rhian

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Posts by rhian

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  1

  Thw Watchtower Dream

  by carlitos in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  rhian

  Yup...I'd say that just about sums it up!

  rhian
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  21

  Worst experiences with ex spouses

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what were some of the worst experiences you had with ex spouses or ex boyfriends/girlfriends?

  one of my ex girlfriends just left me suddenly without ever saying anything in advance and i never saw her again for a long time and that happened by coincidence.

  her disappearence was totally unexpected.

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  rhian

  Worst experience, Husband #1: He died, but it took him several grueling years. Prior to that he was depressed, abusive and suicidal. We got into an argument and he went looking for his guns, which he had stacked on the floor in a corner of the living room so he could clean them (and us with two small children!) Fortunately, the NIGHT BEFORE I had taken them all out of their holsters and put them in the trunk so I could take them to my parents' house, because I was afraid the boys & I would walk in & find him splattered all over the walls.

  Worst experience, Husband #2: May not have happened yet. Hopefully it has. He swept me off my feet, and after two years of dating and resisting the temptation to "misbehave" (okay, maybe just a little), we married and he became Mr. Hyde. Horrible experiences are too numerous to list here. Watch for my book to be published.

  rhian
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  11

  Heaven....

  by Honesty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some common perceptions of heaven include the following: .

  heaven is not a real or literal place.

  when a person dies and goes to heaven, he/she becomes an angel with wings.

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  rhian

  For me the jury is still out about heaven and even an afterlife.

  Not to change the subject, but in Ray Franz's book COC, he talks about how he believes that all men who love God and follow Christ have a heavenly hope, and that the two classes (heavenly & earthly) are not scriptural teachings.

  Where does that leave people like me, who don't WANT to go to heaven? That's one reason I thought I had found where I belonged, among the JWs, because I KNEW I didn't want to go to heaven. I don't belong there. I love God, but I LIKE IT HERE, and I belong here. No matter how you cut it, Christianity doesn't give you many options, it seems...

  I am truly a daughter of the earth; guess I belong with the "nature religions..."

  rhian
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  75

  Bible stories swept under the carpet

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  .

  i'll start.. judges 4:21 jeal drove a tent peg through the head of a sleeping king.. judges 19:29 a man cut up the body of his raped and murdered concubine and sent the twelve parts to the twelve tribes of israel.. .

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  rhian

  Okay, this is just a CONSPIRACY.

  My point is that the WISEST man that ever lived committed apostasy and turned to paganism...and was still buried with honor among his forefathers (NOT destroyed)...that tells ME something...

  rhian
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  75

  Bible stories swept under the carpet

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  .

  i'll start.. judges 4:21 jeal drove a tent peg through the head of a sleeping king.. judges 19:29 a man cut up the body of his raped and murdered concubine and sent the twelve parts to the twelve tribes of israel.. .

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  rhian

  Hey, what happened to the rest of my post?

  42 And the days that Sol´o·mon had reigned in
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  75

  Bible stories swept under the carpet

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  .

  i'll start.. judges 4:21 jeal drove a tent peg through the head of a sleeping king.. judges 19:29 a man cut up the body of his raped and murdered concubine and sent the twelve parts to the twelve tribes of israel.. .

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  rhian

  11 And King Sol´o·mon himself loved many foreign wives along with the daughter of Phar´aoh, Mo´ab·ite, Am´mon·ite, E´dom·ite, Si·do´ni·an [and] Hit´tite women, 2 from the nations of whom Jehovah had said to the sons of Israel: “YOU must not go in among them, and they themselves should not come in among YOU; truly they will incline YOUR heart to follow their gods.” It was to them that Sol´o·mon clung to love [them]. 3 And he came to have seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives gradually inclined his heart. 4 And it came about in the time of Sol´o·mon’s growing old that his wives themselves had inclined his heart to follow other gods; and his heart did not prove to be complete with Jehovah his God like the heart of David his father...41 As for the rest of the affairs of Sol´o·mon and all that he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the affairs of Sol´o·mon? 42 And the days that Sol´o·mon had reigned in
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  25

  Why are Witnesses better at being "Mean" than being "Nice"?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if the elders tell the congregation to shun someone, they will do a good job at it.. if the elders tell the congregation to be good to one another and forgive one another, it doesn't always happen.. if someone is in need in the congregation, it doesn't mean that they will be helped.. so, why are the witnesses better at being mean or insensitive, rather than nice and caring and generous?.

  my sister is not a witness.

  she is of another religion, and when someone in the congregation needs help, they go full speed ahead to help.

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  rhian

  I know that in our KH doing anything like the "spaghetti dinner" thing would have been considered highly inappropriate. For years we were told that the only reason JWs were organized at all was to carry out the preaching work. On the one hand, this gave people the feeling that they DID have a personal relationship with God that was not tied to the organization -- on the other hand, we were specifically told that any social activity or aid for others was to be done on a personal basis, not on a congregation basis. Having a dinner to raise money for someone would have been considered a "social" event and frowned upon. You were expected to put up the money yourself.

  Later they tried to turn the disinterest and self-centeredness around a bit, but it was too late. And then the elders weren't exactly a good example, either.

  rhian
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  40

  I just received an email regarding the CoC book...

  by kittyeatzjdubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...apparently i ordered a copy over the internet in a drunken online shopping rage.. .

  btw...i am glad i ordered the book...been meaning to read it for awhile.. .

  luv, jojo

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  rhian

  jojo,

  I think you'll like the book. It does drag in spots; RF gives SO MANY examples of what he's talking about, which is good and bad -- the evidence is undeniable, but at times you may think "okay, I've GOT the POINT!" -- and he repeats a lot of what he says in various ways at times -- but overall, I think it should be required reading for anyone even remotely associated with the WTBTS.

  I also thought during the first part of the book that he was dwelling too much on OLD history -- and I wanted to say, "Okay, but give me some current proof that this is still happening." But when I got to the chapter "Point of Decision" it all began to come together, and it was clear that the gears that had been put into motion in the 1800s and early 1900s are still grinding today.

  No more guilt for me for leaving.

  rhian
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  19

  Judicial Committees

  by Honesty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in light of the following scriptures regarding jesus, how do judicial committees and their members composed of three elders even remotely follow jesus' teaching and example?.

  at dawn he went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to him.

  he sat down and began to teach them.. then the scribes and the pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.

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  rhian

  I'm also guessing that all the secrecy has something to do with people who have accused them of defamation of character, as when they used to announce to the congregation the nature of the "sin" for which someone had been df'd.

  If they publicly held a person up for accusations, (not in a court of law, of course, but in the congregation)can you imagine the outrage? hehe

  Ray Franz had quite a bit to say about the "star-chamber" meetings that were held in the HQ "witch hunts" of the 1980s.

  rhian
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  12

  Sex in 1914

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as a loyal witness, my dear departed mother sincerely believed in the "worse and worse" mantra.

  somehow, despite the history.

  of u.s. warfare, slaughter of native americans, dominance of urban gangs and lynching of blacks - the world was somehow better.

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  rhian

  Quote by (I forgot who) re: Christianity:

  "God against Man, Man against God. God against Nature, Nature against God. Man against Nature, Nature against Man. Very strange religion."

  rhian