Posts by ana

14

Spoof the Watchtower Contest?

by Ding in

we have seen time and again how the gb comes up with a strange doctrine (such as not celebrating birthdays) by citing something in the bible (the beheading of john the baptist) and then claiming that the "connection" makes their teaching "biblical.".

this got me thinking about how easy and fun it might be to create any "bible teaching" by this type of specious reasoning.. i thought it might be fun to have a jwn contest to see who can come up with the most watchtower-sounding rationale for a screwy doctrine of their own creation.. in another thread, i wrote a short satire on how the gb could come up with a "biblical reason" for preventing jws from going bowling by noting that 10 is an important bible number and then saying that knocking down 10 pins symbolizes breaking each of the ten commandments.. if i had wanted to expand that nonsense into a watchtower-style article, i would have gone on to explain the importance of the ten commandments and then spend several paragraphs denouncing all the evils of lawlessness, culminating with paul's warning about the "man of lawlessness" in 2 thessalonians 2:3. at the end of this exercise, i would have readers worked into a frenzy about the evils of bowling.. does anyone doubt that if the wts actually did this, jws would immediately stop bowling and start looking down on worldlies who do it?.

can't you just imagine a watchtower study where jws dutifully answer questions explaining why bowling is so displeasing to god?.

ana_dote

Hey ding....to add to your "article", you could also point out how bowling is also a game of chance, which could be likened to gambling and the god of luck lmao

54

Does the Watchtower contain photo's of the Devil

by jwfacts in

i have not been able to find any photo's of satan the devil in the watchtower.

there are photo's of the serpent with eve, satan's hand offering kingdoms to jesus and a shadowy cloaked figure speaking to jesus on the mountain.

apart from that i cannot locate any of a proper looking devil.

ana_dote

my friend sent a pic to my phone for me to upload here but i still have to figure it out....it has a pic of satan in a cloak, much like the one above (edit: the one from 2009), but it has his face and everything...I really wanna say it's a fairly recent publication too, because I remember it being familiar and I only left a year and a half ago, also I also sometimes see current publications, since our families are still in it.....I'll see what I can do to get it on here and ask him what publication it was from :)

36

Well I have been labeled as an Apostate...

by serenitynow! in

jw
friends

on facebook.

it turns out i was asking too many thought provoking questions, and a "sister" investigated.

7 months ago this would have devastated me, now it just makes me laugh!

ana_dote

I think just for the fun of it, you should get all your facebook friends to "report" her facebook profile....sure, she'll just create a new one, but boy it'd be fun to think of her trying to login one day and being told her account was deleted LMAO

16

Undeserved Kindness - Actually Deserved

by sabastious in

my younger brother recently moved in with me.

for the past 5 years he has done really nothing but abuse substance.

cocaine, alcohol cigarettes etc.

ana_dote

"I don't think God created us to be subjects but rather partners.

If I were God, I would want to create equals not slaves.

I think he tells us this by our young.

Our young start out as subjects and we teach them. But they are not young forever and eventually become our equal. I think God made it that way to tell us our ultimate role."

I think this is a very beautiful way of looking at it....never thought of it that way. I am still undecided about my path of belief, but I think this is a very unique and healthy viewpoint to have. And you must be one amazing brother! :) I'm so glad that everything is working out well in that situation.

3

disease equals demons?

by ssn587 in

got this idea, (yeah i know it don't happen often) while reading another post, but the bible says at acts 10:38 nwt (not with truth translation), "namely, jesus who was from nazareth, how god anointed him with holy-spirit and power, and he went through the land doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil.".

here and other places, disease, ie.

seizures, were in fact possessed by demons, that kind of thinking prevades the watchtower society, in that local elders tell those suffering to pray more, meeting more, d to d more.

ana_dote

I don't think they so much think that those types of things are actual demon possession....but rather "caused" by the devil because of the course that led to sin and imperfection (causing abnormalities that lead to disease) prompted by the devil (as the story goes). I think in extreme cases of mental disease (i.e., schizophrenia and worse) they MIGHT say a particular person COULD be possessed....but I don't really think that's their motto anymore. They do however seem to think that praying and reading your little bible will cure and/or ease your depression, even though it has been proven as a scientific physical condition.....but don't get me started lol

anyone feel free to correct me if they have other thoughts or experiences.....that's been mine

13

moral support? :/

by ana_dote in

jw
friends

i know, i know...it's all part and parcel of the whole fading thing.....but..... i missed a phone call from an unknown number tonight....oddly enough, had this been a few months ago the number would have still been programmed in my phone.

the number was to the kingdom hall i used to attend over a year ago.

i have not set foot in it since probably late april, early may, of 2009. but tonight an elder called.

