I think a getting to know you thread is a fantastic idea. I'm one of those newbies. Reading the stories/experiences of others was very encouraging to me when I was first building the courage to leave, and one of the things that compelled me to write down my own experience. Great idea.
Galileo
JoinedPosts by Galileo
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11
We've had an influx lately (newbies)
by dinah infirst off, i don't mean "newbie" in a mean way.. do you guys think it might be helpful if we have a "getting to know" you thread started?
let new ones, and long-tme lurkers feel welcome and share stories.. i've been fascinated by what i've read in the last couple of weeks, and frankly, usually too emotional to reply.
it seems the same old story replays.. .
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New " Witness Only " Watchtower - Even More Controlling - Check this Out
by flipper init had been 5 years or more since i even read a watchtower article after exiting the witness cult in late 2003. but i was curious to see if the new " witness only " watchtowers were more controlling than i remember them being 5 years ago.
and it certainly opened my eyes to the extreme control.
when you have been away from it - you can really see the difference !
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Galileo
Wouldn't the first question that comes to mind be, "Well, is it true?" They print every other question under the sun, but that one? Hmm, suspicious...
Amen! My exact thought as I was reading this. The source doesn't matter, what matters is whether or not it's true!
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How did you find this site?
by truthseeker init seems as though an age has passed from discovering this site seven years ago to where i am now.
just before we started studying the daniel's prophecy book, i went online to see if anyone had made a study bookmark with the dates and paragraphs on.
i "stumbled" across this site, way back in 2000. of course, like a good christian i pretty much determined that this site had gone apostate from the other jw sites, such.
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Galileo
read an offhand comment on jwfacts that he "spent way to much time on JWD". Googled JWD and here I am!
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Who has lost faith?
by logic&reason ini am curious about who (after leaving) went on to other religions vs. lost faith completely.
once i started questioning the wt society, i began to question everything.
as jw's we are taught from childhood up that other religions are false - so it seems easy, after elliminating the last one, to be rid of religion altogether.. .
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Galileo
The thing is I can't really call myself an Atheist. Though I do agree with many Atheists, I cannot prove they are right either.
Once more in defense of us atheists, an atheist is someone that dosn't actively believe in any god, not someone that believes they can absolutely prove there is no god. If that were the criteria, all atheists would have to call ourselves agnostic. As an atheist, I don't believe I have absolute proof there is no god, just as I don't believe I have absolute proof there are no fairies or unicorns. However, neither do I call myself fairy or unicorn agnostic.
edit: That may have come across more harshly than I meant it. I am simply trying to explain why atheists call themselves such, not trying to put down those that call themselves agnostic. I have the utmost respect for agnostics as well. In truth their position is virtually identical to the position of atheists in many cases.
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So, my mother is coming over today because evidently my "thinking is not...
by cognac inthe norm"... .
anyways, i write this on a laptop during the wt, lol.. ps.
while also sipping coffee (i'm sitting out back) lol.
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Galileo
Agreed... This is my 1st with the laptop in the kh... I wonder if anyone will say anything... I don't see why they would, for all they know, I'm sitting out back here typing notes and I'm not disturbing anyone...
Just make sure you have the WT Library open in another window, just in case someone comes back there, you can hit Alt-Tab and be Miss Ultra-spiritual. Good luck with your mom.
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Red Sea Chariot Wheels?
by MissingLink inhey guys.
there is an email making the jw (and other christians) rounds right now that is basically a copy of this article.
that claims that artifacts found in the red sea prove that egypt's army was wiped out when moses and friends crossed.. is this true, or a hoax?.
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Galileo
I, too, read about the Red Sea's original name of Reed Sea. Somewhere, it lost an 'e'. That tells me that it might not be that deep and that weather/climate conditions could possibly make it shallow enough to cross, at times.
