GLTirebiter

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Posts by GLTirebiter

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  23

  I have finally did it and I will graduate from college with my BA degree in Sociology.

  by booker-t in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  well everybody i told you all a few years back how hard it was to be in college at the age of 40. i thought my hair was going to fall out trying to keep up with the young college kids in math and science.

  but now 3 years later i will be graduating this november with my ba degree.

  i just love school and will be applying for graduate school to get my ma.

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  GLTirebiter

  Congratulations! It's never too late to make the best of your life. Good luck in grad school.
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  52

  Is it really so that some people here became Catholic after leaving the Borg?

  by gubberningbody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow.. unbelievable.. .

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  GLTirebiter

  What makes Catholicism appealing? From my POV, the chuch teaches the strong moral standards some seek with the Witnesses, but with more conventional Christian doctrine. It respects scripture without the restraints of word-for-word literalism (thus the church accepts many Bible translations as valid, if sometimes incomplete: Douay-Rheims, RSV, JB, NAB, KJV, pretty much anything but NWT). Scripture readings during mass are passages read in context, and clearly separated from the commentary (homily, aka sermon). The worship service includes worship, not just a pep talk and sales pitch. They back up their words with the largest non-government charitable operations on Earth.

  Remember, I was never a Witness myself. I was lapsed from the church for about twenty years when I married a lasped JW woman. She soon returned to the Kingdom Hall. Seeing the WTBTS in action, close-up, was an eye-opening contrast for this "unbelieving mate". After we divorced, I took stock of myself and where I was going, what I was doing right and where I was falling short. I took my time, evaluated the options, and after about a year concluded that the church I left in my youth remained the best fit for me. I guess you could say my Ex finally did succeed in converting me, just not the way she intended!

  Returning was a non-event compared to what a DF'ed Witness endures. I started showing up, first sporadically, then every week. I re-learned the teachings, read the Bible, and my when the decision was made I spent a short time in the confessional. No outside pressure, no committee meeting, no interrogation, no probationary period, just forgiveness and a fresh start. After fourty years away, it was "Welcome Back!"

  The Watchtower relishes the image of being a pure congregation, a "showcase of saints." The church considers itself to be the "hospital for sinners." I went back to where I belong.
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  21

  What's my "problem" with JWs a couple videos people have enjoyed...

  by Tuesday in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everyone!.

  i got a couple messages saying i should post these videos on here.

  i got tagged by a youtuber asking me what my motivation for making videos was and what my "problem" is with jehovah's witnesses.

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  GLTirebiter

  If all else fails, they'll lie.

  You saved the best for last. Good job, Tim!
• 
  114

  Has anyone ever ask a householder to keep their Bible study secret from their spouse?

  by wasblind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was told of one incident, where a pioneer said that she had trouble with one householders husband, because he was hiding the literature and did not want his wife to study with the jw's so she incouraged the householder to study in secrecy.. .

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  GLTirebiter

  Bane, of course I know the answers--those are rhetorical questions, which almost everybody reading the post can answer. For the record:

  • You would not want your children going to a non-Witness bible class,
  • You would not want a doctor giving your child a blood transfusion,
  • You see nothing wrong with sneaking behind my back to indoctrinate my child, indeed you feel an obligation to do so--you said it yourself!

  Studying the bible with JW´s takes precedent [sic] over what a parent thinks.

  You have no business interfering with parents religious upbringing of their own children. Your own words have indicted you!
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  30

  Were you suprised at how little the "world" knows about JW's

  by donny in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was a jehovah's witness for 10 long years and during that time i developed the opinion that most of the world knew what we believed, but chose to ignore it and go about doing their own thing.

  then in the almost 18 years i have been out, i have come to understand that the outside world knows very little about jw's.

  other than they don't take blood transfusions and do not celebrate holidays, most people have no idea what we believe and only think of them as another offbeat religion among many.. did anyone else think that the jw religion was more known than it actually is?.

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  GLTirebiter

  No, I'm not at all surprised. I remember how much I didn't know about the WT Society when I married my Ex (even their proper name). What little I once knew (beyond the Saturday door-knocking) had mostly faded from my memory. I received a rude awakening, to say the least!
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  114

  Has anyone ever ask a householder to keep their Bible study secret from their spouse?

  by wasblind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was told of one incident, where a pioneer said that she had trouble with one householders husband, because he was hiding the literature and did not want his wife to study with the jw's so she incouraged the householder to study in secrecy.. .

