OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  4

  Festivus December 23, 2016

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  who celebrated even in their heart?

  what were your grievances?.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/festivus.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I acknowledged the holiday, but settled for good thoughts and Festivus wishes to some friends.
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  24

  Elder/MS requirement for marriage talk? (Wedding not in KH)

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  okay team,.

  some family friends who are engaged are getting some flack around the particulars of their wedding ceremony (surprise!

  "strain out the gnat, gulp down the camel", and all that).

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  OnTheWayOut

  All JW's are considered "ministers" and could easily become recognized by the state or jurisdiction in question. Probably a quick internet search or visit to the place that issues the marriage licence would clear that up.
  
  The problem occurs that the elders will come down on the speaker, on the bride and groom- if this takes place. If they don't ever care about being ministerial servants, they might go for it. But then the elders will likely come down on JW's attending to stay away.
  
  It doesn't have to be a rule. They go by their cult training and gut feelings that if it's not done the JW way, then something is wrong. I would do it anyway, as the majority of people who care would attend anyway. As an elder, I went to "secular" weddings of "weak" JW's that were officiated by non-JW's with the legal authority to perform the vows. I never got any heat for doing so.
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  28

  Greetings and would like some advice about a potentially fun idea

  by towerwatcher in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello fellow apostates!

  my first post and a long time lurker here.

  i would like to thank all of you for the existence of this board as this has been instrumental for me in leaving the place i once knew as "the truth".

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  OnTheWayOut

  Maybe the fake stuff would sell better, but change the logo a bit, maybe misspell WATCHTOWER

  
  
  
  
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  12

  The movie moment that woke me up.

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can still remember the day.

  sitting in a theater watching the new star trek flick.. they were searching for god and found him...or did they?.

  when this part played before my eyes i literally felt my heart fall.. still powerful after all these years.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxvkjav5ik.

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  OnTheWayOut

  What does God need with a starship?
  

  I ran into a free-thinker in "field service" who said something to the effect: "Do you think God would really send a bunch of nicely-dressed weirdos with printed stuff that nobody wants to read? Wouldn't he get our attention with something grand?"

  It's fairly similar.
  
  Go further with it. What does God need with a temple, church, synagogue, or shrine? What does he need with a bunch of groveling worshippers praying and chanting and flattering him to stroke his ego. And what does God need with a son? ....a human sacrifice to set things right? All that born-of-a-virgin stuff and being brutally killed to be resurrected again- that would only be the things of a bored God or a megalomaniac.
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  18

  Prince wanted Obama to ban birthdays and Christmas, according to his buddy Van Jones

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i saw this news scrolling at the bottom of the television screen this morning.

  i looked it up.

  not much of a story, but it certainly has the ring of truth to it.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I saw this news scrolling at the bottom of the television screen this morning. I looked it up. Not much of a story, but it certainly has the ring of truth to it.
  
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/12/08/prince-wanted-obama-to-ban-birthdays-and-christmas-according-to-his-buddy-van-jones/?utm_term=.35312b574ee3

  Prince the Grinch? Not quite.

  The 57-year-old music icon once mused to his friend, political activist Van Jones, that President Obama should ban birthdays and Christmas.

  “Why doesn’t Obama just outlaw birthdays?” Jones, who once worked in the Obama administration, recalled Prince asking. “He said, ‘I was hoping that Obama, as soon as he was elected, would get up and announce there’d be no more Christmas presents and no more birthdays — we’ve got too much to do.’”

  Prince, who performed a private concert for the Obamas at the White House last summer, became a Jehovah’s Witness in 2001 and, according to the religion’s official website, members don’t celebrate birthdays “because we believe that such celebrations displease God.”

  Jones, a longtime friend of Prince’s who advised the artist on advocacy, said that he laughed off the suggestion that the administration wouldn’t officially censor personal celebrations.

  “Yeah,” said Jones at the time, “I don’t know if that would go over too well.”
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  27

  Angry and scared

  by BlackWolf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i feel like everything that comes out of my mothers mouth is something negative and cringe worthy.

  all she seems to talk about with me is how terrible and demonic our disfellowshipped relatives are, how horrible the world and holidays are, or how she is so much better and "holier than thou".

  it really makes me sick sometimes.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Ah, to be 17 and think that my current situation is desperate and urgent.
  
