Posts by sd-7

41

does anyone feel messed up sexually because of being brought up as jw? like you have missed out, etc?

by johnjones3210 in

hiya,.

i'm new to this forum but just wanted to talk to somebody about this.. i was brought up as a jw and left just over a year ago.

i'm now 26 and feel messed up sexually.

sd-7

Yeah. You don't get the chance to deal with those feelings in a healthy and balanced way. Like everything else, it's black and white, so naturally when you wake up you pretty much have major problems making rational decisions, unlike most actual adults who have already figured these issues out by your age. Or at least way ahead of you on that.

I've had two partners, but one was crazy and not really right for me and the other...well, is pretty awesome actually but since the baby it's been kind of a 9 month dry spell. I suppose if it weren't for guilt, I might not have married her, when I think of it. Learning not to guilt yourself so much about sex was kind of the worst challenge. Still not entirely there yet.

The big thing is to be responsible; limiting your partners and using protection are wise choices, of course--not really wanting/expecting to have sex, I found myself not being properly safe when the time came, which I regret even though I didn't catch anything. Maybe if I'd used protection I might have felt less guilty or worried about pregnancy or disease and might thus have been able to make more objective choices at the time. I mean, granted, I didn't leave any seed in the first partner, but still...the point remains valid.

Not feeling free to evaluate a partner fully, including sexually, certainly puts a person at a disadvantage in terms of choosing a life partner. So it is important to learn and talk to someone who can help you break free of the guilt issues. It takes time.

Wish I had more advice to give, but even where I am now, I still feel like a virgin in terms of my approach to women. Yes, touched for the very first time, okay? You don't have to say it.

--sd-7

62

New JW Apologist here

by Christ Alone in

i was a jw for a lot of years, like many of you.

i wanted to try an experiment and try out my jw apologist chops.

since we have such a hard time finding a jw apologist that can argue well, i thought i'd give it a whirl.

sd-7

We would do well to avoid feeding from "the table of demons" by engaging in discussions with wicked apostates. Would it not be wiser to feed on the fine spiritual food that the 'faithful and discreet slave'--which is the Governing Body appointed by Jehovah to take the lead--has so amply provided by means of Jehovah's spirit?

--sd-7

22

As a Watchtower Reader on Sunday, did you ever have to use the bathroom?

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

i just had a dream last night that i was watchtower reader again on a sunday.

it was weird because the color scheme seemed like a zombie-green.

my old coboe was conducting the study and he seemed like kind of a jerk.

sd-7

I just had a dream last night that I was Watchtower Reader again on a Sunday. It was weird because the color scheme seemed like a zombie-green. My old COBOE was conducting the study and he seemed like kind of a jerk. I remember him as being ex-military and the type that just follows orders and thinks that following orders is the best thing in the world to do and can't understand why people don't follow orders. I suppose the last conversation I had with him was to tell him I was getting married. His first question was whether the woman was 'in the truth'. His second statement was that he wanted to 'meet' with me. I'm guessing my mom or someone ratted me out that I was staying out all night with the woman who is now of course my wife of 3 years, as many here are aware. So probably that meeting would've been a prelude to a committee had I bothered to do it. Irrelevant now.

The dream of me as WT Reader reminded me of a dilemma I can recall facing--having to go to the bathroom. Pretty much, you needed to get that out of the way during the song at worst and hurry up to the platform so the conductor doesn't freak out and try to find someone else who can read (and we all know how hard it is to find TWO men who can read out of a congregation of 100 )... I can remember hurrying off the platform once the reading was done, if I really had to go. But it's kind of crazy that we basically just engaged in reading comprehension and somehow this was a better education than everyone else on the planet was getting. Chop up the scriptures and put 'em in a paragraph, throw some questions in and you've got scripture salad. "John was a duck." Question 1. What was John? Uh, yes, let's get little Brother Davis. [Sound of mike being passed, child's breathing into mike] "A duck." Very good! Let's move on--oh, wait, Sister Douglas? "And we see here, uh," [she sits up and you hear the ruffling of the magazine] "that John was a--a duck. And uh, we see how this benefits us today because uh, God created ducks so we could um, enjoy their beauty along with the rest of creation."

