But its interesting; not to sound harsh at all but it seems that if you do make a change, then people will normally have to think about it and how it applies in their lives. So I would think doubt would be normal.
DeathSentry
JoinedPosts by DeathSentry
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7
DO: what to do by doubts
by Gorbatchov inthe do told us at the recent district assembly @ the netherlands, that if you have doubts about jw doctrine, you have to remain a strong connection with jehovah god, because "you are dedicated to jehovah and not to an organisation".. later on a very old brother was interviewed and he gave the counsel "keep your doubts about doctrine in a refrigiator, just wait and see".
the do asked him "how many refrigiators do you have?
the brother told him "i have 3 refrigiators full".
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to date JWism has defined my life and i hate that TRUTH
by oompa inand i am finding the adjustment to the real world far more difficult than i ever imagined...i f...it has been about five years since i totally woke up to the fraudulant nwt and then all my other doubts i had carried for years were proved true as well.
but almost all of my few friends are exjw or slack jw's and i feel so isolated...my sons friends are mostly exjw too but not their gf's and they have way more normal friends .
how have you done at replacing lifelong friends and family?
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DeathSentry
Have to say that, similarly, I stopped attending last year, the overlapping generations was the last straw for me. So turned 50 this year and facing the definite eventuality of getting older and dying one day. But like "lois looking for superman" commented, you grew up with this belief for so long, its hard to face the harsh reality.
My parents have been lifelong JWers and now in their early 80s, my father is fighting cancer and it kills me to see him try to shield the fear of death as he also was told he would never have to die. So the JWs stop by from time to time and last time I told them I am angry at the false prediction. The response I got was the light getting brighter and like a ship "tacking" its way through a storm, some adjustments but still heading to the destination.
I finally said I just can't believe in them anymore. I mean, I stayed in a marriage for 16 years (horrible from the start) because I reasoned that the end was close and Jehovah would "hate a divorcing". Well at 40 I moved out and stopped attending for a number of years as I went through my divorce.
So to me, to be told that perhaps I'm not flexible/am bitter about the changes...is just frustrating. So I wish you well oompa in finding peace, its tough but its at least reality vs. the fairy tales we've been fed for years.
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"Overlapping generation" explanation - TRANSCRIBED EXTRACT from Friday's talk (DC 2011-12)
by AnnOMaly ini thought this would be easier to examine if written down:.
god's kingdom will soon come.
so we know that god's kingdom will soon come.. .
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DeathSentry
The dubs are being baffled with bulls hit!
Breaks my heart but is so true. I think after 1995, membership, activity, etc dropped off..so then they came up with the initial overlapping theory in 2010; but even with that, it would be out of most of the 2nd group's lifetime, so of course, time to inject urgency once again. Man this is exhausting..settle on something and stick with it or don't say anything about it at all..this constant flip flopping must be killing the rank and file.
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What do you really know about "Millions Now Living Will Never Die"?
by Terry inpay attention to what you are told and how you are told it.. what is the actual message being communicated?
what is the intention behind it?.
this 128-page book millions now living will never die, was placed with the people on a contribution of 25c a copy.. .
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DeathSentry
Are you saying there is a new pamphlet out now as well?
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Exclusive Brethren video
by ranmac inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43kh91vhfko.
this is a very interesting video that will disturbingly hit close to home for most of us..
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DeathSentry
Is this for real? Wow, sounds very familiar
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What's up with all these Gloom & Doom threads?
by whereami inthe forum has recently been peppered with all these end of world, gloom & doom threads.
some people all the sudden know exactly what's going on and it's meaning and what's going to happen next.. why do people love these conspiracy theories soo much?
have we not learned?.
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DeathSentry
So..um isn't a Wayshower more aligned with the theory that we are originally from another planet? Just trying to confirm here...thx!
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Just Tell Us In Plain English
by headisspinning inif god has instructions for sincere people why can't he just tell us what they are in plain language?.
he could do that and some people would fall in line and others wouldn't.. if i was god, that's what i would do.. as a parent, that's what i do with my kids.. i am so tired of all the guesswork..
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DeathSentry
That was my plight as well; even to the point of depression. I would have vacation days and just sit inside because I couldn't figure it out. I mean I was so angry after praying and crying about it that i just gave up. So I don't pray anymore, not really, and I try not to think about it though at the same time, I stress about there must be something more to life than this. I wandered into new age for a bit, but there, everyone believes themselves to be gods once they are finished with the reincarnation cycle. I looked into Buddhism and similarly, the whole avatar thing just didn't synch with me.
So now after being exhausted about it all, I just give up. I will watch Charles Stanley from time to time until he starts talking about secular politics then I get disgusted with him too for awhile. Not sure why God is making this so hard but...
