I've notices on Facebook that JW friends will 'friend' their non-JW family and disfellowshipped friends. It's a way to stay in touch with peoples lives without directly talking to them. Not many Uber dubs are on facebook tho', in my circle there are no elders and only a few mini-servs, although there are loads of pioneer sisters. Uber dubs use twitter - it's not been specifically condemned in our circuit yet.
Sapphy
JoinedPosts by Sapphy
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16
Interesting phenomenon I'm seeing on Facebook
by JimmyPage init's becoming more and more evident that many young jws just don't care about the wt rules anymore.
one jw on facebook has particularly intrigued me lately.
he posts pics of himself sporting (gasp) a beard and uses curse words in his status updates.
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41
Did you ever REALLY believe anything special happened at Cedar Point Ohio in 1922?
by Sapphy inbut the understanding is affirmed in the revelation climax book, albeit with less detail.
the events are as follows (& i'm keeping the quotes really short) :.
1st angel - "it all began during the bible students cedar point convention in september 1922. there gods people enthusiastically adopted a resolution entitled "a challenge.
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Sapphy
We were taught that the seven angels blowing their trumpets in the book of Revelation relates to various events in the 1920s. The best explanation is given in the 1975 yearbook pages 109 - 183 under the heading "Seven Angels Sound Their Trumpets". But the understanding is affirmed in the Revelation Climax book, albeit with less detail. The events are as follows (& I'm keeping the quotes really short) :
1st Angel - "It all began during the Bible Students’ Cedar Point convention in September 1922. There God’s people enthusiastically adopted a resolution entitled "A Challenge." Boldly it exposed the clergy’s disloyalty..."
2nd Angel - "Under the direction of the secondangelictrumpeter, the Bible Students held a regional convention in Los Angeles, California, on August 18-26, 1923"
3rd Angel When the thirdangelblewhistrumpet, a third of the waters were turned to wormwood. (Rev. 8:10, 11) Significantly, at the Bible Students’ convention of July 20-27, 1924, in Columbus, Ohio, God’s people enthusiastically adopted a resolution termed "Indictment."
I'm just going to give the dates and locations of the next angel blasts, but the above gives a good flavour of the "justification"
4th Angel - "regional convention at Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 24-31, 1925"
5th Angel - "May 25-31 of that year (1926) the Bible Students held an international convention in London, England."
6th Angel - "200,000,000 symbolic horses went forth "to kill a third of the men." Those "horses" picture the means of publicizing a terrifying judgment message, particularly by the printed page. The action began with a notable event of 1927—an international convention of the Bible Students in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7th Angel - "That globe-encircling announcement began in 1928, when the Bible Students gathered in convention at Detroit, Michigan, July 30-August 6."
My question is, when you were in, did you ever really believe this explanation? I was fascinated by modern-day-fulfilment of prophecy, but I think I stopped believing this at about age 12 & put it in my "wait for new light" mental folder. How did you rationalise these explanations to yourself?
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15
Converstaion Stoppers, do they really work?
by Mall Cop inremember, the topic in the reasoning book, conversation stoppers.
well, did they actually work against you or for you?.
are there conversation stoppers that you use now at your place of work or the bar, or with your significance other, that you use?.
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Sapphy
I think they just annoyed people. Communication takes place on so many levels, and most people just want to be polite and pleasant, but not change their religion on the doorstep.
JW - Good morning, my friend and I have been calling on your neighbours and would like to ask you the same question, 'does God / is there / how will / can man"... (Subtext - please take these magazines my report is looking bad)
Householder - Sorry I'm really busy. (Subtext, - I don't want to be rude but oh no it's them again)
JW - Then I'll be brief (subtext HA get out of that one), I'm sure you'll enjoy reading these magazines
Householder - No thanks, I'm really not interested (subtext Go away go away go away)
JW - May I ask what you're not interested in? (now I've got you)
Housholder - No I'm actually really busy (why won't they quit?)
JW - OK is there a convenient time I could call back to talk to you? (Celebration! a return visit!!!)
Householder names a time they'll always be out - JW has a return visit who is always out. Housholder gets the magazines pushed through the door once a month...
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This is What the Overlapping Generation Teaching Means
by Mad Dawg inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyljh81dsiw.
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Sapphy
That's brilliant!
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they are gettin better and better at ludicrous
by booby inso jesus regularly attended meetings for worship (they don't specify which kingdom hall) and may have been thinking about psalm 40:6-8 (in the new world translation i suppose).
7 jesus showed his keen interest in spiritual things by regularly attending meetings for.
worship.
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Sapphy
If Jesus did return, I bet they'd expect him to humbly submit to governing body leadership. Probably start him out on the mics or something.
