Posts by OnTheWayOut

28

Part of Growing Up - Saying Goodbye to Invisible Friends?

by doubtfull1799 in

i don’t remember having any invisible friends when i was a really little boy, i don’t know if such a thing actually exists, i’ve only ever seen it in movies?

of course it might have looked to others like i was talking to someone on occasions, but i’m sure it would have just been me talking to myself.

the thing is though, i got introduced to an invisible friend in my pre-teens, and i kept the relationship going well into adulthood.

OnTheWayOut

It's hard for some to let go of the invisible friend because of the best seller book and all the shrines across the world dedicated in some way to the invisible friend.

Perry even believes the literalness of the Abraham and Invisible Friend story, and dismisses all the literalness of any evil coming from the invisible friend in that same book. Invisible friend can't possibly allow murder and kidnapping of little girls to be raised as sex slaves. He doesn't care if it's in the same book he uses as evidence of Invisible Friend's existence.

As long as people like Perry belittle non-belief and insist that only ignorant belief in Invisible Friend will make a person good, he won't be put away.

Most people know that Sherlock Holmes and Luke Skywalker were fictional people. Virtually everyone outgrows belief in Santa Claus, but they cling to this Invisible Friend.

95

Who can explain why the "Two Witness" rule is wrong, in the simplest term?

by DATA-DOG in

with all the legalese being tossed around, and the expert manipulation on the part of the wtbts, who can explain why the "two witness" is being perverted by the wtbts?

i don't care if you're a bible believer and want to approach this from a biblical standpoint, or if you simply use logic and reason.

how would you explain this subject to a j-dub, or even a non-dub?.

OnTheWayOut

As stated by others, the two-witness rule is not necessarily wrong for the various reasons stated.

What is wrong is for Watchtower to be in the business of law enforcement and justice. If they treated the "CRIMES" of raping children or beating spouses the same as the crime of murder, they would always always always call the expert authorities in.

I know that if they always call the police, they might look like they are not the wonderful help to members that they want to appear to be. Members might learn to skip going to the elders with ANY problems after they learn to go to the police with crimes. That's alright by me, too.

27

Talked to a JW at a literature stand today

by nevermind in

guys,.

i need your help in trying to wrap my head around this strange experience i had today talking with a jw lady sitting at a literature table in a busy outdoor shopping center.. i'm a very shy person, but i always wanted to ask these jws at their literature stands questions to start them thinking about the validity of watchtower teaching.

i finally mustered my strength today to talk to this jw lady.

OnTheWayOut

nevermind, I don't think the woman was lying. She is just using her filter as Blondie first mentioned.

She believes the excuses and allowed them to be embedded in her mind.
My mother is very similar. But questioning still helps. My mother has enough conflicting information and excuses in her head that she started to buckle sometime after "overlapping generation" came out. I am not saying she will ever let go of her JW beliefs, but I think deep down inside, she knows she's not going to see Armageddon in her time.

You keep asking questions if you like. But don't expect rational responses.

50

Pharaoh tries to kill all male babies - later Moses orders the very same thing!

by George One Time in

so many things that i just discoved about the bible.. .

so from the book my book of bible stories, we all know how little moses was saved from a cruel pharaoh.

of course the king of egypt was afraid that those cute little babies would endanger his empire eventually.

OnTheWayOut

That's a very good point. We are supposed to be horrified that Pharoah would kill all those babies, but we are supposed to forget the horror and just say that killing all those Midianites, including babies, was because they were a nation against God. Those children had nothing to do with any issues or wars.

And don't forget WHY they kept the girl children alive- now there's a horror story.

16

I've been awake 1 year today!

by pale.emperor in

it was a year ago today that my life changed completely.

i'll never forget it.

i had zero friends in the kh and was never included in the "guys" drinks, football games, parties etc.

OnTheWayOut

Happy Anniversary.

22

Went to the assembly..some.personal thoughts on it.

by integ in

jw
friends

i've been as honest as i can on this forum throughout my time bouncing in and out..and been jumped on for saying anything positive about the "truth" or my experiences at the hall, but it's been a few years now since i have been attending meetings.

i go to the memorial for family reasons and went to the assembly today for the same reason...but one observation i have to make is most of us have all dealt with years of hearing how gawd awful "the world" is and how the only happiness is going to meetings and out in service.

now that is total bs.

OnTheWayOut

In all honesty "the world" may not be as great as a repressed witness on the way out may think it is. There's a ton of bad...and negativity. Financial problems...people problems...crime etc etc etc. a heck of a lot of despair. THAT is all true.

The world, including Jehovah's Witnesses, does have plenty of bad and problems. But it's not Spiritual Paradise vs. Satan's evil world. If people jump all over you for defending, it may have to do with just laying such statements out there. While your statement about "the world" is generally true, I will take a fighting chance in the world over just letting 8 to 12 men in New York dictate everything while they steal members' money and ignore the plight of children victims of pedophiles in an effort to hide the evils within.

I get what you said- it's nice to get away from "worldly" stresses and just vegetate. Could you do that on a weekend getaway, though? Why feed poison into your mind, or attempt to block it out? Just avoid it.
And if I went to see a lot of "old friends," they would just whisper about me afterward- "He stopped all spiritual activity." "He's let pride ruin his morality."

