thinking about when you were a lurker, or when you first started to post...what were the topics that made the greatest impression on you toward realizing the lies, manipulation, and hipocracy of the watchtower?
what information found here sealed the deal for you that your suspicions had been correct?
is there a thread that really opened your eyes?.
Does it mean I'm arrogant if I just direct people to my own threads?
Talking points on reasoning with JWs
Imperfection is irrelevant: who has the right to rule?
What are the fruits we are supposed to recognize?
The first thread includes information you can find all over, particularly at jwfacts.com, but I organized it into talking points.
The second and third threads deal with, what for me, proves the JWs are not the true religion.
he has been ill for some time, but it was still unexpected.
he was never a jw and i didn't really have a close relationship with him, since he remarried after my parents divorced.
i reunited with him in the mid 90's after over 10 years of not seeing him.. .
My condolences.
egg and i went to the day after easter sale at target and bought $30 worth of easter basket and candy for $15.
we are busy catching up on what we never had as kids (sorry for that, egg).
we felt like kids in the store picking out the baskets, grass, and candy.
Awesome. We're having Easter next weekend since that's when my brother will be visiting (though I got my first Easter basked yesterday from my boyfriend along with a gift I've already bragged about). We're going to dye eggs. I'd really love to participate in an Easter egg hunt but they never let adults play!
i cannot take credit for any of the gems below but i did want to polish and organize them.
much of the information was borrowed from this thread.
if you can come up with any more, please post them.. the bible does not ban birthdays.
Double Vision, I found the scripture about wedding presents: 1 Kings 9: 16: " (Phar´aoh the king of Egypt himself had come up and then captured Ge´zer and burned it with fire, and the Ca´naan·ites dwelling in the city he had killed. So he gave it as a parting gift to his daughter, the wife of Sol´o·mon.)"
Interestingly, the NWT has changed it to say "parting gift." Whereas most other translations specifically call it a wedding gift. Of course, what else would a parting gift be in under the circumstances?
I forgot to mention before, the haircut refers to the disaster that befell Samson.
This is the post where I got the breakfast cereal thing.
As for drinking, I can't find the post but off the top of my head I think of the debacle that was the night of Babylon's conquering by Medo-Persia. And there's the time the Israelites got drunk off their asses and were seduced by the women of . . . someplace I can't remember (Midian?) David got Uriah drunk to try make him do his wife.
Look for yourself how the scriptures refer to dogs. Either it's an insult, or the dogs are associated with eating the villains. Like birthdays, they're always associated with something negative.
And just for fun, check out the reasoning on cats.
anyone who was part of asl congregations?
what was your experiences witnessing in asl/deaf territories?.
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STOP THE INTERNET! Someone just admitted to being wrong on it!
B_Deserter, you are one cool dude.
this is the famous witness saying in defense of the way they don't give gifts on holidays.
of course, even though we all said it, no one in my family did this.
none of my friends' families did this.
misery, I think it is just a personality difference. The holidays are fun for me; doesn't mean they'd be fun for you. I haven't done anything extravagent. The only people I really dealt with are the ones I usually spend time with anyway. The decorating was very pretty to look at. I gave homemade gifts to everyone and had a lot of fun with that. And the only thing I like more than making food is eating food.
Mmm, food.
this is the famous witness saying in defense of the way they don't give gifts on holidays.
of course, even though we all said it, no one in my family did this.
none of my friends' families did this.
misery, I totally understand what you're saying. As a kid, I didn't really feel bad about the gifts. I did think that boxed, wrapped gifts were very pretty and would have enjoyed getting even an empty box just to look at it, but otherwise, I did felt like my family had enough stuff. It's not that you're missing out on something you deserve--you're missing out on something extra. Something special. Sure I get a paycheck at work, but it's nice to receive a bonus sometimes, too.
I always figured that it was good I was missing out on the hectic holiday madness of shopping, cooking, decorating and entertaining. But now that I've tried it, I really like that stuff! It's all in how you approach it. If it's an obligation it's drudgery. If you do it just to have fun, you will.
anyone who was part of asl congregations?
what was your experiences witnessing in asl/deaf territories?.
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B_Deserter, I'm disappointed by your cynical post. You failed to point out all the women who learned foreign languages in the hopes of finding husband material among the new group.
this is probably going to be a doozy of a post, as i'm no good at giving the abridged version of stories lol especially when they are about me.
lol i tend to give too many details and not get to the point, but i'll do my best to keep things as short as possible.. that being said, i have finally decided to give you all my background story.. i was born into the organization.
two older sisters.
Thanks for sharing your story, ana. Your feelings during your dealings with the elders so closely mirrored my own. They really fool you into believing that the elders are "a hiding place from the wind." When you have that drilled into you, it's really shocking when the elders treat you like garbage. Looking back, knowing what I do now, I can see their motivations. At the time I didn't understand at all why they weren't helping me.
this is the famous witness saying in defense of the way they don't give gifts on holidays.
of course, even though we all said it, no one in my family did this.
none of my friends' families did this.
This is the famous witness saying in defense of the way they don't give gifts on holidays. Of course, even though we all said it, no one in my family did this. None of my friends' families did this. I was in multiple congregations and never knew of any witnesses who gave gifts on occasions other than anniversaries, weddings or baby showers--hmm, it seems they ONLY give gifts on special occasions. Everyone has a birthday, not everyone gets married or has a baby. Just another way that they are very exclusionary.
Anyway, I started this thread to brag that my boyfriend showed up on my doorstep today with a rather grand gift for me, just because. He gave me the Rock Band game! Yes, it's Easter, but it's not the custom to give gifts other than candy on this holiday. I wasn't expecting a gift; I didn't have to think about getting one for him in return. This was truly an "anytime I feel like it because I love you" gift. And that's on top of birthdays and Christmas.
Worldly people understand that special occasions are just one kind of opportunity to express appreciation or affection.
