StephaneLaliberte

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Posts by StephaneLaliberte

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  4

  Studying the bible with my oldest kid

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i no longer believe in the bible as the word of god, but do appreciate the value in teaching it to my kids.

  its teachings influence the life and culture of billions of people today and shaped the history of the world.

  so, i bought a book that quickly goes over the core stories and have discussions about those with my kid.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  One thing I make clear to my kids: If they want to become Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, heck, even JWs, its their freedom to choose so. But if through their spiritual journey, they land some place where they are told that they should not discuss this topic or that subject or should not discuss with this person or that person for fear that they could be influenced in any direction, then that means they are in the wrong place.

  You should always question your beliefs, always. No one is right about everything. As life goes on, you end up being more assertive about certain subjects based on your research and experience, but you should always keep an open mind.
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  4

  Studying the bible with my oldest kid

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i no longer believe in the bible as the word of god, but do appreciate the value in teaching it to my kids.

  its teachings influence the life and culture of billions of people today and shaped the history of the world.

  so, i bought a book that quickly goes over the core stories and have discussions about those with my kid.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  I no longer believe in the bible as the word of God, but do appreciate the value in teaching it to my kids. Its teachings influence the life and culture of billions of people today and shaped the history of the world. So, I bought a book that quickly goes over the core stories and have discussions about those with my kid.

  I have to say, its quite interesting to see his reactions to some of those stories.

  · Because some people didn’t believe a man claiming to talk to God, and building an arc in the middle of no where, these people deserved to drown? Them, their families and all the animals? Really?

  · So, God wants his people to be circumcised? Why that? Why not something else, like a tattoo?

  · So, Jacob stole the birthright from his brother…. And they spin the story to make it sound alright? That’s just wrong.

  · So, God killed Lots wife just for looking back? Isn’t that a bit harsh?

  · Oh no…. you’re telling me that Lot’s daughters raped their own father??

  · You’re telling me that Abraham was about to murder his kid and that is supposed to be a good thing?

  Ahhhhh, the bible!

  I remember that I had similar questions when I was a kid, and these were explained away by some mental gymnastics that never truly made sense to me. I’m glad I don’t have to do this with my kids.
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  20

  Profanity on Surrey Kingdom Hall

  by lssjr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if it is a non-jw who did this as a result of their pandemic campaign (letter-writing and telephone calls), jehovah’s witnesses really need to check themselves.

  they have been directed by their new york headquarters (since last year shortly after the start of the pandemic) to send letters to only people they know.

  people don’t like receiving unwanted, unrequested, unsolicited letters and phone calls, especially from jehovah’s witnesses.. if it is a former member who received a letter as a result letter-writing pandemic campaign- most former members do not like being harassed by active jehovah’s witnesses and have been directed by their new york headquarters to send letters to and call only people they know.. .

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Or wouldn't this be nice:

  "You'll call the police on this graffiti, but not on your pedophiles!"

  but this is fantasy... a crime is a crime. Don't do it.
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  20

  Profanity on Surrey Kingdom Hall

  by lssjr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if it is a non-jw who did this as a result of their pandemic campaign (letter-writing and telephone calls), jehovah’s witnesses really need to check themselves.

  they have been directed by their new york headquarters (since last year shortly after the start of the pandemic) to send letters to only people they know.

  people don’t like receiving unwanted, unrequested, unsolicited letters and phone calls, especially from jehovah’s witnesses.. if it is a former member who received a letter as a result letter-writing pandemic campaign- most former members do not like being harassed by active jehovah’s witnesses and have been directed by their new york headquarters to send letters to and call only people they know.. .

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  StephaneLaliberte

  If you're going to make a graffiti, why not actually communicate something meaningful. Like:

  • "My mom is shunning me!"
  • "My friend died by refusing blood"
  • "You forgave my molester and disfellowshipped me!"
  • "Your 1914 generation prophecy was changed when they died."
  • "You baptize children and break families apart."
  • "Your women can't divorce violent husbands!"
  • "You don't report the pedophiles you disfellowship!"
  • "You don't tolerate free speech within your ranks"
  • "Your man made rules are thicker than the bible!"
  • "Spirit directed ≠ inspired. Why same authority for your leaders?"
  • "If God destroys all non-JW (99.99% of the world), does he still love the "world"? "
  • "Preaching a lie across the world in 230 languages doesn't make it true"
    
  • "Christianity did plenty of "preaching works"! They're now 2 billion !!"
  • "You have religious titles: Elder, Overseer, Pioneer, GB member, etc."
    
  • "You have monasteries you call bethel!"
  • "You mislead people with emotional videos!"
  • When did Jesus preach about "Construction projects"?
  • Which family was preaching door to door in the bible?

  I personally wouldn't tag their hall though. I'd prefer to print out papers and distribute that on their car windshield if I could.
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  20

  Are faders like me just cowards? Should I show my face?

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i feel bad i just faded away and did not "come out" as an apostate hater.

  my mum died refusing blood and still i hang back my wife still has witness friends and goes to the memorial every year..

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  StephaneLaliberte

  As I have faded, my core family (wife and kids) are no longer under the full control of watchtower. I say full control as there are small things that still impact my core family: We cannot publicly celebrate Christmas, Halloween and birthdays. We still do, but we don’t do it in a manner that would be seen by JWs. We also don’t say anything negative about cults and the JWs on social media or in the vicinity of JWs ears.

  Living with these hurdles has allowed us to keep a decent relationship with our JWs family (parents, relatives, and their JW friends). For instance, we can share meals with them and have conversations. To ensure that these relationships are based on respect, we’ve had a unique conversation with them years ago on “why we left”. They heard our reasons and never asked about it again. On our part, we never talked about these either and never criticize their belief since. On the contrary, we know their religion makes them happy and so, are willing to help when needed. This works as our relationship is based on love and respect.

