learntoswim

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Posts by learntoswim

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  20

  I _feel_ rational, so why am I still afraid?

  by under_believer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am at a point in my doubt and recovery process where i feel almost completely agnostic.

  i am an empiricist; evidence required, please!

  ) of what i was taught as a witness has been discarded.

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  learntoswim

  The thing is, we are living at the moment in a time of great upheaval, and things going on around us, do seem to fit in with what the WTS are saying. Its crazy whats going on around us, it seems just bizzare to me. And the WTS explanation that these things are happening because Satan is ruling the earth according to his diabolical plan, excuse the melodrama, does make some sense!

  I know where you're coming from I have the same confict. tho I'm not as convinced as you are its not the truth! I'm 50/50, I really can't decide either way.
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  30

  I've had it. I want to DA myself

  by White Waves in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  but i am afraid to send a letter to my old kh.

  what should i write to make sure they don't just df me?

  also, they refused my request to da myself before.

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  learntoswim

  You have to be specific. If you genuinely want to be DA'd then you have to write a letter to the PO of your current congregation saying "I wish to disassociate myself from Jehovahs Witnesses" then you will be viewed as a DF'd person. If I were you I would post the letter as a recorded delivery, so the sendee can't deny receiving it!

  LearnToSwim
• 
  37

  Email from "Bill"

  by BritBoy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  got an email from bill [[email protected]] with a word docement attached (32 pages long) warning me of the physical distruction of brooklyn bethel in 40 days time...

  huh??.

  here is an excert:.

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  learntoswim

  OK.

  Update time. Police took it really rather seriously and a Special Agent chap (quite cute it must be said) arrived and took a copy of the whole thing away with him. Will be in touch with me tomorrow.

  LOL! britboy you actually did report it are you serious ha ha ha! you can't be serious.

  As funkeyderek said they have been sitting around playing with numbers for years. they've got so many predictions wrong, and they just keep changing their story and making excuses. the guy behind it has been at it for a few years, he was df'd a few years ago for disagreeing with GB from what i hear. check out the website at truebiblecode.com, its been around for a few years, he's so convinced he's right even tho reality has proven him wrong quite a few times.

  As derek said:

  The most annoying and frustrating aspect of their deranged behaviour is that even though all their predictions fail with stunning consistency, they never falter in their delusions

  lol, absolutely!
• 
  40

  Freemasonry and the congregation

  by Satans little helper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are there any freemasons who post here?

  if you don't want to add to the thread then feel free to pm me.. one of my close friends is a mason and has encouraged me to consider joining but everything i have known about the masons in the past has been negative - all bigoted jw speak.

  from what i have researched they are a fraternity who hold near christian moral values and cannot understand the vitriol the witnesses hold for them.. i have also seen pictures of rutherford's grave in a masonic cemetary so cannot understand why they would aim such negativity against a group which their founder belonged to.. can anyone shed any light on this?

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  learntoswim

  freetosee,

  I wasn't getting annoyed at you, sorry. i was getting annoyed because i've seen that list several times, and more often than not its headed by the claim these are beliefs shared by the masons and the WTS. But yes, you did say masons and russell, which is accurate like you siad.

  I tried to download that pdf last night, my connection real slow at the moment, real slow! i'll try again later. interesting quote from the encyclopedia, “JEHOVAH is, of all the significant words of Masonry, by far the most important…”

  !!!!! havent seen that before, good stuff!

  Learn
• 
  40

  Freemasonry and the congregation

  by Satans little helper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are there any freemasons who post here?

  if you don't want to add to the thread then feel free to pm me.. one of my close friends is a mason and has encouraged me to consider joining but everything i have known about the masons in the past has been negative - all bigoted jw speak.

  from what i have researched they are a fraternity who hold near christian moral values and cannot understand the vitriol the witnesses hold for them.. i have also seen pictures of rutherford's grave in a masonic cemetary so cannot understand why they would aim such negativity against a group which their founder belonged to.. can anyone shed any light on this?

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  learntoswim

  I've seen this list a few times, and its inaccuracy always annoys me! Point by point:

  ABOUT GOD
  
  

  • Jehovah is the most important word, used rather than Yahweh
  • Both use the Masonic term Great Architect
  • Both believe God yielded power to a lesser God

  The Masonic name of God is Jahbulon, not Jehovah, as i understand it. Many researchers say this is a composite of Jah, Baal, and Osiris. Russell used "great architect", i havent seen it in any WTS publications for years

  
  JESUS
  
  

  • Is only a man, not Almighty God
  
  
  • No need for Christ as mediator

  To say the WTS say Jesus is only a man is an oversimplification at best, surely. Tho they do say he isn't Almighty God. And the WTS don't say there is no need for christ as mediator

  CHURCH
  
  

  • Both claim not to be a religion
  • The church is a pyramid

  I think Russell used to be against religion, but the WTS have been calling themselves religion for decades The second ones ridiculous

  
  
  BIBLE
  Is written in a code
  

  • It’s a hidden book & is a temple

  ..........
  

