OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  6

  What was the defining moment that started your becoming a JW ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let me explain what i mean: i was in the company of a workmate when i looked at my hands and my arms and pointed out the veins and said something like look at that, isn`it amazing how veins and arteriies circulate the blood through our bodies ?.

  he later explained to me he wasn`t sure what he should say to me as we had been working together for about six years and he had never once brought up about his jw background .he was what we would call a weak witness and he considered me a street kid who swore and drank too much.

  i was twenty years old at the time.. i can`t remember the actual conversations that transpired ,but thats what started me down the road to becoming a witness and then convincing my gf to join me and about two years later we were married in a kh.. can you point to any one thing or conversation that started you down the road to becoming a witness?.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Well, yes I can point to one conversation that started me down the road to becoming a witness.
  But it really is a case of me setting myself up for it and a JW taking advantage of the setup.
  
  While I was in the U.S. military, I had attempted suicide by putting a gun in my mouth. While I should have known that I just didn't go through with it, I acquired the idea that there was divine intervention when my hair-trigger gun did not go off. I told an E.R. doctor about the attempt and left out my thoughts on divine intervention, saying I just didn't go through with it. I was put in the psychiatric ward.
  
  While in the psychiatric ward, I decided not to share my thoughts that God prevented the gun from firing. It seemed like that would keep me there longer. I was eventually put into a six week in-patient alcoholic program and my mother sent Jehovah's Witnesses to talk to me. After about the fourth visit, I confided in them what I thought about God intervening in my suicide attempt. It seemed to make perfect sense to them. They jumped right in to say that, yes- God saved you because He has a purpose for you to learn and share the good news with others. It even made sense to them not to tell any doctors or counselors about my divine intervention thoughts for fear that I would be put back in the psychiatric ward for observation.
  
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  38

  What Do Today’s Jehovah’s Witnesses Really Think?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was a witness i knew what my beliefs were and could defend my views, even if it really was wrong.

  i understood jw doctrines .

  i could define what the faithful and discreet slave was.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I rarely agree with you, Min. But this is right on. A typical man or woman in the hall could define basic beliefs and argue many complex beliefs. Sure, it was twisted logic based on Watchtower teachings, but the members mostly knew it. Most everyone knew how to research a thing if they wanted to know what Watchtower said about the thing.
  
  Witnesses today don't know what THEY believe.
  
  
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  42

  What’s Your View On Self Defense?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if someone comes to you with a knife or a gun, would you defend yourself if you could?

  if someone tried to beat you up , would you physically engage, run away or just try to talk the person out of beating you up or robbing you?

  if you did have a gun to defend yourself would you shoot to kill or would you simply aim for the ankle to incapacitate the person?

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  OnTheWayOut

  What’s Your View On Self Defense?
  
  Surely, not EVERYONE was Kung Fu fighting.
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  21

  'Theocratic Careers' and the Covid Pandemic

  by eyeslice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower has always banged on about not pursuing worldly careers and that best career was 'theocratic service.

  but now i am wondering what line they will take.

  let's have look at the options;.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I knew a C.O. who actually retired. He literally pocketed as much as he could of the green handshakes and he and his wife were able to make it on social security and all that money they saved. It wasn't even a secret that he lived so tight on just what C.O. expenses the congregations paid for and ate at the kindness of the congregation circuit members.
  
  I also remember Bethelites who had been forced out of Bethel and returning to the job market. I would sit and talk with them and they would avoid talking "spiritual" and avoid many Watchtower discussions. If not for their former service, they would have been considered "weak."

  Members will again and again be reminded that any sacrifice they made in "this system" will be remembered by Jehovah.

  It won't work to keep former organization Bethelites, C.O.'s, missionaries from rumbling. But it will minimize their doing anything about it. They will want to keep the crumbs of the members' generosity and many of them will keep their dissatisfaction to themselves for the most part.
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  240

  Derek Chauvin - The Right to a Fair Trial

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  anyone following the derek chauvin trial?.

  if you are actually following it, not just listening to the media, you will likely realize that there is a huge gap between what is going on in court and what is being reported in the media.. if the trial was fair, i think he should be acquitted.

  there is plenty of reasonable doubt about the cause of death (his dealer doesn't want to testify because he could be guilty of 3rd degree murder for selling him a fatal amount of fentanyl) and even doubt over whether the officer even had his knee on the guys neck or did anything counter to what they were meant to do as per policy.. but is it fair?

