I feel like the lead actor in Titanic. The cold water is closing in on me.
Leander
JoinedPosts by Leander
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44
How has your marriage been affected by leaving the WTS?
by Leander init's been exactly 2 years since i stopped attending jw meetings and it's taken a toll on my marriage.
i expected as much but i guess you can never really prepare for the pain you have to go through when one mate no longer believes in the same things they once did.
i think my wife has honestly tried hard (as have i) to make the relationship work but i think we're both realizing that there are some really large issues before us that will never be resolved.
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44
How has your marriage been affected by leaving the WTS?
by Leander init's been exactly 2 years since i stopped attending jw meetings and it's taken a toll on my marriage.
i expected as much but i guess you can never really prepare for the pain you have to go through when one mate no longer believes in the same things they once did.
i think my wife has honestly tried hard (as have i) to make the relationship work but i think we're both realizing that there are some really large issues before us that will never be resolved.
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Leander
It's been exactly 2 years since I stopped attending JW meetings and it's taken a toll on my marriage. I expected as much but I guess you can never really prepare for the pain you have to go through when one mate no longer believes in the same things they once did. I think my wife has honestly tried hard (as have I) to make the relationship work but I think we're both realizing that there are some really large issues before us that will never be resolved.
How have things work out in your marriage since leaving the Org?
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23
Did Jesus or other bibical figures use marijuana?
by Leander ini've heard on a couple of occasions that it was a frequent practice in bible times for people to use hemp oil.
has anyone else heard this take on the bible before?
is there a way to prove whether its true or not?
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Leander
Wow there's a lot of interesting comments in this post. I've been kind of re-examining a lot of things since being out of the WTS and its kinda interesting to know the truth about marijuana after all the brainwashing that the media and goverment snows the public with.
Reborn - Whats going on bro? Are you in Florida now? Thanks for those links man, I'm still reading through some of them but so far its some good info out there.
Nosferatu - It would'nt surprise me if the writer of Revelations was shrooming while penning those chapters, I still don't know what to make of that book of the bible.
El Blanko - I think Cannibus is a lot like in alcohol in the sense that both can be abused but if used in a responsible manner it can be a very pleasant experience. As far as the ill effects of smoking it that can be avoided if a person chooses to ingest it instead.
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23
Did Jesus or other bibical figures use marijuana?
by Leander ini've heard on a couple of occasions that it was a frequent practice in bible times for people to use hemp oil.
has anyone else heard this take on the bible before?
is there a way to prove whether its true or not?
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Leander
Seems like this is a very debatable point. Any heavy weights out there want to add some comments?
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23
Did Jesus or other bibical figures use marijuana?
by Leander ini've heard on a couple of occasions that it was a frequent practice in bible times for people to use hemp oil.
has anyone else heard this take on the bible before?
is there a way to prove whether its true or not?
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Leander
I've heard on a couple of occasions that it was a frequent practice in bible times for people to use hemp oil. Has anyone else heard this take on the bible before? Is there a way to prove whether its true or not?
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29
questions about 1975 and other dates
by Leander inmy wife and i were discussing the date of 1975 earlier this week and she basically was of the opinion that the individuals who thought the end was coming in that year came up with the date based on their incorrect assesment of published information.
i replied that would it make sense for thousands of people across the continent to sell their homes and all of their valued possesions if they really had the slightest doubt that armageddon was not coming in 1975. she did'nt have an answer for that retort but still she insisted that somehow these people must have made a mistake in their judgement.
so for those of you who may have lived through the 1975 fiasco and those who have in-depth knowledge about the events that took place in that year maybe you can answer a few questions for me.. how widespread was the belief that 1975 was the year of armageddon?
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Leander
My wife and I were discussing the date of 1975 earlier this week and she basically was of the opinion that the individuals who thought the end was coming in that year came up with the date based on their incorrect assesment of published information. I replied that would it make sense for thousands of people across the continent to sell their homes and all of their valued possesions if they really had the slightest doubt that armageddon was not coming in 1975. She did'nt have an answer for that retort but still she insisted that somehow these people must have made a mistake in their judgement.
So for those of you who may have lived through the 1975 fiasco and those who have in-depth knowledge about the events that took place in that year maybe you can answer a few questions for me.
How widespread was the belief that 1975 was the year of armageddon? (was it only in North America or did other witnesses across the globe have similar beliefs)
What was the WTBS position on the matter? Was there ever an apology or aknowledgement on their part that their literature may have misled people?
Finally what other some other similar instances in which dates were emphasized that turned out to be false?
I had done some extensive research on some of those questions about a year ago but I had a hard drive crash a few months ago and I lost all of my notes. Thanks
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9
Making friends after leaving the org
by Leander inhas anyone else out there had problems in this area?
its been a little more than a year since i've left the jws and as expected i lost a lot of friends, while they have'nt out right declared me off limits its clear that i'm longer considered as being close company.
usually i don't mind as i've always been a quiet kind of guy, but sometimes i really miss being able to just have a good friend to talk to every now and then.
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Leander
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm going to try and make an effort to get out of the house and little more and just live. I always feel like I'm saying something foolish when I'm around new people so I usually end up being very quiet, I guess I'm going to need to really work hard to break through the shell. Maybe I'll try to do like some of you guys and join a club, I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar and piano.
