OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  17

  My thoughts re Pope Francis

  by ctrwtf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so today i'm watching cbs news coverage of the popes visit to america.

  first, let me say i'm not religious at all at this point in my life.

  still a few things stood out to me about the news coverage of his visit.. first thing i wondered was if a gb member happened to garnish this much press (unlikely) what would his message be?

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  OnTheWayOut

  I think of the average JW laughing at these Catholics flocking to their "Rock Star" leader, then sharing their disgust with the blind lemmings of the Catholic Church with their fellow JW. Right afterward, the same JW finds himself tuning in to the Governing Body's message this month on jw . org that whatever instructions reach them from the organization are consensus decisions that came from Jehovah and they should obey whether they understand them or not.
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  50

  Is the WT SLOW-ly Changing the importance of the Door to Door preaching work to something more profitable?

  by John Aquila in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  its been a couple of weeks since a new c.o.

  was appointed to the circuit and im starting to hear tidbits of his talks..

  one brother told me that in one of his talks he asked the question; .

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  OnTheWayOut

  What they are saying is "You might not see it, but we are telling you that the carts are having immense success."

  What they are saying is "You will have to take our word for it that jw . org is hugely successful."

  What they are doing is cutting down on literature "placements" because that costs them money. They are bullshitting that the cart work and the internet are so successful.

  What they are saying is "Instead of going door-to-door, what we need is your money."
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  30

  Where you are in your life now.....What would you have preferred .... To be left in ignorance ? ...Or to know the truth about the truth

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think possibly their are a few valid reasons for either options to this question ,depending on a number of factors .. such as how old you might be, how long you have devoted your life to the "truth" as you believed it .

  ?....how it may affect your mental/physical health and well being.?.

  how it will affect your financial position in your life ,?

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  OnTheWayOut

  With childhood exposure from my JW mother and her sister-in-law, I converted to JW in my mid-20's. From my first returning to my last meeting was 20 years. I still have a JW mother, I gained a JW wife who is still a firm believer, and I have JW in-law family. The main positive aspect of my situation is that I have no children.

  Despite all the JW's in my life, I could not imagine wanting to stay ignorant for any reason at any age. While it is difficult being in a divided marriage, my marriage is strong enough to weather the problem.

  As a fader, I am not shunned by my mother nor my in-law family. Even if I were, I would rather be out of that Kingdom Hall. If I had kids, I would have been quicker about getting out of the religion and letting them have a normal life. I would have accepted any JW consequences for myself to let them enjoy a cult-free life.

  I have no financial penalty in my life for leaving. My start on the road to mental freedom also started me on the road to a better financial future instead of just waiting for paradise around the next corner. Staying JW was influencing my mental health negatively as I had serious unresolved issues from before converting. Freeing myself allowed me to seek proper help.

  My situation above makes me biased. I am way better off in virtually all ways by being free. But I stand by my thought that all people, no matter their age or situation, deserve to learn the real truth about "the truth." I get that some are old and won't accept it, and some are in so deep or buried in it in such a complicated way that they wouldn't leave even knowing it's a lie. But anyone in such a situation should be free to decide such things for themselves.
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  35

  Why did you choose Jehovahs Witnesses?

  by vinman in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm wondering why ones on this forum initially became jw's.

  if you were born in, why did you make it "your own"?

  if you became one later, what was your draw and driving force?

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  OnTheWayOut

  I was exposed to JW's as a child. My mother was told the end of the world was arriving in 1975. She was kicked out in 1976 when it didn't come but went back (without me) a few years later. So, while I was not a JW, it was the only religion I knew. When, as a young 20's adult, I had life issues and dealt with substance abuse, I attempted suicide, and felt that God stopped me, I was primed to join a cult.... and my mother sent Jehovah's Witnesses back into my life.

  They verified that God did prevent my suicide in the manner I believed and they told me that God has a purpose for me, just as I suspected He did.

  In short, I. needed psychological help, but got played by goofballs who seemed normal and used my need for help to take advantage and have me sell their magazines.
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  30

  Do you agreed with Ben Carson, Muslim should not become president??

  by James Mixon in

  1. social
  2. current

  i do believe islam conflicts with constitution.

  your thoughts.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I know that B. Obama is probably a fake Christian. No, not a closet Muslim, but a closet atheist.

