B_Deserter

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Posts by B_Deserter

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  53

  JWs and Love towards their families

  by R.F. in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is something that just popped in my mind suddenly.. but i was thinking about over the years the many comments of jws about loved ones.

  for instance, one sister was speaking of her disgust with her children not accepting the "truth".

  she gladly tells anyone of what she told them; that if they don't accept it before armageddon that it's too bad.

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  B_Deserter

  It's mind-boggling to me how fickle friendships in the organization can be. If you decide to leave, your friends will forget about all those years with you in an instant.
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  26

  Turned 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  by why??? in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  wow i turned 21 today and for the first time i'm genuinely excited about it.

  i got alot of b'day wishes and just said "thank you" instead of trying to explain my way out of it...i felt so special and i even went to the store and bought a bacardi my parents laughed at me...and i don't feel guilty for enjoying the day i was born like i used to......baby steps to mental freedom!!!!

  !

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  B_Deserter

  LOL, I started saying "Thank you" to all the bless-you and Happy Birthdays a couple years ago, and I considered myself a witness.
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  37

  I told my parents I no longer believe the Watchtower Society

  by B_Deserter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  they insisted i come over for a debate, a chance for them to save me since according to my mother this was "a matter of life and death.

  " basically i spent the whole evening passively nodding my head and acknowledging what they said.

  i tried a few times to argue or debate but getting through to them was impossible.

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  B_Deserter

  Atlantis, Thanks, but my mom will dismiss it as an Apostate forgery unless she actually sees an original copy.
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  40

  '..simply for a contribution to cover the printing cost of the magazines...

  by Gill in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  do you remember when we used to ask for a 'contribution that covers the printing cost' for the mags?.

  was that ever the real cost of printing the mags?

  afterall, we had to pay for the wretched things when we collected them, so was the wt society already making a profit from us foolish sheep which we then tried to recoup from the unsuspecting public.. were we conned?

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  B_Deserter

  "It's so similar to Multi Level Marketing that you wonder whether the WTS was used as a business model and inspiration by the original MLMers!"
  
  Funny story. One of my JW friends got talked into something called "Team of Destiny." It was a subsidiary of Quikstar, which is a subsidiary of Alticor (Amway). He said he was amazed at how much ToD organized like Witnesses. They had several "meetings" a week, as well as large conventions twice a year. He said the feel was almost identical and they once even alluded to how successful "The Bible Students" are at getting new converts in order to motivate people to hit the pavement as well.
  
  Anyway, I remember asking for 50 cents as a child, but never paying for the magazines (I'll have to ask my parents about that). The magazines may have cost 3 cents, but they also cost money to ship. That's probably where that extra 20-odd cents went, especially to magazines being shipped to other countries.
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  10

  Jephthah's Sacrifice of his Daughter - real or figurative "burnt offering?"

  by B_Deserter in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  while reading richard dawkins' book "the god delusion," he talked about jephthah's sacrificial slaughter of his own daughter.

  i was utterly shocked.

  after all, "my book of bible stories" taught me that he sent her away to jehovah's service, like a nun or something.

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  B_Deserter

  While reading Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion," he talked about Jephthah's sacrificial slaughter of his own daughter. I was utterly shocked. This couldn't be right. After all, "My Book of Bible Stories" taught me that he sent her away to Jehovah's service, like a nun or something. So I decided to dig deeper and find out what the Society has to say in the subject. I found this article:
  
  w71 7/1 pp411-415
  
  "It, therefore, does not seem reasonable to conclude that Jephthah intended to offer up literally whoever came out to meet him as a burnt offering. Such a course would go against God’s law about the sanctity of human life and would be the only instance in the whole Bible where a human was actually sacrificed by another person who had God’s approval. Rather, it seems reasonable to conclude that what Jephthah intended, and what he did, was that whoever came out to meet him was to be dedicated to God’s service and that he used the expression “burnt offering” merely as a figure of speech."
  
