great post larc,
i think the giving human spirit is very present here. I think the same thing that drove us as witnesses to help people is what drives us now again to help people.
hugs
Joel
joelbear
JoinedPosts by joelbear
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8
The Power of the Human Spirit
by larc ini have read many accounts of human tragedy on this board.
i have also read the recovery that people have experienced once they got out from under the oppressive and destructive world that was the watchtower.
i find it amazing that when people receive a modicum of a healthy environment how they are able to heal, sometimes quickly and sometimes more slowly, but the progress is there.
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18
Tale of a Black Congregation Part I
by TMS inexposure to two distinct cultures has impacted my life.
first, as a young blonde lad from the pacific northwest, i was catapulted into the hispanic culture of the rio grande valley in 1961. on the border, by the sea was the chamber of commerce slogan, but the change in venue was more dramatic than simply moving from a land of mountains and douglas fir to beaches, bougainvilla, grapefruit and beaches.
it was the warmth and closeness of the mexican families, the new sounds and flavors and , yes, the salon del reino that intrigued and humbled this know-it-all young pioneer.
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joelbear
My congregation in Valdosta integrated in 1972. Wow, did things pop after that.
Some of the highlights.
1. My best friend (white) started dating a black sister. His father, an elder, used to have heated arguments with him in the annex in the back of the hall about it.
2. Same white elder once told a group of black brothers he couldn't tell them apart.
3. Black elder from another congregation gives a talk showing that it was the white race that was cursed in the Bible (young naive Joel agrees to be his pawn on stage). Black elder brings entourage that hollers agreement to his message from the audience.
4. Joel learns to love the music of the Commodores and Earth Wind and Fire. Joel's mother freaks out when she finds a Commodores poster up in Joel's room.
5. Joel gets in trouble for suggesting that one of the black sisters makes really good fried chicken (I swear I was just commenting on the fact that she was a good cook and fried chicken was my favorite food).
6. Old black sister the only one who will eat my father's barbequed goat at one summer get together.
7. Joel follows his best friend's example by falling in love with handsome black brother at Bethel. Joel sent home to cry himself to sleep every night for 2 years.
8. Young witnesses in Valdosta responsible for turning Adult night at the local skating rink into Soul night, started by us inviting our black brothers and sisters to go with us one Sunday night. Soon there were 5 whites and 300 blacks skating. We had a blast (Flashlight, Slide, Best of my Love) become favorite songs to skate to.
hugs
Joel
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15
ME!!!!! :)
by SashaofNH ini have been snooping for about 2 months and i just love this place!
i was jw.....now i am not.
i was very interested in the "why do ex jws become athiest" for i was there too when i left the jw "faith".
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joelbear
Hi Sasha,
i have run the gamut on thoughts about god and his existence. now, i don't consider myself an atheist or a believer but simply a searcher.
I am enjoying the search. I hope you do too.
hugs
Joel
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4
The story of Brent Craft and Carol Keener
by Kent ini didnt want to write my story.
i wanted to close the door on a difficult part of my life and move on.
there are many things that are best left in the past because they are too painful to recall.
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joelbear
Thanks Kent,
This story is a good example of how Jehovah's Witnesses feel exempt from treating non witnesses or ex witnesses with any modicum of morality or concern.
hugs
Joel
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119
Apostates
by Sue ini turned to this website looking for encouragement.. i thought it was a genuine jw chat site.. what do i find?.
most who write here, don't belive in the jw teachings.. most are complainers and apostate.. does any one know were i can find a genuine jw site?
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joelbear
I don't know about the rest of y'all but I definitely don't want Sue in my car group.
Joel
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WHERE IN HELL ARE WE?/PLATO'S CAVE?
by belbab inusually i do not start new topics but this time i will, but it is not really a new topic, but is a reply to many threads on this board in the last few days.
i am winging it, answering from memory, so i do not break my line of thought by looking for exact quotes or refernences.. first of all, in reply to my question, of what in hell is going on?
i see a thread 170 replies long on assholes, i even contributed to it.
