independent_tre

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Posts by independent_tre

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  39

  If you weren't born in, how did you get in?

  by ecuador in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am not a jw, but know several, and i am curious as to why adults get involved with the jws.

  any one have an answer from personal experience?

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  independent_tre

  Was getting invited to all sorts of places, but now realized they were doing it to count service time.

  Sucks doesn't it? It was the same for me when I was studying, until one day 6 months or so down the road, I was running late from work. I called the sister to tell her that I was on my way on the train, but that I'd be about 30 minutes late.

  "Oh just forget it!" she said in an irritated tone. "I'll already be done with my time for today."

  Hit me like a ton of bricks. We weren't real friends. I was just some time to report.
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  24

  The ''truth'' that lead me to question the WTS.

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the truth that leads to eternal life says on page 13:.

  we need to examine, not only what we personally believe, but also what is taught by any religious organization with whichwe may be associated.

  are its teachings in full harmony with god's word, or are they based on the traditions of men?

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  independent_tre

  I think for some of us, it was the collection of little things that had no scriptural backing - ( field service reports, no beards), for others it was the huge gaping holes in their doctrinal teachings, or maybe even a combination both.. It just seems like once that can of worms opens, the questions in the back of your head never go away and depending on how good you are at suppressing them, the average person will desire to seek out the 'real truth'

  To use a popular movie quote, some people just 'can't handle the truth', so they sweep all of their doubts under the rug in their mind, and just keep going along with the whole program.
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  25

  Do active JW's on this forum still practice shunning?

  by Thechickennest in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just wondering if active jw's on this forum or jw's just watching this board still put into practice in one way or another, shunning?.

  what is the motivation do so?

  is it to save face or relationships?

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  independent_tre

  I think very few active jws here will admit to shunning, since they are likely to chastised on this board for still doing this, when so many here are on the other side of the 'dub snub' ( hee -hee, I like that term BFD )

  What I've noticed has been quite the opposite, however. DF'd persons who still attend meetings tend to show a lot of respect and will tell someone who unknowingly speaks to them, that they're DF'd. I have had that happen to me several times where I've missed the announcement or visiting another KH, and spoke to someone and they've let me know that they are DF'd. Maybe they are trying to get reinstated, I don't know, but I don't think I've ever seen a DF'd person trying to actively socialize at the hall.

  I don't run into many jws outside of meetings, although I work with several, one of whom is DF'd and I speak to him all the time. Just 'hi' and 'bye'. I pretend I don't know about him being DF, but in actuality I just don't care. I would probably speak to anyone that I ran into, although I doubt I'd be hi-fiving them at the meetings. I'm much more likely to make eye contact and definitely smile. ( as a matter of fact I do this on purpose, because I know it's hard on them, especially the younger ones)
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  31

  THIS, my friends is KILLING the Watchtower Society....RIGHT NOW!

  by RedPill2006 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  canadian archaelogist zhichun jing, writing about the decline of the highly creative shang dynasty, said "...after a century the shang vitality slackened.

  the initial diversity and creativity devolved into a dull sameness.

  by the end we see that things like their pottery, architecture and artwork had become standardized and simplified.

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  independent_tre

  It really is a sad conformist air in the KH these days, which is part of the reason I got tired of it so quickly after coming back and getting baptized. At my KH, the cong is small and there's not too much personality. It seems that many of the friends keep to themselves and don't say much at all, probably some underlying fear of saying something wrong or being critized in some way. The meeting this weekend was dead, no one likes to give lively comments ( how can you really with canned answers) and now because of the new WT arrangement just about everything is scripted, right down to who reads the scriptures - no more kiddies taking forever, stumbling over 14 letter words.

  It seems that when I was younger, the comments were much more personal and many of the comment-hogs felt freer to expound upon every personal experience. But this has been widely discouraged also, as the WTS instructs that the comments and answers must be brief ( I think 30 seconds or so)

  I fondly remember the picnics we had, and those are long gone. It's amazing they are able to attract new converts, after one meeting they would probalby be bored to tears.
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  17

  My Story - Part 3

  by Jeremy C in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my story - part 1. my story - part 2. in my previous thread (part 2) i stated that i would talk about my experience as a regular pioneer in this thread.

  all of them took a special interest in me and gave me encouragement.

  i told him i would think about it.

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  independent_tre

  Great Post, your story is really enlightening about experiences from a born in. Looking forward to your next part.

  Thanks for sharing.
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  17

  Lurkers and Newbies Ahem!!! :)

  by LovesDubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we want to hear from you!

  now is the time to finally be heard without fear of reprisals or punishment or condemnation!

  you have anonymity here and you are surrounded by the genuine love and concern that you thought you were getting in the jws!

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  independent_tre

  Shunning is hateful. Your comment is personal and hateful too. Why don't you try to find your way back among fellow haters?

  That is the BEST advice.

  Really, SOLACE, you stated you are DF'd, but since you love the org so much, why not go back THERE. Why are you HERE? Doesn't make sense....
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  12

  Newb :p

  by XxJazzxX in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm known here by the name of jazz.

  i'm not a jw nor have i ever been dfed or daed.

  i'm a baptist, or better said, trinitarian.

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  independent_tre

  With all these newbies, we need an official welcoming commitee!

  Welcome aboard!
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  24

  Hi! I'm new here!

  by gloobster in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just signed up here, so i guess i should let everyone know a few things about myself.. my maternal grandfather was an elder in a congregation here, and he and my grandmother raised my mother quite strictly as a jehovah's witness.

  my father's father was also a jehovah's witness, though much less devout.

  when my parents were in their mid-20's they more or less disassociated themselves from the flock.

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  independent_tre

  Welcome to the board, and very sorry for your loss of your Mom.

  I can also empathize with the religious limbo and being too young to understand or even go against indoctrination; it's next to impossible as a child. I had similar experience being raised in a divided household. I wasn't allowed to participate in holidays at school, but celebrated holidays with some extended family, and I never had any close jw friends as a child. I couldn't explain why we didn't celebrate holidays at such a young age and for some reason thought Satan had made the Christmas lights that everyone decorated their houses with (as I remember being taught that the devil can make himself appear to be an angel of light, or something like that) ...very confusing for a young child.

  Anyhoo, hope to see a lot more posts from you, you are in good company here!

  Wow! So many newbies in the past few weeks!!
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  40

  Hi everyone! im also a newbie here.

  by dhand in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi everyone, thought it was time to say hi after nearly a year lurking on this site!!

  abit about me... i was born into the jw's and have been baptised for about 15yrs and was appointed as an ms about a year ago.

  i have been a die hard jw for the last few years, but because of the arrogant and unloving attitude of certain 'spirit appointed' men within the cong and circuit i began to wounder if what i had really was 'the truth' and caused me to do some digging on some of the fundamental teachings.

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  independent_tre

  From one newbie to another, WELCOME!!
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  85

  Name Certain Things JWs Can't Do

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's one thing to start off our list: jws can't stand for the country's national anthem (but they can rise for the flag salute).

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  independent_tre

  When the "world" hears this stuff, they think we're making it up!

  So true, I finally got around to telling my non-jw spouse some of this stuff, he hasn't stopped laughing yet....

  Jdubs can't

  > eat lucky charms - or any other magically delicious cereal

  > go out after work with coworkers

  > talk about their weekend without mentioning field service

  >participate in the office football pool or office lottery...... ( I used to imagine that they would finally win and I'd be the only nut still left at work. While I was holding on to my jw principles, they would be holding on to their million dollar checks)