Rydor

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Posts by Rydor

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  140

  Why So Many Young People Are Leaving The Watchtower

  by Jeremy C in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been giving a lot of thought to the young people who are leaving the watchtower organization in recent years.

  last night, i was reading the thread posted by jwfacts a while back in which he provided some statistics and graphs showing the rapidly declining growth in the watchtower.

  one factor that was discussed at length was the high number of young people who do not stay in the organization.

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  Rydor

  Excellent post JeremyC. Thank you!

  I was just reminded of a time when my dad and I arrived early to one of the District Assemblies. As we walked toward the stadium we saw a little boy of about 8 years old running, literally running as fast as he could away from the stadium. As he ran we both heard him shout, "I HATE THIS PLACE!!" At the time we both found it funny, but thinking about it now... To make a child that young sit in one spot for 6 hours and listen to dry sermons on topics he neither understands nor cares about, and then reprimand him when he gets restless....well kinda borders on abuse doesn't it?
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  97

  Wouldn't the predators on the ark have eaten everything by the time the 40 days was over?

  by highdose in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let say noah did manage to get all the species into the ark... about half of them would have been predators and the other half natural prey.. are we going to belive that they went without eating for 40 days and nights?

  or the ridiculous theory as the wt would have it that noah fed them nice tasty bales of straw which they happily munched on?.

  and even if one of these two exhuses were true, when the animals were let out of the ark into a world now deverstated by a flood, then wouldn't they have continued eating eachother???

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  Rydor

  @ Unshackled

  Oh my god, that video! Thanks for posting! So many problems with the flood story that never occurred to me. And they make a great point: If God "miraculously" solved all those logistic problems, then why not use his awesome God powers to annihilate mankind in a much more efficient way?

  Oh wait that's right, he needed an excuse to make rainbows...
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  30

  THE NINE INCH NAILS...

  by dontplaceliterature in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...have a lot of appropriate lyrics given my current situation.

  i coincidentally have been listening to a lot of their tracks lately, and started noticing that i identified with a lot of them.

  "every day is exactly the same".

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  Rydor

  Back when I was still religious there were periods where I was feeling depressed and frustrated, and even though I prayed constantly, I felt I never got an answer. In my mind God was both mute and uncaring. I really identified with the lyrics of this song. And judging by your avatar, dontplaceliterature, I'd say you're probably a fan too.

  Tool: The Patient

  A groan of tedium escapes me,
  Startling the fearful.
  Is this a test? It has to be,
  Otherwise I can't go on.
  Draining patience, drain vitality.
  This paranoid, paralyzed vampire act's a little old.
  
  But I'm still right here
  Giving blood, keeping faith
  And I'm still right here.
  
  Wait it out,
  Gonna wait it out,
  Be patient (wait it out). (2x)
  
  If there were no reward to reap,
  No loving embrace to see me through
  This tedious path I've chosen here,
  I certainly would've walked away by now.
  
  Gonna wait it out.
  
  If there were no desire to heal
  A damaged and broken man along
  This tedious path I've chosen here
  I certainly would've walked away by now.
  
  And I still may ... [sigh] ... I still may.
  
  Be patient.
  I must keep reminding myself of this.
  
  And if there were no rewards to reap,
  A loving embrace to see me through
  This tedious path I've chosen here,
  I certainly would've walked away by now.
  And I still may.
  
  Gonna wait it out.

  Tool - The Patient (Whenever I hear the beginning of this song I always envision the hands of clocks ticking away)
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  125

  Stupid suggestion from Study Conductor

  by roxanesophia in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi everyone, first i just want to say if it wasn't this forum, i'd be baptized!

  i haven't managed to successfully end my studies with a zealous jw.

  she uses everything against me to brainwash me into believing i need the org.

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  Rydor

  Yeah oftentimes the right thing to do is also the hard thing to do.

  If you need extra help, check out this site: http://www.jwfacts.com/

  Pick a topic that interests you, read it, and then ask your study conductor about it. She'll get real uncomfortable real quick. If it doesn't drive her away the first time, it will the second. JW's have a super low tolerance for anything that contradicts their teaching.
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  58

  How old were you when...

  by agent zero in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ..when you got baptised, and when you discovered the truth about the truth?.

  me: 20 and 27.

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  Rydor

  Born in.

  Baptized at 17. Became regular pioneer then ministerial servant.

  Physically out (disfellowshipped) at 23

  Mentally out (thanks to Ray Franz's two books) at 25.

  Became agnostic just this year at 28.

  I guess you gotta come down in steps huh?
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  6

  Truth about the "Truth"???

  by iamwhoiam in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how and when did you first realize that the truth was not the "truth"?.

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  Rydor

  The moment finally came when I read a passage out of "The Finished Mystery" (1917) where the authors of the book (CJ Woodworth and George Fisher I think) took a text out of Nahum and gave the application that it was speaking prophetically about a railroad train. For those who have never read Ray Franz's "In Search of Christian Freedom" (Shame on you!) I'll reproduce a part of it here:

  Nahum was the next one of the holy Prophets; and after prophesying in the last verse of the preceding chapter about the coming of the King with His good tidings of peace to the sin-burdened earth, he next tells (Nahum 2:3-6) of an interesting thing that will be a matter of common everyday experience at the time the Kingdom is established. He describes a railway train in motion [not an automobile, as some think], and if we will be at the trouble to put ourselves in the Prophet's place we can see just what he saw in his vision and what he has so interestingly described. First the Prophet stands looking at the engine coming toward him, and then says, "The shield [the thing ahead of this great warrior-the headlight] is made red [shines brilliantly], the valiant men [the engineer and the fireman] are dyed scarlet [when the flames from the firebox illuminate the interior of the cab at night, as the fireman opens the firedoor to throw in the coal]. The chariots [the railway coaches] shall be with [shall be preceded by locomotives that, at night, have the appearance of] flaming torches, in the Day of Preparation."

