GLTirebiter

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Posts by GLTirebiter

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  76

  Circuit Assembly This Past Weekend "Safeguard Your Spirituality" -Everyone Please Enter-

  by tryingtoexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so we had our circuit assembly this past weekend, and it was the first one in my life that i told my wife i would not be attending.

  we had a brief conversation on why, and she said well just go to this last one with me, and then when we can discuss what we learn and compare it to why you've been expressing your "new" feelings towards the wts.. i love my wife, and as much as i thought i was gonna hate it i decided to go.

  now that i no longer want to be a jehovah's witness it really didnt bother me that nobody hardly talked to me despite me living in this same area for 4 1/2 years, everybody views me as spiritually weak because i dont go out in service, rarely attend meetings, dont comment, lesson is never underlined, so the "friends" never interact with me anyway and i'm use to it, actually that's the way i prefer it.

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  GLTirebiter

  Now I'm hurt, I still want to leave the cult, but it does look like I'm going to loose my wife to the governing body and their doctrines, I must admit I'm very very very sad today, but at the same time, happy, that I am not budging from where I stand, and that is soon to be on the other side of all of that non-sense.

  Sad to say, it sounds like she has already made a choice to go with the Organization, not with you--that is, not with the person you are, only with the devout Witness she wants you to be. It doesn't matter that you didn't ask her to make the choice, the organization demanded it during that Sunday afternoon "gangrene" talk.

  Listen to Moshe, seek counseling while there's still a chance, do so together if at all possible. Find out if your marriage can be saved, and if so whether it's worth trying to (remembering that it takes two people to make a marriage succeed, but only one to make it fail).

  But at the same time, the way she's talking, prepare for the worst. In case she decides to file against you, be ready for that possibility. Quietly look into divorce laws in your state, put aside what money you can spare in an emergency fund, figure out where you can go if she puts you out of the house, and do some research to locate a qualified attorney to call if the time comes. Don't do anything provocative, but don't sit still and be caught unprepared either (the latter lesson coming from personal experience).

  TTE, I know you're going through a hard time. Continue to love the person behind the cult persona, because it's not the individual members but the Watchtower organization that causes this grief. Most of all, remember you're not alone. All the best to you!
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  54

  Mr. & Mrs. Flipper - 3 year Anniversary thanks to E-Harmony

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this goes out to my lovely wife !

  it's been a great 3 years babe.

  lookin' forward to many more !

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  GLTirebiter

  Congratulations! Celebrate and have a nice evening together. Be happy, you deserve it!

  --GLT
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  14

  Understanding the family issue!

  by ry.hans in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  my partner has been diss-fellowshiped and out of jw stuff for just over ten years.

  its my understanding that family and providing is an important key to any religon.

  so why is it she classed as a bad association if she is family.

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  GLTirebiter

  Why do they practice shunning? That's a question with many possible answers, none of which speak well of the Organization. I have seen it in action, so I know that it's real, but it all seems crazy to me.

  It could be an attempt to preserve unity in the congregations (how is splitting families apart an act of unity?).

  It could be showing the "offender" the error of their ways so they can return to "The Truth" (how does burning bridges encourage return and reconciliation?).

  It could be vindictive, an act of retaliation against somebody who rocks the boat (how does that fit an organization calling themselves, among other things, "The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses"?).

  It could be a way to control the membership by isolating them from dissenting voices and stifling dissent (if your message is the Truth, why is that necessary?).

  It all comes down to an organization that acts like a very disfunctional family. Those in charge misuse their power, while the co-dependents beneath them tolerate the abuse. Outsiders can't comprehend why they act this way, but insiders can't image it being any other way. There are many articles out there about cult psychology and why and how people get drawn into them. If you're not familiar with Freeminds, take the time to see their psychology articles. Their experts can tell you much more than I can!
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  121

  Am i correct?

  by angel eyes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is just an obsevation from me...ok i dont mean to annoy anyone but is it true or just me?.

  i feel that ones raised in the truth are so much better of than us who came in from the world.

  i say that because they have family who are witnesses too.

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  GLTirebiter

  He would say "You're still my children and my obligation and I love you no matter what you choose...

  He believed he would be 'blood guilty' if he left us out on our own like the society said to do.

  He was counseled by the elders and he told them flat out that he would not shun us."

  Phee, be proud of your father! It took a real man, a real Christian, to stand up for his values in the face of such opposition. May we all follow his lead!
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  74

  2010 Special Assemby Day program: "The Time Left Is Reduced"

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the time left always seems to be reduced but it never runs out.. here is the program for the 2010 special assembly day.

  the time left is reduced.

  (1 corinthians 7:29).