Actually the current thinking is that the "Red Sea", the part where it's commonly thought the Israelites miraculously crossed is now known as the Gulf of Suez, and the "Sea of Reeds" (Yam Suph) are two different bodies of water. According to the Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, The Sea of Reeds "was perhaps located at the S extension of the present Lake Mensaleh." The biblical account implies that the Yam Suph was the border between Egypt and the desert, which is not true of the Red Sea. The changing from "Reed Sea" to "Red Sea" could have been a scribal error, a translation error, or an attempt to substitute the original body of water in the story with one that the Israelites were familiar with. In any case, "Yam Suph" simply cannot be translated to "Red Sea", as several others have already pointed out. Therefore any artifacts found there cannot have anything to do with the Exodus story.
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Who has lost faith?
by logic&reason ini am curious about who (after leaving) went on to other religions vs. lost faith completely.
once i started questioning the wt society, i began to question everything.
as jw's we are taught from childhood up that other religions are false - so it seems easy, after elliminating the last one, to be rid of religion altogether.. .
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Galileo
I have lost faith in things for which there is no evidence.
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Absurdity in the Bible
by darth frosty innot to diss anyones beliefs, i thought this was humorous.. .
absurdity in the bible .
if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.--1 cor.14:38 .
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Galileo
Wow! I never saw it that way! How could I have missed that?! Oh yeah, because I'm not a crazy person! Get some help. And remember, not all sentences need to end in an exclamation point!First thing , not everybody can understand the Bible and if you have doubts about the verses of the Bible simply admit in your heart you don't understand but there might be some people already in the world who understand them. The Bible is the reflection of the infinite mind of God and it is difficult to understand and it may take years or even centuries to understand some of its verses.
The fact there is so much division or confusion on the matter of existence of hell- whether it is or not - should already send shock waves through our bodies and cause us to pause and think how complicated the Bible can be.This is not an ordinary book and it should be so as it originated with the Creator of the endless universe we live in .
The book of Genesis 1 should not be understood the way most people do ! They make a horrible mistake not knowing it is a description of the vision God Yahweh gave to Moses in 7 days from 40 days Moses spent on the Mount Sinai.
The days given in Genesis 1 are the days from Moses' time when he lived and stayed on the Mount Sinai ! God Yahweh did not create the universe in literal 6 days ! The vision of creation lasted 6 days !
So ,what we see here is a total reversal of human understanding on the creation ! For centuries mankind was in denial ! People had no slightest idea that Genesis 1 is a description of what Moses saw in 6 days .
The literal creation based on my calculations using the Bible is over 15 billion years ! The scientists can tell you almost the same !
6 days x 7000 years as one day with God x 360 days in a prophetic year x 1000 years for each prophetic year = over 15 billion years !
God Yahweh continues His creation of the universe as new stars are being created so He cannot rest ! The rest given in Genesis 2.2 cannot be then a literal rest you think of ! It was symbolic and it was shown only in a vision ( like in a movie ) to Moses for a purpose.God Yahweh never rested and rests and will never rest as He upholds the whole universe every second and continues His creation of the universe.It is an on-going eternal process with no end !
Who are you to criticize the Bible ?! You may not have understood the Bible completely what does it say !
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Absurdity in the Bible
by darth frosty innot to diss anyones beliefs, i thought this was humorous.. .
absurdity in the bible .
if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.--1 cor.14:38 .
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Galileo
Yeah, you gotta love the Skeptics Annotated Bible. www.skepticsannotatedbible.com
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The sage witht he JW continues
by dawg injw says....
"listen i'm 19 and in college so everyday i experience new things, people, and religions and i would never down a persons religion because to me that's being close-minded you have to accept people and live by the bible.
in school we have to take religion and psychology classes and i don't know if you realize it or not but in the original dead sea scrolls the isrealites called god, yahweh which in english is translated to jehovah!!!
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Galileo
Seems like you're handling this the right way. She must be very new if she's referring to them as "Jehovah Witnesses". Perhaps if you respond to her again you could point her in the right direction. Give her some links, jwfacts.com perhaps.