Posts by independent

21

Celebrated my birthday for the first time!!!

by cognac in

jw
friends

i went out to dinner with my aunt.

got to blow out a candle and everything!!!

she gave me a card and a beautiful necklace!!!

Recent experiences with my Witness family

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

my dad was not raised a witness and neither was his brother.

his brother has always been "wordly".

dad has been in "the truth" for decades now.

People see what the only want to see is so true - especially for Witnesses. You're raised to believe all wordly people are bad and selfish, even though there are those right in the congregation that behave this way. I'm so glad to be relieved of the them vs. us mentality. It keeps you closed off from so many good people.

70

Let's predict the next 10 years of "noolite"

by Awakened at Gilead in

the past 15 years or so have seen incredible "advances" in the new light agenda of the wts.. there have been changes in the generation (twice!

), sheep and goats, celestial phenomena, opening up the way to heaven (closed since 1935), the "composite sign", "blood fractions", along with major organizational changes, such as paperbacks, once monthly awake!

's, cult edition of the wt, along with the reduction of the meeting nights and change to the po nomenclature becoming the coboe (ssdd).... some of these changes have been foreseen by posters here on jwd, or were suggested by information in apostates recomended reading lists (i.e.

independent_tre

Broaden "service hours" to include a choice of alternatives to preaching, including acts of mercy and other good deeds. What if the entire congregation met at the Kingdom Hall on specific Saturdays and volunteered for whatever aspect of service they felt like doing? Some would go evangelizing, others could be given a list of publishers in need of some support, such as chores, meals, companion care, and so forth, and friends could go and tend to those needs. Still others would care for maintenance needs at the Hall, such as cleaning or landscaping. Other options could be determined as well. The operating philosophy would be, everyone has different gifts. That way, everyone in the congregation would be involved in some form of "service" and it would serve to unite. Everyone would get equal credit for these hours on their monthly reports, or the reports could be done away with.

This actually sounds agreeable; I know some hope that changes will come to make them a more mainstream religion. This would help out a lot of folks.

30

Aren't we as a group smart enough to bring the whole thing down?"

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

i realize that i was stuck believing in jw almost all my life.

and that each person has to see the light for themselves.. but it was partly the hypocrisy, partly the internet, partly my brother, ex-jw, and partly thinking on my own that did it.. there are smart enough people on the board, is there anything we can do to bring the whole jw thing down?.

there must me some way, some thing, we can do.

independent_tre

I must agree with OTWO on this one..."like herding cats". One of the first things that weirded me out about this site was the lack of cohesiveness where I expected to find some; It seemed like everyone was going in there own direction and some even clashing and arguing about things - which in a way contributed to the end of this site, not the WT org.

46

Did you ever go in field service after realizing it was not the truth?

by Samuel Thorsen in

jw
friends

i did not, but i did fs when i had seriuos doubts and i thougt some householders had pretty good arguments some times, but i could not admit it of course.. and i did fs for a long time after i realized the magazines was very very poor.

i still remember my very last hour from door to door.

geee that was torture, i hatet myself and hoped no one was at home.. do you remember your last fs hour?

independent_tre

I barely went out when I was in - despised it; And I think the last time I was out actually ringing doorbells was 6 months or so before I joined JWD. The hardest part is not getting roped back into it by family and well-meaning ~~hounders~~ - I mean elders....

46

Nov 15 WT - stumbled over a teaching? There's no where else to go!!!

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i just read the nov 15, wt - what a laugh.. so they admit some leave over their teachings and then they say there's no where else to go.

what a joke - they are liars.. .

was it a problem with a teaching?.

independent_tre

Puh-leeze, I've gotten more 'refreshment' and more RELIEF being here on JWD than all of my time as a dub. I agree, more control and trying to convince the masses of dubs that they'd be miserable and lost on their own if they ever become inactive. This is definitely directed to the faders.

This is interesting because at this past summer's DC, the elder that gave the closing talk made it a point of trying to convince everyone that people leave because of conduct, not doctrine.

If people are refusing to eat their wonderful food, they may wish to reevaluate what they're serving!

I love this analogy, Ms. Fiorini!

