Maddie

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Posts by Maddie

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  18

  Why do many people get religion, at the end or their lives?

  by PEC in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the other day, i was talking to my brother and he tells me that my biological father, has started going back to the meetings and is now shunning him.

  this man, now 77, has lived a life outside (sex, drugs and rock and roll) of the borg for at least 47 years.

  he lives about a 6 hour drive from me.

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  Maddie

  Because they are at the end of their lives and think more about it, and wonder if there is an after-life.

  Maddie
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  36

  Should I DA myself?

  by OMG! Now What? in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm new here and am hoping to get some support and become normal again.

  i'm going to tell my story below, sorry in advance for how long it is, but i've really gotta get a grip on who i am now and what i need to do.

  since before my baptism and for four years, my children and i attended every meeting.

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  Maddie

  Welcome to JWD OMGNW - I have had to face this problem too and have active JW family so its not an easy one. As some have said - if you haven't family to worry about then its a choice between playing by their rules or not.

  It might be a good idea to do some research into the history and doctrines of the WT to help you realise that they haven't got the "Truth" but are a cult. It was suggested to me and it helps to clear your mind of guilt about leaving them.

  Maddie
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  6

  Certainty of Uncertainty

  by belbab in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  two words with a hinge in between.

  change the hinge to whatever, above, beyond, before, and, or?.

  can i be certain someone will answer this post?.

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  Maddie

  Certainty is certainly uncertain

  Maddie
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  31

  Do you shun Jw's now?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have gone thru phases with this.

  i sometimes have forced jw's who shun me to speak, or be embarrassed if they don't.

  then i let up on that as the hurting lessened over time.

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  Maddie

  I think shunning as practiced by the JW's is psychological torture so I couldn't in all good conscience inflict it on anyone. My attitude is that if I can help any JW's to leave the cult then I will, my prime concern being to get my son and his family out of their clutches. I have decided that I won't play their game in honouring their shunning practice if I am shunned which is what they expect.

  Maddie
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  39

  My Personal Proof That Elders Are Not Appointed by Holy Spirit

  by TMS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this topic is not about men living sinfully at the time of their appointment as elders.

  it is not about pedophile elders, although i've personally known three, two who were pedophiles at the time of their appointment by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.. first of all a quick summary of what jehovah's witnesses are taught about the appointment of elders and ministerial servants:.

  before the visit of the circuit overseer, the local elders meet to consider who, if any, among the local congregation they will recommend as elders or .

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  Maddie

  TMS - It is a a very important point you are making so thank you. I have long since been of the opinion that elders are not appointed by Holy Spirit.

  Maddie
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  22

  Thank You

  by llbh in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thank you to all the lovely people on jwd.

  i have only been here for a few months but in that short time i have received a lot help and encouragement here.

  as some of you know i have had a few problems of a personal nature.

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  Maddie

  ((((((((David))))))))

  Maddie
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  85

  Elder asks me why we quit... (Long)

  by Odrade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in this thread i mentioned having a long chat with an elder last summer.

  i didn't realize i had never posted the story, so here it is.. last summer (when i went to buy my new camera lens) i ran into one of my favorite jws at the photography shop.

  he was buying a camera bag for his new dslr, and i saw him, went up and greeted him, hugged him.

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  Maddie

  In his book "Releasing The Bonds", Steven Hassan refers to cognitive dissonance as a reason that people don't leave cults. Perhaps for some of the more intelligent ones pride is a factor too.

  Maddie
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  66

  The Gift of Speaking in Tongues?

  by Maddie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the increase in evangelical churches there seems to be a lot more emphasis on the practise of "speaking in tongues".

  i quite like the way these churches conduct services, with live music and great singing.

  it is so different to the kh meetings and like fresh air.

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  Maddie

  SUNSPOT - Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Are you hoping to be able to talk in tongues too?
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  66

  The Gift of Speaking in Tongues?

  by Maddie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the increase in evangelical churches there seems to be a lot more emphasis on the practise of "speaking in tongues".

  i quite like the way these churches conduct services, with live music and great singing.

  it is so different to the kh meetings and like fresh air.

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  Maddie

  Emotions of entire audiences can be changed. It happens at rock concerts and cinemas every day. Think of the scene in Independence Day when the President gives his rousing speech. Everyone feels a part ofsomething bigger, something powerful. Others cheer so it feels natural to join in.

  SEROTONIN - I have to agree with you on the above as I have studied a little about crowd behaviour in Psychology. Thanks for reminding me, it probably accounts for a lot.

  CHALAM - Just to make it clear, true speaking in tongues is not something you can work up yourself, is not babel but a heavenly prayer language and is a gift from God for those who believe.

  If it is a gift from God today, then this is how I would expect it to be - not babel and not a frenzied state which a person has brought on by their own merit.

  JGNAT -

  Don't you think JW's have had it drilled in to them that if anyone claimed to be of the "anointed" they had to think of themselves as exclusive and "special" somehow? That's what happens if you break it off as a"class" of people and make it an exclusive club.

  JW's put the anointed and God in an exclusive little box of their own, which shuts everyone else out of a personal relationship with God. They steal a persons spirituality which is wicked IMO
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  115

  Confidential Body of Elder Letters from 1981 through 2006

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here it is guys.

  this is what darth frosty was talking about in his post the other day (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/149460/1.ashx).

  this is a collection of confidential letters from the watchtower society that were sent to the bodies of elders in the years 1981 through 2006. these are the letters that you were never meant to see or read.. there's all sorts of information in them ranging from the boring and mundian to instructions about how to handle child molesters.. many thanks to darth frosty and others (who i'm not sure can be named) who worked very hard and took risks to collect and scan the information.

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  Maddie

  Thank you for all for this information. It is so important in fighting the borg.

  Maddie