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I hear ya bruh. I feel this way sometimes too. I say to myself, "so God stopped speaking directly to the human race because the Israelites got scared and told Moses to speak on God's behalf for now on." So God stopped speaking directly to the human race from that point onward. He sent prophets, and other representatives in His behalf. Jesus came, and after His disciples died off, that was the end of any reasonable attempt at identifying chosen representatives. So here we are in 2011, and we have to put this puzzle together as to what truth is, and what falsity is. If we choose wrong, we either burn in hell according to some faiths, or we're going to be annihalated forever according to the WT. Not to mentioned the thousands of other groups who claim to be God's chosen ones. I don't think we can fault anyone who gets tired of all the guesswork. On one hand I'm glad to be exploring the various different theological thoughts since waking up from this stupor called being a born in JW. However, it at times gets tiresome reading all these different views. It wears me down to the point that I look at young people dancing half naked on MTV or what have you, and I envy them for not worrying about the same thing I worry about. It aint fair some days.
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2011 Special Talk: Bible Principles-Can They Help Us to Cope With Today's Problems?
by yknot inahh low and behold!.
it turns out those bethelites were being bold!.
brazen is what many with login privileges can be called.... ....... knowing that such an important talk outline shouldn't be stalled!.
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DeathSentry
Actuallly one of my relatives is a JW and he said he noticed that they have toned down the talks some; not as much "world coming to an end" type of thing; I guess now with the overlapping generations they realize no one is going to get excited about it anymore...and it has gotten them into a tight corner on more than a few occaisions.
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"Trust the Faithful and Discreet Slave" Transcript [2010/2011 Kingdom Ministry School]
by pirata intranscript for the talk "trust the faithful and discreet slave" talk given at the kingdom ministry schools:.
trust the faithful and discreet slave.
have we ever had to meet up with somebody with whom we've not seen before?
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DeathSentry
"Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely thay may believe that they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah's visible organization in mind."
I guess I am surprised that they would even print this. Perhaps I shouldn't be. I know when I asked someone about the reinterpretation of generations and how I didn't understand it, they told me to just wait on the GB, that they will better explain it. I still attended off and on until recently when in the WT, there too they kept focusing on the FDS and how we need to be obedient. So then I would attend but only for the public talk and walk about before the Watchtower began; thats sort of the state I'm in now.
I do understand that even in other religions, they need a certain level of uniformity of belief, but some of this is a bit too much.
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Hot, Cold or Both about religion?
by mythreesons inlet me start by saying my wife and i are out, just not officially.
we have not been going to the meetings for over a year.
my wife and i had decided to check out other churches...i guess we had been feeling a need to do so.
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DeathSentry
I find its a real challenge; like I was angry at God for quite awhile in that why would he allow myself, my parents, siblings to join an organization when we were sincerely and earnestly seeking Him? My parents and a brother are still in, one of my brothers who was never baptized still attends but my whole family is still quite loyal to the organization. I don't bring up things with them much anymore but it was the overlapping generations piece that killed it for me.
So I don't feel that I've been scarred in any way, in fact, in some ways I'm thankful in that while it wasn't infallible, it did help me discern other aspects of religion. Like I don't watch Olsteen or Jakes or any of the other large money makers because all they talk about is prosperity with themselves becoming very prosperous by the donations coming in. Nothing wrong in being comfortable in this life but there needs to be a balance in accord with the bible. So right now, pretty much lukewarm on religion.. I too grew up always fascinated by the new age stuff and I look at things on Youtube, but even there, underlying many of them, is that there is no God or that 'we" are gods; eternal souls with no beginning and as such, no need of a creater (got into some debates with some on youtube about that).
So at this point, every now and then I listen to Charles Stanley but then he also gets into politics and a focus just on america so then I tune him out as well. There is the Reformed Church of Christ who seem to borrow a lot of the same beliefs as the witnesses (the good beliefs I'll say), but they also focus just on the "English Speaking Nations of the World". I sent them a number of emails about that and how could they exclude the rest of the world.
So to me its exhausting and I've given up on trying to find another religion. I feel a void but really not sure what to do about it. I do like the post about the universalist church though, I too felt like Witnesses were taught not to worry about these social justice things, the kingdom will take care of it. Well, the kingdom isn't here so....
I remember bringing up something to a brother one time. A guest speaker came in after having been a missionary in Africa and I remember him constantly referring to going to "deepest darkest africa"; almost a throw-back to some racist terms of early explorers. I saw some of my african american brothers and sisters look a bit uncomfortable during the talk and I eventually walked out thinking could he not be more insensitive with so many in the audience? So the universalist church and the bahai are two that eventually I may look into.