winnie

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Posts by winnie

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  11

  re book :Crisis of conscience

  by winnie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does anyone have a copy of franz's crisis of conscience secondhand or new they would consider selling (in australia) or know where i can get one?.

  thanks.

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  winnie

  Does anyone have a copy of Franz's Crisis of Conscience secondhand or new they would consider selling (in Australia) or know where I can get one?

  Thanks
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  17

  Do you have a hope for the future???

  by winnie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wondering, all who have left, are leaving, or are still 'in' and no longer believe.. jw's have the hope of living forever...paradise...etc.. what is your hope for the future?.

  do you still think there is the chance of living forever...paradise...etc..

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  winnie

  Just wondering, all who have left, are leaving, or are still 'in' and no longer believe.

  JW's have the hope of living forever...paradise...etc.

  What is your hope for the future?

  Do you still think there is the chance of living forever...paradise...etc.
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  58

  DOES ANYONE STILL NOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS???

  by chuckyy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wondering if anyone still does not celebrate xmas since leaving jws.....or like me do you think"to hell with it", and join in the festivities.

  if you do celebrate it, do you still have pangs of guilt for celebrating this "pagan" festival???.

  chukky.

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  winnie

  Your christmas tree is really pretty. And your right, it is nice to see the kids eager and involved in a good way. We were raised as JWs and have never had xmas before. My husband isn't into the whole 'decoration' thing, but I love it. (I tend to go a bit overboard.) And it's nice to see the kids faces of a nighttime when the tree is all lit up. Next year my son wants to enter the house lights competition, so that should be fun 'cause I haven't decorated outside this year. I
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  11

  Why do JWs seem to only want to own their own business?

  by Medic!? in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  perhaps this is a thing just near my congo or circuit.

  it seemed like so many jws were either unemployed or self-employed.

  they were always changing jobs.

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  winnie

  What really sets me off is when an elder who can't seem to keep a job or is always in the unemployment line gives talks about being good providers for your family as this is the biblical way of being a man, etc.

  I completely agree. My brother in law is one such person. To my recollection, he has only had 3 jobs in past 15 years, and those he quit for some reason. Always first in line for the government handouts though (and knows all of them available). I remember him qualifying (Don't ask me how) for a small business allowance that is gauranteed for a year. After 2 weeks his business failed and he sat on his a** for the rest of the period until he had to go re- register for government benefits again. And he calls himself a good provider. I'd hate to see a bad one!
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  8

  Is 'Jehovah so selfish..."

  by winnie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi all.. just wondering..... jw's state the the reasons for not celebrating birthdays, anniversaries etc is that it takes the focus off jehovah and onto another person/s for that day.. my question: is he so selfish as to not allow each person to celebrate their own special days?.

  also, does the wtbs allow anything that is remotely considered 'fun' to be celebrated?

  (other than assemblies, meetings etc, like they were ever fun!

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  winnie

  "bible games"

  I remember these well as I was also raised a JW. (And I also remember the 'looks' I got from my parents when I didn't answer one right. From memory it was hours of study later to learn the answers to what I didn't know. Fun...I think not!!!)

  My childrens grandparents have a party each year and all invited are required to participate in such bible games. I think the last one my non-JW children went to they had to draw a picture and do a little 'talk' on something from the bible. I remember my 8 yo looking at me in disbelief, and my others just drawing whatever. The 'party' just turns out to be a mini meeting. And do they kids have fun? Sitting around on the floor, asking permission to breathe? Comparing to my sons last birthday party with his school friends, I don't think the JW parents could cope with a 'normal' party. (I barely did.! LOL)
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  8

  Is 'Jehovah so selfish..."

  by winnie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi all.. just wondering..... jw's state the the reasons for not celebrating birthdays, anniversaries etc is that it takes the focus off jehovah and onto another person/s for that day.. my question: is he so selfish as to not allow each person to celebrate their own special days?.

  also, does the wtbs allow anything that is remotely considered 'fun' to be celebrated?

