Posts by Open mind

26

The prognosis is 'terminal'

by AK - Jeff in

it always has been.

we are all going to die.. .

how did it affect you though, when that reality set in after leaving the lies of religion?.

Open mind

My 2nd generation JW mom has been terminally ill her whole life.

I think she really bought into the idea that as long as she didn't get hit by a bus or die early she would make it on into Paradise. Thus her lifelong hypochondria, IMO.

Personally, I fully realized I was going to eventually die in 1995 when the WT did their first whopper of an adjustment to the 1914 generation.

I'm thankful I was young enough to start getting serious about a career even though a college degree was no longer possible.

om

p.s. The thread title made my stomach sink.

8

Geneaology - any tips for a noobie?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

saw a news article on a guy who found an old class ring, 90 years after the owner lost it, and returned it to the owner's grandson.. in the article, a reference was made to the finder using the website findagrave.com to assist in locating the grandson.. on a whim, i typed in my grandfather's name on that website and found it!

my grandmother is on there too.. this led to a quick search on a free geneaology site where i found out more details on my grandparents, stuff my parents never told me (dysfunctional family, yada yada, skip boring parts).. .

i'm stunned - i had a mental picture of my grandparents from teh bits & pieces i got from my parents, but my whole picture has flipped!.

Open mind

Genealogy - any tips for a noobie?

*Pick your parents carefully?*

om

238

Active JW understands flaws in WTS doctrine but believes in the Bible

by flamegrilled in

perhaps this is a common topic for newbies on the site, but i have browsed for a while and not seen this exactly answered.. as an active jw who understands the flaws in wts doctrine, but believes in the bible, how do i identify a form of worship that meets all the criterea:.

1) by this all will know you are my disciples if you have love among yourselves (john 13:35).

sure i know that not all jws do this, and that people from other religions or non-religious people do this also, but as an official doctrine jws will not kill one another in war, and in general there is a genuine effort to exercise "agape" love not widely found in the world at large.. 2) preach the good news.

Open mind

Re: question #1, here's a clip from an article on pacifism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifism

Peace churches

Peace churches are Christian denominations explicitly advocating pacifism. The term "historic peace churches" refers specifically to three church traditions: the Church of the Brethren, the Mennonites (and some other Anabaptists, such as Amish and Hutterites), and the Quakers (Religious Society of Friends). The historic peace churches have, from their origins as far back as the 16th century, always taken the position that Jesus was himself a pacifist who explicitly taught and practiced pacifism, and that his followers must do likewise. Pacifist churches vary on whether physical force can ever be justified in self-defense or protecting others, as many adhere strictly to nonresistance when confronted by violence. But all agree that violence on behalf of a country or a government is prohibited for Christians.

BTW, as a few others have already stated, it's VERY NICE to have you here. You don't sound like the typical chip-on-the-shoulder, arrogant JW apologists who often troll these waters.

All the best to you on your path of discovery.

om

31

Our latest "Gee it's great not to be a JW" moment. Share yours!

by Open mind in

jw
friends

recently my son had a minor injury that required a trip to the emergency room.

the admitting nurse asked us a ton of questions and then this:.

nurse: do you have a religion?.

Open mind

Thanks everyone. Lots of great moments of freedom here.

Just want to say a hearty WELCOME!!! to besunny and finally awake. Seems that new posters come in waves around here.

Also, Mr. flipper said: "I've been told I have a half a$$ decent singing voice."

I've never heard him sing, but if anyone here ever gets the chance to talk to him on the phone or in real life, flipper's got a fantastic speaking voice. Hell, I'd almost listen to him read the Watchtower. OK, maybe that's going a bit too far. Anyway, flipper's voice reminds me of the nararator on the old Disney nature films from the 60s & 70s. I did a little googling and the guy's name was Rex Allen. His voice has a little more country twang than flipper's and flipper's voice is a bit deeper. But there is a definite similarity, IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/the-Yellowstone-Cubs/dp/B003Y17K5U

I'm curious if Mrs. Flipper agrees.

om

8

FAO Yknot!!!

by Mickey mouse in

jw
friends

we missed you!.

