stillstuckcruz

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Posts by stillstuckcruz

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  60

  Meeting attendance

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible
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  stillstuckcruz

  I havent been to our hall in about a month but overall there is definite increase on our end. Mostly it comes from born in baptisms and people moving into the area. They just split the congro and it looks like they may have to do another split soon with all the increase :(
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  7

  To Whom do You Belong?

  by God_Delusion in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi guys and gals,.

  lot's of you will know about the old "to whom do you belong" kingdom melody intro sounding just like the australian national anthem.

  i wonder if it was just pure coincidence or if the writers ripped it off thinking no one would notice.. i don't know the new songs very well - they changed the song book round about the time i stopped going to the meetings.

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  stillstuckcruz

  At least they got rid of the bit about bees being molested. To this day, I still have no clue what it was talking about....
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  207

  Who Really is The Faithful and Discreet Slave?

  by Recovery in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's assume, as most of you probably believe, that the anointed christians are not the fds.

  if the anointed are not the fds, who are?.

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  stillstuckcruz

  Ever read the section "The Faithful and Discreet Slave" in the "In Search of Christian Freedom" book written by former GB Ray Franz? That should put to rest any notions you have of the Jw's being any "slave class". I've learned that simply because a group of people explain a scripture in great detail does not make it right. I never realized just how many holes there were to this doctrine until I read ISoCF. So much of it is based on claims they make about themselves.
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  31

  My own story.

  by JoelCW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm a long time lurker, first time poster.

  i think i have a similar story to others who were brought up in the so called "truth" but after reading so many stories i thought i'd finally get around to writing mine:.

  like i said, i was raised into it and almost my entire immediate family where (and for the most part still are) serious members.

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  stillstuckcruz

  Great to hear your story! Is so hard being raised in what everyone else arount you believes is "The Truth"...and the ONLY one at that. I've noticed more recently that they don't mind if a youth has doubts. It's "normal". But it's only ok as long as the end result is you get rid of them and "come back to Jehovah". I too am not an atheist. So much of the bible was filled with surreal stories that I could never truly say I believed. Noah's Ark was full of holes and all those holes were always filled with "God made it happen". After reading Crisis of Conscience, In Search of Christian Freedom, CCMC, and other psychology books, I KNEW this was not the truth and I would never feel that way again.

  It's great to hear your story and great to know a fellow thinker. Hope to hear many more posts from you :)
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  67

  This was my 'Sign'

  by MsGrowingGirl20 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my previous post i mentioned that i'm staying in the org because i think i got a sign from god...some of you asked a lot of questions about my sign and even shared the society's view on asking for signs which i didn't know.. i didn't disclose exactly what the sign was.. some of you asked me what it was and even stated that i know that you all would pick apart and prove that my sign was just a frivolous excuse to hold on to the org.. maybe you were right.. so i've decided to tell you all exactly what it was---no embellishments or exaggerations.

  i would love to hear your opinions since i'm still in a terrible mess.sometimes i'm 100% this is not the truth then other times i'm 60%....i feel if god was giving me a sign i'd be 100% this is the truth you know?.

  so i woke up that morning and organized to go meeting.

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  stillstuckcruz

  As others have stated, your situation and doubts are not to be minimized. They are perfectly understandable and all of us go through those stormy periods of doubts about the Organization. If I allowed every supposed "sign" to convince me that it was indeed a "sign" to convince me that it was "the truth", I would likely believe it. Go through the WT Library and type in the word "doubt" or "doubts" and you will find dozens of references from each year up until today. Sooner or late, the subject is bound to come up. It is the significance that you choose to attach to it that makes the difference.

  Have you ever read Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan? He was a member of the Unification church and discussed briefly some "signs" he thought he was feeling. On page 18 he states:

  "After several earnest days of prayer, I recieved what I thought was the "sign". Unable to concentrate on my schoolwork, I was sitting on the edge of my bed. I reached down, picked up one of my philosophy books, and opened it to a paragraph at random, which said that history goes through certain cycles to help human beings evolve to a higher plane. At that moment I thought I had had a spiritual experience. How could I have chanced to open the book to that paragraph? I thought that God was surely signaling me to heed Mr. Miller's lectures. I felt I had to go back and learn more about this movement"

  Sound familiar? He also discusses on page 14 the "sign" he felt he was getting from God to go to one of the movement's "weekend outings". That experience is EERILY reminiscent of your own "sign" including the sudden change in circumstances(Hassan's was a canceled wedding that allowed him to now attend one of the seminars). I have sat in the meeting at times and popped the bible open to random versus(purposfully trying to see how a person could see a "sign") and found it to be very selective. As an excericise, one day just pop your Bible open to a random spot and randomly point to scriptures. You will suprisingly find out just how much application you can make to your life by reflective on the different principles.

  You cannot base this life decision on a whim or "sign". Only hard facts can accomplish that. Have you read both Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom by Ray Franz? The information contained is enough to shake the faith of ANYONE in the organization. Why? Because it is factual and well documented....not the random thoughts of a one-sided individual.

