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  joelbear69

  being bored

  being controlled
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  32

  Science fiction book suggestions...

  by zeroday in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i love science fiction books and have run into a dry spell.

  i have read alot of david weber but he has been quite slow with new books lately...anyone have any good suggestions for a good read...i need 5 star authors with "blow your socks off" books...any suggestions...

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  joelbear69

  childhood's end.

  Foundation series by Asimov.