Posts by monophonic

14

No sacred trees in Eden - what would have happened?

by Awakened07 in

-this is a hypothetical "for the sake of argument"-topic, where we take for granted that the biblical story of adam and eve (as it is presented in the bible we have available today) is literally true.

i think it can be an interesting exercise.. now - let's for this discussion say god did not plant any 'special' tree in the garden of eden.

no tree of knowledge, and no tree of life.

monophonic

and why only humans?

what was the big temptation for the angels? give the whole universe a reason to muck up.

no sex on tuesdays?

171

Dress & Grooming for visiting Bethel. scans inside!!!!!11 LOL

by karvel in

.

monophonic

because if you look like a dork, there's a good chance you won't meet any cool 'worldly' people.

man, harsh and restrictive...what's acceptable can't be found in my closet.

25

My life - A brief history. Part 3 (conclusion)

by Galileo in

this is part 3 and the conclusion to my journey out.

part 1 can be found here, and part 2 is here.. .

truth.

monophonic

it still amazes me how psycho elders can be. that elder writing a letter to her behind your back is really messed up.

your story is heart breaking.

42

JW LOOPHOLE ON BLOOD IN PRINT!!

by Burger Time in

ok just read this article and didn't see it anywhere else.

anyways in this article the liason committee gives permission for a "forced" transfusion.

the article basically points out the loophole!!

monophonic

at least the light gets brighter and we don't have to kill your babies anymore. oopsie.

thanks for posting the article and for highlighting the good parts. i'm putting it in my research pile.

15

Bethelites -- how good is your memory?

by Fatfreek in

the only reference i can find to a library at bethel follows: .

watchtower, 1962, p. 636: "...10,000-volume library are found at bethel in brooklyn.

how large is the room(s)?

monophonic

for photo shoots, did they have to have ouiji boards, cigarettes, etc. for the artists to copy, or did they just purchase those types of things from a getty images stock photos agency.

21

Let's revisit the BLOOD POLICY and see if JESUS refutes JW teaching, Okay?

by Terry in

the watchtower bible and tract society represents itself as christian.. it represents its theology and policies as direct from jehovah god through his son, jesus christ.

further, the governing body of this corporation interposes itself between the mediator, jesus, and the rest of jehovah's (christian) witnesses for the purpose of "feeding them (spiritual) food at the proper time.. the official word of jesus christ is represented in the watchtower's policy on blood transfusions.. in 1998 this statement was made:.

jehovah's witnesses do not accept whole blood, or major components of blood, namely, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma.

monophonic

i bet the wtbts have reasoned this way and haven't changed policy b/c of all the more lawsuits that would come at them.

or i'm giving the collective who are drunk on their own power too much credit.

thanks for posting this, excellent research.

26

How did you build a new life outside of the JWs?

by Sirona in

"if you leave jehovah's organisation, where will you go?".

no doubt many of us have been asked that question.

so where did you "go" when you left the jws?

monophonic

fortunately i had friends in the music scene and i've built friends in the other arts scenes that interest me.

oh, b/c i went to them thar bad concerts by sneaking to them.....thank god for petit rebellion from a teenager.

this will sound very tony robbins, but we all have a purpose, something that will drive us from our core and that we will stop at nothing to continue to attain....for some people it's music....others it's playing poker, whatever. finding out what a person is passionate about, then working towards getting involved, even if it's being a volunteer photographer's assistant to be engaged with what you love....

the whole social structure of the jws is 'we all love jehovah', unfortunately they don't know on a cognitive level that it's, 'we will comply with teh wtbts no matter what', but it's still a social structure of other humans with similar interests....something they're passionate about, or faking being passionate about.

we're fortunate to be able to explore what drives us. what will you continue doing even if you were 95 and it hurt like hell to get up every morning to do it, but you couldn't not do it.

and here's where i quote a passage from Baudelaire that means a lot to me:

One should always be drunk. That's all that matters
that's our one imperative need. So as not to feel Time's
horrible burden one which breaks your shoulders and bows

you down, you must get drunk without cease.

But with what?
With wine, poetry, or virtue
as you choose.
But get drunk.

And if, at some time, on steps of a palace,
in the green grass of a ditch,
in the bleak solitude of your room,
you are waking and the drunkenness has already abated,
ask the wind, the wave, the stars, the clock,
all that which flees,
all that which groans,
all that which rolls,
all that which sings,
all that which speaks,
ask them, what time it is;
and the wind, the wave, the stars, the birds, and the clock,
they will all reply:

"It is time to get drunk!

So that you may not be the martyred slaves of Time,
get drunk, get drunk,
and never pause for rest!
With wine, poetry, or virtue,
as you choose!"

it's translated from french and some have intepreted it as 'get high', but the gist is still there.

383

Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(

by reniaa in

i've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!

i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.

they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".

monophonic

re: jehovah's name, jehovah isn't the correct translation, it's a guess.

many use yahweh or the yhwh....other churches, etc.

jehovah is used by the rastafarians as well as monty python (see 'life of brian').

jws try to make it like they're the only ones, but in the name of jehovah they've done some unspeakable crimes....see COC by raymond franz.

and of course my other response was before reading the other responders who have essentially said the same thing. ;)

383

Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(

by reniaa in

i've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!

i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.

they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".

monophonic

have you been in therapy? it seems there are some patterns in your life that you're assuming can be fixed by becoming a jw again, forgetting that all friendship and love from jws are conditional to the extreme.

if patterns of bad relationships aren't broken, there's a very good chance you'll end up wtih a loser jw who doesn't treat you right, just as a loser non-jw.

if you still believe in god or a higher power, i suggest praying about it.

during those dark times over the past 9 years i've been out and said to myself, what if i'm wrong.....well, i know i'm not sure of anything, but in those dark times i prayed with earnesty and absolute faith that i'd be shown an answer.....every time the answer was do not go near becoming a jw again.....it manifest itself in various ways, like old friends getting in touch and showing me how horrid they are and were.

be very honest with yourself and listen to your gut feeling.

if your gut feeling is telling you to go back, there might be a reason....in my own limited experience, i went back after fading, and left again....it was important that i went back b/c i needed to nail the coffin shut and the first time around i still had doubts about god killing me at armageddon.....now i can look at that as absurdity.....but for some it takes going back.

excuse my being blunt about therapy and relationship patterns.....i'm suggesting separating the issues b/c going back and having bad relationships with men have nothing to do with each other.

my experience is limited and i don't know and shouldn't assume your full experience.....so take my suggestions and do what works for you.

i am a bit concerned that bad relationships are part of the reason.

9

Can a baptism be overturned?

by angeleyes71 in

hey to all!

i haven't been on for a few months but i had a question.

i feel like when i was baptized in 1999, i was pressured by my children's granmother to hurry up and do it for their sake.

monophonic

i was asked once if i felt i needed to be rebaptised when i got suckered into a love study.....i said no.

but, if i would've said yes, i doubt they would've written off that i was already baptised if they decided to take any action against me.

and, since the new "wording" of 'no longer a jehovah's witness', i also doubt it makes a difference....they have their legal asses covered and that's all they care about.

fade out if you can.