VoidEater

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Posts by VoidEater

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  26

  Do you say "OMG"?

  by highdose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  even if you don't belive in god?

  its somthing that has become a swear phrase rather than an actual prayer.

  so was wondering.... is this somthing you say?.

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  VoidEater

  Srsly, OMG is so like WTF IMHO, LOL!
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  17

  What would happen to a JW woman if she did this?

  by dgp in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you were a jw woman, and you exposed your elder husband as a cheater, what would happen to you?

  would the congregation take it against you?

  what would happen to your standing in the congregation?

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  VoidEater

  Depends on the cong and the power structure, but the wife will at least get a heaping helping of not showing appropriate subservience to the head of house.
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  30

  How did they know if someone was Circumcised?

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so as not to hijack the current "paul" thread, i'll comment here.

  paul spoke about circumcision numerous times and even circumcised timothy.. not to make light of the topic, but i have always wondered, how did anyone know if someone else was circumcised???

  i have been a jw my entire life and will honestly tell you that i don't know which brothers are circumcised and which are not.. i mean, did guys back then watch each other at the urinals or peek in the windows when someone was getting dressed?

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  VoidEater

  There were plenty of opportunities to be seen in the nude, communal bathing being an obvious example.

  Recall that Greeks believed that you were only naked if the glans were visible - games were played in the nude, and circumsized athletes would use artificial means to tie the available foreskin below the glans to give an uncircumsized look.

  Also, note that circumcision at this time was not a heavy removal but rather a tip-trim.
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  30

  as a JW were you comfortable with this question?

  by highdose in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a few times in the ministry i would find someone clued in who would ask the jw on their doorstep " so what your saying is, unless i join your religon god will kill me?

  and everyone else who isn't part of your religon?

  " now theres only one answer to that question as far as jw's are concerned but i never saw a single one answer that with a straight answer, mostly i suspect because they were so uncomfortable about being made to face the truth about their beliefs..

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  VoidEater

  As a JW, I would have answered the question with a question:

  Don't you want to be part of those that will for sure be safe?

  Ew, I think I just threw up a little...
• 
  28

  To tell my parents or not to tell my parents...unfortunately that is a question

  by feenx in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i could use some perspective on something i'm struggling with.

  first off, a little background info.

  i am an only child and my parents, in addition to quite difficult circumstances we've all experienced, both personally and as a family while i was growing up, remain devout.

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  VoidEater

  This may not be helpful - my personal philosophy is always try to leave the door open.

  If they are actively hostile or negative towards you or your family, then it's appropriate to close the door.

  If it's been a number of years since last contact, I'd like to have the possibility still open.

  So, I'd send them an invitation with a note that you'd like to have them in your life. Then they can decide to be there, and if they choose to be there, you can decide if they are mature and loving enough to continue to be there.
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  35

  Intellects do not believe in God

  by garyneal in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on our trip back home from the thanksgiving holiday spent at our home town my wife labeled me an intellect.

  normally, i would've been flattered with the title but when she called me that she was referencing the bible verse matthew 11:25. this offended me to say the least.. she said that it was hard for people like me to have faith in something because i will always investigate it and make sure of it.

  for example, if someone told me that the grass was green, she said i would not believe them and research grass and the color green to ensure that it really was.. i told her that this was absurd and that i see no reason to research whether or not the grass was green when i can see with my own eyes what color it is.

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  VoidEater

  I will have faith in God when He speaks.

  Until then, don't ask me to have faith in what someone thinks God meant when someone else thought they heard God say something.
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  49

  How Jehovah's Witnesses Differ From Cults

  by Bangalore in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  found this article by some guy named john w scott that says jw's are not a cult.. .

  http://ezinearticles.com/?how-jehovahs-witnesses-differ-from-cults&id=3237332.

  bangalore.

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  VoidEater

  What a load.

  Go to the bottom of the article and click on a star to rate the article.

