The concept that I would go back under imminent threat would demonstrate that I am not convinced that I am living a life in accord to what I sincerely believe about being good. The idea that God may pass over you based on your membership to a cult and not based on the actions you do every day is beyond logic. I believe that in the end, people should be able to say "He was a good guy who did good around him." Achieving this goal does not require attendance to a religion where people are told to send letters to their disfellowshipped mother instead of simply talking heart to heart with her. Just writing that last sentence makes me feel sick about them.
StephaneLaliberte
JoinedPosts by StephaneLaliberte
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56
OK friends lets be honest, if a Nuclear Holocaust took place today how many of you would return to the KH?
by James Mixon inspeaking for my self, no way in hell.. this question to see if you really have been deprogramed,.
do you 100% believe it is not the truth.. a fourth of the world hit by a nuclear attack..
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63
"And Your Little Dog Too...." WTS not content with taking kids' ice cream money, now they want them to give up their puppy dogs too.
by sir82 indon't know if anyone else caught this subtle but malicious photo from the 12/13/15 wt study article.. not sure how to post pictures here, but the photo is on the website's copy of the article, just below paragraph 12:.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20151015/give-us-more-faith/.
note the 3 pictures in sequence tell a "story":.
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StephaneLaliberte
You know, though one could say that they still brought the dog with them and he is in the house in picture three, your interpretation of that image sounds also very likely. -
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Legalized marijuana. It's coming to canada and I want to try it.
by hoser inas a good jw i never smoked a joint or nibbled on some brownies.
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StephaneLaliberte
To me, pot is like alcohol. You can take too much, too often, and become addicted. I have known people who, I am convinced, smoked away the better half of their brain cells and messed up their lives for it.
Does that mean you shouldn't do any? I don't think so. I tried marijuana after leaving the witnesses, twice. On a casual basis, I don't see the harm. I have kids, and honestly, I don't think that this is something that should be done when they are around or even sleeping at night. What if anything goes wrong... one of them gets sick and I'm high?
However, if I'm on vacation with my wife without the kids? Oh yeah!! I AM CANADIAN! And yet, as you can tell, I am rarely on vacation without the kids!
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I couldn't take it anymore, although still in because of my wife, I did this...
by LevelThePlayingField ini dressed up in a hoodie, double layer so that the cameras at the kingdom hall couldn't recognize me.
i looked in the mirror up and down so i knew that the cameras, at least at the angle that i knew couldn't see my face.
i took this disassociation letter, stuck it in the envelope, labeled it, "(congregation's name...boe" by hand and sealed it.
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StephaneLaliberte
Saintbertholdt,
he used a random congregation. Its not real info. So, these elders will search a little while before giving up. I find this awesome as they will likely read this letter entirely seeking for details that could give up the anonymous prankster. -
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2015 November 19, BOE! Circuit Account Balances!
by Atlantis indelete if already posted.. .
2015-november 19, boe.
.. re: review of circuit account balances.
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StephaneLaliberte
Not sure why, but for me in Canada, that doesn't sound like a new thing at all. It even bothered me a little as early as the 90s when I was still in. There was always just ONE contribution box at the assemblies and on Saturdays, they made announcements that sounded like this:
"From the previous assembly, we had an excess of 2,000$, from this money, we donated 1,200$ to the world wide work. We now have a balance 800$."
Back then, I was thinking: Why not just keep it until you reach a decent amount like 8,000 dollars (the average cost of one assembly).
So, if I get this right, now, they are making it a rule that is even more greedy and needs to be enforced by all the Circuits. Will they now make such announcements at the conventions?
"From the previous assembly, we had an excess of 2,000$. So, we donated it all to the Watchtower. We now have a balance of 0$"
I think all this will backfire on them as people giving too much will start giving less trying to hit the expense amount right on the nail.
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CEDARS (Again) Is it really about religious beliefs?
by Listener injohn cedars has posted his latest blog "the trouble with apostates (and why it shouldn't put you off becoming one)".
i acknowledge that he is entitled to his opionin just as we are ours but i am disappointed in some of his comments.. at this stage i'll try to be objective about it.
he is defending his own position after all.. what bothers me most is his comments about athiests and christians which he seems to identify as being in conflict with each other.
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StephaneLaliberte
I like John, and I’m always eagerly waiting for his next videos and articles; but frankly, I think he is completely off base with his last article. He basically presents a spectrum of X-JWs based on their activism level and their belief or non-belief in God. Then, he links this to the hatred he has felt over the years and especially more recently.
Well, I believe that the heat he receives lately has nothing to do with his belief and everything to do with his personality. Simply put, he projects the image of a condescending know-it-all whose judgement and understanding of life is not clouded by his emotions.
