They should get paid for this stuff! It's quite a work of art. Not everyone has the kind of talent it takes to spin all the changes the WT makes. "We have to meet in homes so we'll be ready for when persecution comes." "We have to stop meeting in homes to be ready when persecution comes." "We have to have as many meetings as possible to get ready for Armageddon." "We have to have one less meeting a week to get ready for Armageddon." It could all be very confusing in the wrong hands.
Mrs. Fiorini
JoinedPosts by Mrs. Fiorini
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52
WE FINALLY HAVE THE REASON FOR THE BOOK STUDY CHANGE!!!!
by whereami ingeat ready to gag.
you just can't make this stuff up.. .
subject: fw: book study change in 2009. .
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Is the God of the wbts a loving God?
by bobld into the woman he said....i shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy.. to the man he said....cursed is the ground---in pain you will eat its produce all the days of your life and thorns and thistles it will grow for you.in the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground ( death).. now lets look at the above in todays world.would the state (government) after convicting a man of murder, torture him by hard work all his life only to kill him at the end of his life.would a loving parent torture his son all his life for one mistake.. why does god of the wbts blame man for ruining the earth when he made those evil thorns and thistles.today man had to get destroy those evil weeds by chemicals.see no thorns no chemicals.. the list goes on...look at all of god's wars and destruction.. maybe it is me but the more i read the bible the more i get *^%&^%#* .......................... bob.
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Mrs. Fiorini
A few years ago when I took Religion 101 at the public University in my town, the professor discussed differing views of God as they developed in different religions. He noted that the geography of the Middle East causes unpredictable, and often devastating, natural disasters such as droughts, famines, flash floods, etc. The ancient peoples living in that area believed in a God that rewarded them when they were 'good', and punished them severely when they were 'bad'. From those early ideas of God, the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam eventually developed. In another region of the world, what is now India, other religions developed. There, the rivers were predictable and the area was reliably fertile. The annual flooding was expected, and contributed to successful farming. The ideas about God or Gods coming from that area tended to be much less violent and more benevolent. The Hindu religion, and eventually Buddhism, evolved from that area. While the Bible may be inspired by God, I always remember that it was written by man.
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I am loosing interest in most things JW or XJW!
by AK - Jeff ini think that simon's announcement that this venue was closing was the catalyst.
i looked around the other forums and realized i just don't need them anymore.
i have logged in here probably 10% of my former time since the announcement, first to do the 'admin' stuff that was happening immediately following - but now usually only once a day, maybe 10 minutes, and can't even find much of interest while i do that.
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Mrs. Fiorini
Congratulations to all who have or are moving into the post XJW world. Maybe someday I'll be there too. I only found this board this year, so am still fairly new to it even though I left the JW's back in 1989. Then it was just other JW's I knew who were leaving, and books like those written by Steve Hassen and Ray Franz. I thought I had pretty much put the JW's behind me too, but when my siblings and their families began shunning me a few years ago, I found I developed a whole new level of resentment and disgust for the WTS. Some day I will work it out of my system, but until then I'm glad for this site and will probably switch to another once it's closed down. Thanks to all who have listened to my postings and shared your experiences through postings of your own. It has definitely helped me heal.
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Would you support professional jurys?
by 2112 inwe have seen many times over the years where jurys make their judgements based on emotions and not on the rule of law or the facts.
-the menendez brothers after killing their parents were found not guilty by the jury.
being asked why they decided the case that way the reason given was "those boys are so handsome and now they don't even have a mother.
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Mrs. Fiorini
My understanding is that a defendant can either choose a jury of his/her peers, or have a judge decide the verdict. A judge would certainly offer a more "professional" decision. Most choose juries though. An old saying goes, "If you're guilty choose a jury, if you're innocent choose a judge."
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How many here went to pioneer school, and who were your instructors?
by BonaFide ini went in 1982, one of my instructors was bill baxter.
i taught seven pioneer schools, but in another country.
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Mrs. Fiorini
I attended Pioneer school in 1982. The instructors were Neal Slough, who was truly a kind, decent and compassionate man, and Dick Rainer.
