There is one question I know would make me feel real embarrassed : " so, if I understand you well, God is going to destroy poverty by means of destroying the poor ?" this is one of the thoughts which have motivated me most to keep this organization at arm's length.
aligot ripounsous
JoinedPosts by aligot ripounsous
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35
When you were in field service....
by lavendar indid you ever have anyone, at the door, say something to you that created a seed of doubt in your mind about the wts?
something at all that started you thinking "maybe i'm really not in the truth".
i would be interested in hearing about that.. thanks,.
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I just couldn't do it ........
by Bumble Bee init's a damp spring day here.
all the bugs are coming out.
this morning i went to do some laundry and there was the creepiest bug i have ever seen before in the laundry tub!
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aligot ripounsous
I always keep ready at hand a plastic goblet for spiders to throw outdoors and I raise my children in doing the same because really, it's not their fault if they were not born as butterflies or dragonflies and are so ugly. Unfortunately, sometimes too much is too much and I hoover in some unfortunate ones when cleaning the house. Afterwars I may regret and go outside where I tear off the hoover paper bag to give them a second chance...and sometimes it works, they run away gatefully. The kids pull my leg on this attitude but I already told them that if they like animals thay will like people.Thinking of turning hinduist
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Is being a Jehovahs Witness sometimes a good thing..............
by fifi40 into explain this thread i need to tell a sad and horrific story about someone that was once a friend...............for the sake of privacy i will refer to her as carol.. i met carol in the about 1990. i was not a jw (had left when i was 16 and unbaptised).
i was suffering with panic attacks, i think for many reasons but mainly because i had recently lost my dad and took it very hard.
i lived with my then boyfriend, who later became my husband in a town in south yorkshire.
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aligot ripounsous
If I had to give a fragile person any advice as to whether she should remain a JW or not, I would'nt take the chance to destabilize her even further with the stress of breaking off from her JW way of life and having to start again from scratch a new social life, in addition to her dealing with her own weakness, traumatic memories, drugs, etc. We may like or not the idea, but the congregation provides a framed environment to fragile persons who otherwise would be overcome by the difficulties of their lives.
Knowing that you are under check can be very efficient. I gave up smoking 30 years ago during the period when I studied with JWs and I'm far from sure I would have managed to do so without this forced help.
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Convince me
by Liza ini am highly considering becoming a jehovah's witness.
i have been raised in the congregration, but left it when i was a child because my mom left too, but we still retatined the core belifs including the ressurection and the blasphemous pagan influence on mainstream churches.
my mom has recently returned to the congregation, and it has helped her a lot.
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aligot ripounsous
Liza,
Your looking for different opinions before a possible commitment to JW's religion tells the seriousness of your approach. You are very fortunate to have the internet at hand, I'm sure there are many here who wish they had gotten it when they started association with JWs.
Much is said to you on this board about various aspects of your life as a would-be JW, so I limit my contribution to the topic of free speech. I am, still, a JW and I like to confront various points of view too. Unfortunately, the very fact I visit this site shows that I've not been able to find such exchanges within the congregation. Actually, it was acceptable so long as I was not baptized, as I found for a while an open minded elder (who left the organization later) to speak to freely about the questions which were bumping in my mind as it happens with any newcomer. The way many JWs do, I told myself that I could leave unanswered questions aside and in time, with personal study, reflection and association with the congregation, I would get satisfactory answers.
However as time was passing I had to fully realize that after baptism the lid on the pressure cooker, where questions were still in turmoil, was tightly sealed by the organization, and also by a measure of self-censorship, which wouldn't let the steam out because my new status as a JW would impel me to responsibly "build up the brothers' faith" and it was no time to question anymore.
You must have noticed that quite a few posters on this board have been JWs for 20, 30 or more years before eventually breaking off, which shows that you don't put yourself into question overnight after you have joined this organization. The internet makes it easier now, though, as it lets you know that many other JWs are or once were in the same uncomfortable position.
The sad reality is that there is no freedom of speech within the WTS. A few months ago, some elders complained that I was constantly airing deviant comments at the book and WT study meetings. A talk was given from the platform, in general terms, about the matter, and the circuit overseer thought he, too, had to straighten things up in a talk, saying plainly that you have a right not to agree with the F&DS teaching so long as you keep silent. In doing so, he de facto recognized the totalitarian nature of this organization, since faithfulness to Jehovah is measured to the standard of your mute adhesion to the WTS. This conclusion is in line with what other posters have already written to you here.
In the end, the decision is yours but, at least, you have here on this board abundant material to ponder over.
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Why a paradise earth is so appealing to JWs?
by Lady Lee inwhy a paradise earth is so appealing to jws?.
well no one can say they look around at the problems today and can say they like everything they see.
so a nice clean paradise world would be pretty great.