  I strongly believed Romney should lose based on his being in a cult, and I strongly object to fundy Christians trying to impose their beliefs on their administration. So, on the subject of Muslim president, I have to be consistent. Islam is very anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-symbols. I could get over the symbols, but not the other two with all the progress this country has made. Half the population would be secondary citizens if Islam had their way.

  I also know the presidential power is limited, so we would survive Romney or Mohammad Smith being president.
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  74

  That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Blind Perry has an axe to grind. He never got over his false hopes of life forever after death given by Jehovah's Witnesses and reaches out to ridiculous fundy Christian websites as links to restore his false hopes and shares his new false hopes as a way of preaching like he used to do with JW's.

  In fact, the writers of the New Testament taught that the Scripture is infallible.

  Covered excellently by Mephis.
  
  
  

  Even if it were true that Paul and Peter didn’t write those epistles, it is still true that whoever wrote them taught the infallibility of biblical inspiration 2,000 years ago!

  Can you even hear your own irony if you read that aloud? "If the scriptures are fakes, the forgers wrote something infallible, except for the tiny problem of their being fakes."
  
  
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  73

  Everybody loves Raymond

  by Saintbertholdt in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  a while ago the user vinman started a forum thread called: "ray franz was an idiot".

  the reaction to it was quite negative but i have to admit that the title of that thread was intriguing to me.

  by nature i am an iconoclast.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I am with Mrs. Flipper on this. I have always said that if the G.B. wanted to sneak off with all the money to some Caribbean island that won't extradite, I would help them pack. Whatever works against Watchtower and toward the personal freedom of the members is good by me.

  I know this thread implies that Ray wasn't originally intent on helping people, but rather helping himself. All I know for sure is that his first book did not have any heavy laden resent toward Watchtower like it would have were I the author. Regardless of what got him to write it and to write in such manner, it turned out to be just what vast numbers of members needed for their own personal crisis of conscience.

  I think the end results speak for themselves. Ray did a wonderful thing with his first book and he never created a following for himself.
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  11

  Big Bang or Big Bust?

  by redvip2000 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i noticed on the october issue of the awake magazine a much softer stance on the big bang theory.

  now, i'm not sure if officially the org was ever against this theory ( i did not find much on this), but i do recall on a congregation level, there was constant mockery from jws about the idea that universe was the result of a big initial explosion.. we now see a softer position on this.

  as the org now explains:.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Watchtower's biggest enemy is the Bible. Their chronology was invented when virtually all Christians took the Genesis/Exodus account quite literally. So if they can find an out that makes them more in line with widely accepted science, they take it. All they need is "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." No time frame, no details.

  After that, it all has to follow the Bible. They did their best to make it sound decent and normal, but they just cannot get past the writings that say that animals were made separately and according to their kinds and that humans were the offspring of Adam and Eve, who were totally created separately from all other creation.

  Because they use "original sin" as a reason to need Jesus and a time chart that depends on Adam being 6000 years old in 1975, they cannot simply drop it.
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  11

  The False Hope of the Watchtower

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower has long denied the substitutionary sacrifice of jesus.. ot picture of nt salvation:.

  on the night of deliverance from pharaoh, the sons of abraham were to slaughter a spotless lamb, eat its flesh and smear some of the blood over the doorway and on the door-posts of their home.

  because they were under this blood arrangement and had the lamb inside of themselves after they ate the passover supper, the angel passed over that house as he delivered gods execution judgment.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Hey, this thread ties in very well with Perry's. Both discuss a false hope:
  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/471510001/thats-jesus-stories-most-reasonably-explained-myth-history-makes-this-obvious
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  36

  Today I got a review that left me scratching my head - what do you make of it?

  by Brock Talon in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  as a published author on amazon, i'm used to getting negative reviews from time to time.

  it goes with the territory and i'm ok with it.

  writing is an art form, so no art is liked by everyone.

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  OnTheWayOut

  By the way, three other people have already answered that review with their own comments

  That's probably the best way- let others have their say.