For people like Mike and Kim, who are the exact opposite, this is unbearable, especially when this young little nerd start telling everyone that they are conspiracy driven nuts who are damaging the very cause that they are dedicating their lives to.
This is what they have, this is what they want to leave behind, doing their best to awake people, support the awakened, and expose Watchtower.
Yet, to John, they are not only meaningless, they are damaging to the cause. He did not shy from expressing this when he basically called out everyone involved in aggressive activism.
When I saw this, I personally wrote to John. I related the fact that the first time I looked for Apostate stuff on the web was after I heard “a nut case” shouting outside and Assembly hall: “The WT was part of the UN for ten years! Check it out!” – Then, I went home and checked it out! You may not agree with it, but it can actually work. John’s response? You’re an exception. Most people are driven further into the cult. Well, how do you know? How can you claim to know how people feel? What they think, their fear, their pain, their concerns? None of that can be measured.
The world is not just about facts. A large portion of it is based on emotions, feelings, sensations, things that cannot be defined or measured. And it is not because we cannot easily define it, explain it, measure it, that it is any less important than the rest.
When people are on their death beds, they talk about love, their family, friends, the smell of grass, the taste of ice cream, etc. They are rarely debating upon the intellectual understanding of X cause in the world.
Mike & Kim are all about emotions. They get mad, they laugh hysterically at the absurdities of the Watchtower… and they threaten to kick John’s ass when he calls one of their friends the “C” word.
John’s response? He writes a five page essay in which it sounds like legal jargons to express the fact that Mike threatened him. That’s how far his personality is from that couple.
I am not taking side with either ones to be honest. Mike and Kim do sound like nut case from time to time and John sounds like an ass full of himself from time to time. All this to say that the spectrum is not about religion, it is about personalities. He and the “Mike & Kim” team are at opposite ends of that spectrum, and I am very much enjoying the show watching every videos that both of them produce!
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Does this sound like a man who is inspired by God?
by Coded Logic inabsolutely disgusting!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqzc2m8_mba.
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StephaneLaliberte
Ahhh dam, you can't use it. He said that crap back in 1971! This means that this declaration is protected by the "Old light" teaching and thus, do not apply. From the feel of it, anything prior to the year 2000 is considered old light and can simply be ignored. -
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Does this sound like a man who is inspired by God?
by Coded Logic inabsolutely disgusting!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqzc2m8_mba.
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StephaneLaliberte
Here is a challenge for any active witness who want to cause drama in his local congregation:
While out in service or having casual conversations, bring out the idea that women are inferior because of the size of their brain: but do not tell about this talk! After some time, when you can no longer avoid the elders who will want to meet with you, then bring up the fact that Samuel Hurd thought this at a Convention. If they ask about the video: “I found it on YouTube; I’ll expend on that later, right now, I want to focus on why you’re even here? What’s wrong with that teaching?”
They will probably try to dismiss it away saying “It could have been a slip of the tong from this brother while it is not actually endorsed by the society.” Then ask: “In our prayers, in our talks, in field service, in our literature, we accept that the Conventions are spiritual feast prepared by Jehovah.” Who am I, or who are you to pick and choose from that table? If the society does not endorse it, surely they will send a letter to the congregations who heard it. Heck, they can send a letter themselves to ask about it. If the society does not deem it important to rectify the teaching with the thousands of Christians who heard it, then why would you, the elders, cause issues with me for repeating it?
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Does this sound like a man who is inspired by God?
by Coded Logic inabsolutely disgusting!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqzc2m8_mba.
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StephaneLaliberte
Now why would that not be considered hate speech? I think that's where his freedom of expression stops. Seriously, if you say something like that in a conversation over dinner with friends... I think this is one thing. But to be in a position of power and influence and say that the women are not equipped physically, that to me sounds like hate speech. The same kind of speech that said black were inferior physically due to various skull measurements backs in the 1800s. This needs to be reported. Is someone reporting this? -
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Did I imagine a brief thaw in the Watchtower injunction against going to university?
by slimboyfat inokay i was talking to an elder and he said me going to university was a bad idea and i should have listened to the society and not gone.
but i said that when i went to university the watchtower was saying it might not be a bad idea to go to, as long as you do it for the "right reasons", don't associate with worldly people, and keep clear of "damaging ideas".
but basically they said it was okay, in this "changing world" and job market to go to university.
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StephaneLaliberte
You know, I feel exactly like you do.. I just lack the time to research further on the topic right now. Looking at a watchtower from 2013... Higher Education is evil! Yet, I went to university in 1998 and didn't feel so bad. Heck I was aux. pioneering at the same time!