  Never mistake a doubt for something that clearly does not make sense. That is a distinction that was difficult for me for a while. When I discussed my doubts with my mom, she would constantly talk about "doubts"(never the actual issues involved). She said I needed to "wait on Jah" bla bla bla, the things I'm sure you hear often. She would point me to Watchtowers and Bible versus discussing doubts and how you "just need to try harder to understand". The problem was what she was trying to get me to understand. CLEARLY she could not answer my questions logically. The problem is that i CLEARLY see an issue now(such as the faithful and discreet slave, 607, new light, etc) as 2+2=7....it does not work! But my mom wants me to see it as 2+2=4...which will not happen. Pushing something out of your mind or attempting to justify the unjustifiable will not make it right....

  Just my two-cents.

  Stillstuckcruz
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  17

  Who Passed Jesus' Inspection In 1919?

  by Cameron_Don in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was looking over the upcoming september 15 watchtower study article where it says that in 1919, something woke (the anointed) up!

  jesus had come to inspect all those who called themselves christians.

  some of the anointed did not pass this inspection.. but as many of us know, none of the anointed would have passed an inspection of the 48 teachings that are mentioned in chapter 3 of captives of a concept.. for example: according to the proclaimers book, none of the anointed woke up to jesus invisible presence beginning in 1914 until 1943 - 24 years after jesus inspection was over.

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  stillstuckcruz

  Their passing of an alledged "inspection" seemed to be determined by those who "stick with the Organization". It doesn't matter what you believed at any given time, as long as it was in the same line the Org. The latter part of the paragraph states(regarding that inspection):

  Some, however, failed that inspection and consequently lost their privilege to continue in the King’s “business.” (Matt. 25:16) It was as if they were not diligent in replenishing their supply of spiritual oil, like the foolish virgins. And like the sluggish slave, they were unwilling to make personal sacrifices for the sake of the Kingdom[Organization] The majority of anointed ones, though, showed unshakable loyalty and a strong desire to serve their Master even during the difficult war years

  ^It's apparent that the point they are trying to push is that the ones who clearly had "failed that inspection" had not failed on account of their beliefs(which is supposedly what that inspection was based on), but they failed because they did not "stick with the Organization".....even if those ones belived some of the very same things they do now!
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  34

  Have you felt to have Holy Spirit?

  by wolfman85 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how many of you have felt the holy spirit being jw?

  have you felt to have it after leaving?

  always in my prayers i ask for holy spirit, but honestly i have never felt to have it.

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  stillstuckcruz

  I certainly never truly believed in those "holy spirit" guidance jargon. Just this past monday at the meeting, I spoke to an elder who was(nicely) trying to convince me that this was the "truth". He explained one of his own experieces of "having God". When he was 21, he was in the hospital for five days and for that time he had a $14,000 hospital bill. Being 21, he had no way of paying that. But then His unlce "suddenly" remembered that he had some sort of insurance(or some other noise) that covered this now Elder, and he only ended up paying around $100. To him and to others, he certainly believed that that was God's hand in his life. Why? I have no doubt that it was because he mentioned how often he had prayed for some sort of help.

  The question I wanted to pose to him(but didn't) was that if he had not prayed....does he believe that the result was not possible?

  Arguably the Governing Body are among the most notorious for claiming authority or guidance by the holy spirit, but other religions do it too.

  ^Great point Cedar. The reson I believe that they believe that about themselves is centrally because of pray. They pray before MANY things im sure. Therefore they likely feel that because they prayed before a desision.....then whatever decision is reached MUST have been from God! Otherwise, WTH is the point of "holy spirit"? The whole concept I believe is sheer psychological. Meer coincidences turn into something monumental. Of couse I have no way to prove that it WASN'T God. But it works both ways...
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  47

  If you never have used the internet, would you have returned to the borg or stay in the organization?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if i have never used the internet, i would probably return to the borg by now.

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  stillstuckcruz

  What got me started on the internet was my doubts in the first place. I think I would have continued having doubts and been back and forth with myself had it not been for the internet. I would have never known about Ray Franz and his book and other publications. Overall, I believe I would still be in(mentally), even if only a little. While I am still physically in, mentally I am completely out.
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  7

  Some JW in Yahoo! Answer said the Magi were worhippers of the star.... LMAO!!!

  by DilemmaGF in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110307181403aatolzp.

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  stillstuckcruz

  I used to comment on Y! Answers but the JW apologist answers were getting ludicrous and I couldn't take it anymore....
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  46

  "DON'T BE AFRAID TO DIE FOR THE TRUTH"

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my jw sister was over tonight for supper and after a couple of glasses of vino she told me that "today's watchtower study was bullshit" and that one of the 'elite elders' made a comment that bothered her a great deal.. he was apparently at bethel not too long ago and "one of the big-wigs" who was giving a talk said "don't be afraid of dying for the truth brothers" and this jackass was stupid enough to repeat this at the meeting.

  it bothered my sister a great deal and i said to her: "soooo are they going to start passing out the kood-aid or what?

  " she knew exactly what i was talking about and she said "ya, i wondered the same thing.

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  stillstuckcruz

  I have been here about seven years - and I can honestly tell you that I have noticed a distinct move toward a total control style of rule.

  ^Haven't been out but that is a definite change I have noticed. The articles are becoming more and more blunt. It keeps them in and away from "outside" influences. One would thing Rutherford came back to life and is back and running the Society....