xjwsrock

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Posts by xjwsrock

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  30

  What will happen when they go full cult mode

  by RobertT18 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  and they start delivering their message of judgment?

  what do you think will happen when they start knocking on doors and telling people that their families will be killed in armageddon because they did not believed in jehovah.

  i'm curious how people will react.

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  xjwsrock

  If they change the message, it will be to intentionally thin the herd.

  Also they would still accept new members if anyone is that stupid.
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  30

  What will happen when they go full cult mode

  by RobertT18 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  and they start delivering their message of judgment?

  what do you think will happen when they start knocking on doors and telling people that their families will be killed in armageddon because they did not believed in jehovah.

  i'm curious how people will react.

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  xjwsrock

  Saltheart - I laughed out loud on that one.
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  23

  "Belief" and "Faith" are Simply Emotional Terms for Ideas and Opinions (long post)

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is my current bottom-line conclusion after starting to see through the jw game 3 to 4 years ago and going through my own process of waking up.

  it helps to write it down and put it "out there".

  i hope it helps or resonates with you in your own personal process.. basically if i were given 10 seconds to say something to an active jehovah's witness that i cared about it would be the headline above.

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  xjwsrock

  Saename,

  I see your point about the possibility of shared delusion, but that is probably a pretty rare thing. When I say multiple witnesses, I mean like dozens of people to verify the communication. Like I have said before, God could be covered on cable news and be broadcast immediately to billions. No need for a century of door knocking. LOL.....

  I agree with your second point about the bible. I say if God wanted a book about Jews to seem miraculous then have it written by people in China or South America that had no contact with this "chosen nation". If a nation writes its own holy book and coincidentally writes themselves in as God's chosen people, then what miracle do you really have?
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  23

  "Belief" and "Faith" are Simply Emotional Terms for Ideas and Opinions (long post)

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is my current bottom-line conclusion after starting to see through the jw game 3 to 4 years ago and going through my own process of waking up.

  it helps to write it down and put it "out there".

  i hope it helps or resonates with you in your own personal process.. basically if i were given 10 seconds to say something to an active jehovah's witness that i cared about it would be the headline above.

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  xjwsrock

  This is my current bottom-line conclusion after starting to see through the JW game 3 to 4 years ago and going through my own process of waking up. It helps to write it down and put it "out there". I hope it helps or resonates with you in your own personal process.

  Basically if I were given 10 seconds to say something to an active Jehovah's Witness that I cared about it would be the headline above. If I had a few minutes I would say something like this:

  ......

  "First of all I care for you very much, and I want to share something with you that I feel is very important. If I die tomorrow, I want you to always remember what I am about to tell you:

  ........

  There are certain things in life that are currently unexplained and unknowable. The big life questions. The questions about the origin of life. The questions about a Creator and whether there is a grand purpose or plan. The questions about what happens when we die, if anything.

  NOBODY knows the answers to these questions conclusively or absolutely. NOBODY has it all figured out. With this in mind, I offer this warning..... If a person or group EVER tries to convince you that he/she/they have all these answers, BE VERY WARY and TAKE EXTREME CAUTION. This is and always will be a huge red flag in life. If anybody tries to convince you that you should follow them because they have it all figured out, you are dealing with one of two possible types of people.

  ...........

  1.) A cold-hearted, con-artist seeking to control, manipulate, or exploit your emotional need for answers.

  2.) A deluded "true-believer" that has fallen prey to the stories sold by the person described above.

  ........

  Both of these individuals are equally dangerous, though for different reasons. Both of them will let you waist money, time, talent, relationships, opportunity, or even die for a cause. Both will do this without remorse.

  The words "Faith", "Belief", Convictions", etc. are words that simply describe Ideas and Opinions. That's all they ever can be. You don't use the word "belief" unless it is something that can't be verified. If it could be verified, stronger words are available. If something cannot be verified then all you are left with is an idea, a speculation, an opinion about what it is or could be.

  All religion is - is a stack of opinions chosen by some authority figure for the group to believe/follow. This can actually be said for many ideological groups or organizations. There is nothing wrong with opinions or agreeing with what a group stands for. It becomes dangerous when opinions begin to be presented as facts and then come with a list of demanding obligations or threats.

  For instance,

  If anyone tries to stifle your questioning or debate, restrict your access to information, not allow you to speak or associate with certain individuals or groups, threatens to hurt you or your family physically or emotionally, these are dangerous red flags. Please run the other way.

  Unfortunately the Jehovah's Witness organization fits this description well. Please stand up for yourself and research their history objectively and thoroughly study the counter-arguments to their belief system from a source other than the organization itself. It is never wrong to become more informed.

  .......

  P.S.

  The only way we could ever know if a Creator is interested in us or has a purpose for us is if that Creator spoke to us directly. No Creator, at this point in time, would be stupid enough or so ineffective as to communicate via hearsay through someone else. There are far too many con-artists wishing to exploit us for God to risk communicating in this manner. Any communication would need to be direct and to multiple eyewitnesses at the same time to eliminate the possibility of hallucination, schizophrenia, etc.

