joelbear

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Posts by joelbear

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  30

  Who was the strangest JW you ever met?

  by Preston in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i knew a presiding overseer in the congregation i attened who was possibly the strangest person i ever met.

  he took a rigorous position toward the society's view on everything!!!

  he was against many things ....including....science fiction, fantasy, the x-files, disneyland, cartoons and football.

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  joelbear

  LOL,

  This is a great thread. I think I am the strangest JW I have ever known, but I have known some really odd people along the way as well. Yall's stories bring back some funny memories.

  Thanks for the chuckle.

  Joel
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  3

  Watchtower says we don't sin!

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower society's bible reference book "insight on the scriptures" volume 2 states on page 971:love of god and of neighbour is a principal means for avoiding sin, which is lawlessness, for love is an outstanding quality of god; he made love the foundation of his law to israel.

  (matt 22:37-40; rom 13:8-11) in this way christians can be, not alienated from god, but in joyful union with him and his son.. (emphasis added).

  so witnesses are conditioned to believe that the wicked (those alienated from god)really sin.

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  joelbear

  Sin is always what the other guy is doing wrong.

  I saw a lot of this among witnesses. Of course, I see a lot of it among non-witnesses to. Its an extraordinary thing, the weighing of one sin against another.

  I once heard Pat Robertson say that adultery was not as bad a sin as homosexuality. I guess he knew who his audience was, LOL.

  Just for the record, I think the concept of sin is manmade, sin does not exist in nature, there chaos and evolutionary survival strategies rule and seem to do quite well.

  hugs

  Joel
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  21

  So Who's An Evil Slave Then?

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my teenage years, my father elected to serve where the need is great.

  the end result was that we upped roots and moved to yeovil in deepest, darkest somerset, cider-drinkin country where most of the locals were yokels.. the tiny congregation, about 30 or so, met in a hired 2 storey hall on the edge of town, a building that had been used by the jw s for many, many years.

  the 2 storey building shared toilet facilities on the ground floor.. the first day that we attended a meeting in yeovil was strange to say the least!

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  joelbear

  I believe Apostle is correct. I was always taught that the evil slave was the group who continued to follow Russell's teachings and broke away from the official organization.

  They used to have TV shows under the name Millennial Dawn. They believed basically the same as witnesses with some prophetic differences. I remember watching a program where they were saying all the Jews in their neighborhood were moving back to Israel and that was a sign the end was near because all Jews had to return to Israel before the end came.

  I had an uncle who joined the evil slave and I went with my mother to visit him so she could try to convince him to come back. That was one freaky trip for me because I was sure the demons were going to grab me any minute.

  Those were my only two brushes with the evil slave class.

  hugs

  Joel
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  11

  The future of the watchtower...

  by TheApostleAK in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  multiple choice:.

  what is the future of the watchtower??.

  1. reform.

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  joelbear

  components of 1 thru 4 plus what fred said.

  They have always reformed and made changes as needed to survive, this will continue.

  There have always been breakaway groups and there always will be.

  There probably will be financial problems and lawsuits. That is inevitable when you have almost as many ex members as you do members. A certain number of them are going to be angry enough to litigate.

  They will have periods of shrinking numbers and periods of rising numbers as they always have had.

  And Fred is right. The Watchtower will go on and on and on and on. In reality, the Watchtower existed way befor 1872. There was always a group of people who thought the end was near and thought everyone else was too stupid to realize it.

  hugs

  Joel
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  24

  The evolution of an exjw

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  us and our neigbhours have a guy who trims our trees annually.

  he's a jw.

  for the last 2 weeks our neighbours have engaged him to pave their driveway.

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  joelbear

  Marilyn,

  Thanks for your comments.

  Yes, they are the opposite of at least what the bible seems to indicate that Christ's followers would be like. There are numerous scriptures when point to the value of the individual to god and/or christ.

  The organization is much more focused on the supposed health of the whole group. I was kicked out of Bethel for potential behavior. I had already been told that masturbation itself was not a dismissal offense. So, beyond lusting in my heart, I was guilty of nothing.

  Unfortunately for the society, they have underestimated the impact of adversely affecting so many individuals over the years. They have created a large group of people who have been hurt and as the expression goes "paybacks are hell".

  hugs

  Joel
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  10

  A Great Club For Americans. :)

  by Kent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ban breast-feeding now!

  over 200,000 american citizens have signed a petition urging congress to declare breast-feeding a crime.

  this primitive ritual has continued to be a violation of babies' civil rights, an unlawful, incestuous relationship with mothers that leads to moral decay.

