Dune, don't worry. If she is your girlfriend and wants to become a JW, dumping her worldly boyfriend would be one of the prerequisites to getting baptized. It would take care of itself.
Posts by pirata
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23What if your Significant Other wanted to become a JW?
by Dune intoday, i was ambushed by a pair of witnesses while leaving my apartment.
they offered me a magazine, to which i declined, but gave the latest awake & watchtower to my girlfriend.
at our next stop, i took the magazines, rolled them up and was about to toss them when she told me that she wanted to read them.
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110
2011 District a$$embly - We cant wait. The board is abuzz WHAT NOOLITE?
by hamsterbait inthe first summer a$$embly finishes this weekend.. tell tell!.
who are the toes.
the verrucas and fungus?.
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pirata
@TheLoveDoctor,
The light is flickering once again! Thanks for tying it together so nicely.
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Real Jehovah's Witnesses (djeggnog, StandFirm, etc), I'm trying to understand you.
by pirata ini'm an active jehovah's witness.
i've obviously lost my faith, that's why i don't feel bad posting here anymore.
i'd probably be disfellowshipped as a division causing, teaching, apostate, faster than you can say "maher-shalal-hash-baz" (isaiah 8:1), should it be found out that i was posting here and did not repent of the things i've said and stop participating in this forum.
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pirata
@Maze
StandFirm informed me he didn't like the forum and likely will not be posting here again. The Watchtower Society may encourage the wise use of a person's time, but I haven't noticed the discouragement of research outside the Society's publications because the Governing Body fears outside influences. That type of thinking is the thought process that Jehovah's Witnesses are under the umbrella of mind control. This is science fiction as there's no scientific theory, let alone, evidence for “mind control.” Some substitute mind control for loyalty to God or loyalty to a cause they disagree with. The reason the Watchtower Society discourages interacting with apostates is because of the effects of bad association, not because their “secrets” have any real merit.
I'm sorry to see StandFirm go. It's good to hear both sides of the story.
I am going to concede a bit to my initial insertion that the Watchtower society discourages research outside the publications. I could not find any explicit statements saying not to do so. My impression of the counsel quoted by Anthony Mous a few pages back is that more than enough is provided by the Faithful Slave, so there's no need to go beyond that. But, I'm glad you brought it up as I will be less shy about mentioning "other resources" with fellow witnesses in the future and see how things go from there.
I really don't think this is an issue of "mind control", per se (nor was it my intent to assert that) It's more an issue of "information control". Whether or not a person feels that apostate's arguments have merit, the current direction to stay away from apostate information addresses the symptoms (planting doubts) and not the underlying causes (the issues that bring rise to the doubts). If the "secrets" do not have any real merit, they why not discuss them regularly if this will prevent even one sheep from straying from the flock?
Bad association. Well yes. But worldly people are considered bad association, but there is no direction to shun them. There is more to it than just bad association. The issue is also presented as one of "loyalty". But I do not think this is the best approach to deal with opposing information. For example, imagine a wife suspects that her husband is cheating on her. Let's assume the husband is innocent. The husband could either (1) Find out why she feels that way, and provide as much evidence as possible to prove that the assertion is untrue, or 2) Remind her that she should be loyal to him and not question his fidelity as he has been a good provider all these years. Also threaten to kick her out of the house if she does not stop believing that he cheated on her. Which approach do you think will be more effective at allaying her concerns?
Why do you attend meetings if you've "lost your faith."
A good question. As I replied in your "undercover apostates" thread, My immediate family and spouse are all believing Jehovah's Witnesses. At this point in my life, the value of those relationships are more important to me than my freedom to express my beliefs (or lack thereos). So I just keep quiet, and deal with the situation. I don't want to rush into any potentially disastrous decisions.
Now if I may ask a question of you. You have stated in other threads that you have been associated with JWs for over 30 years, that you initially started researching JWs because your wife was studying with them, and that you needed access to the Watchtower Library 2010, and that you enjoy religious and political debate.. This implies to me that you are not currently a Jehovah's Witness. You seem to agree with their teachings though, is it because you enjoy being the devil's advocate or you really believe it? If you really believe it, why haven't you become one?