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joelbear
But in Plato's cave you had to go outside to really see the light.
hugs
Joel
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25
IS THE WTS a PROVEN FRAUD?
by Amazing injw defenders often claim that those of us who left the wts are shipwreaked in our faith and have succumbed to apostate thinking.
of course we challenge this with our knowledge of watch tower teaching and history, but they still fail to get the clue.
they are caught in the mend-controlling of the watch tower and accept without facts in evidence the label placed on us of apostates.. what are the facts that prove the watch tower is a fraud?
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joelbear
Within our lifetime the Watchtower will drop the 1914 doctrine.
I predict it will be before 2014.
Joel
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25
IS THE WTS a PROVEN FRAUD?
by Amazing injw defenders often claim that those of us who left the wts are shipwreaked in our faith and have succumbed to apostate thinking.
of course we challenge this with our knowledge of watch tower teaching and history, but they still fail to get the clue.
they are caught in the mend-controlling of the watch tower and accept without facts in evidence the label placed on us of apostates.. what are the facts that prove the watch tower is a fraud?
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joelbear
You start from a premise that the faithful and discreet slave must always predict things truthfully in order to be followed. This is not the premise that witnesses start from.
They start from the premise that god backs the faithful and discreet slave because they follow his commandments. Anything beyond that is simply human error or as You Know puts it, getting ahead of Jehovah.
Starting from this premise allows witnesses to overlook any mistakes in prophetic doctrine that the FDS comes out with.
Indeed while the prophetic teachings started my doubts, I did not sever my ties with the society until I was convinced that my primary premise was incorrect. That premise being that Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society were somehow more faithful to god and more moral than other people. This premise was challenged when I began to associate with people who were not witnesses on a regular basis and found out that they were basically the same as the witnesses I knew.
Its the false outer veneer of morality that is the real incorrectness in most people's minds about Witnesses. Attacking mistakes in prophetic understanding is a side issue.
take care and hugs
Joel
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1
Getting you towards being happier
by Celtic inamazing few days.. if i learn anything about life it is this simple fact, that the more you put into your lives the more you get out of it.. find out what it is that makes you happy as a person.
what is it that can really help you to feel well again?
what hobbies / interests do you have?
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joelbear
Wow,
Great post Celtic. I agree completely. I would also add, start now, not later. A busy life spent pursuing your joy and helping others pursue their joy is the way to be happy.
I know the busier I am the happier I am.
hugs
Joel
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57
Famous Last Words
by You Know inthe great depression had more to do with shaping the character and defining the last century than any other event, except the great wars that caused and followed the depression.
the structure of the financial system though has radically changed since that time, in that it is many times larger, global in fact, and it is much more fragile and complex, in that it reacts nearly instantaneously to various factors.
the average person is now much more dependent upon and indebted to the system as well.
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joelbear
I am not Larc.
I am me.
I don't see self sacraficing love among Jehovah's Witnesses. If I did, I would still be a witness.
i don't see it in any religion, political party or group.
i see it in individuals from time to time. I think when I do see it, it might be proof that there is a god and that self sacraficing love is a proof of faith in him.
I don't think word play or defensiveness or hollering about the end of the world is proof of anything. Its been done and done and done again since the beginning of time.
Its irrelevant whether the end is near or not. To a person with faith in god it is meaningless when the end will come, he will live the same self sacraficing life whether its tomorrow or in 1000 years since its the loving deed that is the reward in itself, not some deal for protection during a bad economic time or plague or whatever.
Your nya nya, ha ha, I'll be safe and you'll be dying tone, is silly and not loving or self sacraficing. Thus, I don't put much stock in them. Too bad, since some of what you say makes sense. But, it gets lost in your self promoting self righteous style. But, you are no worse than any other pundit that I have spoken with or read about. You are indeed just the same.