VoidEater

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Posts by VoidEater

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  115

  My Life as a 'Famous' Jehovah's Witness

  by united states of nothing in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just let me start out by saying i am unable to give certain details of my life as i have learned very quickly this can cause a lot of problems.

  i was born into the 'truth' as my mother had been studying with a few sisters on and off at a local congregation.

  my father was never a jw and came in and out of my life for many years..to this day i do not give him much time.

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  VoidEater

  Welcome United States. I don't know (or care) anything about sports.

  I am very interested in your perspectives on the WTS, being a JW, and what life is like for you now.

  Cheers -ve

  [fixed typo]
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  38

  Faith vs. Reason- Watchtower "apostate" quote+refutation by atheist author

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  please read.

  it mentions the watchtower and has some interesting things to say about it.. thoughts in captivity.

  faith versus reason in religion.

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  VoidEater

  Pointless I know, but...

  But if "successful mind viruses will tend to be hard for their victims to detect", and so widespread, how do we know that reason alone is truly guiding our actions?

  It behooves you to "get out of your mind" in some way so as to have that part of you (sometimes called the "observer") to the fore. This would allow one to more clearly observe memes (or beliefs, or thoughts) in play. Therapy or meditation may be your paths to this. But you are right - it is very difficult for a microscope to examine itself, so an outside mirror of some sort is usually helpful.

  I can observe, measure, quantify biological viruses. Can memes be subjected to a similar inquiry?

  Yes, to an extent - see above. They can be observed. It rarely happens in a vacuum, though. And it is a mostly subjective process, since only you can directly observe your own beliefs (the rest of us can see what you do, and only guess at what motivates you).

  It would appear that the memetic virus is just a construct of Dawkins’ own philosophy.

  Seems to adequately describe a mental process to me...perhaps as "provable" as, say, oh, I don't know...the existance of God?
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  17

  The loss of a 70' musician

  by worldtraveller in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the beer was empty and our tongues were tired .

  and running out of things to say .

  she gave a kiss to me as i got out and i watched her drive away .

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  VoidEater

  I saw him in many venues in several states growing up and as an adult. He was about ten years older than I and his music always struck a chord - but it was my partner that had a true passion for him, and getting to know Dan's music was a way for me to get to know my partner. Tucson, Arizona from the Windows and Walls album (1984) was always a favorite, radio-unfriendly, of mine - and the Phoenix album (1979) is a standout of radio play from that time.

  Remembrances can be posted here:

  http://www.thelivinglegacy.net/wishes.html
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  155

  "They (WT) took me out of context", Gail Bethea-Jackson video

  by Fatfreek in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this is too important to bury within an old thread.

  that thread hashed over several items of interest which you may want to read by way of a refresher: .

  is gail bethea-jackson truly a doctor as the watchtower site claims?

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  VoidEater

  DP:

  help people learn about safety in general

  To do this would be really simple - announce from the platform that several lawsuits have come to light that paint a negative picture of the organization. Then say: PARENTS ALWAYS NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT WHO IS WITH THEIR CHILDREN, WHETHER WITH A MEMBER OF THE CONGREGATION OR NOT. Why bury such "general safety" info on a Website, when most Witnesses will only get their spiritual food at a meeting? Why not have an article devoted to past abuses by Elders and others in Awake?

  Pretending that their kids are safe with someone just because they are an Elder or because they attend meetings is no help at all. They wouldn't even have to acknowledge that there have been cases of Witnesses or Elders guilty of such crimes (though of course we know there have been cases), or that the WTS has been guilty of covering things up (though certainly the huge payoffs in the court cases seem damning, even if you choose to ignore those that have spoken out).

  As has been said before, this "general safety" info did not occur in a vacuum - the timing and the actual context is sufficient to show that this video is in the nature of a rebuttal, and the content itself show that it is being used in an apologist way ("years ago we didn't even know it was a problem").
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  19

  Observation of WT during Assembly

  by Robert7 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i recently attended an assembly day, and this added ammo as to why i am turned off:

  - they did a very good job saying how anything that is not 'of jehovah' is worldly and from the devil.

  so black & white.