I am going to the beaches of Hawaii this April. Just me, a good book, a chair, a few hours of snorkeling each day, nice cold drinks and healthy snacks until it's time to head back to the hotel every day. I would rather fill my mind with that, so that I can have great nostalgic memories of that when I get old.

12

Need Information on San Miguel,Cuba Kingdom Halls

by Ephraim Jamin Vasquez Jr in

jw
friends

greetings fellow brothers and sisters,.

i'm looking to visit cuba and was thinking of traveling to san miguel, cuba and i was wondering if anyone has kingdom hall addresses (phone/address/location) want to visit my brothers there.

i do hope someone can help me, i'm out of options :).

OnTheWayOut

From what I gathered here and from trying to do the search on the JW site, you must log in as an elder or servant to find a Kingdom Hall in Cuba. I don't know that you would find it even then.

Catholicism is the predominate belief, Santeria has survived but is mostly blended with Catholicism. Protestants and a few others are there. Jehovah's Witnesses are there. But because the government banned open religion for so long, groups are cautious.

I would suggest enjoying Cuba without the Kingdom Hall. If you visit during the Memorial, you are only required to attend if you you are "anointed" and need to eat the crackers and sip the wine, but isn't that something someone so spiritual knows how to do on their own?

.....or just go and hope to run into the JW's with their cart. I mean- preaching the word is so important. Of course you will find them doing that work. They will tell you where the Hall is.

17

Wish me all the best

by LevelThePlayingField in

jw
friends

so i called in to my local walgreens pharmacy to get my blood pressure medicine refilled.

i go to the pharmacy to pick it up and they tell me that the doctor has denied filling it saying to them, "prescription refill not appropriate".

i asked them what that means and they say you'll have to contact your doctor on that, sorry.

OnTheWayOut

Level, you do need to see your doctor and have him run current tests on blood pressure or whatever, so that he can properly prescribe meds for you.

As to not drinking ANYMORE EVER, it may be a lofty goal. It's a good one, but I can tell you that, as an alcoholic, my goal is to refrain from alcohol TODAY. Tomorrow, I hope to have that same goal again, and again the next day, and so on. But to just say "now I am determined not to touch the bottle again" when you have touched it within the last half day of saying that- it's a goal where you are almost predicting your failure.

I was already sober for a long time when I learned TTATT and I also fell off the sobriety wagon at that time. So, I didn't reach my goal to refrain from alcohol several times. But then another morning came and I set my goal again to stay sober THAT DAY, and I have done so for each day since that day. Instead of lofty goals of years or "forever," I plan to stay sober today as I have done so for maybe 10 years now.

And that is not a sell-out, so I can fail and start again. Each daily goal has been important to me. I know that one day's failure could lead down the path of not setting that goal ever again. But I hope that is not the case. Just in case, I better try hard to stay sober today.

Be fully honest with a doctor. If you were only sober for a day or a week, tell him. If you won't take your meds or won't do what the doctor wants you to do, tell him. It's your money or your insurance paying him to help you the best he can to keep you alive under the conditions that you will abide by. Don't hide a "drinking problem" from him and don't skip seeing him because you haven't stayed away from drink.

18

PUT YOUR THINKING CAPS ON...AGAIN! (Zeb's thread regarding 1914)

by redpilltwice in

23 days ago, zeb posted this familiar but ever intriguing thread regarding 1914, the mother of all topics.. put youir [sic] thinking caps on.zeb 23 days ago this was sent to me from doug shields blog.

for those who like stats and numbers may find this of interest.1914 – recognizing the ”the elephant in the room”.

the problem with the date ”1914 ad” lays with the two calendars that are involved – jewish and gregorian.

OnTheWayOut

This was all very interesting when people came up with their various doomsday dates, but it is quite easy for a JW in later times to simply think that "a year is a year" and just as the Jewish calendar allowed a variance in the year once in a while to correct for errors, so a cult member would accept the theories that allowed for a proper year to be used.

I know that isn't really an answer, but it is easier to demonstrate that 607 BCE was wrong and that Watchtower predicted so much for 1914 CE that did not happen, and even easier to demonstrate that Watchtower and its predecessors has said the sky is falling so many times when it didn't.

This stuff is important to only a handful of us- most of whom are OUT of Watchtower. As for the rest, they already KNOW that C.T.Russell was right even though he was wrong. So further complicating the dates doesn't seem like a way to help them wake up.

Here's some simple math- Russell believed that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874, and that he had been ruling from heaven since that date. He believed and stated that the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and that Christ would take power of Earth's affairs at that time. That was ONE GENERATION of 40 years past 1874. The only reason 1914 is held onto within Jehovah's Witnesses to this day is because World War I broke out that year. But that was not the thing they were looking for, and if it was, it should have led to Armageddon instead of peace afterward.

102

Any atheists here? Have you come to terms with your new reality?

by kpop in

jw
friends

alone, without my safety net of "god" being there to remember me when i die.

after much consideration, examining science, history and using logic, i have come to the conclusion that there is no "god" at least certainly no loving, personal "god.

" shortly before my final conclusion was reached, i read an excerpt from an expression attributed to marcus aurelius, .

OnTheWayOut

Figuring out that God isn't there was almost as mind-blowing as figuring out that "The Truth" was all lies.

But processing the facts and the philosophies helped. Live as if this life is all there is, because it is.

Enjoy people in your life.