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  OnTheWayOut

  MeanMrMustard8 hours ago

  While the jury didn't fall for it, the defense did what they are supposed to do and raised possible doubts that people like Simon pinpointed in their minds and ignored all the real evidence.

  The way this paragraph is constructed, I'm honestly not sure if he's saying Simon is ignoring all the real evidence or the jury is ignoring the real evidence.

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Sure, whichever works for you.
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  240

  Derek Chauvin - The Right to a Fair Trial

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  anyone following the derek chauvin trial?.

  if you are actually following it, not just listening to the media, you will likely realize that there is a huge gap between what is going on in court and what is being reported in the media.. if the trial was fair, i think he should be acquitted.

  there is plenty of reasonable doubt about the cause of death (his dealer doesn't want to testify because he could be guilty of 3rd degree murder for selling him a fatal amount of fentanyl) and even doubt over whether the officer even had his knee on the guys neck or did anything counter to what they were meant to do as per policy.. but is it fair?

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  OnTheWayOut

  While the jury didn't fall for it, the defense did what they are supposed to do and raised possible doubts that people like Simon pinpointed in their minds and ignored all the real evidence.
  
  I do not agree that a cop could be guilty of three very different counts he was charged with, but that was probably a message that ANYONE actually there at the time could tell that this was horribly wrong.
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  27

  Who/ What In Your Opinion Was The Best?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the best president.

  the best boxer?

  the best over all athlete?

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  OnTheWayOut

  Really, we are saying the same thing about why you like Reagan.

  History was more than kind to Ronald Reagan. Today you hear about the Reagan who instituted a massive tax cut in 1981, not the Reagan whose trickle-down didn't work, so when his theories failed to materialize actual revenue, reversed course to sign the largest peacetime tax increase in history in 1982, and then raised taxes again in 1983 and 1984.

  Republican candidates will talk about the Reagan who cut government regulation, leading you to believe he wanted smaller government, but not the same Reagan who increased the size of the federal government and the national debt.

  Maybe the 2 biggest reasons that Reagan is remembered in History so well is that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he left office and because he was so charming, giving raise to nostalgia similar to Democrats reminiscing about the smooth-talking style of Clinton and Obama. Certainly, both Bush presidents have none of that to offer, and Trump won't ever be remembered as fondly for his bragging of his own intelligence in such stupid ways.
  
  Carter may not have gotten stuff done in office, but his dedication to helping people after leaving office will leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who tries to praise ANY other former president's post-presidential activities when comparing them.
  
  So this thread is about the BEST. Jimmy Carter was the best FORMER PRESIDENT.
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  9

  How long did people worship Zeus? Was it longer than Christianity's 2000 years?

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  how long did people worship zeus?

  was it longer than christianity's 2000 years?.

  most answers say this but they do vary..

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  OnTheWayOut

  The Greeks, many would argue, wrote of mythical gods and felt free to take liberties with the writing of their stories. It wasn't so much that they mixed history with lies, but they expected people who were able to read to know that the writings were philosophical allegory more so than literal truths.
  

  Somehow, along the way, after much of the Jews stories were written down, people forgot such a way of thinking and everything was assumed to be literal.
  
  I doubt there was much "worshipping" of the Greek gods. There were cults of worship that were literal, so that might have been a part of the later development of forgetting that it's just stories.
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  27

  Who/ What In Your Opinion Was The Best?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the best president.

  the best boxer?

  the best over all athlete?

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  OnTheWayOut

  Carter's biggest problem was that he thought that if he just told the people what needed to be done, Congress would do the right thing without any pork deals. Of course, that didn't work and Carter didn't get anything done.
  
  I was primarily pointing out why you, Minimus, like Reagan.
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  27

  Who/ What In Your Opinion Was The Best?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the best president.

  the best boxer?

  the best over all athlete?

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  OnTheWayOut

  Min: For me the best President in my lifetime was probably Ronald Reagan.
  
  Reagan- Iran-Contra Affair- Arms for Hostages scandal.
  HUD rigging scandal.
  Savings and Loan crisis created by tax loopholes and bank de-regulation
  While climbing the political ladder, Reagan opposed every major piece of civil rights legislation adopted by Congress, and while president, he continued that legacy.
  Just as "Make America Great Again" tried to make white people remember when they were the clear majority in America, Reagan played to nostalgia for the 1950's era before civil rights, feminism, environmental activism
  
  Reagan was probably America's biggest downfall in modern times, reviving class warfare of rich vs. poor, management vs.labor.