  My TL;DR of the day (warning: not proof-read):

  1. There are "secret" stages to becoming a JW. The steps just aren't formally published. An example is the encouragement of newly interested people are given to check over the claims of WTS doctine with other religions to come to a conclusion about "the Truth". Once "in", however, study and evaluation is not only discouraged but actively labeled as "untheocratic", "unappreciative", and ultimately "apostasy". Once baptised, a new set of standards applies to the adherent.

  2. JWs do not retain fredoms of employment or association. Military jobs and political office result in ousting, and associating with DFed people results in DF. Witnesses are constantly, formally and informally, told to clear things with the elders.

  3. Mixed mariiages often produce strife, especially when the JW places emotional stress on the UBM; further, they overly interfere in divorce proceedings with manuals on how to fight UBMs in the courts. THings are much worse for those not yet married but dating an unbeliever.

  4. The informal pressures to preach are significant; those that overtly state they do not intend to preach are DF (my Dad being an example).

  5. Medical care is curtailed, the most obvious being lack of access to certain blood products; the history of other medical procedures (such as transplants) is varied and contradictory. Going against WTS edict has resulted in DF; when reversing positions, the WTS has refused to undo damage it has caused (e.g., will not reinstate those that were DFed due to accepting a proscribed procedure, usually because the person "ran ahead of their Mother" the church - another example of the demand to strictly adhere to doctronie or be expelled).

  6. "Solid [spiritual] food" is routinely denied. JWs are told to not study on their own, especially starting in the late 1970's. Casual review of WT study articles from the 60's to the present shows a marked regression in language and topic analysis. While someone not yet baptized may be ostensibly encouraged to compare doctrine, those that do so after baptism are condemend as "spiritually weak", "rushing ahead", doubters that are viewed suspiciously.

  7. The WTS downplays education to the point of ridicule, which in turn limits the options of JWs seeking secualar employment. The jingoistic "pumping up" of Jws (e.g., reading the Awake magazine is the equivalent of a college education) gives a false sense of intellectualism and achievement which cannot be demonstrated outside of the JW social structure.

  8. There is no evidence that the WTS has the capacity to respond positively toward criticism, from inside or outside it's organizational walls. Any changes in doctrine have not been in response to critics, but have instead been driven by internal forces within the GB. It is instead highly intransigent, espcially in admitting errors and rectifying mistakes.

  9. The WTS maintains a highly controlled, secretive method of handling child sexual abuse cases. Only in areas where the law demands secular authorities be notified will they do so - but only after first conferring with WTS headquarters.

  10. Appeals at the local level are routinely denied, are sometimes retried by the same religious authories who handled an initial case, and are often hamstrung by perceived rules that ignore individual circumstances. Appeals made to WTS headquarters are routinely ignored over a period of many, many years.

  11. No one is prevented from submitting comments to WTS headquarters. The number of considered responses is vanishingly small.

  12. It is true that "tithing" is done through a voluntary donation process, th
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  21

  A question from a recent lurker?

  by peake1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been out of "the truth" (df'd) for over the last 15yrs and have struggled with one question all this time.

  if the jw faith is not the one true religion and way to worship god then what is??

  after all the bible doesn't say there are many ways to serve god but that the door is narrow leading off to ever lasting life and few are the ones finding it.

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  VoidEater

  God is not in a building, or a particular single church. Scary thought, huh?

  What if there are as many religions as there are people in the world? What if each and evey one has a "one way" to worship, due to their own individuality?

  Lots of religions have similar doctrines to the WTS. Google is your friend. Wikipedia is a well-rounded start. I think you might find comparative religion texts in the library.

  I completely distrust any group that claims to be The One True Religion - it's all a matter of what you choose to believe, you can find evidence to follow anything.

  Personally, I think a truly loving God must be using Universal Reconciliation as his law.
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  25

  Fun Game !

  by iknowall558 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences
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  VoidEater

  ^ You are a constant source of interest, JD
• 
  54

  What do you think happens when you die?

  by brainwashed-from-birth in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  we were taught you are just unconscience in a grave "hell".

  no burning fires or wonderful heaven where all our dreams come true.

  i never feel like i am going to heaven.

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  VoidEater

  Decomposition, physical and mental.

  If there's a "spiritual" component, the only thing that makes sense to me is "universal reconciliation".