I was born in as a witness. When I was a witness, I always asked questions that had no answer.
Now that I have been free for 29 years, I still ask questions that have no answer.
And I still find a degree of comfort in self delusion.
jaguarbass
JoinedPosts by jaguarbass
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54
Since exiting the Witnesses have you Become More " Spiritual " ? - Not ........
by flipper in..... necessarily more religious, but more spiritual in a non-religious way ?
although being religious is one of the definitions os " spiritual " it encompasses much more in the webster's new world dictionary , under the word spiritual it's definition is : " 1. of the spirit or the soul as distinguished from the body or material matters 2. of, from, or concerned with the intellect ; intellectual 3. of or consisting of spirit ; not corporeal 4. characterized by the ascendancy of the spirit ; showing much refinement of thought and feeling 5. of religion or the church ; sacred, devotional, or ecclesiastical ; not lay or temporal 6. spiritualistic or supernatural .
quite a variety of definitions !
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64
Favorite TV Shows Growing Up
by TOTH ini used to love watching tv when i was a kid.
for some reason not so much anymore.
here are three of my favorites.
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jaguarbass
The little rascals, the 3 stooges, Abbot and Costello.
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jaguarbass
Most of my life I went to a English speaking Suburban Hall outside of Cleveland back in the 70's.
We always shared a hall.
Half of the time I was a witness we had piano players, they didnt use records or tapes. I left in 83, I dont think they used cd's yet.
Back in the 60's and 70's the kingdom hall had lots of picnics and get togethers. In the 60's we even had the Sunday public talk
outside at one of the friends houses to take advantage of the nice wheather.
The friends got together and played softball, football and basketball often.
Back in the 60's I played guitar in a band with the friends. The bass player was the overseers son. We practiced in his basement a lot
Back in the 60's there wasnt a body of elders, there was just the overseer. At least thats how I remeber it as an adolescent.
I have some good memories being a witness back in the 50's and 60's, about 50/50.
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are jw the most dispised religion by the public?
by mP ini remember going to a new school, and before i said anything there were a few kids poking fun at jehovah.
jehovah this and that .
at no stage did i ever hear anyone mention any other god or religion in conversation or playground banter.
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jaguarbass
20 years ago America was a Christian country and Jehovah is the God of the Bible and Christians.
So based on your opening paragraph I see no connection between youths poking fun at Jehovah
and Jw's being the most despised religion of the public.
Did you grow up in a kingdom hall and have a skewed view of America and the world?
I did but I escaped when I turned 31 and met and worked with a lot of Christians and Jehovah is the
name of the God of the bible, especially the old testament.
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The Bible designed to stagnate people and ruin lives
by WTWizard inand i mean the whole bible, from start to finish.. first, the fear factor.
many that are deeply into the bible are afraid that, if they quit or disagree with it, they are going to suffer forever (destruction or hell).
they are also promised a major reward (life on earth forever, or heaven) if they obey.
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jaguarbass
I havent gotten to the point where I believe the bible was designed to stagnate people and
ruin lives yet.
I guess I could believe that if I embraced certain conspiracy theories.
I did watch a video by John Spong today and he said pretty much that what is in the bible
that is not upbuilding to all is not from God.
What is there in the end when its all over but to remember your creator?
Ecclesiastes says everything is meaningless.
As far as I can tell everything is meaningless.
My best guess is we are spirits having material experiences and the bible is a guide to help us
find our way home.
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Why I Hate Religion
by Christ Alone ini know this is a few months old.
but i think it's profound to people that still think like the wt trained them to think.
even after coming out of the wt, they still feel that all christians believe that they alone have the true religion or denomination.
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jaguarbass
I'll say this if you believe in Jesus this place is not for you.
You become what you think about.
The line of reasoning here leads to atheism.
There are Christians here but if you are honest in the end the atheist win all the arguments.
If you want to keep your faith, you need to preach to the choir.
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50
Are You A Screwed Up Adult Because You Were A Witness?
by minimus inor did it not matter that you were ever a witness---you're a bit screwy, anyway?.
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jaguarbass
I used to blame the witnesses for my problems.
I think they had some responsibility.
But then when I think about my parents, if my mother never was a JW, I dont know how things would have turned out.
It could have been better it could have been worse.
Hindsights 20/20. But we dont have hindsight when we are going forward.
Life is a journey and I have been on the journey 59 years. The first 32 as a JW the last 27 as a free moral agent.
I just retired last week. I have time and money. I'm fit and healthy,I live in Florida.
And I'm not particularly happy. I feel kind of empty.
I cant blame that on the witnesses.
Life or God is always teaching me lessons.
The grass is always greener on the other side, watch what you wish for.
When I had my job I hated it so much I couldnt wait to retire. I marked off the days one by one.
Now that I retired I miss my job and think about going back.
That's screwed up, but I cant blame it on the witnesses.
I have an itch and I'm never able to scratch it.
I'm not happy that I spent about 50 years believing in God and the bible and the past 9 years sliding into
agnosticsm and possibly into atheism, depending on ones interpretation of definitions. I cant blame
that on the JW's, the kingdom hall was like a spiritual/ intellectual kindergarden on my lifes journey.
I dont know how to describe my lifes journey, its part wizard of oz, part the Matrix and part, Chariots of the Gods.
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If you felt/feel that you had/have good, close "friends" in the org, how did/does it feel to just give them up?
by Crisis of Conscience inthis is my biggest dilema.
although mentally i really feel i could walk away from the org right now, i still have genuine love for the people i have come to know over the years.
i love people!.
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jaguarbass
I left after 76. I could not recognize any changes from Armegedon at that time.
It was hard at the time but now 36 years latter most of my close friends have also left the tower.
I left in Cleveland and moved to Florida. When I left my best friends were in Cleveland.
Now 36 years later my best friends are here in Florida with me and they are no longer JW's.
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Kingdom Hall Dreaming
by Darth plaugeis inhow many of you have had these dreams, where you find yourself at the hall or assembly?.
i have found myself in both scenarios, almost 10 years since i set foot in either, but when i do have these dreams (not often) i do laugh out loud in my dream saying "what the hell am i doing here" and the freinds..... oh how are you, it's so good to see you back.
and the venue is always dark.
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jaguarbass
I dont call them dreams, I call them nightmares.
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Is Biblical Morality Situational, Based Upon the Arbitrary Whims of Yahweh?
by leavingwt inis biblical morality situational, based upon the arbitrary whims of yahweh?
murder is wrong... if god orders it however, then murder is right, and failing to murder is a sin.. .
exodus 20:13 versus 1 samuel 15:1, 7-11. .
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jaguarbass
God is good orderly direction.
If you want to get the good orderly direction from the word, you have to be able to
rightly divide the word of truth. 2timothy 2: 15.
There is always an explanation defending God and his ways.
Lifes not black and white, neither are God and his ways.