  (other than assemblies, meetings etc, like they were ever fun!

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  winnie

  Hi all.

  Just wondering....

  JW's state the the reasons for not celebrating birthdays, anniversaries etc is that it takes the focus off Jehovah and onto another person/s for that day.

  My question: Is he so selfish as to not allow each person to celebrate their own special days?

  Also, does the WTBS allow ANYTHING that is remotely considered 'fun' to be celebrated? (Other than assemblies, meetings etc, like they were ever fun!)

  Most of the JW kids I know look miserable. Certainly not like the 'normal, happy little vegemites' that they should be!
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  58

  DOES ANYONE STILL NOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS???

  by chuckyy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wondering if anyone still does not celebrate xmas since leaving jws.....or like me do you think"to hell with it", and join in the festivities.

  if you do celebrate it, do you still have pangs of guilt for celebrating this "pagan" festival???.

  chukky.

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  winnie

  What is wrong with you ex-JWs that still don't celebrate x-mas? Why are you missing out on all the fun? X-mas for most people these days has virtually nothing to do with religion. And why let a religion that dictated to you what not to celebrate still let it affect your life? So what if your JW relatives disapprove of x-mas. Do you really think that they are going to stop doing something just because YOU disapprove of it? I think not! Yes it is associated with commercialism, but what isn't? This year I have a tree, pressies, lights, the works, and if my extended family happen to visit or drive past and see, and have a problem with it, I don't care. It's them that are missing out. Just to see the faces of my kids when they see the tree each day is priceless. Why should they miss out? It's certainly not 'religious' to them. The WTBS is systematically eliminating anything that might have the 'fun' tag attatched. It's the kids I feel sorry for.
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  25

  "happy families" - NOT!!!

  by winnie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi all.. this is my first post, although i have been an avid reader for quite some time now.

  please bear with me if i seem long winded.

  (i have no one else to talk to, and my husband says i talk to him too much!

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  winnie

  Hi all.

  This is my first post, although I have been an avid reader for quite some time now. Please bear with me if I seem long winded. (I have no one else to talk to, and my husband says I talk to him too much!)

  Anyway, a bit of background, my husband and I were raised as JW's. We married 10.5 years ago, and mutually decided 9 years ago (when we had our 1st child) that we no longer shared the same opinions of the WTS, so we stopped attending. We were never disfellowshipped or disassociated, and we have never done anything 'wrong'. We are honest and hard working and generally down to earth and friendly. I like to call us 'normal'.

  My family - We decide to move to another state. My family (Dad, Mom, 2 x brothers and 1 sister) follow about 1 year later. After a disagreement relating to a business venture (my mother wanted to 'hide' monies received and we did not agree to this happening), we mutually agreed to part ways regarding work related issues.

  Then their 'true' nature came out. They turned all JW's in town, which was quite small, against us (maybe for fear we would disclose what they were up to), and generally made life so unbearable for us that we had no option but to sell up and move. Prior to moving, I had our 3rd child. While in hospital, they went to their assembly, passing by the hospital I was staying in, did not come in to see their new grandchild, and then had the nerve to tell people that they still hadn't seen our new baby as we wouldn't 'allow' it.

  We move states and about a year later, I decide to 'do the right thing' and send them a couple of photo's of the kids. When I rang them to see if they got them, my sister (14 at the time) called me a f***ing b***h, and my brother gloated about the fact that they 'ran us out of town' as they put it. (To this day, I still can't work out what we did wrong, or what we did to deserve such treatment.)

  That was 3 years ago, and since then, 1 x brother has married a 'mail order bride' and are [happily] attending meetings. My sister has gone completely crazy and anti-social, threatening my parents with all sorts, and my other 21 yo brother made headlines recently when he went to court for permission to marry his 17 yo girlfriend, openly admitting to sleeping with her since she was 15!!!