  FUTURE
  

  • Both believe in a future life for all mankind, a golden Age (Awake!’s early name)
  
  
  • Both reject doctrine of hell

  Yep

  ABOUT TRUTH
  

  • Both say –a lie is not a lie when one deceives someone not worthy to know the truth
  • Both will lie under oath to protect friends
  • Both emphasize continuing revelations (new light)
    
    God build the Great Pyramid [only in the early days did JWs say that!]
  • Both believe in works salvation, new birth not needed [one of those doctrinal points,could start a whole new topic. salvation can't be earned, but at the same time faith without works is dead. is the JW doctrine]
• 
  40

  Freemasonry and the congregation

  by Satans little helper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are there any freemasons who post here?

  if you don't want to add to the thread then feel free to pm me.. one of my close friends is a mason and has encouraged me to consider joining but everything i have known about the masons in the past has been negative - all bigoted jw speak.

  from what i have researched they are a fraternity who hold near christian moral values and cannot understand the vitriol the witnesses hold for them.. i have also seen pictures of rutherford's grave in a masonic cemetary so cannot understand why they would aim such negativity against a group which their founder belonged to.. can anyone shed any light on this?

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  learntoswim

  May I ask....Is any Masonry involved at all in Freemasonry?

  I've been trying to dig up the source but i can't find it, I read a book or thesis by this researcher who said that freemasonry could be traced back to Nimrod, himself a stone mason, and that he was the one that organised a secret fraternity of stone cutters, and their first defiance was the tower of babel which lets face it required quite a few bricklayers.
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  12

  Taking the Veil off Jehovah's Witnesses

  by uninformed in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to start a discussion topic (probably has already been one) on who or how to approach friends and others that are jehovah's witnesses and possible arguments that well get them to examine their belief system.. i have tried without much success, but even though i previously thought these people were "thinking christians" i found that not to be the case.. .

  here would be an example: "i try to approach jw's with an unbelieving mate that is having marital problems.".

  in all my years at the wt, i was kind of proud that people would call me a "good speaker", or a "fine teacher".

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  learntoswim

  no 1914 then there can be no 1918 inspection..... The central CORE doctrine of the Watchtower,yes the reason the Watchtower came into existence was to declare Jesus second coming in 1914.When the prophecy (derived from William Miller of 1842) failed they said that he came "invisibly".
  
  Ergo,no 1914 then there can be no 1918 inspection and sealing of the 'anointed' so the entire wts doctrinal superstructure comes crashing down like a house of cards.

  Yep that about sums it up. Plus the 1914 doctrine and the 1918 "inspection" can also be seriously questioned, independantly of one another.The inspection seems heavily reliant on the dodgy interpretation of the two witnesses prophecy. The societys version of their incarceration due to "trumped up charges" has been seriously questioned by anyone who er.... looks at what actually happened.
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  11

  What is/are the Main Study Books for those Interested in Becoming J-Dubs?

  by XJW4EVR in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  i am preparing a paper on j-dubs, and i need to know if the live forever book & the united in worship book are still required to be studied before a person can get baptized?

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  learntoswim

  brochure first, knowledge book second, and the what does the bible teach bullshit is for the book study right now

  no, i'm pretty sure that if you start a bible study with someone you just do the bible teach book.
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  41

  When and What was your "Spiritual" height?

  by Dune in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the highest i ever got was my being considered for a ministerial servant back in fall'ish 2004. .

  of course, i also started college that semester, and was given an ultimatum and now i'm here .

  but anyway, when and what was your pinnacle height in the organization?

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  learntoswim

  i pioneered for 2 years, was a miniman ministerial servant for one year, and now i'm just a lowly publisher.

  was such a relief when i was removed from all my privilages. its amazing what you can do with an extra 70 hours a month to spare!
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  43

  BIG LIE IN THE BIBLE!

  by Gill in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  god makes the sun shine and the rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous!.

  that's what it says in the bible, (paraphrased to more or less).

  matthew 5 :45. so, that being the case, why does he not make it rain in drought stricken areas?.

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  learntoswim

  Now, if you really want to get into an issue of preceived Bible truth, try tackling the Flood of Noah; There we can have some real fun; I will be happy to dig up my posts on the flood and show how it never happened on a "global" basis

  dig em up, dig em up!!