  In a nutshell, Jephthah's burnt offering couldn't have been literal because it would have violated God's law. This is a whole lot of assumption here. If the Bible is indeed a fragmented book, written by many authors and copied over and over through the centuries, then this account is proof of such. Jehovah himself is blessing an act in the book of Judges that would have carried the death sentence in Numbers. This is classic "the scripture doesn't mean what it says" charlatan logic the WTS uses. They use one core default belief to interpret the Bible: The Bible is right, no matter what. Challenge this belief, and the subsequent interpretations fall along with it.
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  46

  New date for Armegeddon???

  by DawnLS620 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i must have missed this on my travels thru different x-dub sites, but i think i read something on here about their "new light" regarding the timing for armegeddon.

  since its been over 30 years since 1975, how do they predict armegeddon now?

  what do they tell new converts regarding the 1975 debacle?

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  B_Deserter

  Even thought I don't believe it, Armageddon scares the shit out of me. Every State of the Union address my parents would watch intently and shout "there's the call!!! PEACE AND SECURITY!!!" Of course, US Presidents have used the phrase "Peace and Security" or a derivative for quite a while now.
  
  This new campaign makes me very nervous. It makes me nervous, not in a logical sense, but more as a "gut" feeling. It's like over the years, it's just become an automated emotional response.
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  37

  I told my parents I no longer believe the Watchtower Society

  by B_Deserter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  they insisted i come over for a debate, a chance for them to save me since according to my mother this was "a matter of life and death.

  " basically i spent the whole evening passively nodding my head and acknowledging what they said.

  i tried a few times to argue or debate but getting through to them was impossible.

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  B_Deserter

  They insisted I come over for a debate, a chance for them to save me since according to my mother this was "a matter of life and death." Basically I spent the whole evening passively nodding my head and acknowledging what they said. I tried a few times to argue or debate but getting through to them was impossible.

  The funny thing is that I told my mom about the no t-shirt/jeans thing at the convention this year and she wouldn't believe me. They didn't have an April KM handy for me to show them. I'm going to go this year because I'm curious how many people are going to obey this. Anyway, I went home and left them with the impression I was going to study some more. I did. This time was different though. For the first time in my life I saw the literature through the eyes of someone "in the world," and I couldn't help but laugh. The literature is full of faulty logic.

  I've decided that I'm probably going to do the fade, very gradually. I'll keep up appearances at the hall just enough to satisfy my family, but I'm no longer going to live by their rules. I will read and study what I want to study. The funny thing about the Society is that I don't think they really care if you believe it or not, just as long as you keep your dissenting views to yourself.

  If I do eventually make a clean break, I think at this point it's far too premature. An entire lifetime in the group has landed me zero friends outside. I have some family, but they are quite religious and since I am not they may not receive me too well. What I have to do is start forming friendships with a more diverse crowd outside the witness, then, when I have a good enough base, break away officially. Of course, at this point I'll probably be ignored by pretty much all of the witnesses anyway so I probably won't even need to do that.

  Anyway, I feel better that my parents are satisfied that they at least tried.
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  16

  A question for Elders or MS currently on the inside

  by loosie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i sent some info about the lawsuit settlements to a friend who still goes to the meetings.

  she said that years ago the abuse incidents were not reported to the authorities, but now they are reported to the authorities.. is that true?

  did the organization change their reporting policy?.

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  B_Deserter

  The ruling about reporting was made shortly after an unfavorable showing of the problem on TV (via Dateline, 20/20 or 60 Minutes, not sure which one)
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  11

  The Smashing Pumpkins are back!

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  the new cd is called zeitgeist.

  german for "the spirit of the age".

  it's to be released in july of this year.. of the original members, only corgan and chamberlin remain.. sounds decent.. worth checking out..

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  B_Deserter

  I heard one of their new songs. It's excellent, back to their rock roots and none of the electronic stuff.
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  20

  disfellowshipping procedure

  by Hangin_on in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't understand the whole disfellowshipping procedure, i thought i did at one time but now i don't.

  i was df'd for leaving my wife and taking someone else as my wife so i am in an adulterous marriage.

  that is a prime example of an action that requires dfing.. however it has been 3 years, i have written 3 - 4 letters.

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  B_Deserter

  When a couple does get married in the church, a lot of them never try to make their marriages work because there is no incentive. Why try to please your wife when she can't divorce you without being shunned by everyone she's ever known?