my non-jw son just called from another state.
i asked him if he's attending any fireworks display tomorrow in observance of our nation's birthday.
he laughed, knowing that i was digging the lack of birthday celebrations amongst jw's.
At last night's meeting I overheard a number of people talking about where to go see fireworks. Is the rule for this particular holiday that 'so long as there are no flags or remembering of the history of America' involved, than everything else is ok?
Finding a 4th of July fireworks display without flags and patriotism is impossible. They must be justifing it somehow. I'd love to hear their explanation.
that ad is really getting to me, lol.
how many people do you think could be impaled on that thing when its finished?.
gbl.
Can you imagine if that thing got caught up in a tornado? (just thinking outloud)
i often write on the swedish board for ex-jw: http://www.network54.com/forum/349340/.
it's so much easier for me to write in swedish.
it takes a lot of effort to find the right words in english.. i understand most of what i read here, but it means more hard work to try to express my thoughts in english.. anyway, i finally wanted you all to know that i appreciate this board.
Hi Madame. Glad to hear there's a board for Sweden too!
The point is that the way they defined it for 80 years turned out to be false. They went from door to door promoting this viewpoint, and condemned anyone who didn't accept it. This makes them false prophets, by their own definition.
Well said!
www.pandora.com i've mentioned this one before but for music lovers it's fantastic.
you don't download music, you just listen to it.
you can create as many "stations" as you want and you can even refine them.
r. f. wondered how many lurkers there are on the board.
i don't know the answer, but i will admit that i since a few years am one of them.
i read here almost every day.. like many others here i am an ex-jw, left the organisation about 25 years ago and never regretted it.. .
Welcome Madame! I lurked for four years until my first post a couple months ago. I wish I had left 25 years ago. But I was stupid brainwashed, and didn't leave until 4 years ago with absolutely no regrets. I am so happy now!
the societys stance on birthdays is either blatantly a lie, or a lack of bible knowledge on the part of the governing body!
while still attending at the kingdom hall i read job 1:4 where jobs childreneach had celebrations in his own day.
then read in job after his kids died and all his possession were lost where job cursed his own day.
Even when I was a dub, I could never understand the reasoning behind not celebrating Birthdays, yet I obviously complied. The reasoning I've been told is that as Jesus never celebrated his birthday, then why should we. I actually have very mixed feelings about my own Birthday now.
I thought about this too when I first quit. However, the gospels seem to focus on the deeper spiritual aspects of Jesus' time on earth, and do not detail his every day activities. Besides, the way Rutherford and his cronies put together doctrine like a jigsaw puzzle of scripture and misguided quotes, who are they to be telling anyone what they should be thinking and doing?
good evening all.... well, like many of you i have, and am still doing my share of never ending research.
thought i would do a little research on the 4th of july and what its "roots" were.
as a witness, i had never given much thought to it except it was a nationalistic day to be patriotic, and it was a no no for us to participate in.
Funny how the WBTS threatens destruction and hates governments and being patriotic, but will use the court systems and any other government organization it can mooch to it's advantage.
compaired to before, being active on jwd, are you more or less spiritual now?.
philip.
.
I don't think I've changed spiritually, but I don't have it all together yet. I'm just taking my time and not stressing about it like I did when I first quit the dubs.
a few years ago when i was still going to meetings, but no longer an elder, i was talking to two brothers in my driveway (our house was a 'hangout') and brought up the dateline program and how the society had tried to df some of the jw's that went on the show, before the show aired to discredit them.
one of the brothers 'cautioned' me.... .
the other brother had just gotten married...so i turned and said to him: .
I hope they are still thinking about what you said! Glad you put them in their place!
I was still a dub when I saw the Dateline show. I just happened to be flipping channels and it was on. What I heard I've never gotten over. I believed the sincerity of their stories. I was almost a victim too, and the "brother" was an elder. I was so innocent when I was a kid, and never suspected that this guy was a sicko. I was lucky because nothing happened and eventually this elder was disfellowshipped, the reason was never told of course. I completely sympathized with those girls and how much courage they had to go on a major TV show and tell their stories. I suspected that they would be disfellowshipped, if they weren't already. I already knew how heartless Brooklyn was. A couple of years later when I did research to quit, I learned how much widespread abuse there is worldwide in the congregations. I added it to my checklist on why I should quit.