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  GLTirebiter

  Studying the bible with JW´s takes precedent over what a parent thinks.

  Your argument depends on you having the one, the only truth and the parents being wrong. The parents obviously do not agree with you, or there would be no need to hide the Bible Watchtower study from them.

  Would it be OK to take your kids to our parish's Vacation Bible School without telling you about it? What if an ER doctor, decides on her own that your child needs a blood transfusion, administers it, and tosses that no-blood card in the red bag with all the other biohazards? The doctor knows medical truth much better than you do, so why shouldn't she make that choice and disregard your wishes?

  Parents are responsible for the proper upbringing of their children, including their spiritual upbringing. Disagreement with how they choose to do so does not give you any grounds to undermine their authority.
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  16

  I know no one wants to die, but is it possible that wanting to live forever when nothing does is a bit greedy?

  by gubberningbody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...not to mention unreasonable?.

  i remember telling my mom when i was about 7 that i didn't want to die (it seemed to me that time was speeding down the track and i was fast headed for the grave) and she said..."don't worry, that won't happen for a long time.".

  her response was honest, but i found that honesty unnerving.. i felt as if she'd just said to me--- "yes dear son, you are sitting on a powder keg, and yes the fuse is lit, but enjoy your ice cream cone.

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  GLTirebiter

  Interesting point on the materialism, StAnn. I saw the presumptious angle to the WT future vision, and the class distinction, but never paid much attention to the materialistic aspect (coveting thy neighbor's house, etc.)
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  84

  Why should I have to sign a letter saying I want to disassociate ?

  by troubled mind in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't understand why the elders want this letter so badly ....for one i don't remember signing a contract to become a jehovah's witness ,why do i need to resign ?.

  also i was baptised in 1978 before the baptism questions changed , i dedicated myself to god not an organization .

  my vow was to follow the direction by holy spirit as revealed to me through the bible, not the watchtower ...... if i belonged to the luthern church and quit going after three yrs they drop your name off the member list ........but if i chose to come to easter or christmas service everyonre would still talk to me i just wouldn't be a member any more .. .

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  GLTirebiter

  Bane,

  TM has issued a Cease and Desist against them. Attempting to make contact when contact is clearly and explicitly unwanted is not a display of concern. It is harassment, perhaps stalking (depending on the circumstances).

  In a domestic relations case where there is a "no contact" order, is it a display of concern to ignore that order and come knocking on the door? No, it's an invasion of privacy, it's harassment, and it's against the law.

  Why do you think this is any different? The elders are not above the law. A "true Christian" renders unto Ceasar that which is due to Ceasar, including obedience to the law.
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  75

  I'm curious...

  by JediMaster in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  did anyone here claim to be of the anointed and partook of the emblems at memorial when you were still a witness???

  if so, was there really a force telling you, you were special and would go to heaven?

  or was it more so overjoy at how spritual you though you were?

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  GLTirebiter

  Outside of the witnesses the partaking just becomes a general coverall where everyone and their aunty partake with no depth of teaching or self examination.

  The Lord's meal is for everybody. It is a necessary condition for gaining eternal life, so why does the Watchtower deny it to "the great flock"? According to Jesus, as told in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6:

  [53] Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. [54] Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. [55] For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. [56] Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person.

  The condescending phrase "... a general coverall everybody and their aunty partake with no depth of teaching or self examination" shows only contempt and ignorance of other faiths' practices. The "depth of teaching" in the Catholic church lasts about two full school years for children receiving First Communion at the "age of reason" (seven years), six months for adult converts. Regarding self-examination, here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

  1385 To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

  To many Christians, the sacrilege is the Watchtower's policy of not partaking at the "Memorial".
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  42

  Most annoying quotes you are going to hear from JW's

  by XPeterX in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  something like: "would jesus do that/go there?

  " i tell them: "would he own a luxurious bmw or mercendes?".

  what are some quotes/expressions invented by jw's that really pissed you off?.

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  GLTirebiter

  Why do you want to go to Art College when you can be taught by Leonardo or Michelangelo in the New System?!!!

  Leonardo and Michelangelo were Catholic--come Judgement Day, they aren't eligible for "The New System"!