OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  38

  Hello

  by Munster Abu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  new here but looking forward to joining in some of the discussions with you all.. a small bit about me: i'm shane.

  was raised as a jw in the uk by my mum (single parent family) from about 2 years of age.

  got baptised at 15 for all the wrong reasons.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Hey Shane, it's good to have an exit strategy. Hope to hear more from you. Welcome aboard.
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  16

  The social institution of the Kingdom Hall.

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is a warm sunny day, blue skies and i am excited by the prospect this sunday holds.

  will i dismantle a motorbike?

  paint a picture?

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  OnTheWayOut

  The day is a fortune cookie without Watchtower obligations. You can choose to open it and read it and be enthralled by it, or you can choose to eat or not eat the cookie itself, or you can choose to do something else and ignore the whole thing. (Maybe some poet would like to shorten that.)

  In the days of JWism, there was so much to do, especially on weekends. Now, there's so much to choose to do or not to do. It is awesome.

  I will enjoy something of the great outdoors today. My schedule was changed last-minute by a co-worker's mother's passing and a visitation scheduled for today, but that's okay- the rest of the day is mine and not Watchtower's.
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  26

  My Book, 'Gifts in Men', by Patricia F.Sadio

  by GiftsinMen in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  another member on here announced the publication of my new book "gifts in men, a heavier responsibility" a couple of months ago and some of you asked who i was as to my authenticity and motives.

  i have had an amazing reaction to my book even from jws who know me and my story but were still shocked at the details.

  i was not raised a jw, not disfellowshipped nor disassociated and loved being a regular pioneer, serving in uk and ireland.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I can't answer for people, Xanthippe. But maybe the difference is that some of us mentioned our book after we were long-time posters. I have no problem with someone promoting their book, but maybe some don't care for someone coming on-board as a new poster just to promote. Those same people don't need to question me or Punk or Terry to know where we are coming from, because they already know from our posting record.

  As for me, the more books out there, the better. And books need promoting. Welcome, GiftsinMen. Good luck with your book.

  While I have not read GIFTS IN MEN: A HEAVIER RESPONSIBILITY by Patricia Sadio, apparently she is a psychotherapist as the back cover says.
  http://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Men-A-Heavier-Responsibility/dp/1508919623

  I think many here can use a good dose of reading from therapists/counselors. I am currently reading EXITING THE JW CULT: A HEALING HANDBOOK FOR CURRENT AND FORMER JW's by Bonnie Zieman (http://www.amazon.com/EXiting-JW-Cult-Handbook-Witnesses/dp/1508477132/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440937707&sr=1-1&keywords=exiting+the+jw+cult+a+healing+handbook). She is another psychotherapist. I really like the help her book offers, and I especially hope that people affected by the Watchtower but who don't go to therapy read such books.
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  34

  Hebrew Was The First Language

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  according to the newest watchtower:.

  jehovah communicated with adam in the garden of eden, using human language.

  god likely did so in an ancient form of hebrew.

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  OnTheWayOut

  They are kind of stuck with saying Hebrew was the first language. If they say Adam lived 6000+ years ago and Moses wrote the beginnings of the Bible in Hebrew 3500+ years ago, but had some writings from others available to him from previously (I believe they still say that) then that doesn't give enough time for developing Hebrew later than the beginning and establishing it as a written language later.
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  16

  Advice

  by Tigerlove in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  hello, new member here.

  i have a question that has been bugging me for a couple of months now.

  so i have been dating this guy(a witness ) for over a year now.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I wish I could offer something better, but I cannot.

  You are going to be, at best, a booty call. At the worst, he will seem to appease your desires to get closer and let his family know about it, but will always back down and delay doing anything.

  RUN!

  I know you don't want that answer, so here's the softer one: Give him the ultimatum to take you to his family and declare his intentions, or else you are outta there. That way, you gave him a chance.
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  36

  How many here believed, down deep in your heart that the end would come in 1975?

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was straddling the fence on that one, just in case they were right.

  i don't recall.

  telling anyone this is your last chance.

