I always considered myself a 'moderate JW' when I was in. I believed it was the truth, new system, etc, but knew the org had issues, and didn't believe some doctrines, such as the Adam & Eve story, global flood (thought both were just stories not to be taken literally), blood policy, etc. However in my case being moderate in a hard-lined faith created great dissonance that led to my exit. If only the GB was more moderate themselves, I may still be in... As said above, cult's can't reform.
Robert7
JoinedPosts by Robert7
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58
Website by MODERATE JWs who recognize issues with the religion
by Hermano infound this website this weekend by jws who recognize there are issues within the organization and are calling for change.
this is the type of forum moderate jws needs, imho.
glad to see moderate jws are out there and are doing something.. http://www.jwreform.org/.
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NEWS-JW Wife Stabbed in Kingdom Hall
by Refriedtruth infox carolina 21deputies: wife stabbed by husband at church.
whns greenville-9 minutes agogreenville county deputies said they were called to kingdom hall of jehovah's witnesses at 1400 old spartanburg rd.
about 2:15 p.m. where they found ...http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/18848997/deputies-wife-stabbed-by-husband-at-church.
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Robert7
Horrible situation. However you know this will fuel their persecution complex. See? Satan is trying to stop you from Jehovah!
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If you were a Witness, when did you realize the Governing Body was apostate?
by matt2414 infor more than 30 years i believed everything that came from the watchtower society, especially since i lived at bethel for a while and i knew a lot of the gb members, who to me seemed intelligent and personable.
at the beginning, the emphasis was on the bible, the kingdom, jehovah and jesus.
but gradually over time, there would appear an elephant in the room that no one seemed to talk about, such as the change in the understanding of "generation.
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Robert7
For me it was the Governing Body worship. Every prayer, every WT article, most talks talk about the Governing Body. I remember a talk talking about sports, and if you spend too much time, energy and focus on sports, that's idolatry. To me the Governing Body worship was so much that I thought it was idolatry. That's when my mind finally opened up and I realized they were full of it.
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Evidence for God...
by tec inlife come from the living, and this is a universe of life.
his teachings are truth.
which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).
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Robert7
Life does not come from nothing
If the above is true, then who created God?
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What's your favorite stereotype that is used by the WT?
by Chemical Emotions ini like the "sudductive woman with long dark hair", for one.
very funny pictures..
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Robert7
People who leave "The Truth" have miserable unhappy lives living in a selfish immoral lifestyle, and are only happy when they return to "The Truth".
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jesus came in 1874...and 1914...and what did he do both times?...cmon dad what were you thinking????...and hit me up if you are from anywhere near greensboro
by oompa inabsolutely nothing....but i bet for the forty years in between russell gave him full credit for how he was running things...just like they do today...but why does nobody ask wtf jesus is doing or what he did for those 40 years....who the hell was running things?!?!?!?
so if russell thought jesus was running things (invisibly of course...how conveeeeeenient) for forty years before 1914...and they still do....what were the differences in the 40 years before 1914 and all those after?.....
and now i am so dissapointed in my oh so intelligent dad jw elder for life...how could that and pedicting the end of the world in 1914 not be a deal breaker for this third generation jw dad????
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Robert7
Hey I'm in Raleigh, but I think you know that :)
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 05-13-2012 WT Study (URGENCY)
by blondie inmaintain your sense of.
how can we maintain our sense.
urgent now than ever?.
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Robert7
Wow. What stood out to me is evolution isn't just wrong, it's APOSTACY! That's insane. Whether you agree with it or not, evolution has so much evidence it is considered 100% fact in the scientific community. To call believing in evolution even slightly apostacy is insane.
This is just as bad as the Catholic church belief in the the geocentric universe, and considering any other belief heresy.
I think harsh comments like this will bit the WT in the future. As evolution gets further and further proven with real facts, the WT will have to soften its stance or further push and keep people out. Maybe better, these hard stances will make ones inside think and break free!
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Has anyone ever used a non-NWT (New World Translation) bible at meetings / study?
by biometrics inabout 1 year ago (before i faded), i purchased an old king james bible from ebay and started using it in the meetings and when a brother came over to study with me.. a common reaction of fellow jws was to stare at the bible, then say "what type of bible is that?
", then they'd sometimes ask to look at it, and flip to john 1:1. when they saw what it said, they'd treat it like it was apostate material, even though a few decades earler it was the same bible jws used.. i strongly encourage any lurkers/faders to use another bible at the meetings and see what type of reactions you get.. .
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Robert7
The NWT has been modified to meet their doctrine. Below is a link to a great example I found that sealed the deal for me. The whole "The wages sin pays is death". Most translations say "the wages of sin is death". WT: "Your death covers your sins" most others: "you die because you sin". Very different meaning and has huge ramifications for many core JW doctrines.
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Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?
by Doug Mason inwhat is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?
what are they trying to hide?.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.
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Robert7
To me this is obvious. Higher critisism has a great chance to cause someone to lose faith in the Bible. Once you take off your Christian rosy-colored glasses, and look at the Bible as a set of documents by an ancient people, you realize that it's just that, a set of documents containing history, politics/law, and religion, and no different than any other ancient text.
This is based on the same fear of College, the internet, etc. They fear anything that can cause you to lose faith or question your faith. If you have the truth, why fear facts? Like the old saying goes "don't let the facts get in the way of a good story".
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Dubbs up 4.4 Percent in USA - Yippee!
by RayPublisher inan asleep dubb sent this youtube to me today, an abc report on how protestantism is down and the jws are up more than any other christian group, 4.4%:.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnvgjeq2ttc.
made me sick to my stomach.... .
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Robert7
Stats can be so deceiving. First of all, the JW's 4.4% growth is only 50,000. The Pentecostals had over a 150,000 growth per year! It's a higher percentage of a small number versus smaller percentage of a big number. Do JW's care about saving PEOPLE, or just increasing the percentage of the people they are saving?
Also we know the JW's are quite liberal to count their numbers. If I recall it was active publishers that are only counted. We know many people are hanging by a thread and doing minimal actual service, or in many cases lying or exaggerating their hours.
It's all about quality vs quantity.
On another note, I'd be curious on the number growth of those who are not religious at all. I bet that's growing even faster.