13

My first year in JWD. Thank you!!

by tooktheredpill in

jw
friends

"membership since .

hello guys!

today i noticed that i've been in jwd for a whole year.

independent_tre

I'm so happy for you and your successful exit from the org...hope to be where you are when I make a year.

Take Care

407

Is it the JW's or the God of the bible you no longer believe?

by reniaa in

i have a question for the ex-jw's on this forum after months of reading the forum..... many say how good it is to be free of the oppressiveness of the jw's that they can now enjoy the freedom to... have sex, celebrate christmas, gamble, embrace politics etc.

there are still biblical scriptures and principles in place that if you still followed the bible would mean you avoid these things and yet these are now embraced as one of the perks of no longer being a jw so in my confusion i ask.... if these are what you want, isn't it more correct to say you no longer follow the bible as apposed to just the jw's?.

independent_tre

i'm sorry isaacaustin I guess I wasn't really clear on the point I was trying to make which was that the rituals of these forgotten pagan festivals have a great a hold on us. And that people couldn't conceive of not doing them or changing the date they observe jesus's birthday on, people find change hard.
I don't want to keep banging on about christmas it's taken what I really wanted to discuss right off topic and considering the replies i've had it's an old well discussed topic.
I appologise to those that feel I have not answered or addressed their questions enough but I really want to keep this thread more on topic now and only address people staying within the topic of "If it's Just the Jw's they've left and not the God of the bible?" although i think we may have pretty muched covered it .

To be fair to you Reniaa, I will answer your original question if that honestly was your reason for bringing this up. I left the JW's, not the Bible. As a matter of fact I feel that the bible has more meaning to me than at anytime I've ever been a dub.

I did not leave for sex - the only person I'm gettin' it on with is my hubby.

I did not leave to celebrate holidays - so many of them are Hallmark-money-making holidays anyway, but I do believe it is my choice and not condemned by the Bible.

I did not leave to gamble - I can find many more satisfying ways of flushing my money down the toilet.

I did not leave to vote - I still retain a healthy skepticism of politics and politicians.

I left because I found out it was not the truth. A deep study of the bible without the WT narrative will uncover that. I left because of all the extrascriptural requirements that did not make sense. I left because I realized that Jehovah's Witnesses are not a 'special people'; they are like every other group of people on this earth, there is good and bad in all.

Most of all - I left because I wanted to be FREE! That is my hope for you, Reniaa.

Take care.

Independent Tre

407

Is it the JW's or the God of the bible you no longer believe?

by reniaa in

i have a question for the ex-jw's on this forum after months of reading the forum..... many say how good it is to be free of the oppressiveness of the jw's that they can now enjoy the freedom to... have sex, celebrate christmas, gamble, embrace politics etc.

there are still biblical scriptures and principles in place that if you still followed the bible would mean you avoid these things and yet these are now embraced as one of the perks of no longer being a jw so in my confusion i ask.... if these are what you want, isn't it more correct to say you no longer follow the bible as apposed to just the jw's?.

independent_tre

Just read all eight pages of this thread, and while there doesn't seem to be a need for any more questions to be raised for Reniaa to answer, I have to agree that she has not answered them according to the scriptures. Anyone can go on debating forever by using 'what if' scenarios, personal opinions, inordinate comparison (apples and oranges), exaggerations and unsupported facts. I would like to see Mary's, lil's, and outlaws questions answered clearly according to the Bible, But I don't think that's going to happen.

35

11/15/08 WT: Sick? Too damn bad - get yer @$$ back to the KH, slacker!

by sir82 in

jw
friends

there's been a few topics on the "search out the inactive ones" articles in this wt, but i haven't seen anything on the 3rd study article, titled "maintain a scriptural view of healthcare".. i was unaware that the bible had anything to say at all about healthcare, but oh how wrong i was!.

unfortunately, no scanner - perhpas one of the other intrepid posters could scan and post it.. but here are a few choice quotes:.

paragraph 6: "...we know it is wise to avoid letting our health become an obsession or a constant concern.".

independent_tre

lol... Another true story.. Because of my hypertension, my doctor recommended regular exercise ( as any good doctor would). On the way out of my local health club, I ran into 2 sisters from my hall, working the parking lot. One of them said to me, "While you were in there building yourself up physically, we were out here building people up spiritually!"

independent_tre

Posts by independent_tre