under_believer

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Posts by under_believer

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  24

  "Unevenly Yolked"

  by pooka in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i've posted before about seeing a jw and i am catholic.

  right now we are having the "unevenly yolk" conseveration.

  can anyone tell me what percentage of jw's are married to non jw?

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  under_believer

  Serendipity, I'm in US, Washington.
  The "marking" in this case consisted of this:
  Everyone in the congregation knows that this woman is carrying on with an unbeliever. So it's common knowledge. So they have a "special needs" talk, and denounce the behavior she's doing, but don't name her specifically. Then they suggest at the end that such behavior would make someone bad association, and that people would want to limit their "association" with such a person.
  It's not very nice at all. Even my wife who is much more "in" mentally than I am had a big problem with it. Even if you accept the proviso that Witnesses shouldn't have romantic relationships with unbelievers, which I find disagreeable, is this really the way to deal with the situation? And if she DOES marry him, what then? Will she be "marked" forever? If so, that's terrible. If not, what was the point of "marking" her in the first place?
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  29

  They are so scared of us

  by KW13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember the other day, someone i'd been friends with for ages asked me if i was an apostate and saw me as an evil influence.

  he spoke of what goes on at these sites (as my mum does and other dubs) not realising its just like anywhere, good folks and not good folks.. you ever had a dub scared of ya?

  lol

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  under_believer

  gary, the funniest part of your story is that you included the fact that he was "fully clothed." LOL, WTF! That had me rolling on the floor.
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  4

  **Tonight on A&E--Bible Code: Predicting Armageddon**

  by sf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.aetv.com/listings/episode_details.do?episodeid=166442

  upcoming airings: .

  friday, may 12 @ 8pm/7c .

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  under_believer

  I remember as a Witness laughing at the idea of a bible code. This isn't a new idea, it's been around for some time now. It's ridiculous--it involves taking translated or copied (non-original) texts, putting them into a grid, and looking for patterns in the grid. You can make it say almost anything, you can change the grid size for different messages. It's a joke. But you want to know something? Read that description from the A&E site:

  Is there a prophetic, highly accurate code locked within the Bible that outlines past and future events? Does the Code contain hidden messages about people such as Napoleon, Einstein, and Hitler, and key world events like WWII, the Kennedy brothers' assassinations, and 9/11? More frightening are references to future events--including Earth's impending end. We take a balanced look through the eyes of Code supporters and critics and let viewers determine its accuracy in predicting the future.

  Let's break it down against the Society's publications. Is there a highly accurate Bible code that outlines future events? Check.

  *** w00 4/15 p. 9 par. 5 Making All Things New—As Foretold ***

  5

  You may wonder, ‘Since men cannot foretell what our future holds, should we not just ignore the future?’ The answer is no! Granted, men cannot accurately foretell what lies ahead, but we should not think that no one can. Well, who can, and why should we be optimistic about the future? You can find satisfying answers in four specific predictions. They are recorded in the most widely owned and read book, which is also widely misunderstood and ignored—the Bible. Whatever you think of the Bible, and no matter how well acquainted with it you may be, you owe it to yourself to consider these four fundamental texts. They actually foretell a future that is very bright. Moreover, these four key prophecies outline what your future and that of your loved ones can be.

  Napoleon? Check.

  *** kc chap. 13 p. 120 par. 7 The Kingdom Horseman Rides ***

  7

  The prophecy mentions "slaughter," and "slaughter" it was! In the battle of the Somme, a new and murderous invention, the machine gun, mowed down British and French troops by the hundreds of thousands, accounting, by some estimates, for 80 percent of all casualties. In nine months at Verdun, more men died than marched with Napoleon’s army into Russia. Painted with blood on a cemetery wall, a sign at Verdun read "FIVE KILOMETERS TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE." In all, some 9,000,000 soldiers were slaughtered during the four years of that Great War.

  Hitler? Check.

  *** dp chap. 15 p. 265 par. 20 The Rival Kings Enter the 20th Century ***

  20

  Hitler soon went to war, as the angel had correctly foretold: "There will be arms that will stand up, proceeding from him; and they will actually profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the constant feature." (Daniel 11:31a) The "arms" were the military forces that the king of the north used in order to fight the king of the south in World War II. On September 1, 1939, Nazi "arms" invaded Poland.

  WWII? Check.

  *** dp chap. 10 p. 176 par. 23 Who Can Stand Against the Prince of Princes? ***

  23

  By persecuting "the holy ones" during World War II, the small horn put on great airs "all the way to the Prince of the army." Or, as the angel Gabriel states, it stood up "against the Prince of princes." (Daniel 8:11, 25)

  Future events? Check.

  *** ip-2 chap. 5 p. 65 par. 8 The True God Foretells Deliverance ***

  8

  Jehovah challenges the gods to present their case. Can they call the things that are not as if they are, predicting future events with such accuracy that it appears as if they are already happening? Only ‘the first and the last,’ who existed before all the false gods were thought of and will still be there when they are long forgotten, can do such a thing. His people need not fear to bear witness to this truth, since they have the support of Jehovah, who is as firm and stable as a massive rock!—Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Samuel 22:31, 32.