Okay, enough of that...original question. Readers, did you have to go potty while you were on the stage? How did you handle it?

--sd-7

9

Which is the worst WT label ..."causing division" or "brazen conduct' ?

by caliber in

sd-7

Neither. Dial A for Apostate.

--sd-7

17

Do you ever make a toast (raise your glass, I mean, not put bread in a toaster)?

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

i had quite the fun time at my wedding reception with the jw family so worried that my non-jw aunt was going to do a toast.

unlike them, i do have regard for not offending the conscience of others, so of course i wasn't going to allow that under the circumstances.

i mean, if they really thought i was going to let them do that, why did they even come in the first place?

sd-7

OTWO--I agree on that, it's always a one-way street for them. Oh, but no need to congratulate me--the wedding was approximately 3 years ago. Old news. I was just watching our wedding video over the weekend and had some old memories come back. My brother and sister-in-law really got on my nerves at the reception because they even went behind my back and talked to my wife about the toasting issue because they didn't think I was going to do anything about it. They totally ruined the night for me and I didn't even want to do the cake-eating thing couples usually do. I started to get all depressed and unresponsive. You can see it in the pictures, too.

I remember giving my brother $800 towards his wedding and despite his having far more income than I'll ever see, all I ever got from him as a gift was a used microwave. The door broke within the first year and wouldn't close properly. Thankfully we finally got rid of that thing this year.

It was just annoying that they felt a need to impose their consciences on the occasion--and by the way, I'm not even sure if either of them has read the whole Bible yet, and I have, four times, and I've forgotten more than my brother will ever know about JWs, yet THEY saw a need to remind ME about TOASTING? It was insulting.

Sorry. It's been three years, why rant about it now? Far worse things happened after the wedding than on that day. I've not been at any family gatherings since getting expelled from the JWs, even though much of the family is non-JW. I just didn't want to be around anymore and creating awkward scenarios for everyone. After all, door mats belong in front of their own door, not somebody else's. But that's another story.

--sd-7

9

Worst of: Watchtower Reasoning

by MC RubberMallet in

1) *** t-16 p. 5 what hope for dead loved ones?

now think about this: what was lazarus condition during those four days he was dead?

lazarus did not say anything about being in a heaven of bliss or a hell of torment, which surely he would have done if he had been there.

sd-7

Because talks are often delivered with local needs in mind, we could easily misconstrue points from a circulated recording, since we would not be aware of the setting in which the talk was given. In addition, it would be difficult for us to verify who gave the talk and when, so that we can have confidence that the information presented is up-to-date and accurate. (Luke 1:1-4) <--The setting in which the talk was given was a Kingdom Hall. What more would need to be known about the setting? And how would knowing who gave the talk and when enable us to verify that it is accurate? And in a religion where the leaders can't even figure out their own identity, a term like "up-to-date" has less meaning than an "up-to-date" Windows software. Further, circulating transcripts or recordings of talks might tempt some to give or accept undue attention and honor.—1 Cor. 3:5-7. <--What they really mean is, the only undue attention and honor you need to be giving out is to....[drum-roll]...the following people: The faithful and discreet slave works hard to provide spiritual food in the right “measure” and at “the proper time.” (Luke 12:42) This includes the arrangement for talks to be given at local congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses and audio recordings that can be downloaded from the official jw.org Web site. We can be confident that the faithful and discreet slave and its Governing Body will provide what we need in order to be made firm in the faith.—Acts 16:4, 5. <--So let's make sure that we give them all the honor and attention, because without them, we'd have no idea what beliefs to change next. It's like a spectacularly dangerous chase scene across like several moving trains. If you survive it, you'll be in a lot of pain when it's over, and maybe even have some serious whiplash. --sd-7

16

Why is the Harlot not in the lake of Fire?

by rhodesboy in

will you receive your soul as a spoil?.