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  VoidEater

  What happened to having a personal relationship with God? Interesting, I recently had relatives staying at the house along with my parents. Yes, believe it or not - me and my domestic partner of 20 years hosted Witness relatives in our home, and no one burst into flames. My aunt kept harping on my near-apostate father - get this - how:

  Jehovah reads the heart, and that's all that matters. It doesn't matter whether you belive everything the Society says or not.

  I doin't know if that makes her weak or strong in "truth", but it was refreshing. Clearly her stand wouldn't be appreciated or understood by the WTS. Dad is going through a crisis of conscience himself, and has been since Armageddon (1975). He wants to be in but his integrity and logic are gasping for air as he tries to conform. It was amazing to me that my aunt would be bringing aid in this way, telling him to lighten up and believe what you want.

  She also came up with:

  How amazing it is that over 6 million worldwide are united in worship.

  To which, sadly or happily, all I can say is - yeah, out of 6,700,000,000+ they have less than .1%. Not a resounding success for the absolute Truth for Mankind.
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  45

  Obsessed Ex-JWs----Are You One Of Them?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are you consumed by your having been a witness?

  are you very angry all the time because of your jw past?.

  have you ever thought about recieving professional therapy?

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  VoidEater

  Not obsessed, though still get angry when I hear about the latest "new light" weaseling on past prophetic/divinely inspired dogma - because my dad goes through such contortions subverting his integrity and logid to remain a "good witness". I think that's healthy.

  Yes, therapy was good for me - but I was dealing with more than just escaping from brainwashing, I was also coming out to my witness parents and stuggling with elder molestation issues. Had to get past a counselor that was physically inappropriate with me, but eventually found an excellent therapist - also did group therapy, which was immensely helpful. That only took 15 years...
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  14

  Out Witnessing = My wife hands out our home phone number to strangers!!!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  desperate to make a convert i'm amazed how witnesses behave.

  like my wife we were on vacation, witnessing, we met a guy who was visiting his mother but came from our city.

  after talking for a while my wife tells him which suburb we live in and leaves our home phone number telling him to call me when we get back and i can take him to the meetings.

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  VoidEater

  Geez - even back in the 60's in the US sisters were strongly cautioned against door-to-door or study activities alone...
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  17

  Would You Be Putting 2+2 together if You Were Still a Witness?

  by journey-on in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it occurred to me that if i were still a believing jehovahs witness, i would be thinking that maybe.just maybe.the watch tower bible & tract society, inc. has gone apostate and is guiding its flock off a cliff.. first..all the corporations that were formed separating everything in the eary 2000s.

  what is the real reason for doing that?.

  second..their association with the united nations.. third.their changes on major doctrines.. fourth.the pedophile issue and subsequent cover-up.

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  VoidEater

  I was always skeptical. But believed there was nothing better, that there was no other choice for salvation than association. But now that I look back on it I never thought they were infallible, I always knew there were imperfect humans in the machinery. It was later that I gained an appreciation that the mistakes being made had real, horrendous consequences for the poor folks stuck in the gears. The arrogance and haughtiness of the organization by its refusing to even acknowledge its errors drove me to conclude I couldn't be there any more - and if they were making mistakes in one area, then they may be wrong everywhere.
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  30

  ARE ANY OF THE ANOINTED FAKE?

  by badboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what do you think?

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  VoidEater

  I must be annointed.
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  8

  So then what exactly is the "Holy Spirit"? (the JW version)

  by VoidEater in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it kinda like god's rc [radio controlled] racer?.

  is it like magnetism or electricity?.

  is it like email?.

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  VoidEater

  Ooh! Embedded video! Must take a lt of bandwidth, though...