  As Ray points out, the above-quoted material is not an exception; the whole book is filled with that kind of nonsense. The same goes for much, if not most of the literature produced around the turn of the century. To think that Jesus was pleased with such insanity and consequently chose the Watchtower organization in 1919 to the exclusion of all other religious groups is even greater nonsense.
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  47

  My public talk on sunday

  by mankkeli in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am currently preparing for the public talk on sunday and as i was looking through the outline some these thoughts just keep popping up my mind that in the face of several allegations and numerous scandal, wbts has not stopped claiming to be god's organisation, i am wondering if they will ever realise that their strategies are no longer appealing to the general public.

  regrettably, they keep on publishing and printing using victims of mind control hazards to the detriment of over 7 million rank and file members and spiritual illiterates in the society.

  i keep on pondering on how long this malicious activity would continue.

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  Rydor

  I always wonder why someone would get on a platform to represent the Org when the clearly do not believe a word.

  Really? You really have to ask such a question? Of course giving talks is optional, but clearly mankkell became an elder/servant and started giving public talks before learning "the truth about the Truth." To suddenly stop now would raise a lot of eyebrows; this is the kind of scrutiny that leads to the loss of one's family members, friends, and entire social support system. There is no honorable way out of the Watchtower. I was fortunate; when my Watchtower ties were severed I came away relatively unscathed. Most are not so lucky.

  Mankkell, it's been seven years since I last gave a public talk, but I seem to remember there were about 150 outlines and I was able to choose the one I wished to speak on. Would it be possible to grab a different outline and speak on a subject less-offensive to your conscience? I can't remember any of them but surely there must be some themes like "How to have a happy family life" or "Treat people kindly like Jesus did." Something like that?
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  47

  For those who do not believe in the Bible: Why don't you?

  by Chemical Emotions in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't believe in the bible either, but i'm just curious as to why others don't.

  ridiculous misogyny and mass murder by a petty little god are two reasons for me.

  (ilovehigh-lighting) .

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  Rydor

  A few reasons:

  1.) God exhibits a very troubling personality, especially in the old testament. Examples: Psychological torture of Saul (1 Sam 16:14), executing David and Bath-sheba's baby for the sin of their parents (2 Sam 12:15), mind controlling Pharaoh and forcing him to be stubborn to give Yahweh grounds for bringing the ten plagues (Exodus 7:1-4 and many other places), commanding the Israelites to go into battle and then abandoning them...twice. (Judges chapter 20:18-24)

  2.) The Bible's anti-homosexual stance. I've gotten to know a few gay men and women and I've come to realize that homosexuality is not some casual lifestyle choice. The people I've met have all said they've felt attracted to the same sex since puberty. I refuse to believe an all-loving God would condemn a person to a life of loneliness simply because they are born different. I'm especially angered by Romans 1:26, which when read in context appears to suggest that homosexual urges are the result of abandonment by God, "giving [people] over to shameful lusts." It's almost as though God throws up his hands in frustration saying, "Well if you want to be immoral go ahead; you'll turn out gay eventually." An almighty God would thoroughly understand human sexual behavior and I can't imagine such a God inspiring that nonsense.

  3.) Contradictions. You could write an entire book on the subject but for me three stand out:

  In Matthew 27:10 the author says that the purchase of the Potter's field was in fulfillment of the word of Jeremiah. Yet the quotation is nowhere to be found in Jeremiah. Instead it comes from Zechariah. Many Bibles with references even point out this fact. Apologetic counter-arguments are laughable. ("The prophecy really was spoken by Jeremiah, it was just never written down in the Bible.")

  The three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) all say that Jesus ate the passover meal and then executed the following day. The gospel of John however, says that he died on the "day of preparation for the passover" (John 19:14)

  In 1 Samuel 16 David meets Saul and becomes his armor bearer and court musician. Yet in the very next chapter (17) after slaying Goliath, Saul has no idea who David is (1 Sam 17:55-58). When was the first meeting? You can't meet someone for the first time on two separate occasions.
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  12

  Here's a devious thought...

  by MrFreeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's an idea i was thinking about.

  i have to cover my ass on this one by saying that i'm not saying for anyone to actually do this *wink* *wink*.

  i wonder what the effect would be if a current apostate member who has a key to their hall and were to go into their hall, late at night, when nobody would be there.

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  Rydor

  If only it were still in print, replace all the stolen literature with piled-high stacks of Crisis of Conscience...
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  3

  Iron Chariots

  by Mickey mouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with thanks to stephen fry for pointing this site out on twitter http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=main_page.

  iron chariots is intended to provide information on apologetics and counter-apologetics.

  we'll be collecting common arguments and providing responses, information and resources to help counter the glut of misinformation and poor arguments which masquerade as evidence for religious claims.. the complexity of issues surrounding religion ensures that any proper assessment requires us to delve into a number of philosophical, historical and sociological topics.

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  Rydor

  For anyone curious about the name of the site, it's taken from this Bible verse:

  "Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots." - Judges 1:19

  I've always thought this is one of the strangest verses in the Bible. I don't see how anyone can read this verse without at least raising an eyebrow.