  I personally demand that God communicate with me in this way or I will readily assume I have stumbled on yet another person that falls into one of the two above categories. A reasonable God would respect these wishes.
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  37

  Just a little anecdote illustrating how out of touch the typical JW is

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this weeks book study lesson was on martha, the sister of lazarus.

  the chapter in the "imitate their faith" book praised her for being "industrious".. the conductor at our congregation meeting was just positively gushing about how "industrious" modern-day jw women are.. he was so exciting, he could barely get the words out.

  following is not an exact quote, but conveys the gist:.

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  xjwsrock

  I love how all these bible characters had "faith" while witnessing miracles on a regular basis.

  Martha? Come on. She saw Jesus perform miracles. She had him stay in her home on numerous occasions.

  She even saw her brother Lazarus resurrected. The Imitate book implores us to imitate her faith. Ok. I will. As soon as I have the same basis for faith that she supposedly had.
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  37

  Just a little anecdote illustrating how out of touch the typical JW is

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this weeks book study lesson was on martha, the sister of lazarus.

  the chapter in the "imitate their faith" book praised her for being "industrious".. the conductor at our congregation meeting was just positively gushing about how "industrious" modern-day jw women are.. he was so exciting, he could barely get the words out.

  following is not an exact quote, but conveys the gist:.

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  xjwsrock

  Good grief that video is shameful. Can't believe it's real.
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  15

  Jehovah's Witnesses Do Not Believe in Freedom of Religion

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this statement may seem odd at first.

  you may think of jehovah's witnesses as being an american religion in a country where freedoms exist and are prized.

  you may think of the organization's legal battles in the supreme court to protect certain rights and freedoms.

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  xjwsrock

  Sparrowdown - After a day at an Elder's School during 2014 I had a discussion with fellow elders that were in attendance. The instructor spoke that day about Babylon the Great being destroyed and when Jehovah's people would become the target.

  I simply said, to these elders, I wonder how destroying religion is going to work if entire governments are wrapped up in the religion, like for instance Islamic nations. I also asked them how many people practice Islam in the world? They reluctantly replied over a billion. I asked how did they think that would go over, taking the religion away from over a billion Muslims? The only reply was silence. A long awkward silence.

  Landy - I agree that you can fade, or informally leave, but the points brought out during the ARC come to mind. Often a person or family is not left alone, especially if Christmas lights are seen on the house or that person is seen at a political rally etc. They pester people to death and often disfellowship in absentia. We all hope for lazy or fair-minded elders in the territories that we live in. Some aren't so lucky I'm afraid.
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  22

  If Apostates Were Allowed To Stay In The Congregations...

  by JW_Rogue in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my wife was playing the "stay loyal" convention that she taped the other day and i noticed the brother said something that wasn't in the outline.

  during one of the talks friday on shunning he said "can you imagine if apostates were allowed to stay in the congregations?

  the congregations would be a garbage heap instead of the spiritual paradise they are now.

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  xjwsrock

  Isn't it interesting that in their "spiritual paradise" no debate or personal opinion is allowed.

  Conformity at all costs!

  I can't wait until the New Order System World! Then we can forbid debate and opinion forever!
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  15

  Jehovah's Witnesses Do Not Believe in Freedom of Religion

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this statement may seem odd at first.

  you may think of jehovah's witnesses as being an american religion in a country where freedoms exist and are prized.

  you may think of the organization's legal battles in the supreme court to protect certain rights and freedoms.

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  xjwsrock

  This statement may seem odd at first. You may think of Jehovah's Witnesses as being an American religion in a country where freedoms exist and are prized. You may think of the organization's legal battles in the Supreme Court to protect certain rights and freedoms. This is true, but it is only part of the story.

  Freedom of Religion - Jehovah's Witnesses as a religion/business want to be in a country that has freedom of religion simply so they can operate freely and recruit freely. They DO NOT extend this freedom to their membership. Once a member of their group, you no longer have the right to practice religion as you see fit. You are obligated to practice religion according to their long list of rules and doctrines. You cannot, for instance, believe only partially in Jehovah's Witness dogma. You are either all in or you are all out. Literally.

  But the real proof that they actually DO NOT believe in a person's religious freedom is this: they do not allow a member to change religions or to formally stop practicing the religion without severe, abusive penalties.

  Jehovah's Witness leadership will ostracize, demean, and vilify a person for leaving the group. This is done regardless of the person's reasons, sincerity, or character . This treatment is given even if the person simply no longer wants to be religious.

  With very few exceptions, members are not allowed to even speak to former members.

  So Jehovah's Witnesses believe that citizens should have the freedom to JOIN their religion but then not have the freedom to LEAVE.

  This is HYPOCRISY of the highest order. This is a DOUBLE STANDARD. This is ABUSIVE. This is ANTI-FREEDOM.

  It is my opinion that a government should not allow a religion to operate, and in turn protect that religion's freedom to assemble, evangelize, and recruit, unless that religion extends freedom to its membership to dis-join or leave. It should be considered a breach of human rights.

  What do you think?
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  13

  Keeping your sanity while stuck as an active JW

  by oldskool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i pass along this advice as a new topic, to get it past one off comments that may not get as much attention.. i exited the jehovah's witnesses about a decade ago.

  like many, my personal situation felt to restrained to act on my impulse and get out quickly.

  i took about a year and a half to two years to leave via da.. i empathize with anybody leaving the watchtower who finds it difficult to falsify dedication, interest, and belief in both their personal and public life.

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  xjwsrock

  Wanted to bump this thread. Some wise words here.