Posts by NeonMadman

28

Shunning via Rumor

by NeonMadman in

jw
friends

well, i went back to the area of my old congregation yesterday.

my daughter's best friend amanda was getting married, and despite my trepidation, amanda had begged me to show up and to dance a dance with her.

my trepidation was twofold; first, my ex-wife was going to be there, and after our messy divorce only six months ago, i had no desire to be anywhere where she was.

NeonMadman

hmmm...lets try that again...

"The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan

28

Shunning via Rumor

by NeonMadman in

jw
friends

well, i went back to the area of my old congregation yesterday.

my daughter's best friend amanda was getting married, and despite my trepidation, amanda had begged me to show up and to dance a dance with her.

my trepidation was twofold; first, my ex-wife was going to be there, and after our messy divorce only six months ago, i had no desire to be anywhere where she was.

NeonMadman

----- just testing my new sig -----
(But I'm shameless enough to use the test to bring my post back to the top) :)

11

The Devil ?

by Vida in

jw
friends

NeonMadman

Uhhh...gang? Isn't it OBVIOUS that this picture is doctored? I mean all of the smoke in the picture is black, and there's just this ONE puff that's grey that looks like a face.

Wasn't there a similarly doctored picture some years ago on Weekly World News under the headline, "Devil Escapes from Hell!"? Coming from an oil rig or something, as I recall...

11

you may have read my thread from last week entitled "my personal turmoil" in which i discussed my congregation elders wanting to meet with me to "encourage" me to believe that jehovah is using the watchtower society as his organization.

i said in that thread that i had told them to leave me alone, well anyway on tuesday night the same elder phoned me to accept a "shephering visit" and again i refused.

not taking no for an answer he approached me again in the kingdom hall on thursday and told me that i must accept a shepherding visit out of necessity because i was in spiritual danger and the elders wanted to "help".

NeonMadman

I told them unequivocally that I had dedicated myself to Jehovah and not to an organization, but he told me that dedicating myself to Jehovah meant accepting all the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses.

If an elder said that to me, I'd ask him to show me where it says that in the Bible.

Not taking no for an answer he approached me again in the Kingdom Hall on Thursday and told me that I must accept a shepherding visit out of necessity because I was in spiritual danger and the elders wanted to "help". Again I refused.

When the elders say they want to "help," RUN!! Also, they cannot force you to accept a shepherding call. Your home is your own, if you don't want them there, you have the right for them not to be there. They can't disfellowship you for refusing a shepherding call, but they can and will for what you say during that call. And they WILL ask you directly whether you believe that God is using their organization exclusively during our day. If you say no, you are an apostate by their definition, and making that statement in front of two witnesses (the elders themselves) is all they need to df you. When they asked me that question, I answered, "I really don't know what to think right now." OK, so I waffled, but at least I avoided their trap.

My question is, if you really don't believe it is the Truth, why keep going to the meetings? They probably won't hassle you (at least not as much) if you aren't there 3 times a week.

3

Witnesses Now For Jesus Oct Convention

by LovesDubs in

jw
friends

here is the web site for this wonderful yearly convention aimed at exjws, held in pa the third weekend in october.

fabulous program...great place to meet your online buddies and gorgeous setting in the fall colors of the blue mountains!

the experiences will make you laugh and definitely make you cry.

NeonMadman

I'll be there with bells on! (Well, not literally)

Last year's was my first ex-Witness meeting and was among the peak experiences of my life.

Can't wait!!

28

Shunning via Rumor

by NeonMadman in

jw
friends

well, i went back to the area of my old congregation yesterday.

my daughter's best friend amanda was getting married, and despite my trepidation, amanda had begged me to show up and to dance a dance with her.

my trepidation was twofold; first, my ex-wife was going to be there, and after our messy divorce only six months ago, i had no desire to be anywhere where she was.

NeonMadman

.....

19

What's Your Political Affiliation?

by Black Man in

jw
friends

as long as i can remember even though we didn't vote as jw's i've always philosophically vascillated between being either a closet democrat or independent.

i still don't vote, but when things come up in the media, i find i do have some pretty straight-forward opinions on various items.

what parties views in your country do you seem to vibe with and why?

NeonMadman

I registered to vote as an independent last year for the first time, at the age of 48. I voted a straight Republican ticket, but since I didn't register to a party, I'm not eligible for the primaries. I'll probably remedy that by registering as a Republican when I move to a new state in a few weeks.

42

just another religion

by teejay in

jw
friends

patriotism is a religion just like every other religion.

either you believie it and live it or you don't.. i see people waving the flag at sporting events, hear them mouthing the words, "we're all one nation, blah, blah, blah" but then they go out and flip one another off in the parking lot.

just like people at the kingdom hall who supposedly love jehovah (or jesus or allah) and after the meeting is over, they go right back to the way they were.. love of country is no more influential than love of god.

NeonMadman

Have you ever seen brothers and sisters within a family who fight like cats and dogs when they're alone, but when in public will stand together against any outside provocation? That's what patriotic people are like. Sure, we piss and moan, flip each other off, fight about politics, compete in business - but that's all within our national "family". When threatened from without, we stand together as Americans and put all the other crap aside. The only real disappointment is that there are actually some people too self-absorbed to understand how that works!

8