I'm not Christian (Agnostic Atheist), but I do celebrate the secular holidays, not for their religious significance, but for the giving and the spirit of the seasons. It's making memories. What meant one thing a hundred years ago doesn't mean the same today. Just because people used to trim their trees in intestine doesn't mean that's what people are doing it in symbolism of today. It's the INTENT and the SPIRIT in which it is done that matters. If you're not celebrating Christmas because it's the Winter Solstice and you're celebrating the rebirth of the Sun, then don't worry about it.
Morbidzbaby
JoinedPosts by Morbidzbaby
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19
Your View of Holidays and Their Origins
by headisspinning ini am very curious about something... for those of you who have left the organization but still follow the bible and consider yourself christian... what holidays and celebrations have you embraced?.
how do you rationalize celebrating despite your knowledge of 'pagan' origins?.
i was born and raised a jw so it would seem really strange for me to start celebrating christmas or hallowe'en or easter - maybe mother's or father's day wouldn't be such a stretch - but i would really like to hear your thoughts and the conclusions you've come to.. but i have to say i never got a satisfying answer as to why jws aren't allowed to celebrate birthdays - the explanation that it promotes greed or selfishness or that the only record in the bible of birthday celebrations involved murder - none of these really cut it for me.. thanks - his .
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Morbidzbaby
So now that you wasted a ridiculous amount of time making that third-rate comic strip and proving you can use a screenshot utility, are you gonna go to Disney World? Or is it lights out at the asylum?
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Dumb illustration
by MrFreeze injw's have the tendency to come up with the worst illustrations.
it boggles my mind sometimes.
here's one someone gave me about new light.. when confronted with the fact that since certain teachings change, the jw's never had the truth.
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Morbidzbaby
@ Alfred: So he was admitting that the WTBTS teachings are decaying because they're full of worms?
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why does the watchtower call them marriage mates and not spouse?
by hoser ini have never read the term spouse in a watchtower.
why do they use the expression marriage mate?.
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Morbidzbaby
@ BP, I believe the word is "homosexicality"...LMAO
I notice that, although they use the word spouse on occasion, it's more often "marriage mate", which is so weird. My mom used to refer to dating as "looking for a mate"...ugh...
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Dumb illustration
by MrFreeze injw's have the tendency to come up with the worst illustrations.
it boggles my mind sometimes.
here's one someone gave me about new light.. when confronted with the fact that since certain teachings change, the jw's never had the truth.
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Morbidzbaby
@ Magwitch: Thing is, when the kid says "I'm sorry", usually they're let out and forgiven and all is right with the world. And during the time-out, they aren't completely ignored by the parents or thrown outside and left homeless. When a JW is DF'ed, even if they said "I'm sorry" beforehand, they are thrown away. And even if they work their way back and are reinstated, they have that DF'ing hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives. Nobody forgets it. Nobody TRULY forgives and goes on with life.
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Dumb illustration
by MrFreeze injw's have the tendency to come up with the worst illustrations.
it boggles my mind sometimes.
here's one someone gave me about new light.. when confronted with the fact that since certain teachings change, the jw's never had the truth.
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Morbidzbaby
@punk: LMAO, you never know! I've already met people on here I'm related to!
@ MrFreeze: That's so true. Logic really has no place with people like that because they think their delusions ARE logical...
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Dumb illustration
by MrFreeze injw's have the tendency to come up with the worst illustrations.
it boggles my mind sometimes.
here's one someone gave me about new light.. when confronted with the fact that since certain teachings change, the jw's never had the truth.
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Morbidzbaby
@ punk: Her mind has been turned off for over 34 years, hun... I no longer expect a different outcome, therefore, I no longer discuss religion with her.
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Dumb illustration
by MrFreeze injw's have the tendency to come up with the worst illustrations.
it boggles my mind sometimes.
here's one someone gave me about new light.. when confronted with the fact that since certain teachings change, the jw's never had the truth.
