OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  17

  So I've been warned about whether I should reveal my feelings of a Deity

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  all i have to say about that is that i agree with the following quote attributed to marcus aurelius:.

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  OnTheWayOut

  As for Lee Strobel, if you wanna sell more Christian books, you need a new angle that people haven't tried.
  An atheist investigative reporter out to prove Christianity wrong winds up a Christian.
  
  Kinda sorta the new angle people will buy.
  
  I tried looking at one of his "The Case For..." books. It was full of strawman arguments and seemed to accept what the Bible said without question. As far as a man joining a belief after investigating it because his wife joined the belief, we are all aware of that happening all the time in JW's, so it must be common in other Christian religions.
  
  I get that some here will circle the wagons around welcoming or rejecting someone because of their atheism or lack of it. That is sad. We can have our belief arguments but they should not change our support for each other.
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  48

  How Do You Think The USA Should Allow Illegal Immigrants To Freely Flow Into The Country?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many people have said there is no emergency at the border for people illegally coming into the country and furthermore we have an obligation to help these people in a humanitarian way come through.

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  do you think we can just keep on taking in all of these people?

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  OnTheWayOut

  Your original title and first posted question and statements are too "loaded" as if you are setting us up for absolutes.

  I can ask "When will Minimus stop beating his wife?"
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  7

  If shunning were no longer a JW policy, how many would leave the Org?

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  additionally - if this shunning rule was removed and everyone was made aware of the dirty secrets of the org.. (e.g.

  csa-arc / un membership / malawi - mexico contrast / etc.).

  would those leaving be higher?.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I am "inactive." Rules change all the time. Shun, don't shun. I would be concerned that the decision next year is to shun those that they said not to shun. So I wouldn't just go DA myself.

  They have too much to lose if people who woke up freely discuss this with people who did not wake up. I don't see such a thing happening. If anything, they will make more hard rules to shun inactive ones eventually.
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  27

  My Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain Moment...

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is my first post.

  i am physically in and mentally out.

  well i will not be offering a tl/dr version as that would be too difficult and it would also be an oversimplification of how i got to see the man behind the curtain.. my story begins at the 2016 regional convention of jehovah's witnesses.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I would love to chat in person with some of you but that will have to wait till I am POMO / DA'd

  
  If not this year, perhaps next. In the United States, there are gatherings of ex-JW's on meetup.com and some go right through Facebook. A member of this board, Flipper, has an annual July big meetup at Lake Tahoe on the weekend after July 4th typically.
  
  But there is also internet communication and the phone. When you are ready, people are there for you.
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  10

  Just noticed something about my membership here

  by JeffT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been a member of this board three years longer than i was a jehovah's witness (eighteen vs fifteen).

  i'm sure i've put in more hours here than i did in field service, it was more fun as well.

  anybody else with similar numbers?.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I am not there yet. Even when years here surpasses years there, I doubt I would put in the hours I put in as a JW.
  
  Also, I never fake my hours here. (I never really did that there either, but might have rounded up a bit.)
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  27

  My Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain Moment...

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is my first post.

  i am physically in and mentally out.

  well i will not be offering a tl/dr version as that would be too difficult and it would also be an oversimplification of how i got to see the man behind the curtain.. my story begins at the 2016 regional convention of jehovah's witnesses.

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  OnTheWayOut

  You are preparing your escape? Like Jesus told Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

  I had to leave before my wife was ready to go. She's still JW after more than 13 years away from meetings. I have no regret because I needed to leave for my own sanity.
  
  One similar thing that bothers me is selling Kingdom Halls to "Christendom." If it is wrong to do things that benefit false religion for members, then Watchtower should bulldoze a Kingdom Hall and sell the empty lot before selling it to some other religion.
  
  I like these thoughts you shared: "Whether I believe in Christ / I will enjoy the holidays. I will enjoy my Birthday and others. I will celebrate life because it is the only one we get."
  
  I enjoy birthdays and gift sharing at Christmas. Celebrating life is awesome.
  
  
  
  
  
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  70

  Do old time present day active JW`s genuinely believe in overlapping generations ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for the life of me i can not come to terms with old timers in the "truth" who could swallow this interpretation of scripture about an overlapping generation .. when jesus spoke about "this generation" .

  are their any real bible students among younger ones any more ?.

  here are 3 bible scriptures that confirm a generation is approximately 40- 50 years long give or take a few years .. 1. matt:1 :17 abraham born 2016-18 bc jesus born 2 bc approx.

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  OnTheWayOut

  JW's born-in are wired differently. If they are properly indoctrinated and trained, they are cult-wired to accept anything they are told. That's one factor.

  Another factor has to do with the era that ended with Ray Franz. That was the era of members starting from assuming that the Bible is God's word, God's name is Jehovah, Jehovah's Witnesses have 'the truth' when it comes to the last days and Armageddon and things related. That era included deep research. Granted, the research was to verify the truth of JW teachings, but nevertheless it was complicated but not so wildly off of a general track that A leads to B, B leads to C, and so on. My mother is of that era. She sticks with a basic understanding that A leads to B and so on. And while I came into the organization in the late 80's, it was still coasting on people of the Ray Franz era, so I was trained by people of that era.
  

  The new era takes wild leaps with an unconnected generation and radical changes in doctrine because of the ticking of time and because of monetary needs. Long-time people of the previous era have to do as Blondie has said and relieve the tension caused by cognitive dissonance in only one way- "stop thinking about it." My mother clearly wants to reject the new teachings, but just can't deal with the headache of abandoning a "truth" she supported for decades, so she stops thinking about it, pretends all is fine at Watchtower, places literature and enjoys her JW friends.
  

  People of my time of training might go that way or might wake up- its a toss up. I meet so many who have left and I know of so many who have not left. We tend to be the ones who still know the doctrine. We either know its wrong or we think we understand why its right. People later down the line are either those born in and wired differently or they leave. I think it really is that simple.
  
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  45

  Have You Been Invited To This Year’s Memorial ?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last year was the first time i didn’t get an invitation  to the lord’s evening meal.

  i think they finally gave up on me..

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  OnTheWayOut

  Strangely, I was invited to the Memorial.

  For many years, I have not been invited. For some strange reason, I am invited.
  The wife of one of the elders texted to my wife and asked to forward the invite to me.
  
  
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  68

  Jussie Smollett Charges Dropped!!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  interesting breaking news!.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Liberals should not be afraid to speak out. Wrong is wrong.

  Michelle Obama contacted someone who got to States Attorney Kim Foxx to drop the charges. She better have a job offer as this could end her in the next election.

  The reason is stated that these cases are often pleaded out to community service or such. Then maybe she should have done that.

  The city sent Jussie a bill for $130,000. Good for them. He went on and on about his innocense and wanting his record wiped. I hope fighting the bill leads to civil court where his innocense would be examined.

  Everyone is hurt by false accusations like these.

  And remember that no conviction, no collusion charges, no indictments, doesn't always mean no criminal activity.
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  2

  Come Take a Ride in the WatchTower LEAD balloon!

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the lead balloon: parousia.

  “up, up and away in my beautiful.

  .balloon,” is the lyric of a popular song from the 60’s; lifting us into the sky away from cares and woe.. .

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  OnTheWayOut

  I am going to steal your idea here and refer to Watchtower as the true "Lead" Zeppelin. Don't worry- I givr you full credit and will never copywrite it.