sd-7

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Posts by sd-7

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  36

  Rant #77

  by 00DAD in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this isn't actually my 77th rant.

  i've completely lost track of all my rants.

  i'm quite sure i'm way passed 77 by now.

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  sd-7

  Maybe since my kids aren't that old, it's different for me, I don't know. Maybe I'm just a sick enough person that it doesn't bother me too much if people in my family shun me. I just feel that reality is more important. I sometimes think of going back, but to do what? If you're not willing to think your way out of a paper bag, why should I trip over steaming piles of cow dung to get your attention/fake affection? Forget you, and forget them, too!

  No, once you've been burned by them, that's it. No more negotiating, trying to meet them halfway. I'll take my solitude as a welcome victory over their treachery any day of the week. Except...it does get lonely. Just not lonely enough to go back. Popping in a good R-rated drama is always a good remedy to those kinds of thoughts. May I recommend 'Black Swan' on Blu-ray? It has nothing to do with anything, just a couple of hours of Natalie Portman in high definition is sure to improve your life on some level, is all.

  Heck, I'm a doormat (I was just at Target, and it's definitely one word according to them, not two), and I'm not going back. You're not a doormat, man. You can at least fare better than me!

  --sd-7
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  41

  Question for '607' apologists

  by Jeffro in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jehoiakim refused to pay tribute to nebuchadnezzar after 3 years (2 kings 24:1) because nebuchadnezzar attacked egypt in the previous december.

  this is attested by both bm21946 (rows 5 to 7, reverse side) and josephus (antiquities of the jews, book x, chapter 6).. in what year was this attack on egypt?.

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  sd-7

  Well, they've got to tell you 625 B.C., since that's what the Insight book says. Even Carchemish's date has to be moved back 20 years as a result of their chronology, along with pretty much all the other relevant history of that time.

  --sd-7
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  12

  Not on JW.ORG ; Jehovah's Witness mother shot on way to meeting, dies refusing transfusion. No angelic protection for meeting attendance.

  by Balaamsass in

  1. social
  2. current

  in march 2000, residents of virginia, maryland, and washington d.c. watched continuous, often live, news reports about an ongoing manhunt for a police fugitive on the loose.

  on march 8, 2000, that career criminal, named joseph palczynski, attempted to carjack a jehovah's witness family on their way to the kingdom hall in joppa, maryland.

  palczynski twice shot jennifer mcdonel, 37, who was driving the family auto.

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  sd-7

  Hey, I remember that story, 'cause it was somewhat close to my area. Never really thought about the fact that they were on the way to the meeting. Oh by the way, the authorities at that time, if I recall correctly, told everybody in that area to STAY OFF THE STREETS because this guy was on the loose. This couple figured that attending the meeting was more important. It's sad that this happened but it maybe could've been avoided if they'd just listened to the news. (Something about heeding the warning is usually put in Awake! magazines too, you know...)

  Also, yeah, it's kind of surprising that the other JW would go into several stores and just not alert anyone; I mean, I would've chosen the longest line possible and then asked for a price check once I got to the front...nah, I understand that the guy was probably scared. That can't necessarily be blamed on the lack of advice from Awake!, can it?

  But the fact that the woman died because of not getting blood--that really sucks. So it was a double JW-whammy there--she died because she was heading to the meeting (when she should've stayed home) and then died for sure because of refusing blood. Except that there's also the homicidal maniac that comes into play there...without whom she would have lived. So...obviously it's a mixture of variables, and we don't know for sure that she would've survived had she received blood, but we do know she would have if she'd listened to the authorities and stayed home.

  It brings back a sad memory there...it was a scary time in the area, and I guess it got worse since 9/11 and the sniper attacks came in the years after that, so...sucks to live in this area...

  --sd-7
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  39

  First time back to the king dumb hall in a year!

  by BreathoftheIndianNose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everyone,.

  so it's been over a year and this saturday i'm going to the hall.

  can you help to prep me for what sort of emotions and feelings might come rushing in?

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  sd-7

  Well, going back to the Kingdom Hall...it can be like visiting the grave of an old friend you were forced to destroy, as it was for me. The feeling of invisible walls pressing in on you again, hearing their zombie-like tone of voice, seeing them appear to be brother and sister...it could be intense, maybe even frightening.

  Bring a Bible with you, but make sure it's a different translation. If you're just there for a talk, just sit there and read it. It'll give your brain something to do in order to filter out the Borg programming. I use it as a way of shutting it out. Writing down your precise thoughts on a notepad is also a good idea.

  The most important thing to remember is that it is merely illusion. These people are under a spell, and you are not. When you leave, you may feel a bit of sadness, but you'll heal. Either way, if someone who claims to be family doesn't tell you about their wedding, that says to me not to bother with them. But then, I guess my approach to family must be different than yours. I don't deal with people who don't want to deal with me, for whatever reason. If they want these people to be their family, fine by me. Just don't expect me to be there when those people aren't.