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  OnTheWayOut

  My mother was a full believer. She didn't try all that hard to push that 1975 part on me and my siblings, but wanted us to know the religion as the truth, the way. She and my dad divorced before 1975 after the death of my older brother. While they never really would have made it back together, Mom and Dad were dating each other in 1975, to try to work it out maybe. But when midnight, morning of January 1st, 1976 arrived, my drunk dad called my mom and said "I'm still here." That was the end of that reconciliation.
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  26

  Buddhism Anyone?

  by LaurenM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, i have recently been delving in buddhism and i must say it all makes sense!

  like, the philosophies and ideas are what i've always believed but could never put a name to.

  for example, they don't believe in god, they teach acceptance of all faiths, that peace can be achieved - not by changing other people - but by changing yourself, that everyone has goodness in themselves, that happiness can be gained internally (not externally as a gift from god), and that life is temporary so we should enjoy it!

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  OnTheWayOut

  Buddhism allows one to focus on whatever part they like and reject whatever part they don't like. I enjoy the tranquility of eastern thought, particularly Zen Buddhism and the Tao. I don't buy that Siddartha Gotama reached a point of "enlightenment" and mystical things were within his grasp. But I also see that most Buddhists seem to be able to understand that their stories are not literal- something Christianity has forgotten.

  Siddartha Gotama probably did explore many beliefs and probably did discover "the middle path." I like that Buddhism is not focused on one right way and condemning other ways and that it really is not interested in preaching/proselytizing.

  An author who has greatly helped me find my way is Pema Chödrön. http://www.amazon.com/Pema-Chodron/e/B000AP9Y2A
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  83

  What woke you up?

  by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.

  so what woke me up?

  an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I was exposed to JW's by my mother, who joined for the end of the world in 1975. She was DF'ed when it didn't happen, then went back without me. I joined as an adult after a difficult mental breakdown which accompanied substance abuse, and my mother sent God and Jehovah's Witnesses into my life to save me.

  I was a fully immersed member, climbed the ladder quickly. I went from baptism in mid-1988 to elder in mid-1994. That's almost unheard of. It wasn't just so much a statement about my full participation. It was also a feather in the cap of the elder/pioneer who brought me into the JW's. So he fought hard in the back room to get me appointed.

  Right away, I saw all the nepotism and double standards. Becoming an elder really helped wake me up.

  The initial trigger was 1995’s change in the definition of “this generation.” It very much bothered me that such a hardcore teaching could be changed in a simple Q&A from a study article. I started researching stuff, but only within Watchtowers and a few scholars and clergy. The doctrinal change made me seek a career instead of an ordinary job, because I was sure I would grow old and die "in this system of things." I stopped preventing my wife from going to college, also.

  As time went by, I was further bothered by more double standards- elders being allowed to remain elders if their "secret sins" were more than a few years old and nobody knew about them. Further favoritism for connected people bothered me, and seeing a few unloving treatments of members who had no connections was awful. I remained, but kept my eyes and ears open. In 2005, I finally asked myself why I wouldn’t just simply google “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” So I did, I followed wherever it took me. The most helpful information came from freeminds.org and jwfacts.com.
  

  It was short work from there. I knew nothing of Ray Franz or the United Nations, and the depth of information available on the roots of JW's with past date settings and changes, Rutherford changing all the Russell stuff.

  In 2006, I resigned as an elder and faded out completely by spring of 2007.
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  22

  Who Really is ..... The Blood Washed Multitude (Great Crowd) ?

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for jw's the issue has never been who the faithful and wise servant (f&ds) was.

  that is just misdirection and sleight of hand.

  it is plain from the context that this was obviously a rhetorical question meant for self introspection.

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  OnTheWayOut

  
  
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  12

  The salvation paradox

  by OverlappingGeneralizations in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  another thing that has bothered me-.

  if the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected, and will have the same chance at paradise as the hard-core dubs, what was the point of being hard core?

  i know the point used to be "well, armageddon is gonna happen this weekend, and you'll survive and they won't!

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  OnTheWayOut

  So truly, instead of sending a bunch of weirdos out to recruit more Jehovah's Witnesses, they would get more results if they send out members to kill people before the great tribulation. That way, they would get a resurrection instead of judgement. And it would be much easier to believe this crap is real after getting a resurrection.