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My Birthday!
by crapola inwell, i've got a birthday coming up on saturday and i'm sure feeling old.
what keeps you guys feeling young ?
i'm at the age where you don't mind telling your age because you are glad you've made it this far.
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Mrs. Fiorini
There was a time when even 43 was pretty old in my book. Now I only look at it in the rear view mirror. I have tried to value my experience over my physical body, as a coping mechanism. Maybe it will work for you too. Either way, Happy Birthday!
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road to paradise (witness E-mail)
by darth frosty inwarning this is the worst witness e-mail i have ever read.
if you suffer from gag reflex or have just eaten do not read.. .
excellent analogy and reminder for all of us.... .
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Mrs. Fiorini
Inunya hit the nail on the head. The whole WT system is a reflection of lack of trust in God's love. As if a loving God would just let you fall into the gap instead of go into paradise because you got too tired! The ideas spewed from the WT are all about earning your way to salvation and living in constant fear of an angry God who is never satisfied. The real 'angry god' is the WT society.
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Mrs. Fiorini
Wow. I'm sorry to hear all this. I guess I was lucky. I was never beaten by my JW mother. She spanked me on occasion, a practice that I, as an adult, do not condone. But it never rose to the level of child abuse. I didn't know of any JW kids in my congregation that were abused that way either. Many children, however, were spanked at meetings. They were usually taken to the bathroom, or the room in the back we called the second school. It is asking a lot for small children to sit still for two hours at a time. I'm sure it would reduce the number of spankings if they created a Sunday school type children's program for the little ones. Sadly, the WT has never been a very kid friendly organization. But physically abusive? Not any more than anywhere else from what I observed.
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Most JWs Don't Leave The "Truth" Even If They Recognize The Lie
by minimus ini believe that very few witnesses leave the organization when they just "know" things aren't right.
it's too much for most people to deal with.
they need time to assimilate what they're taking in.
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Mrs. Fiorini
For me there were several instances over the years that raised a question here or there, but nothing I couldn't shove under the rug to still convince myself it was the truth. That is, until I started talking to a brother that had been reading apostate literature. After several discussions, I remember saying to him, "The Watchtower either has 'the truth' and, therefore, is justified, or they are the most presumptuous organization I have ever known. I'm not sure which." It was only when I didn't just assume that the WT was right, but allowed myself to evaluate it with an unbiased mind, that it became obvious to me which of those two possibilities it really was. Once I realized it, I wondered how I ever could have believed that nonsense for so many years. This all occurred in a matter of weeks. That year I didn't celebrate Thanksgiving because I still thought it was wrong, but by the time Christmas came around, I was celebrating. It did help that I lived far away from my Witness family at the time, so I was more free to be myself. Also, being around several other JW's who were realizing the same thing helped.
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What is the financial cost to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses?
by Thechickennest inhas anyone ever figured out what the cost is to be an average active jw?
i am thinking of the jw costume of clothes for the whole family & drycleaning.
the four door sedans, the fuel, repairs, and auto cleaning up costs after running a shuttle service at least serveral times a week.
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Mrs. Fiorini
johnnyc, I am happy to share my experience of the JW views on higher education. When I was in high school and planning for my future, an elder in my congregation decided to 'help me out' by giving me a typed list referencing a selection of Watchtower and Awake articles discussing higher education. He titled it CVS for College and Vocational School. It was a number of years ago and I have long since thrown it away, but it was, not just one, but many articles on the subject. None of the articles spoke positively about schooling. They all gave varying reasons that a 'true Christian' would want to avoid taking any kind of schooling above and beyond what was required by law. Somewhat earlier, before I was in high school, I remember the trend was for many JW kids to even drop out of high school. The reasoning was, since we were so close to the end, it was just a waste of time and unnecessary exposure to 'bad associations' and they could better use the time in field service. I don't know what congregation you were in, but in my 20 or so years as a Witness, I have never known a single JW of high school or college age that did not know that choosing to go to college was pushing the limits of acceptable behavior.