  But...remember with all that said that these are still people, whatever they believe. They don't understand. Try to stay as detached as possible. If you let yourself feel, in those moments, it could be very bad. As Chris Cornell once sang in 'You Know My Name', "Try to hide your hand, forget how to feel." I used to listen to that song before going to meetings years ago. I recommend giving it a listen before you go in there.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnzgdBAKyJo

  --sd-7
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  68

  Being Agnostic is depressing me....

  by SkyGreen in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those that dont know my story, basically i "woke up the ttatt" about a year ago, started fading, then went back, now fading again because i just cant stomach it anymore.

  my husband is very supportive, although he's still "in" for now, and trying to be regular with meetings and witnessing, he can see my point of view now, and often notices things in the wt or other publications that are "off".

  the fading thing is hard, sometimes i want to da, but because of the upheaval it would cause my family, im waiting a little while - i guess hoping that my husband will be on the same page at some point, so that we can support eachother.

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  sd-7

  A good thread to put out there. I have struggled (often quite publicly here) on matters of faith and belief in God. I think even if the Bible weren't true, that doesn't preclude the existence of God. I know when I first woke up, I was very much interested in understanding the Bible from a Christian perspective, and at some point I started questioning the Bible, too.

  I would say, there's no need to chuck the Bible out the window on account of what the JWs said or did. I think because it's such a terrible wound, there's a tendency to not want religion at all for awhile. It may be that there'll come a time when your feelings change. Though I don't believe the Bible is an absolute guide for life, I do think it can be a useful part of a larger moral framework. I don't believe God intended for us to suspend our logic or common sense or to allow our consciences to be overridden by anyone, if such a being exists.

  One thing I thought of, sometime ago, is that the Bible is sort of like snapshots of God's personality. Some things are pretty extreme and others are extremely loving. The real God, I would imagine, would be somewhere in between.

  Honestly, faith is just an assertion that you know something. We honestly can't know the ultimate end of man. The way I see it, the search for answers is part of what gives us hope. I was reading Ezekiel 34 not that long ago, and it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Helped me remember that it was the shepherds who did the wrong thing, in the end, and that, how nice it would be if God himself came to look for us and bring us into his arms, you know?

  Maybe it was wishful thinking, but...keep an open mind, is all I can say. If belief in God can help you, then look for the good in this world and even in the Bible itself and find God in those ways. That's how I see it. Just don't force the square peg into the round hole, is all.

  --sd-7
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  57

  Anyone with Happy Memories from being a JW born in, please post here....

  by SkyGreen in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  first up, happy new year .

  hi everyone, ok i guess this is controversial, but im doing it as therapy for me - so im not bitter about the way i was raised.

  plus i want to see if i can be the op of an "epic thread"!!.

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  sd-7

  Well, my parents were pretty good, my dad was never a JW, though. We had plenty of chances as kids to spend time with other kids in the congregation who were our age. We had one boy who was an elder's son who became a good friend of mine--we played a lot of video games and basketball together. I suppose it could be argued those were happy memories. I think the present clouds the past in that regard. There were surely plenty of pleasant and ordinarily enjoyable things that I did as a child. Nothing traumatic happened, really. It wasn't until puberty that the problems came, so...childhood was pretty much blissful, I remember it being happy.

  --sd-7
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  11

  Listen, Obey, and Be Blessed - corrected version

  by finally awake in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1. if we have listened to herd, we will show it.. his demands oppress, and screw up our day.. it makes us unhappy to hear and to know it,.

  and well be stressed if we know and obey.. (chorus).

  2. this way of life, like a jail, is a sentence.

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  sd-7

  I always went for, "You will be happily manic-depressed, listen, obey and be blessed!"

  When you hear the Kingdom Melodies' recording, it sounds like the people are already heavily medicated or like this tune is designed specifically to lull you to sleep.

  --sd-7
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  259

  The Gentile Times Reconsidered (607 B.C.E.) -Part A1 - Jeremiah 25:10-12 Reviewed

  by FaceTheFacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  during the last three to four months, i have spent a great deal of time sinking my teeth into various critical biblical commentaries and lexicons.

  naturally, after beginning to research "the truth about the truth" one of the most commonplace yet controversial arguments revolve around the "gentile times" doctrine (i.e.

  the application of the seven times of daniel 4 from 607 b.c.e.

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  sd-7

  Is there a specific conclusion you would like to put forth other than 'Carl Jonsson is wrong'?

  --sd-7
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  28

  Do they still follow the same backwards policy on AIDS?

  by Chaserious in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was browsing through some of the boe letters (made available here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/243938/1/all-letters-to-elders-from-the-branch-1981-2012-boe) and came across the 3/15/96 letter about persons with communicable diseases.

  it specifically mentions aids several times in the letter and seems to be primarily targeted at that population.

  among other gems:.

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  sd-7

  So much for "I was sick and you came to me". Jesus was willing to touch a freakin' leper, so how do they figure such rules make any kind of sense, especially with our having a clear understanding of how diseases are communicated thanks to the Bible God Awake! magazine science.

  --sd-7
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  45

  Some funny/curious quotes from the 2013 Yearbook (part 1)

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just thought i'd amuse myself by seeing what madness awaits in the new 2013 yearbook.. you might like to read some of the gems i've uncovered.... .

  "true christians are soon to cross into the promised new world, so they need to be courageous and strong.

  how soon are we talking about?

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  sd-7

  I'm wondering what the relatives of the 153 people who died in the plane crash would make of the JW-version of this tragedy. Do they feel they have seen "Jehovah's hand?"

  Yes, in the form of either a backhand (ie. 'pimp slap') or a middle finger shoved way up an orifice divinely chosen for that purpose.

  --sd-7