  Meanwhile they have never seen 3 of my 5 children, their only grandchildren, and never make any attempt to do so. When sent photo's they have never shown any interest, so I have given up on trying. Their loss!!!

  And they still continue to plod along to all the meetings like good little christians, and preach about what happy families they make, and what good, kind, loving honest people they are!!! (NOT.)

  My husbands family - his brother and his wife had sex prior to marriage, and after marriage, his wife left numerous times, chased other men, has countless arguments and are generally unhappy as I see it - they look miserable all the time, (or maybe they just don't know any other way to live). They later 'confessed' to having sex prior to marriage ( or as us in the family know - she ran to the elders to confess while he packed her bags and chucked her our for 'dobbing them in') received a 'slap on the hands' and went on their merry little way.

  My brother in law, who is an elder by the way, boasts about his numerous schemes for gaining/saving/scamming monies dishonestly, but always has an excuse handy if questioned. Is generally a lazy 'bum' who does not want to work, lives on government handouts, knows all the 'entitlements' and how to get them, constantly criticizes and judges others, and has the nerve to preach about what good, upstanding christians they all are!

  My sister in law moved out of home*, lived with her boyfriend*, got disfellowshipped, got pregnant*, got married, got re-instated, had baby, seperated from husband, moved back home and is getting divorced all in the space of 1 year! (Is commented on locally that it was the fastest re-instatement anyone had ever seen! I wonder if her father being P/O had anything to do with it...?) *all done deliberatley and with forethought.

  1 other sister in law we never see of hear from.

  The other sister in law does not speak to her parents or select other siblings and has moved to another state to get away from them. She is the only semi-sane one. She celebrates x-mas, b'days etc, but still hides it from the family she still speaks to.

  My mother in law has told my husband numerous times that it would be better if we (me, my husband and 5 kids) were to all die in a car crash...at least then we would have a chance of a resurrection. (What kind of warped thinking is this???)

  My father in law, despite being P/O just buries his head in the sand and plays happy families!

  And they all go about their daily lives preaching about what upstanding loving, happy families and people they all are, all the while b***ing behind everyone's back, yet smiling to their face!

  Meanwhile, all of the above think they are justified in shunning us. The mind boggles!

  Anyone else have family like this or are we the only ones???
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  54

  Hypothetical ? for u. What if armageddon really did come...

  by *jeremiah* in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok, here's a hypothetical that i'm curious about.. what if armageddon really did happen?

  not necessarily according to jw terms or timetable, but at some point it happens in your lifetime.

  would any of you return to the jws?.

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  winnie

  I have 5 young children, and if he is going to kill them based on my beliefs (or lack of), then the last place I want to be is in a 'new world' ruled by him!!!
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  37

  Why the number of "anointed" will never decrease...

  by dozy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jw theology suggests that the work of gathering in the "144,000" has all but ended , particularly since 1935 , and that the number will inevitably diminish to nil.

  indeed , some jws maintain that all the anointed will have died and resurrected before armageddon arrives.

  the watchtower claims that the fact (?

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  winnie

  I was wondering if anyone out there has considered this point regarding the '144,000'.

  There are supposed to be some of the 144,000 still around to see the 'end' isn't there?

  So if this is the case, there will never be a large decrease in the numbers.

  Aside from the fact that if all the so called anointed die, the WT will have to change another major belief, with the explanation that "the light is getting brighter".

  I believe that the only reason that they changed the generation doctrine is that they began to run out of time for this prophecy to be fulfilled. The ones who were born in 1914, of which some would still be around to 'see' armageddon, are now 92 after all, and with numbers rapidly decreasing each year, they had to do something, didn't they?

  My husband believes that they will soon do the same with the 144,000 doctrine...change the belief that there will be some of the144,000 left who will experience armageddon. After all, they honestly cannot expect the numbers to keep going indefinitely....can they? And if they do change this belief, how many JW's will still blindly accept this change without question?