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9
Making friends after leaving the org
by Leander inhas anyone else out there had problems in this area?
its been a little more than a year since i've left the jws and as expected i lost a lot of friends, while they have'nt out right declared me off limits its clear that i'm longer considered as being close company.
usually i don't mind as i've always been a quiet kind of guy, but sometimes i really miss being able to just have a good friend to talk to every now and then.
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Leander
Has anyone else out there had problems in this area? Its been a little more than a year since I've left the JWs and as expected I lost a lot of friends, while they have'nt out right declared me off limits its clear that I'm longer considered as being close company. Usually I don't mind as I've always been a quiet kind of guy, but sometimes I really miss being able to just have a good friend to talk to every now and then. I've grown a lot closer to my wife in the past year, in retrospect I think we both imagined the future would have been a lot worse after I announced my departure but pleasantly its worked out just the opposite. But while its good to have a strong relationship with one's spouse sometimes you still need a friend to hang out with every so often.
I really wish I could be a little more outgoing when it comes to making new friends. But I'm starting to realize that outside of a brief conversation here and there its really hard for me to trust anyone enough to move beyond casual aquaintance. Has anyone out there been able to overcome this? How did you go about finding new friends?
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21
Its been almost a year since I've been out; got a visit this past Sunday
by Leander inlast year on may 18th i officially stopped attending jw meetings, i first told my wife and then i wrote a brief letter stating that i was resigning as a ms. over that time period i've had some doubts about whether or not i was doing the right thing, but basically i feel that i've made the correct decision.
unfortunately i can't say that i've become more spiritual during these past few months, however i do feel more and more strongly that there are many things in the bible that may be erroneous.
i'm not at the point of being an atheist, but i do feel that i'm ignorant of god's purpose for humans.
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Leander
Last year on May 18th I officially stopped attending JW meetings, I first told my wife and then I wrote a brief letter stating that I was resigning as a MS. Over that time period I've had some doubts about whether or not I was doing the right thing, but basically I feel that I've made the correct decision. Unfortunately I can't say that I've become more spiritual during these past few months, however I do feel more and more strongly that there are many things in the bible that may be erroneous. I'm not at the point of being an atheist, but I do feel that I'm ignorant of God's purpose for humans.
This past Sunday I got a visit from the PO, another elder and a MS. The PO in my opinion is probably a good guy but I've always disliked the fact that he's way to ambitious (and at times ridicolously critical, to give you an example he spent 5-10 minutes lecturing my brother-in-law about bringing his 8 month old daughter to the book study wearing pants, this was during the winter months mind you.) about being in the limelight, so when we were talking he naturally tried to take the lead in the discussion. Fortunately my time out of the Org has made me a bit more aggressive especially when it comes to asserting myself on matters that I feel strongly about (when I was in the Org I was kind of timid and low key, I definitely would'nt have challenged any elders on bibical teachings) so I felt good about stopping him when he tried to run away with the discussion. (The MS who was also present and his family were becoming good friends of my wife and I but of course after I left that kind of slowed things down a bit. They still stay in close contact with my wife but I kinda keep my distance for the most part as I'm not interested in hearing any preaching from them).
But anyway to get back to my story the MS was there and I still viewed him as a very trustworthy and good person, the same goes for the other elder but I never got the chance to know him very well on a personal level. The discussion was fairly light-hearted, they tried to convince me of the usual JW rhetoric (where else are you going to go, the end is near, etc..) in the end not much was accomplished. They still were'nt able to give me a solid answer to any of my questions (and I had'nt even jumped into the big issues such as the validity of 1914, failed predictions etc.) so after about an hour they cordially made an exit.
As always after I usually talk with someone about the bible and any other religious matter my mind tends to turn to a few issues that I have never been able to fully answer. So I thought that I would bring them up here just to get a feel for what some of you may think.
(although I don't beleive the bible is correct in its entirety I would like to be able to use the scriptures to answer the questions below)
Did Jesus preaching commandment really extend to all christians?
Scripturally is it possible to prove that 1914 does not have the significance that the org claims it to be?
Did the bible ever fortell of a group who would form the slave class?
Are there other religious orgs who attempt to decipher current and future events to be linked with the prophecies in Revelations? (or in other words are JWs the only ones who claim to know who the UN and other nations represent?)
Thanks for bearing with me in this long post and I appreciate any insight that you might want to share.
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How are you getting along with your believing mate
by Leander inso far for me this is really turning into an exercise of frustration.
i feel like screaming
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Leander
Thanks for the responses guys, I knew this would be difficult when I left the org but sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out. (which has started falling out since I left) I've been trying hard to make this marriage work, but lately I've been feeling like maybe I should start anew. I mean one of the main reasons I got married at 25 is partially due to the fact that I did'nt want to get disfellowshipped for having pre-marital sex. This is'nt to say that I don't love my wife but I honestly feel like I've traded my life away trying to be the perfect little witness. At age 30 I feel like a 75 year old man, I don't go out anymore on weekends because I no longer have friends to hang out with and I'm to paranoid to build new relationships with people outside of my family. **sigh** forgive me for whining I guess I'm just tired today