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Morbidzbaby
I tried explaining the idiocy behind the "light gets brighter" BS to my mom. It went a little something like this:
Me: Ma, let's say for the sake of argument that this is true. You walk into a pitch black room that has a dimmer switch on the wall. Slowly, you raise the switch until just a glimmer of light appears. It's still very dark. Now, you know that across the room, there's a big stuffed elephant... As your eyes adjust, you start to see it, but it's just a shadow. However, you know from being in this room with the light on, that it IS IN FACT an elephant. As the light gets brighter, you see the outline of it. Brighter, and you see the trunk, then the eyes, the feet, etc. Now, as that light is illuminating the room more and more, would that elephant still be an elephant? Or would it turn into a stuffed teddy bear?
Mom: Of course it would still be an elephant!
Me: So, the brighter light wouldn't change the object, but it would enhance your perception of it, correct?
Mom: Well, yeah...
Me: So how is it that when the supposed "New Light" comes out, the doctrine we once believed is completely different? Like with blood, with the woman having to scream when she was raped (then not scream, then scream, etc), and the generation teaching? How is it that things are going from being elephants to being teddy bears?
Mom: *cricket chirps and a confused look* I don't wanna talk about this anymore... The changes are made because Jehovah sees it's time to give us more light and knowledge... And maybe they were wrong in the past, but they're imperfect men...
Me: Mom, does Holy Spirit direct the organization?
Mom: Of course it does, you KNOW this...
Me: Mom, do you believe the bible is God's word and every word of it is the truth?
Mom: Yeah...
Me: Well, who wrote the bible?
Mom: Jehovah did through Holy Spirit, using 40 men.
Me: *stifling an eye roll* Okay, but were those men perfect?
Mom: No they were imperfect men...
Me: Yet, you don't think anything they wrote was wrong and needs to be changed, right? They were imperfect men who were writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and what they wrote was truth, right?
Mom: Yes!
Me: Then how is it that the Society, being a group of imperfect men operating under Holy Spirit, have gotten it wrong so many times and need to keep making changes? How is it that they are going back and forth with beliefs? Either they are NOT working with Holy Spirit, or Jehovah isn't sure of what he's doing...which is it?
Mom: I said I don't wanna talk about this anymore...
Yeah...that's usually how it goes. Or she'll give me an asinine illustration to prove her point...one I've heard a million times...some days she treats me like I'm a "newly interested one" and don't know Jack shit about the bible or the litteratrash. Instead of using her brain to refute what I tell her or answer what I ask her, she reaches for a Watchtower publication. Like she tried telling me I don't have what's needed to understand Revelation...I asked who she was to say that...she took out the book and said "Let me find it..." and took about 15 minutes to find a little box that said there are 3 things a person needs in order to understand Revelation (accepting the FDS as an authority on the matter was one of them). Then she tried pulling out a box from a Watchtower about "spiritual fatigue" and at that point I'd had it and said "NO MORE! No more literature! I CAN'T LOOK AT THAT ANYMORE!"
A lot of their illustrations are just plain ridiculous. The cake pan, the watch having a maker, etc. I don't even recall most of them, and a LOT of them are taken from other "apostate" religions! They don't have ANY original ideas. Just mediocre copies of other men's thoughts.
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Could Russell be " disfellowshipped" one day?
by jean-luc picard inin fact russell never was a jehovahs witness.. in the proclaimers book, page 40 they write:.
stirrings of watchfulness.
in the 19th century, though, the religious climate led to stirrings of.
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Morbidzbaby
Chariklo, welcome to JWN! Stick around and read the topics (like the "Best of" section) and you'll be able to draw your own conclusions.
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from the 2011 yearbook
by therevealer infrom page 13. in summary, the writing department insists on using.
only material that is accurate and truthful, even.
regarding seemingly insignificant details.
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Morbidzbaby
However they all reported that they were able to transcribe the info that night at their places of accommodation. Apparently Jehovah had opened their minds, even though they were asleep allowing for a large shout of praise.
There's that word! "Apparently"... I'm surprised they didn't insert an "evidently", for good measure. Either way, I call total, complete, and utter bullshit on this story. I fell asleep during assemblies and conventions and never could remember a damn thing.