  So basically they don't need a code to do it, but the weird crytpic antitypical this and greater that and time times and half a time and everything else is probably LESS straightforward than a nice grid of letters would be anyways. Amusingly the WTS has talked about the Bible Code before:

  *** w00 4/1 p. 31 Does the Bible Have a Hidden Code? ***

  The prophecies that are openly presented in the Bible give a solid basis for believing its inspiration. Unlike a hidden code, Bible prophecies are not arbitrary, and they do not ‘spring from any private interpretation.’—2 Peter 1:19-21.

  "they do not ‘spring from any private interpretation'" -- Hahahaha. Watch Tower Society, you kill me.
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  23

  Does this make me an apostate™?

  by under_believer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today i had reason to enter a hospital.

  nothing serious, just a doctor appointment.

  as i was walking through the enclosed entryway (it was one of those affairs with a revolving door at one end and double doors at the other,) i saw the spanish-language watchtower and awake!

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  under_believer

  Today I had reason to enter a hospital. Nothing serious, just a doctor appointment. As I was walking through the enclosed entryway (it was one of those affairs with a revolving door at one end and double doors at the other,) I saw the Spanish-language Watchtower and Awake! magazines (La Atalaya y ¡Despertad!).
  I stood there looking at them for a good 20 seconds, just staring.
  Almost without thinking about it, I grabbed them up, rolled them into a little tube, and carried them with me. I then proceeded to throw them into the first garbage can I walked by.
  I have posted on here about nothing making me feel guilty--well, this made me feel REALLY guilty. Some big talker I am.
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  99

  Door to Door

  by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just wondering... what do you think about the jw going door to door?

  do you like it or dislike it?

  my view is ( weather something is false or not) i think it is great someone shares what they love with someone else.

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  under_believer

  >>> no one would be a JW if they did not like doing it (door to door). <<<
  
  Try telling that to those little kids whose parents are dragging them "out in service." I was one of them. Trust me, you can be a JW and extremely dislike going door to door. I can't prove it, but take it from someone with about 25 more years of experience with this than you have: most Witnesses dislike field ministry.
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  24

  "Unevenly Yolked"

  by pooka in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i've posted before about seeing a jw and i am catholic.

  right now we are having the "unevenly yolk" conseveration.

  can anyone tell me what percentage of jw's are married to non jw?

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  under_believer

  My estimate would be about one in six married to unbelievers. Out of those, probably only one of them got hitched after they were Witnesses. And I guarantee you they caught a LOT of flak for it, too. Just recently a woman in our hall was publically "marked" for carrying on with an unbeliever.
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  48

  What kind of thing do you want right now but cannot afford it right now?

  by averyniceguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for me, i would like to have a leather recliner from rooms to go.

  what about you?

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  under_believer

  Freedom from debt.
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  40

  Please explain: Guilt for not having a submissive wife

  by serendipity in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i read someone's post today where he indicated as a jw he had a guilty conscience because he didn't have a submissive wife.

  i'm trying to wrap my brain around that.

  was that a common thing?

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  under_believer

  It has to do with this:
  
  (1 Timothy 3:1-7) . . .If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a fine work. 2 The overseer should therefore be irreprehensible, a husband of one wife, moderate in habits, sound in mind, orderly, hospitable, qualified to teach, 3 not a drunken brawler, not a smiter, but reasonable, not belligerent, not a lover of money, 4 a man presiding over his own household in a fine manner, having children in subjection with all seriousness; 5 (if indeed any man does not know how to preside over his own household, how will he take care of God’s congregation?) 6 not a newly converted man, for fear that he might get puffed up [with pride] and fall into the judgment passed upon the Devil. 7 Moreover, he should also have a fine testimony from people on the outside, in order that he might not fall into reproach and a snare of the Devil.
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  36

  Baptismal date, do you remember?

  by Jourles in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  yesterday was my 15th year anniversary of being baptized.

  may 11, 1991. i'm not sure it counts anymore since i was df'd last feb. 3, 2005, but still, it is a remarkable period of time to pass by and reflect on what changes have occurred.. i was 18 years old.

  the "internet" was barely a blip.

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  under_believer

  Summer of 1987, I don't remember the date. I would have been 12. All my friends were doing it and I wanted to also.
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  74

  Please don't take offence at this ...

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm not a jw, never have been, and in no danger of becoming one.. having read several of the wt mags and publications (and many more extracts on this and other sites) they come across to me as being very patronising in tone and full of pseudo-scholarship, misquoted (or unnamed) sources, references taken out of context, mis-translations, etc.

  i'm aware of jw 'teaching' on the subject of higher education for its members (i.e.

  not a good or necessary thing) so i can understand why many jws raised in it may not challenge the publications.

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  under_believer

  I don't understand most of the posts in this thread. Perhaps in the past it was different, but for the current time, here is what logic tells me:
  * A majority of current JW's were raised as JW's.
  * The Society heavily discourages a higher education, and most Witnesses don't get one.
  * Therefore, most Witnesses must not have a higher education.
  I mean, neither of those points seem controversial, and the conclusion is just simple deductive reasoning. Now, here is what my experience tells me: The only Witnesses I knew with college educations got them before they were Witnesses. There were precious few of those and they usually kept it quiet. I probably only ever remember two or three Witnesses mentioning a college education in my 26 year association with the Witnesses.