Reopened Mind

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Posts by Reopened Mind

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  50

  Why Finding the One True Religion is Impossible

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jws like to think they have found the one true religion.

  but like so many other religious people, it's usually the religion they were born into, the only religion they know because it's the first one they found or, at the most, one of two or three (typically the second one after they left their first / born-in faith).. the trouble is, there simply isn't enough time to explore and investigate each and everyone of the many thousands of belief systems, religions and sects around the world.. think of it this way: which is the best neighbourhood to live in where you would be most happy and most successful?

  not just in the city or even the country you are in, but the entire world.. how would you ever know?

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  Reopened Mind

  LOL Outlaw!

  When we walked into a Unitarian Universalist church for the first time, it had a KITCHEN! And in that kitchen was a refrigerator with beer and wine. We said this is our kind of church.

  Reopened MInd
  
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  35

  What age were you when you were counted as a publisher?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the wts has always included minors and adults in the same categories - publisher and baptized.. i am interested in knowing how many minors, approximately, are included in the publisher count.

  and, at what age a person started publishing.

  what age was the youngest publisher reported?.

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  Reopened Mind

  I converted to this religion in my teens. I didn't go door to door until after I was baptized at 20. I did, however, turn in time of incidental witnessing from the time I was about 18 or 19. I believe I was counted as a publisher then.

  When my youngest son was one year old I began pioneering. The secretary suggested that since he accompanied me most of the time it would be interesting if I turned in a time slip for him. I doubt if he was actually counted as a publisher at that time. He gave his first talk at 5 and I know he was an unbaptized publisher by then.

  Reopened Mind

  ps: Still Totally ADD is my husband
  
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  84

  I COLLECT QUOTES. . . Here are some of my favorites

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  please post your favorites too.

  my favorite quotations:.

  you cannot change what you refuse to confront.. sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.. don’t think of cost.

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  Reopened Mind

  One I heard from my mother (nonJW) growing up:

  The more you know the more you know you don't know.

  Reopened Mind
  
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  91

  Just wondering ....

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there are many new posters here, and i'm very interested to learn why you chose your screen names.. .

  one book i read, the mists of avalon, was very important to me.

  among the main characters was merlin, who in the book, was called "taliesen".

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  Reopened Mind

  When I was a youngster in my teens I considered my self to be open minded. Well I opened my mind up too far and let in the JW cult. It flew in, set up housekeeping and shut the door for 40 years. I am gradually reopening my mind to all the possibilities I missed. Just that now I am more cautious.

  Reopened Mind
  
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  37

  Jehovah Witness vs Jehovah's Witness

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  being brought up as a jehovah's witness means you are so used to the term that you rarely stop to think about it.. one thing i've noticed is that people unfamiliar with the religion will say "jehovah witness" (no 's) instead which i always found a bit grating.. but watching the us election, something struck me.

  people are often referred to as "trump supporters", not "trump's supporters" and so on.

  thinking about other things, people would say they were "united fan's", not "united's fans" and so on.. it seems weird that a group would refer to themselves as though it was someone else talking about them (in the 3rd person, if i have that right).. what do you think?

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  Reopened Mind

  When my husband and I were still Witnesses I would correct his grammar. Needless to say he would get very annoyed with me. Yes, I often did it at inappropriate times. I was not always the "submissive wife". LOL Since he was a sought after public speaker I thought I was doing him a favor. I still correct his grammar and pronunciation from time to time, especially to clarify what he says. He often counters with, "you know what I mean!". Well, no, I don't always.

  Poor grammar, spelling, and pronunciation have always grated on me. As I get older though I try more to live and let others babble on.

  And while I was still a full cult member I would introduce myself as "one of Jehovah's Witnesses".
  

  Reopened Mind
  
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  92

  Only a few days ago I was entirely lost and without hope the rug was pulled out from under me

  by elderess in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  only a few days ago i was walking around the house in a mindless wander thinking if i needed to seek professional help.

  then i got the courage to seek the comfort of complete strangers on the internet and found a world of support here on this website.

  thank you simon and whoever else has made this website possible.