.

Open mind

Even nuclear-powered submarine, double agents can only stay down for so long.

Nice to see you "surfacing" yknot, even if only briefly.

Strength and peace to you on your path.

om

31

Our latest "Gee it's great not to be a JW" moment. Share yours!

by Open mind in

jw
friends

recently my son had a minor injury that required a trip to the emergency room.

the admitting nurse asked us a ton of questions and then this:.

nurse: do you have a religion?.

Open mind

Recently my son had a minor injury that required a trip to the Emergency Room. The admitting nurse asked us a ton of questions and then this:

Nurse: Do you have a religion?

(My son looks at me, I look at him, shrug my shoulders, he looks back at the nurse...)

Son: No.

You had to be there. It was a very freeing moment.

om

56

Hi - I'm new here!

by Flicka in

jw
friends

i have been lurking on this site for the past 2 months.

for the past few years i have been going to the meetings and doing fieldservice out of guilt.. my husband (twisty) told me regularly i only do it out of guilt but i denied it and said it i want to do these things because i love jehovah and it is the right thing to do, but how can it be the right thing if you don't feel welcome and it feels like everyone is judging you the moment you walk into the kingdom hall.. it has taken a few years and a lot of tears to open my eyes.. over the past few years twisty spoke to me about the various things he didn't agree with but it just went over my head.

a few months ago we were lying in bed and he brought up his concerns again, and i'm not sure what was different this time but i understood and agreed with the points he was making.

Open mind

Oh no Twisty! The jezebel's out of the bottle!

Welcome to you both. Wishing you peace, relief and new experiences in your new life.

om

1

New Year's Resolution

by undercover in

jw
friends

having seen the latest hit and run jw troll thread, i hereby resolve to never respond to idiotic dumbass jw or jw apologist trolls ever again.. however, for posterity sake, i will leave you with a video of how i feel about idiots in general.... just replace the word "posse" with "idiot".... .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6usfurm8ls&feature=related.

.

Open mind

Excellent resolution Undercover!

(And a pretty funny video.)

Happy New Year!

om

167

I am amazed at the ignorance............

by Night Owl in

jw
friends

i read with great interest the evil spirits thread, amazed at the ignorance on this forum concerning the occult.. if you do not believe in the spirit world, you are certainly akin to toothless hillbillies.

good for moonshine making, cousin marrying and not much else.. both the usa and the russians continue to pursue the occult, following in the foorsteps of nazi germany.

they are not ignorant people, such as yourselves.. hopefully, you non-believers will slowly breed yourselves out of the population, since you are the ones holding back progress, with your precious "science" which is really bullshit in disguise.. so tell me, what separates you "intellectuals" from those so called ancient ignorants?

Open mind

Night Owl: "If you do not believe in the spirit world, you are certainly akin to toothless hillbillies."

I couldn't agree more. Here's a link to 50 of the world's most ignorant "toothless hillbillies" of all time.

http://brainz.org/50-most-brilliant-atheists-all-time/

Included in their ranks are well-known knuckle-draggers like Carl Sagan, Clarence Darrow, Richard Strauss, Linus Pauling, Katherine Hepburn, Francis Crick, Warren Buffett and Steve Wozniak.

Not an intelligent or creative bone to be found in the whole bunch. Heh.

om

40

Foolproof Dating Tip For Women

by bigmouth in

i'm prompted to impart this piece of priceless information due to a few posts on the subject of dating and compatability lately.. do you want to be able to predict if the man you're keen on will treat you well ?.

this is my yardstick: does he love cats ?

find out early in the piece about his attitude toward cats.

Open mind

So bigmouth, how would W.C. Fields rate as potential dating material?

om