Posts by independent

15

My Story: Part 9 Journeys End

by truthseeker in

part 1: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/163998/1.ashx.

part 2: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/164136/1.ashx.

part 3: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/164163/1.ashx.

Read your whole story, thank you so much for taking the time to write it!! One part your experience really resonates with me - not having any friends in "the world" or at the KH. That made for an incredibly lonely life. Even as an adult I feel socially inept - unsure of how to make friends and reach out to others. Now that I work with so many witnesses, this has made socializing with colleagues even more difficult for me.

But your experience really helps so many others to see they are not alone. Thanks and I wish you all the best.

28

NOVEMBER 1 WATCHTOWER - DOES IT SAY THAT NON DUBS MAY BE SAVED?

by BluesBrother in

a certain witness,kind of close to me,is insistent that this article confirms her conviction that the wt teaches that jehovah will judge hearts at the "end" and both j w's and non j w's may be saved ....i say that it teaches the opposite.

what do you think?

how do you read it?.

independent_tre

I find it interesting that Romans 10:9 - which seems to offer a clear cut definition of who wil be saved is omitted from the requirements -

9 For if you publicly declare that ‘word in your own mouth,’ that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved.

9

Can You Accept the Fact

by Fadeout in

jw
friends

...that someone may choose a different course of action than you would under the same circumstances?.

what about someone who forms an opinion on an issue that's different from yours?

can you accept that?.

independent_tre

I agree with you and many members here have taken a very rigid stance against the JW's faith, yet paradoxically they are here because the WTS has been rigidly against them. As a JW, there is no room for differing opinions, or room to 'agree to disagree'. The WTS requires unwavering and unquestioning loyalty, so those who disagree with them and their tactics can't necessarily accept them as just having a difference of opinion.

31

HELLO, I'M NEW AND.........

by billie jean in

i never believed a word of any of it !.

raised a j.w from birth, i'd sit in the meetings and at conventions wondering what the hell it was all about and that it was all one big joke and imagine that they''d all suddenly turn around laughing and pointing at me !!

saying something like "haha the joke's on you".

independent_tre

Not to take away from your original post/rant BJ, but laissezfaire's post really touched me. I'm sorry for all that you are enduring and hope that your family is united again one day. Peace....

41

PO reads a special letter tonight...

by JWFreak in

jw
friends

our po...who is really full of himself....reckons that he is reading a special letter tonight, he says he isn't allowed to tell fellow elders before the public reading.

just a word of caution....our po...is one who loves all the mystery and secrets, so my inkling is that it will be a crock of crap.

however it may prove to be interesting...i will tell you after meeting tonight.

independent_tre

Even if I forget to come back and find out what was in the letter, this thread was hella funny!

Thanks for the laughs tonite folks, I really needed it.

34

Annoying comment in Sep 1 WT about higher education

by penny2 in

there's a box on page 10:.

quote:.

what will be the "end afterward"?.

independent_tre

You are absolutely right to be annoyed by things like this. A college education is equated with drug abuse and smoking - sad. Backwards and sad. Could you imagine trying to convince a bible study about the horrors of higher learning?

I don't believe that college is the only means of success, yet for many, including myself, it made a big difference between being stuck in a back-breaking, labor intensive job, or being able to move ahead professionally and of course being able to provide for my family.

But everyone already knows what the WTS really fears - people who learn to think for themselves....

17

Is it true that 95% of JWs still believe the door was closed in 1935?

by 1914BS in

i get that kind of feedback when i talk to dubs that i know .

how about your experiences.

do the jws you talk to really keep up with the tidal wave of wt doctrine changes?

independent_tre

You should have asked them to show you where in the bible this "progressive" theory about God's "sole channel" is...

17

Another guilt trip Watchtower this past Sunday.

by easyreader1970 in

i won't go into the article as a whole because it's discussed in another topic here.

but i truly despise the way that the watchtower tries to guilt or frighten people into going out in field service.

not only will jehovah kill that person (unfairly) if you don't preach to them, but he'll kill you too!.

independent_tre

^^^^^LOL @ "ham-shanked" Never heard that term..

Weird thing is fear never motivated me, and is a poor way to motivate ianyone into action ( especially for long periods of time). I used to want to believe that JW's really didn't preach a message of gloom and doom, but that is exactly what it boils down to...

...I also simply had enough of the WT weekly guilt trips..every other magazine had you feeling like you weren't doing enough, but then the society put a spin on that and said people were feeling depressed because they thought they were not doing enough for Jehovah. So really it's a self-induced guilt trip - the slave had nothing to do with making people feel bad. What a bunch of self-serving......

19

I find myself just getting "tired" of waiting for the End of the world. U2?

by booker-t in

is the end of the world just a fantasy in religious people's mind?

i am really beginning to believe we were all just made to believe in a fairy tale.

i still love jehovah and jesus but my faith is just wasting away behind waiting for a change such as the rapture/armaggeddon/paradise earth.

independent_tre

Every culture has it's Armageddon, end times scenarios. So do most religions. If it(whatever it is) comes, then it comes. It's nothing I have control over. I refuse to live with a cloud of doom over my head as the organization would have you do. It's not healthy. And it's ruling by FEAR. A definite mind control tactic. When someone lives in fear it's very hard to research things rationally. The organization keeps people in fear with telling them they aren't doing enough and that you have to do more more more to get through Armageddon. The organization also uses one's children against them. If you're not a good Witness then your children are going to die. And then you'll be bloodguilty. What a rotten thing to say to loving parents!!!! And don't bother saving for retirement as Armageddon will be here and you won't need it. And now there are elderly ones with NOTHING. That's LOVING. Salvation is a gift from God. We can't earn it. We've all fallen short of the glory of God so how could we possibly earn it?????? Thankfully God is the judge and not a body of elders!!!!
Mandette

Mandette - I really love this post, it's exactly how I feel I'd been mislead to preach a message of 'doom and gloom' - not Christ's message of salvation. I've never been motivated by that kind of fear and I hate that it's used to guilt trip so many. Excellent post

6

JWS and Sports

by luffy in

does anyone know why jws are not supposed to participate in sports and what is their view towards watching sports on the tv, ie a game of football..does not playing sport extend to not watching and what are the biblical reasons given?.

.

thanks.

independent_tre

having a 'competitive spirit' is also frowned upon by the WTS

independent_tre

Posts by independent_tre