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aligot ripounsous
Hei, Narkissos,
I think we exemplify the two terms of the alternative. You seem to accept the "nothing" solution, I don't, whether for lack of fortitude (that's where the old crutch becomes useful as some would say) or out of faith, I honestly don't know. I just prefer the second term of the alternative because, in a very utilitarian way, I think that feeling accountable for what we do to a supreme authority saves us, and our neighbours, much trouble. And if, on top of it, this authority rewards us, its all benefit as old Blaise Pascal said, if I remember well.
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Why a paradise earth is so appealing to JWs?
by Lady Lee inwhy a paradise earth is so appealing to jws?.
well no one can say they look around at the problems today and can say they like everything they see.
so a nice clean paradise world would be pretty great.
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aligot ripounsous
To me, paradise earth is appealing because it's the only notion I can grasp, I haven't the faintest idea of what life would be like in heavenly spheres. It is only too obvious (that's why it has been repeated so often) that man is meant for the earth and the latter for man, how can we possibly lose sight of that ? Another evidence (sorry if we find the idea in the WT litterature) is that man, elaborate as he is, deserves more than a mere 80 year passage on earth, otherwise what a waste of resources, it just doesn't make sense.
Granted, notions of limited earth and eternal life don't tally and with our limited current abilities and short sighted outlook we find it difficult to imagine we could live forever without being bored, but hasn't jehovah assured us that he will satisfy the desire of every living being ? Christians, of whatever denomination they are, can't just shove aside this promise. By the way, wouldn't the bore problem be the same in heaven ? So I gather that the altenative is either paradise earth or nothing.
I'm not sure that many JWs would consider living under a WTlike iron rule during eternity as real paradise, but Jah's promise is beyond WT promise and paradise must mean paradise. A sensible guy was saying once that the amount of knowledge between the most learnt man and the total ignorant is nought as compared with all that we don't know. Has anyone a proposal that will offer a better prospect than an absurd life ?
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It's just....oh I don't know...Werid!
by rosiegurl inok so i've been reading thru the posts here for the last week or so since i found it.
and i just am amazed i think or i don't know...i feel something that i can't quite put my finger on.
i was raised in 'the truth' as many here were.
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aligot ripounsous
One must also consider the fact that in a married couple, if Mister disassociates or is disfellowshipped, Mrs will find herself in a ghetto, no one showing up at home anymore. So, for the sake of our mate who wants to remain a witness, as she(he)'s free to do, let's remember that we said yes for the best and the worst, and let's endure.
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Maybe this was posted
by mouthy inbefore ...but anyway for those who didnt see it( if it was ).
jan15th 06 page 23 of the watchtower.
"because of listening to the devil & not rejecting his lies.the first human pair apostatized.so,then,should we listen to apostates,read theor literature ,or examine their web sites on the internet?if we love god& the truth,we will not do so.we should not allow apostates into our homes,or even greet them,for such actions would make us "sharers in their wicked works".
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aligot ripounsous
or examine their Web sites on the Internet?or examine their Web sites on the Internet?
Will someone be kind and tell this WT writer that the more he urges witnesses not to go on the internet, the more they will want to see what is it that they should'nt see
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Have you let go of waiting for Armageddon?
by Fisherman inalthough, after experiencing many disappointments and failed dates, i cannot let go and i cannot dismiss the expectation that god will intervene somehow.
i still hold on, hoping that maybe i will not experience sheol and neither will some of my loved ones.
how about you?
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aligot ripounsous
For JWs to cling to the idea that they will never die as part of their "reward" is a illusion that the WTS has woven for the rank and file since 1935.
I'm still in touch with various congregations and I think I can safely say that quite many JWs, if not the majority, don't bother much about ever seing A coming. They have made their own the idea that, through the 1995 change, the society itself has postponed A to an undetermined future, although they have been urged not to do so themselves, mentally. Basically, what makes many JW stick together is social life. The best evidence of this is that they avoid carefully any "spiritual" topic in their social gathering and look suspisciously to anyone who tries to draw the conversation on that ground. I experienced it not long ago during a meal as, "between pear and cheese" I mentioned that according the age pyramid of the world population, there are about 6 hundred million babies and infants below age 4 and one simply couldn't accept that Jah should destroy 10 000 babies for every spared witness. Witnesses just skip the argument, they don't want to be disturbed in their day to day routine, from bottom to top of the hierarchy.
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aligot ripounsous
Love
When my grandma got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandpa does it for her now all the
time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.
Rebecca- age 8
Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving Cologne and they go out and smell each other.
Kari- age 5
Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French Fries without making them give you any of theirs.
Chrissy- age 6
Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.
Danny- age 7
If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend whom you hate.
Nikka- age 6
Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.
Noelle- age 7
Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.
Tommy- age 6
My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.
Clare- age 6
Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.
Chris- age 7
Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.
Mary Ann- age 4