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  GLTirebiter

  Yes, every day that passes means that one less day remains. But who knows how many days remain? No man does, no organization of men does: that is known only to the Father (Matthew 24:36).

  The Christians' task is to live our days according to the Son's teachings. Those teachings are not about serving man's organization, rather they are about living a life of Chrisitian love as taught by the Son and inspired by the Holy Spirit. It does not matter if an organization is prophetic and has "truth", if it does not foster Christian love it is not doing God's will. "Though I command languages human and angelic--if I speak without love, I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. And though I have the power of prophecy, to penetrate all mysteries and knowledge, and though I have all the faith necessary to move mountains--if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever." (1 Corinthians 13:1-2, New Jerusalem translation).

  Because the Watchtower is more concerned with counting the days until Armageddon than with teaching love for all mankind, especially your enemies (Matthew 5: 43-48) I cannot accept their message as genuine Christian teachings. Live the Christian life because it's what the Son taught us to do, and what the Holy Spirit tells our hearts is the right thing to do--not because you fear anihilation on the last day.
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  121

  Am i correct?

  by angel eyes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is just an obsevation from me...ok i dont mean to annoy anyone but is it true or just me?.

  i feel that ones raised in the truth are so much better of than us who came in from the world.

  i say that because they have family who are witnesses too.

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  GLTirebiter

  That is exactly how it was for me, my family welcomed me back with open arms, as though I had never left. It was very easy to blend back into my former life as though those 13 years had never happened to a point.

  Yes, and it turns out the same if you marry into a JW family but never join up yourself. Though it's not against your religion, the holidays are now taboo and every weekend there seems to be something going on that puts the congregation ahead of your side of the family. When the spouse finally realizes out you'll never take the plunge and decides to label you as an "opposer", you get divorce papers. Then, much to your surprise, your family is still there for you so many years later, right where they always have been!

  Living in the Watchtower's shadow, you forget there is such a thing as the unconditional love of family, how good that feels, and how free it makes you. That love mirrors the unconditional love God has for all humankind. It's sad the Society doesn't teach about that in their pamphlets.
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  11

  TOP 10 DOOMSDAY CULTS!

  by sacolton in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://ty.rannosaur.us/10-doomsday-cults/.

  3. the jehovahs witnessesin 1875, charles taze russell, the son of a wealthy haberdasher, used his wealth to inform as many people as possible that the armageddon would take place in 1878.

  1878 passed without a blip but russell was unphased: he simply created an organization which transformed into thejehovahs witnesses and issued another date.

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  GLTirebiter

  In 1875, Charles Taze Russell, the son of a wealthy haberdasher, used his wealth

  ...but more so that of William H. Conley...

  to inform as many people as possible that the Armageddon would take place in 1878.

  (Thank you, "Dogpatch", for publishing this fascinating bit of Watchtower history!)
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  121

  Am i correct?

  by angel eyes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is just an obsevation from me...ok i dont mean to annoy anyone but is it true or just me?.

  i feel that ones raised in the truth are so much better of than us who came in from the world.

  i say that because they have family who are witnesses too.

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  GLTirebiter

  My ex and her kin were "born in". Their protected upbringing left them with a distorted view of the world outside the WT and the people in it. The "Us vs. Them" mentality made it all too easy for them to adopt attitudes and behaviors that offend outsiders who chance to see their private side. I don't think the attitude and behavior is deliberate, I doubt they are even aware of it and how it looks to outsiders.

  That, in a nutshell, is the down side of growing up inside the Watchtower coccoon. I pray that in the time our mixed family lasted, I was good enough an example that my children won't grow up with "born in Witness" attitudes. Time will tell.

  "Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated." --Martin Luther King Jr., 1958
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  68

  OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

  by WuzLovesDubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he couldnt bring the olympics to chicago but he accomplished this coveted award after only a few months in office.

  somebody out there sees this man as doing what the planet needs.

  perhaps.. but i for one am not as shocked as most.

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  GLTirebiter

  There were two others, Teddy Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter.
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  148

  Notes From the Annual Meeting - Oct 3, 2009

  by daniel-p in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from a little bird... .

  interesting portions highlighted.

  notes from annual meeting (oct 3, 2009) .

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  GLTirebiter

  With this new doctrine of overlapping generations, the tribulation must be here by 2054 (OK, 2074 if the generations are strong): 1914 plus 70 or 80 years, twice over.

  (Psalm 90:10) "The span of our life is seventy years -- eighty for those who are strong -- but their whole extent is anxiety and trouble, they are over in a moment and we are gone." (New Jerusalem translation)

  So by teaching "overlapping generations" as new light, the Governing Body has set yet another date! To deny this would be non-scriptural