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2011 District a$$embly - We cant wait. The board is abuzz WHAT NOOLITE?
by hamsterbait inthe first summer a$$embly finishes this weekend.. tell tell!.
who are the toes.
the verrucas and fungus?.
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pirata
e-watchman has an interesting take on it here (published May 5, 2011): http://e-watchman.com/jehovahs-witnessesback-page/2011/5/5/new-light-at-2011-district-convention-of-jehovahs-witnesses.html
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Who wants to help put together the ultimate Watchtower Index Wiki?
by pirata inpresenting: wtindex.info.
there are a great deal of watchtower publication references available on a number of sites, and on this forum, but it takes a lot of searching, digging, and reading to find them.. i have put together a wiki that currently catalogs:.
1) subject references for watchtower publications (from 1800s to present), in an organized and clear way.. 2) the sources of quotations (with context) used in watchtower publications.
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pirata
My apologies again. I checked my "sent PMs" and did not see the previous ones in there. I sent one more, and double checked the sent PMs and it is indeed in there.
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Blood
by Blind_Of_Lies in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-us</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp /> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables /> <w:dontvertalignintxbx /> <w:word11kerningpairs /> <w:cachedcolbalance /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif].
i have been doing a lot of mind searching on the issue of blood.
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pirata
I believe the main reason for instituting the Blood Prohibition (among other things) in Acts 15:28,29, was to keep peace with Gentiles and Jews. The circumcision issue was threatening a schism in the 1st Century Congregation and a compromise needed to be made. More details here under the heading in my post "the reason for 'necessary things' in the 1st Century":
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/209596/1/Can-You-Explain-This-Blood
PS. Welcome to the forum, blind_of_lies!
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It's 21st May 2011I am writing this 1 minute
by cantleave ini am writing this 1 minute past midnight 21st may.. i'm still here..
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pirata
Maybe the rapture did happen, but no one was worthy!
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Who wants to help put together the ultimate Watchtower Index Wiki?
by pirata inpresenting: wtindex.info.
there are a great deal of watchtower publication references available on a number of sites, and on this forum, but it takes a lot of searching, digging, and reading to find them.. i have put together a wiki that currently catalogs:.
1) subject references for watchtower publications (from 1800s to present), in an organized and clear way.. 2) the sources of quotations (with context) used in watchtower publications.
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pirata
Ack! Sorry about that Nathan Natas. I remember typing it up, but I was doing a lot of Window flipping at the time and looks like I did not send it. You should see it now.
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Who wants to help put together the ultimate Watchtower Index Wiki?
by pirata inpresenting: wtindex.info.
there are a great deal of watchtower publication references available on a number of sites, and on this forum, but it takes a lot of searching, digging, and reading to find them.. i have put together a wiki that currently catalogs:.
1) subject references for watchtower publications (from 1800s to present), in an organized and clear way.. 2) the sources of quotations (with context) used in watchtower publications.
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pirata
I returned PMs with setup instructions for those that PMd me.
Also added an internal forum for registered users to make it easier to collect links and references by category before organizing them on the wiki.
@FatFreek 2005, thanks for the feedback. The main selling point is that the community aspect will hopefull help keep the site up to date and extremely comprehensive (much like JWN thrives on community).
@doubtful: If you click on the "Sources in Context" link, I've started putting together a page for quotations used by WT, showing their source and their context. Whether they are dishonest or misleading will be left up to the reader :) It will also show the sources of these quotes and their religious affiliation (if any). The main index will show changes in doctrine over time, though I'm not specifically labelling it as such.
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Hi everyone. Wanted to officially intro myself. Well at least give you: In the Beginning...
by AK MCGRATH inwell, i'm going to break this up, because if anyone has read any of my posts, you know i can be long-winded.
yep, i'm the person that can leave a minute or two message on a v.m.. i have been on this board for a month or two and wanted to make sure i'd be sticking around before i intro'd myself, so here i am.
grab your favorite beverage, it's gonna be a long one.. in the beginning.... i learned of the "truth" through a co-worker.
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pirata
Thanks for sharing. I look forward to future installments!