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The ethics of pretending to believe
by pirata infor a few years now i have been pretending to believe something that i no longer do.
i feel like an actor honing his skills in order to survive in a dictatorship where no dissent is allowed.. so far i have not had to face any real ethical dilemmas that would require me to end the charade: letting a loved one die because of blood or shunning a close df'd family member.. i am slowly helping my immediate family to see the things i am learning, but in the meantime i cannot help but feel bad about the whole charade.
it feels deceptive, and (assuming deception is wrong) is therefore wrong, but i also see it as accomplishing the best good in the medium/long term.. what do you think?
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Sapphy
Yknot - we're in the same boat Sister. Every time I pretend to believe a little bit of my soul evporates.
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ring of truth
by sayitsnotso inmany argue that the truth will always be the truth because of core beliefs: no hellfire, no trinity, no immortal soul, adam and eve lost paradise (and thus paradise on earth will be restored and the need for the ransom), the issue of universal soverignty, last days, loving brotherhood, using god's name.. most people are attracted to the truth becuase of at least one or more of these beliefs and refer to these often as the 'ring of truth'.
this makes it very easy to then shrug of any of the past mistakes or any current teaching that is hard to understand or believe.
i myself am struggling with this.
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Sapphy
sayitsnotso - I really feel for you. I went through the same emotions. Oh I wished so much that it was true, and my doubts were wrong. You can choose what to do, but your doubts will nag at you until resoved. The head in the sand act only works for so long...
Remember the illustration about a tiny amount of poison in a glass of water. Would you drink it if even 99% was not poison?
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Is the GB setting up to dump 1914?
by karter inwith the "generation change" and them changing it all the time it would make sence to dump it all togeather.. lets face it ,it can be disproved easly.. they dumped 1975 in a heart beat .. this would buy them all the time they wanted as they would just find another date to start the generation from ie: "the u.n year of peace and sercurty'',1986 i belive or whatever else they could think of.. they could sell it to the r&f as easly as they sold 1975,then dumped it when it did'nt happen .. anyone questioning them would be told they are running ahead of jehovah or lacking faith in his earthly org that feeds us food at the proper time .. what do you think?.
karter..
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Sapphy
When the old guard die out, or decrease to a managable percentage - (those who remember "the generation of 1914 will by no means pass away") the society will gradually phase out 1914 as the concrete start date of the last days. They'll become more wooly. Phrases such as "evidence clearly shows we are deep in the time of the end", and "who can reasonably doubt", "world conditions confirm" will become more frequent.
To keep the "we're the one true organisation" doctrine, they'll continue to harp on the theme that "Jehovahs evident blessing" shows they were chosen at some point.
It will be a long set up to the WT that will state "While some have pointed to specific years as the start of the last days, we bring in a heart of wisdom by reflecting that the exact day and hour are unknown, however we are assured by events we see every day that fulfil reliable Bible Prophecy we are nearing the climax of the end of this system of things and that Jehovah's Kingdom will soon usher in a time of deep joy for the faithful who will survive the upcoming day of Jehovah..."
Half the congregation won't notice, and those that do and who are upset by it will be too old to change, having invested 40,50,60 years of their adult life to the org.
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If Jehovah Disapproved Of Polygamy & Concubines Why Did He Bless Those Involved?
by minimus inabraham, solomon and others got god's seal of approval.
if they were truly sinning, you would think it would've been clearly expressed in the 10 commandments and the law.
instead, god blessed those involved in adultery and fornication..
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Sapphy
So can we apply the argument that God wasnt too worried about polygamy and concubines because it was widely accepted to todays society? Today polygamy and concubinage are not widely accepted but homosexuality is becoming so. Maybe God is not too worried about that today?
I'm really not too fond of the mosaic law. A woman suspected of adultery has to go through the drinking the sweepings of the temple floor and declaring innocence in front of the High Priest - remind me, what did a man suspected of adultery have to do?
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Not Sure What To Do....HELP!!!!!
by lostinnj83 inhello..i have been lurking for quite some time and am finally ready to make my first post!.
i was raised a witness and am still "active" in the congregation and am married to husband who is also and have been having some doubts for some time and voiced some of them to my husband a few months back and he immediatly called the elders who provided a sheparding call.
doubts were mainly on the harshness of the disfellowshipping and the blood issue.
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Sapphy
welcome lostinnj83
<<Hugs>>
You've been through a lot mentally, and you'll go through a lot emotionally. Just think through what you actually believe for yourself. It can seem a huge mountain to climb but think of how far you've come already!
Think back to when you believed in the No Blood doctrine, and of how far you've changed to now consider it murder/suicide!
Once you allow yourself to think, other doctrines may stop making sense to you. Are you prepared for this? What if you invstigate further and decide disfellowshipping is unscriptural? How long could you continue to preach if you find the beliefs around 1914 no longer make sense?
Every doctrine of the WT you strip away from your mind will have an implication for your life as a witness.
Witnesses believe that Jesus is the mediator for only the 144,000. Do you? If you believe Jesus is your mediator, then did you partake of the emblems? If not, why not?
Setting your mind free puts your life on a very interesting journey. It's hard! But many here have suceeded and are happy. Others have lost their family and friends.
Good luck to you with whatever you decide!