ana_dote

lol it's funny that the CO visit should be mentioned...i was talking to a friend of mine in new jersey...she's df'd and has no desire to go back or be bothered and i told her what happened to me and that she should probly keep an eye out herself. She was like "nah, they wouldn't contact me...." Well wouldn't you know the VERY NEXT DAY....an elder who wasn't even a part of her old congregation OR committee, but whom she had known well for years as she was close with his daughter...he called to talk to her LOL i guess their CO was coming and he was hoping she would come to a meeting or something, I don't know....lol

I just love how they get all fidgety when the CO is coming in town. When I was a struggling pioneer, it was JUST after a CO visit that they decided it was finally time to ask me what I "thought" about stepping off the pioneer list. In other words: you're resigning, right? right. ok. good. glad we're on the same page.

bastards

30

Did you ever know any JW's/Pioneers who frequented popular nightspots and got drunk?

by James_Slash in

it used to make me sick at these hypocrites.. they would be at the meeting the next day or out in field service, obviously still intoxicated from the night before but putting a show on before the congregation.

i knew a couple of girls who would be regulary doing this over a weekend yet they would be pioneers all week, answering up at the meetings yet would be heading into popular nightspots and coming home at 4am drunk.

their dad was an elder (surprise, surprise).. i remember telling an elder about this once.

ana_dote

ok I read the other posts...guess I wasn't the first to mention the bethelites lol

I remember thinking it was quite funny one time when I was touring the farm with a friend and her friend was our tour guide...he showed us his room and for whatever reason also chose to show us the bottle of Goldschlagger (sp?) in his freezer. Such a fine example!!! LOL

30

Did you ever know any JW's/Pioneers who frequented popular nightspots and got drunk?

by James_Slash in

it used to make me sick at these hypocrites.. they would be at the meeting the next day or out in field service, obviously still intoxicated from the night before but putting a show on before the congregation.

i knew a couple of girls who would be regulary doing this over a weekend yet they would be pioneers all week, answering up at the meetings yet would be heading into popular nightspots and coming home at 4am drunk.

their dad was an elder (surprise, surprise).. i remember telling an elder about this once.

ana_dote

I haven't read all the other posts on this yet, but do you know what my immediate response was to the question?

"Sure! They're called Bethelites!"

I mean seriously....those boys could drink you under the table!!! And apparently still get up for morning worship....how wonderful to know they "employ" only the best of the best!

46

Do you smoke anything?

by asilentone in

i was very disappointed in one of my friends near here.

he is df'd.

he started smoking cigs.

ana_dote

I think I need to join StAnn for thanksgiving!!!! :D whereabouts in ohio do you live, if you don't mind my asking?

and just to keep on topic with the thread, i unfortunately do smoke....been kinda off and on for years....was actually a source of being reproved a couple times lol i don't consider myself physically addicted, but mentally. I've quit cold turkey and it doesn't bother me, but if I get super stressed I have a nasty habit of finding random ways to be semi-self-destructive and smoking is probably one of the lesser evils of such.

I will also admit that I enjoy the ocassional indulgence in weed. I actually find it to be a very gratifying experience on a higher level. I've had some amazing mental breakthroughs (epiphanies, if you will) that have allowed me to be more realistic and reasonable about life, god, religion, love, the universe....you name it. I know many people are against it, but honestly....how is it more harmful than having one too many glasses of wine? I would much rather smoke than drink, as I have never been depressed, negative, self-destructive, or harmfully careless when high. Drinking on the other hand.....that can mess a person up.

anyhoooooo....lol

13

moral support? :/

by ana_dote in

jw
friends

i know, i know...it's all part and parcel of the whole fading thing.....but..... i missed a phone call from an unknown number tonight....oddly enough, had this been a few months ago the number would have still been programmed in my phone.

the number was to the kingdom hall i used to attend over a year ago.

i have not set foot in it since probably late april, early may, of 2009. but tonight an elder called.

ana_dote

thanks to all of you for responding...your words of encouragement help a lot

a very close friend of mine (also an ex-jw) actually just called me because he noticed something that actually helps put my mind at ease a little: Wednesday (today technically) is Sept 1st. A new "service year". According to custom and supposed guidelines, they are supposed to contact all "inactive" memebers once a year. It would make perfect sense that this was all that was. Meeting night fell on the last day of the service year, so they probably had a big old elders meeting discussing who was inactive according to their files and were probably just calling up a list of names. Since my publisher card never got transferred anywhere else, I would be on that list.

I sincerely hope that is the extent of the intent.

I would like to avoid the personal familial complications involved with being df'd, but if they want to df me in absentia, as was mentioned....then let them go for it. I liked what CHG said about being able to answer someone with "I don't know why they df'd me...they never told me..."

I think it's kind of funny though that they would even do such disfellowshipping.....isn't the whole purpose of that practice to "keep the congregation clean"? Well...if that person doesn't even try to BE a part of the congregation, haven't they already removed their "unwholesome influence" themselves? Trying to disfellowship them is just a power trip. They're not bothering you, so don't friggin bother them!

silly imbeciles....

ana_dote

Posts by ana_dote