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  joelbear

  I for one have no intention of feeding any breasts.

  hugs

  Joel
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  42

  Sci-Fi Fans Only: A.I.

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hear tell there are some aficionados out there.. as a young man i secretly loved ray bradbury, isaac asimov, l. sprague decamp, poul anderson, arthur c. clarke and others.

  loved brian aldiss' "super-toys last all summer.".

  when the movie "2001: a space odyssey" premiered, i sneaked into a theater all by myself, and was blown away.

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  joelbear

  Its really cool to see how many Sci Fi fans are here on the board.

  My top movies include

  The Day the Earth Stood Still
  Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  Soylent Green
  Silent Running
  The Ape Movies
  Time Machine

  My top books are

  Asimov's Foundation Series
  The Dune Series
  Childhood's End by Arthur Clarke
  and more short stories than I can remember.

  hugs

  Joel
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  28

  Atheist debate techniques

  by Rex B13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1. intentionally twist any scripture to have less or more than it's intended meaning.. 2) ignore dispensational exgesis and time tested methods of interpretation in favor of jw style single scripture exgesis.. 3) pretend that you are above everyone else in intelligence and knowledge.. 4) pretend that your every statement is factual and there is no room for disagreement.. 5) intimidate your opponent by slander and insult.. 6) use various 'logical' terms to make yourself sound well...logical!.

  7) use 'straw man' arguments and generalization to gain an edge from the beginning of the debate.. 8) pretend that science is clearly on your side and that no 'reputable scientist' would disagree with your claims.. 9) have your various allies and followers 'chime in' by attacking your opponent while you work on your response.. 10) above all, pretend that god doesn't exist and that there is no evidence beyond the physical.

  make it sound reasonable to believe that all life came from nothing and totally by accident.. rex

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  joelbear

  I would say that my lack of belief in the biblical god also comes more from feelings than logic.

  The biblical concept of god along with its concepts of god's love, justice, etc, just don't feel like they are true.

  hugs

  Joel
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  16

  Average Numbers of Victims per Molester (rev)

  by Amazing in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i added a post below to janh, number 15, to address some realistic numbers.

  some have had difficulty in accepting the number of victims per pedophile i have used, i.e.

  i based this on what an attorney who prosecutes such cases against molesters told me.

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  joelbear

  I have been skeptical about the number of molestation claims being put forth by posters on this board.

  Then, a few days ago, I got an email from someone who was the daughter in law of one of the respected elders in the congregation where I grew up. She said he had molested his daughters and several of his grandchildren and that the other elders knew about it. I have no way of knowing whether she was telling the truth or not, but I am inclined to think she is. If so, basically all those I had respect for as a youngster share in this massive sin.

  She ran across my web page completely by accident and has nothing in common with me other than our common place of residence. I emailed by sympathy back to her but never heard back from her. Maybe it was too painful for her to dwell upon.

  Anyway, hearing that this happened at least once in my home congregation certainly made me less skeptical.

  As I have said here before, I think pedophilia and child molestation are the most heinous of acts since they can lead to a lifetime of emotional self torture for the victim.
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  24

  The evolution of an exjw

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  us and our neigbhours have a guy who trims our trees annually.

  he's a jw.

  for the last 2 weeks our neighbours have engaged him to pave their driveway.

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  joelbear

  During my last days at Bethel I came perilously close to having a complete emotional breakdown.

  I had admitted to one Bethel elder previously that I masturbated.

  I had then told another young brother that I thought I was falling in love with him.

  My last meeting with the elders was agonizing for me. Two of the three were very kind, the other very businesslike. I think the two elders saw that I was about to mentally collapse and so they softened up their message and told me I could qualify to pioneer after I got home.

  The weirdest thing I remember about the whole ordeal was that they handed me my Bethel application and asked me if that was my signature at the bottom that stated that I was a morally clean person. It stunned me that my situation was treated in such a legalistic manner.

  I saw myself as being in a spiritual bond with people I viewed as brothers, not in a legal agreement. I was never able to shake this feeling completely after that.

  Since I stayed a virgin for 10 more years after being dismissed from Bethel, I'd say that it was fairly clear that I was not a moral degenerate or a sex crazed fiend. Indeed, my bet is that I would still be there and celibate til this day if they hadn't sent me home.

  I, as Sarah's brother does, loved the vision I had of Jehovah's Witnesses totally and utterly. I think you can see in my posts here that I am still trying to create some pseudoparadise for myself and others to enjoy. I doubt that I will ever stop trying to do this, its in my bones.

  hugs

  Joel