18 we need to remember that what jehovah has promised as a spoil is our soul.

even if a few of hisservants perish in the persecution that may come during the great tribulation when the political horns of the wild beast turn against religion, those faithful ones will not really have lost out.

sd-7

I think I follow your reasoning on this. See, the harlot is destroyed by the governments (the wild beast), which is a human entity. No human entity has the authority to destroy people everlastingly, even if God put it in their hearts to carry out the destruction. So your hypothesis is not unreasonable. Destroying the religions is just part of clearing the way for the Kingdom and all that, and is clearly a judgment, but if God was going to destroy every member of a religion permanently, it stands to reason he would do it himself, like he's doing with the governments.

Of course, the potential flip side to this is, the harlot was eaten up and COMPLETELY burned with fire. So there'd be nothing left. Maybe the religions will get completely dismantled and folded into the governmental chain of command, via violent means (hence the devouring of the fleshy parts). That said, any false religious survivors, if you will, would just get lumped in with the wild beast. But people who were killed already...perhaps they could get a second chance.

Or it's all the ramblings of a madman. I forget which.

--sd-7

17

Do you ever make a toast (raise your glass, I mean, not put bread in a toaster)?

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

i had quite the fun time at my wedding reception with the jw family so worried that my non-jw aunt was going to do a toast.

unlike them, i do have regard for not offending the conscience of others, so of course i wasn't going to allow that under the circumstances.

i mean, if they really thought i was going to let them do that, why did they even come in the first place?

sd-7

I had quite the fun time at my wedding reception with the JW family so worried that my non-JW aunt was going to do a toast. Unlike them, I do have regard for not offending the conscience of others, so of course I wasn't going to allow that under the circumstances. I mean, if they really thought I was going to let them do that, why did they even come in the first place? They probably already knew I was a fornicator and hadn't turned myself in. Silly suckers. The white dress (so the wicked spirits wouldn't go after my wife) and the pagan wedding rings were okay, but the toasting in a gesture of honor to humans, not gods, was not okay. As Slappy the Squirrel would say, "Now that's comedy."

Anyway, now I like to raise my glass, bottle or what have you and for no reason other than that it was forbidden, to make a toast. Usually, since I'm by myself from time to time, I like to make a real jest of it and say, "To all the false gods that ever were!" It's just so much fun.

How about you? Ever have fun with that kind of thing?

--sd-7

40

New James Bond Film: Skyfall

by leavingwt in

i had an opportunity to see skyfall in the theater yesterday.

it's almost as good as casino royale, with some parts of it being even better.

the opening sequence was a real thrill, one of the best.

sd-7

I'm sure I won't be seeing 'Skyfall' until it comes out on DVD. I'm a huge Bond fan and have seen all of the films a few times except one (still have yet to see 'Live and Let Die' due to the voodoo/tarot card stuff and the JW issues, I threw it out back when I bought the whole collection, sure am regretting that now, I've heard that was Moore's best one) and I think Daniel Craig is just plain brilliant as Bond--I think the thing that struck me about him at first glance was just that he had the look of a guy who would be doing the stuff James Bond has to do. You know, looking like something more than just physically fit but actually BUILT. I knew I was watching something special happen when I saw him climb those stairs at the end of 'Casino Royale' and deliver the classic line. I kept reading that 'Quantum of Solace' wasn't that good, but I really enjoyed it--thought the character needed that revenge movie to get us back to the Bond we're more familiar with. Also really enjoyed David Arnold's score for that one.

I've heard great things about this film, though, and I'm definitely excited to see it. I do actually think Idris Elba would be great as Bond, he's one of my favorite actors by far--his accent reminds me a bit of a young Sydney Poitier. I can certainly see him filling the tux quite well. I don't think they'd ever go so far as to cast a black man as Bond, though. I'd be very surprised. Then again, they did cast a black Moneypenny, so it's not impossible.

--sd-7

16

Apostates and the Holy Spirit

by iamwhoiam in

i've heard elders say more than once that if the congregation isn't productive, there is probably an apostate in the midst; since the holy spirit doesn't seem to be upon the congregation.

anyone ever hear similar claims before?.

sd-7

Since at any one time I would guess every congregation has a wrongdoer, it would mean the holy spirit is missing from all congregations.

By that logic, Israel should have lost all their battles, and JHVH's organization should have crashed and burned long ago. The good thing is there's enough divine-arbitrary-and-cruel moments that it balances itself out.

--sd-7