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  Reopened Mind

  elderess,

  I, too, was an elder's wife when I began to wake up. My husband was the PO at the time. Like you and your husband we tiptoed around each other until one of us had the courage to bring the subject up.

  When he came back from temp work at Bethel he kept saying how he didn't understand why the WT was maintaining so many empty buildings. I had the scales drop from my eyes when I read an article in the local newspaper about blood and Jehovah's Witnesses, looked up the cited website, then followed links to JWN, JWfacts, and more. My husband could not understand how the Flood could have been worldwide. So I offered to research it for him. That was the beginning of our talking about how we really felt.

  By this time our two boys were grown with children of their own. When we shared with them what we were learning they at first agreed it was a cult. However, they have since returned to the organization and are presently shunning us. It has been 5 years since we have seen our grandchildren.
  

  You have been given much good advice. Take things slow and deliberate. We were fortunate to have some of my nonJW family nearby to support us. We were able to move 1000 miles away from Florida to Pennsylvania.

  We are here to support you and your husband. I am sending you a PM.
  

  Take care and best of luck on your journey out of the JW prison and into the real world.

  Reopened Mind
  
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  65

  JW Expressions We Hate

  by Socrateswannabe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was browsing through stuff on jw.org recently and ran across some expressions that really grate on my nerves: loyal love, loving-care, and loving-kindness, as in: "please exercise loving-kindness toward your servant.

  " who talks like that?

  they must be relics of the fred franz era.

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  Reopened Mind

  undeserved kindness---who doesn't deserve kindness?

  privileges---you know it's something you're expected to do

  good for nothing slave---another way to control and destroy one's self esteem

  elder---when addressing someone in their 20s

  soon---how long is that?

  Bible study when referring to a person---first of all it should be "Bible student", but more correctly it is a student of the Watchtower.

  worldly---a term used to elevate oneself while putting down everyone who wasn't a JW

  hurting Jehovah---going against the governing body

  new light---the governing body can change what we are supposed to believe on a moment's notice even if a belief has been in place for many years

  Reopened Mind
  
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  44

  Fishing and JW's???

  by lurkernomore in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i was just reading a thread and came across a completely new jw 'rule', that of not being allowed to go fishing!..

  at least it's new to me as i always enjoyed fishing as did others in my old congregation.

  anyone else heard of this or had this imposed on them in they're jw lives?.

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  Reopened Mind

  My father-in-law, a staunch elder, loved to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. He would go every Monday for as long as he was able. He named his boat "Field Service" so if anyone asked where he was, he would answer, "I was out in field service". Although everyone in the hall knew he loved to fish as he often would use fishing illustrations in his talks.

  Reopened Mind
  
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  44

  Are Jehovah's Witnesses marriages even legit?

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ask this because of the circumstances behind why they get married and who they get married by.

  i know people say that they are really in love, they love jehovah, etc, but are these marriages even legit.

  i've talked to older jw's sister who are now widowed, some of them say that they were trapped in a marriages.

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  Reopened Mind

  Like Ucantnome I married in 1974 after just having been baptized in 1973 to have someone to go through Armageddon with, which was supposed to happen in 1975. My husband was a born-in and I was newly converted. As time went on I felt like one of those that Cangie mentioned; ie., I would not remarry if something happened to my husband. After 41 years of marriage I am very happy to be married to this man. I feel a great deal of compassion for him and for he has had to endure because of his JW upbringing. He was humble enough to go for counseling for himself and our marriage. It was getting counseling, ironically from a sister who was a Witness, that was the beginning of his waking up. Now I am more in love with him than ever and I can't imagine my life without him.

  Reopened Mind
  
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  211

  Where are you from?

  by BeautifulMind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know we are all anonymous for our own personal reasons, so i understand if you would rather not say.

  but if you don't mind sharing that would be cool.

  i currently live in georgia, usa.

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  Reopened Mind

  My husband and I spent most of our time in the organization in Pasco County, Florida. Then we moved for a short while to Starke in north central Florida. To make a clean break from the cult, among other reasons, we moved a thousand miles north to northwest Pennsylvania.

  Reopened Mind