  No, I don't mean to minimize. Of course you have huge obstacles in front of you. But take them slow and calmly and do your best. You will make real friends when you get some distance from the cult, perhaps not until you live on your own.
  
  If college is absolutely out with your parents, look for a way to focus on that on your own later. You will want to improve your financial outcome and it will take years, but you have years.
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  16

  Guilt-Tripping Questions In Today's Text! (And My Replies To These Questions) 

  by Divergent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thursday, december 8. take your stand against him, firm in the faith.—1 pet.

  5:9.. to do that, we need to prepare our mind and heart, to train ourselves now to do what is right.

  we do not know what our spiritual warfare may involve in the future.

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  OnTheWayOut

  1. "Do I persevere in prayer?"

  Before I left, I also prayed to Jehovah to convince me that JW's have the truth and also in my case- NOTHING happened!

  2. "When faced with peer pressure, do I obey God as ruler rather than men?"
  

  Isn't the question only asking JW's if they obey the elders and the upper echelon?
  

  Are you attending "Christian" meetings if you are at a church? ....or not attending if you are at a Kingdom Hall. Just more buzzwords for "Do it our way."

  
  

  4. "Am I bold in speaking about my beliefs?"

  Really, they are saying "Get your time in, so that we know we control you."

  
  

  5. "Do I really try to put up with my fellow believers’ shortcomings—just as they put up with mine?"

  This is saying that JW's are better than non-JW's so stop trying to see that it really isn't so. Put up with one another but not with anyone who is not a "fellow believer."
  
  
  

  6. "Am I submissive to those taking the lead in the local congregation and to those responsible for doing so in the worldwide congregation?"

  Repeat of Question 2, more direct. That shows that this is the important point. OBEY!
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  31

  Lunch today with.. JW step father....

  by raven in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it has been a while since i've posted, i think its because i have finally gotten some peace and quiet as far as harassment from the jw elders.. my step father, the one who reported me to the elder police for a sinful act invited me to lunch today.. it has been almost a year since the incident, we have talked here and there, it has been just casual though.

  he says he is in town for work and asked if i would like to meet up for lunch, i couldn't think of any excuses so i agreed.. i hope it goes well, hope that we don't go into the jw nonsense.

  hope he doesn't bring elders with him, am i paranoid or what?

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  OnTheWayOut

  Thanks for sharing your story. So glad it wasn't a bad experience.
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  22

  1st christmas ever

  by notalone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, i am around 50,4th gen born in- christmas.

  strange thing this christmas thing.

  i've been watching people this year, really watching them.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Happy holidays to you, to whatever degree you celebrate.
  
  Congrats on your first Christmas.
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  67

  What is life?

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i was a jobo, i used to thing of 'life without end at laaaasssssst'.. having been on my journey out of the wbt$ slaveholdery, i have found that something that makes sense is that life doesn't owe us a meaning.

  psalms 146:4 was actually bangeth on the money-eth 'his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.'.

  although i am now very atheist, and really do not even think there is the remotest possibility of a god, that bible passage is correct.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Life is just a big accident, and your daughter is right- "just little things that bring joy each day should be good enough."

  Life has no purpose, so feel free to superimpose a purpose of your own.

  George Harrison decided that life has meaning with "you by my side."
  
  

  What I feel, I can't say
  But my love is there for you anytime of day
  But if it's not love that you need
  Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
  

  Tell me, what is my life without your love
  Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
  

  What I know, I can do
  If I give my love now to everyone like you
  But if it's not love that you need
  Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
  

  Tell me, what is my life without your love
  Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
  Tell me, what is my life without your love
  Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
  

  What I feel, I can't say
  But my love is there for you any time of day
  But if it's not love that you need
  Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
  

  Tell me, what is my life without your love
  Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
  Oh tell me, what is my life without your love
  Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
  

  What is my life without your love
  Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
  

  Oh tell me, what is my life without your love
  Tell me who am I without you by my side
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFfUt7HQWM