Posts by mustang

21

Its been almost a year since I've been out; got a visit this past Sunday

by Leander in

jw
friends

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.

mustang

"Did Jesus preaching commandment really extend to all christians?"

This is an interesting question. JW's have what I term the "Clergy-Laity Distinction Doctrine". And, of course, we all know that they proclaim that there is NO SUCH DIFFERENCE!!!!

There are scriptures that indicate that "some were given as this & some were given as that...". These scriptures don't indicate the JW hierarchy or support it.

"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?)"

There seem to be a fair number who have taken up the chrono-prophet role. If JW's have dropped off that one, others have risen in their place.

In the "olden days" Armstrong (WWCOG) used to do lots of this. I have seen Jack van Impe wax heavily in the Chrono camp. I have noticed others on the I-Net, but didn't note their names.

Perhaps there is some "law of conservation" that applies to Chrono-Dubs and their brethren. Some of them are TV-evangelists, so the entertainment factor has been enhanced :)

Best wishes on your encounters.

Mustang

3

Were we in love?

by JH in

jw
friends

when we become jehovah witnesses, we actually were in love with the religion.

we were ready to defend it, even if we knew there were some things that were wrong.

don't we do the same with a person we love, don't we try to protect him/her even if we know they could be wrong.. the moment we started to open our eyes and saw that religion for what it really was, the love was already gone.. that's why it is so hard to go back to the hall.

mustang

As a matter of clarification, I will also say that I was "raised in the troof".

As such, OBLIGATION is all that was ever achieved. Even in the most sincere of all my efforts, I do not believe that I felt anything beyond a feeling of satisfying an OBLIGATION.

And further, all this was based on PEER PRESSURE. When I backed off from allowing that PEER PRESSURE, I came to the conclusion that serving God is possible and can be truly heartfelt.

However, my ultimate conclusion was that it is not necessary to use the JW method to do so.

This lessening of PEER PRESSURE and realization of facts about how to serve God occurred both BEFORE I TURNED 30 and before the Baptismal Vows were changed (in the middle 80's). (I did not RATIFY the 86? Baptismal Vow changes and never PLEDGED ALLEGIANCE TO THE WTS.)

This proper and INFORMED choice NULLIFIES or ANNULS that uninformed childhood baptism that went before.

Mustang

3

Were we in love?

by JH in

jw
friends

when we become jehovah witnesses, we actually were in love with the religion.

we were ready to defend it, even if we knew there were some things that were wrong.

don't we do the same with a person we love, don't we try to protect him/her even if we know they could be wrong.. the moment we started to open our eyes and saw that religion for what it really was, the love was already gone.. that's why it is so hard to go back to the hall.

mustang

If we had a love to start with..... Good question!!!!

There was a time when I was sincere and believed the whole spiel. Was it a "love"? I wouldn't go that far.

The realization of all the hypocrisy and betrayals go so much further than the naive, positive side of things, that it really makes for an extremely lopsided pendulum swing.

This broaches the question I posed in the reply about "faking it":

"I have often wondered if I could not simply go to the KH, not socialize at all and just quietly attend for a few minutes, to "meet my obligation" and then simply leave. But I don’t think you can get away with that, due to the busybody nature of the Elders, MS’s and others who be "greeters". "

Mustang

4

Got a Visit Today!

by Marcos in

jw
friends

i'm leaving.

moving to central mexico.. got a visit this morning from the local congregation.

one guy.

mustang

Marcos,

That is almost funny. It's not YOUR problem or obligation to support/cover-up/overlook THEIR lies/discrepancies/problems, is it???

But they would like to COMPEL you to do so, wouldn't they???

It is strange, that this one appeared to you. Sounds sort of like a "self-appointed" Shepherding Call!!!!

Mustang

43

Would you take your shoes off?

by Golden Girl in

if you went to someones house as a guest and they asked you to take your shoes off..would you?..would you be offended?....

does anyone know if this is proper etiquette?.

didn't know where else to post this........ my daughter was invited to a neighbors house and they requested people remove their shoes!...she never had anyone ask her that before.

mustang

I have a second home in Asia. When visiting the "relatives", it is expected. We all have more than one pair of shoes. There are slippers inside the doorways for the living room, kitchen and so forth. There are also slippers for your bedroom and sometimes even for the bathroom. It is a way of life in Asia.

Mustang

37

Time to Arrest the Leaders of the Anti-War Movement,

by LuckyLucy in

http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/index.html

the u.s. sedition act

united states, statutes at large, washington, d.c., 1918, vol.

mustang

That law doesn't refer to protesters as much as those interfering with actual military operations and doing real espionage; it also applies to those who actively try to dissaude someone from serving or performing their duty. If protest is just directed at politicians, it doesn't qualify,

Now Jane Fonda is the one that did soemthing more about it; that should have been acted on.

Mustang

17

those sick bastards are winning

by kls in

jw
friends

with the un on the tv all the time my husband is just stuck to it waiting for jw prophesis to come true it is so sick , you can just see the mind minulipulation going on in his head.i have been reading about the un and the watchtower in threads and in freeminds , i was not surprised but very hopeful that this maybe what i need to finally get my husband to see the sickness of this cult.i printed out the photocopy on freeminds and showed it to him ,also everyday he reads the dailytext thats supposed to have bible verses for each day, i compared his text with the bible and found many differences and each text ends with the wt page and yr this verse was in.well i confronted him and holy crap he went nuts , screaming , it's all lies that is an apostate sight, anyone can print anything about us.i told him i could send a letter to the un for conformation, well that did it he threw a cup and smashed it and looked crazed.you would think after all these yrs of him being in a cult i could accept it , but i can,t ,i know what it is and it makes me sick , i am starting to believe these sick asses are going to win, one way or another i will get away from this.

the despise for this cult grows by the minute.

the only thing keeping me sane is all of you , i feel very cared for here ,you all can think for yourselves and say how you feel, i think i know all of you more then my husband of 29yrs.

mustang

KLS,

I got through the confrontational mode. They always come back with an incompleter or twisted logic or start ranting. The manipulation methodology they have installed WITHOUT ANYBODY REALIZING IT is incredible. So, these days (and towards the end when I was leaving) I just nod and smile. I did a silent "have it your way"; no response is best.

I feel for you. I hope you can divert the subject and go onto other things. Best wishes

Mustang

5

Need IDEAS HELLLLLLLLLP

by SheilaM in

.

i have a linear project due in sculpture over spring break (nice teacher huh not

mustang

Find somebody who is "into" CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) and take a look at the "wire-frame" tools. Designs of cars and everything mechanical is done this way these days. Look this up at your library & you should get some ideas.

Mustang

14

How a child's mind works

by Mulan in

princess posted this on another thread, but it looks like not many are reading it.

i hope simon forgives me for putting it in a new thread.

i thought it was so great to see how children think about things, if they aren't "brainwashed" from infancy.so a few weeks ago my four year old daughter was asking questions about jesus and decided she wanted to see a picture of him.

mustang

...tough audience!!!!

But JW's deserve the new generation.

Mustang

29

New Date for Armageddon?

by NeonMadman in

i had an interesting chat with a jw on yahoo messenger yesterday.

of course, he was using "theocratic war strategy," at least at first, and pretended not to be a jw, but someone who was asking a lot of questions about them.

he opened the conversation by asking if i wanted to discuss 'the meaning of life'.

mustang

"For every new and improved FOOLPROOF device, a new and improved FOOL will arise".

Yes, hope and JW chrono-holics spring eternal.

Mustang