Hortensia

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Posts by Hortensia

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  3

  Exactly what did Geza Vermes write?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  [if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-au</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:enableopentypekerning /> <w:dontflipmirrorindents /> <w:overridetablestylehps /> <w:usefelayout /> </w:compatibility> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser /> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="&#45;-" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><![endif].

  [endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"times new roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language:en-us; mso-fareast-language:en-us;} </style> <![endif].

  the following is from how can you have a happy life, watchtower bible and tract society, 2013:.

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  Hortensia

  Thank you for sharing. Very cool information, especially this:

  The Community’s attitude to the biblical canon, i.e. the list of books considered as Holy Writ, is less easy to define, as no such list of titles has survived.
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  48

  Need Help - Looks like some one in my family got to know that we are fading...

  by MissConfused in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  letter from a close family member... need help responding.... what a powerful illustration of the affect that our choice of friends can have on us, especially if we leave jehovah after being 'raised' by him from infancy!.

  pack of wolvesthere was a farmer who raised sheep and had trouble with wolves stealing his sheep.

  he loved his sheep and didn't want to lose even one of them.

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  Hortensia

  A made-up little allegory like that isn't very convincing if you weigh it against all the evidence that the wtbts does NOT have the truth. Just tell your relative you want some facts, not some bullshit made-up allegory that they use to support their doctrine and to scare people.

  Facts, you want some facts. Anyone can make up little stories to support his point of view. It doesn't mean the story has anything to do with the actual issue at hand. I'm sure Hitler had some awesome little stories about what terrible things would happen if the Jews weren't wiped out. It didn't change the fact that what he was doing was evil. These dumb little "inspirational" stories are just scare tactics, and it doesn't change the fact that the wtbts is evil.
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  56

  Please help. I am losing the plot.

  by wordyword in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  after being a witness for 40 years, i now find myself disfellowshipped.. i have had a number of doubts for a few years now, but still feel as if i'm living my life in the "t minus " to armageddon spector.. my parents are in their 80's and my dear mother is in very bad health.

  i was allowed to pop through - about once a month to make sure my parents were ok and for them to see their grandchildren.

  this all ended after the july watchtower article and especially since the district convention - with all the "counsel" on associating with disfellowshipped family members.. around 6 weeks ago, my dad asked me point blank why i wasn't trying to get reinstated.

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  Hortensia

  Our local county has a service for checking on elderly people. You can call and tell them about your concerns. Maybe your country does too. Someone needs to go check on them and if your father would close the door on you, reporting them to the county health services or the police might be the thing to do.

  You can tell them your father seems strangely paranoid and you think he is preventing your mother from seeing you. From the point of view of sane people, what he is doing is crazy, regardless of religion.
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  39

  A hello!

  by Oogie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, i'm newly awakened and just needing reassurance that the wt is indeed a mind-control cult.

  i have two lovely children (under 5) and a husband who is currently asleep..

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  Hortensia

  Good for you, and believe me it will make life better for your kids. Take your time, do some reading, not just about the wtbts and its doctrines, but also about how to think critically, the characteristics of a cult, how to help people who are still in a cult.

  I'm sorry your husband can be a little "rough" verbally. I hope that is something that will improve. It's not good for you and it's not good for your kids.
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  28

  My daughter got her A Levels yesterday and is off to university in September

  by Xanthippe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  she took english, maths and physics and acheived a* a* and a. .

  it is the best thing possible for me, even better than seeing her opening birthday presents or the day she won the halloween fancy dress prize at school.. her dad died five years ago but she has coped and done so well at school.

  it has shown me that despite what happens in life you can still do well and reach your goals, especially if you take a cult upbringing out of the equation!

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  Hortensia

  Wonderful -- no surprise you're so proud!
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  134

  Another story... possibly final story

  by confusedandalone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is the exchange of text messages i had with my super spiritual brother.

  it is sad... it is pathetic... it has helped me realize that i have no connection to these people anymore.

  i feel free today.

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  Hortensia

  oh my goodness, your brother IS a prick. A self-righteous prick.

  Credit card debts are unsecured. They can just stop paying them. Let them and your brother know that THEY are the ones "bringing reproach on Jehovah's congregation" because THEY are the ones who ran up debts they couldn't pay. I wouldn't give them two cents.

  If they become homeless, they might have to come live with you! It would make it pretty hard for them to refuse to speak to you, eh? I'd offer them living space if necessary, food if necessary, but not a single dime.

  I just love the crazy logic -- we need $10K, so hurry up and give it to us before you get DF and we can't talk to you any more. Jesus!
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  15

  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  mine has been getting out of hand the last 13 months.

  i know a specific weekend when it started up again last june.. .

  i took an extended vacation this summer hoping it would go away but events that transpired at my vacation residence caused me a lot of stress and i can't seem to stop the looping going on in my brain.. .

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  Hortensia

  go to a doctor and get some meds. I have a friend with OCD like yours, and she swears by her meds. I know she is a lot easier to be around since she started on her meds. I just don't know what kind she takes, some sort of anti-anxiety stuff.

  May I suggest that you simply quit going to the KH? That reduced a ton of stress for me. The last year or so of meeting attendance I couldn't sit for longer than about five minutes, and would get up and pace in the back of the KH trying not to freak out.
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  22

  No Natural Affection...

  by lostinnj83 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my latest encounter with my mom has me furious and i needed a place to vent:.

  i don't post alot but for anyone who has read any of my posts knows that while i have been struggling for some time, i am still an active jw working towards leaving.. anyway, i got into a car accident yesterday.

  fortunately i am well enough to type this up so for that i am greatful.

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  Hortensia

  I'm sorry you had an accident and were hurt! Lots of ice on that neck and when it starts to feel better, get some physical therapy if you can. Get some rest. If you hurt your neck, you might find you'll start hurting in other places as well over the next few days. Take it easy! Healing takes place during rest.

  As for your parents, well, they belong to a religion that teaches them it's OK not to love.
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  13

  Chinese Anthems from the Qing Empire to today's PRC

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. social
  2. current

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  it may be of interest to see/hear the changes in national anthems from around the first decade of the 20th c to today.. this is claimed as the qing national anthem around the time the qing finally collapsed and the emperor abdicated:.

  note the grandiose claims.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwuuqghwleq .

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  Hortensia

  so I did some more reading about these songs -- I didn't know that the March of the Volunteers was the official anthem before and after the Cultural Revolution, but during the Cultural Revolution Mao forbade the singing of that song and The East is Red became the national anthem for a while.

  Thanks for sharing your BBQ story. I noticed in China that the Chinese like to sing together -- at least every meal with them ended in drinking and singing -- and quite often they sang patriotic songs. Once they asked us to sing some typical American songs and we were stymied at first. Then one of our group sang a Mexican patriotic song. After that we got it together and sang a few American folk songs.
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  4

  The Ghost Rapes of Bolivia

  by Kaethra in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  many familiar tactics...long, disturbing article, but worth a read:.

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  http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/the-ghost-rapes-of-bolivia-000300-v20n8.

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  Hortensia

  yes, definitely disturbing, especially the powerlessness of the women and children who are being assaulted. That's what a theocratic government is, folks. Wickedness flourishes.