  Now, are we cowards for taking the path we've have chosen? By revealing our position to our family, we’ve taken very real and sizable risks in our lives. We’ve lost all our friends and several family members in the process. We also risked disfellowshipping should our family had chosen to report us. So, are we any less courageous for not facing our enemy and telling them straight what we truly believe?

  Here is an example that will help put things in perspective:

  During the Nazi regime, the JWs take great pride in the fact that they would not salute Hitler and face persecution head on. For those who did, we can say they were remarkably courageous. But what about those who saluted Hitler, lied about their beliefs, and blew up train tracks at night? Were they not courageous as well? Didn’t their actions have a greater impact on the Nazi regime than the martyrs willingly giving themselves up?

  Same goes for the faders. Many will leave the WT, lie about why, and in the “evening”, write on apostate sites such as this one, contributing to the “resistance”.

  Not willingly making yourself and your family martyrs doesn’t make you any less courageous, it simply makes you an astute enemy.
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  14

  What’s Your Opinion of Companies That Decide To Stop Doing Business With You Because of Politics?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think it’s terrible.

  if someone wants to believe in a political party they should not be punished or censured because of who they like or what their politics are, right or left.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Well, if your business makes political statements and takes position for a party or another, then, yeah, sure. It makes sense. But otherwise, business should be business.
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  8

  Jehovah`s Witnesses owe their existence to Christendom`s groundwork.

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1.jehovah`s witnesses base their bible on christendoms determination of what books of scripture were to become what is known as the bible today,going back to the third century ad.. there were many ,many other books of scripture in existence at that time that these men decided in their own imperfect wisdom not to include them .. where it suited them the jw / gb would use the research of christendoms learned men who compiled bible dictionary`s and bible concordances.. 2.by far the vast majority of jehovah`s witnesses today are off-shoots of many of christendom`s religions from whom they poached members from and then gave birth to their own offspring to grow in numbers.. with all of there self praise of witnessing in all of the earth ,it is mainly wholly contained in lands where christendom has established the major religion of that land and jw`s have poached the most vulnerable people of that time.. 3.how many thousands of people have they converted in bangladesh ?

  pakistan ?

  china ?

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  StephaneLaliberte

  that was one of the things that woke me up. JWs brag about their preaching work and I've grown up believing that the Catholics and other Christian dominations didn't preach simply because they didn't go door to door. And then, I stopped and wondered: How could they end up with billions of believers without preaching? Than, I was trying to dismiss it saying: "Yeah, but they were preaching false teachings." ... Well when you consider all the old lights that the JWs preached about, they were also preaching false teachings. So.... that argument false flat.
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  16

  Cain and Abel...Who recorded this tragic event?

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  3 the day came when cain brought a gift of the fruit of the ground to the lord.

  4 but abel brought a gift of the first-born of his flocks and of the fat parts.

  the lord showed favor to abel and his gift.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Oh people of little faith! Don't you know that all those stories were inspired directly by God himself? Like a businessman dictates a letter to his secretary, God dictated the bible to Moses, Mathew, and all the other writers. This is a fact, cause the bible itself says so. What kind of human wisdom do you boast about to that you can't believe someone or a book when he or it says that it is inspired?

  On a side not, quite amazing how God inspired the Songs of Songs of Solomon, or the writings where Paul detailed his personal feelings/health or where king David wrote prayers to God in psalms and also detailed his personal feelings. Yes, word for word, everything comes from God.
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  64

  Havent gone to the kingdom hall in ten years but may have to go back...

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  made a big mistake of talking about being raised as a jehovah's witness to some old friends and family.

  people have told me that i am still a jws even though i've never been baptized.

  i'm in school for social services, dealing with student loan debt, and a lot of other debt.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Hello Joliette, I can understand your feelings. You're looking for love, support and you believe that some is better than non at all. In the end, its your call to make. One thing I can say however is that JWs don't only come with love. They also come with judgement, fear and control. These additional negative features will cancel out the love that they bring and will drag you down to a state worst than you are now. The more you believe the teachings, the less aware you are of the negative traits. For instance, my parents do find a lot of joy with their JW friends. While they don't believe everything, they do find comfort in a lot of the teachings. Sadly though, based on your initial comment, that doesn't seem to be your case. Hence, this road may lead you to further pain that could become even worst than what you might experience today.

  You could be surprised of how many other groups out there that can provide some love and support without the negative features brought along by rigid religious teachings. First to come to mind are not-for-profit organizations such as those that take care of the homeless.
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  55

  Should Difference of Opinion Be Squelched On Sites Such As FB or Twitter?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think that for the most part, dissenting views should be allowed to exist because of free speech principles.

  one person may strongly feel that something is true while someone else may present “facts” that support the opposing view.

  when that is the case, healthy discussion is mostly productive.

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  StephaneLaliberte

  There is a difference between an opinion and incitation to violence/hatred. If someone tells people to come and protest, that’s an opinion. If someone advises people to commit crimes (storm a federal building, burn/break anything, use violence), that’s beyond freedom of speech.

  I don’t know what Trump wrote on FB or twitter, but from what I’ve heard him say on TV, he was inciting to a big loud protest; he didn’t ask anyone to do anything illegal. We can argue that it was ill advised and that the events that happened were predictable, but it wasn’t clear cut promotion of violence. When it comes to freedom of expression, it is better to err on the side of caution rather than the opposite. You need to have a clear case to shut the mic down. Is that what happened with Trump? I don’t know; I don’t know what he wrote. But I’m willing to bet that it was not and that the social media have overstepped their boundaries.