Posts by Flat

4

Wanted: Website developer

by Jim_TX in

i always have a difficult time deciding which is the most appropriate section to post non-jw issues in.

when i post in the 'private' section, i get no (or very few) reads.

so, i am posting here in this section.

Guess the Last Days Are Getting Better

by LostGeneration in

jw
friends

you won't read this one in the wt.... homicide is no longer a leading cause of death in the united states, the centers for disease control and prevention reports.. the leading causes of death in 2010 remained the same, the cdc reported, except for one: homicide.

for the first time since 1965, homicide is not in the top 15 list of causes of death in the united states.. http://www.huliq.com/10473/homicide-no-longer-top-killer-united-states-cdc-reports.

.

Flat_Accent

Great find.

I love finding things like this and sending them to my mum. hahaha.

And it completely trashes that comment the WT always bring up about 1:142 children in the U.S. becoming a murder victim. Heck, in 2009 the murder rate was 5 per 100,000 which doesn't really average out to 1 in 142 anyway, but they still manage to keep the blinders on.

Either way, I consider this very good news. Progress!

Thanks for posting this.

42

How did you leave?

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

once you realized the organization is simply a religious corporation, how did you leave?.

did you fade?.

were you forced out?.

Flat_Accent

Thanks JustThatGirl007. Like I said, it was just a fluke that I decided to look this stuff up, but once I realized how dead wrong the WT was about things like the Flood, I just couldn't stop. That's what led me here eventually. Though to be honest I had been checking the forums for a while before I finally got an account. If I do meet witnesses I always encourage them to do research, and that means outside the boundaries of the organization.

You said you had always doubted the accuracy of those stories, but never researched them ... so how did you escape in the end?

And flipper, way to leave like a bad ass!!

That's the way i'd like to have gone if i'd been attending without my parents. Either that or do an anti-WT talk on the platform instead of my assigned material and get kicked out.

444

The music that moves you....

by FlyingHighNow in

once when i was profoundly sad for too many days, my brother in law sent us a mix tape.

he named each song after a person in our family.

this is the one he named heather.

Flat_Accent

I think 'apt' is the correct term. Especially the chorus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxrf4ZzzrA8

not embedded untill i can figure it out xD

edit: oh look at that, it is embedded!

18

That one good friend

by ballistic in

recently i have an obsession with past times, i guess it's called middle aged or old aged, anyway.. i'm sure anybody out there remembers people from their childhood or growing up and thinks not a lot about it.. i remember some good jw buddies and here's an ode to them.. i met one outside a local cafe, and we stopped and looked at each other for 45 seconds, or what seemed like forever.

because we lived in each others pockets and we got on so well.

we would sit at our ibm 286 pcs and play wing commander to the late hour, and there was no internet.

Flat_Accent

The one friend I had during my time as a witness, left the organization several years before I did. We hadn't spoken since his departure, until recently when I found him on facebook. He's such a different person now, it's as though I never knew him at all, which makes me even sadder.

42

How did you leave?

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

once you realized the organization is simply a religious corporation, how did you leave?.

did you fade?.

were you forced out?.

Flat_Accent

I didn't fade. I flipped like a light switch.

I had been born into the Witnesses - my mum has years of pioneer service under her belt, though she can't pioneer anymore due to her working hours. My dad was bapized in '77 and is the current Congregation Coordinator (that's P.O. for you veterans). Last May I turned 19, and for years I had been thinking about leaving; not for any scriptural reason, I just wasn't having a particularly good time at the Hall. Sure, I did my number 4 talks, readings and answers and got all the accolades for it. I even got a place on the Magazine counter, despite the fact I was UNBAPTIZED - that's supposed to be a big deal in witness terms - but I had very few friends. There was a giant age gap in the congregation. 10 year olds on one side, 60 year olds on the other, and me in the middle. I had learnt how to become friendly with the older brothers and sisters, but I was lacking a friend of my own age, and there were no young people in sight. Besides, many of the other young people in the closer congregations were all in the 'baptized' club, which I was not a part of. I also have a self-destructive/fatalistic attitude, and even though I thought Jehovahs Witnesses had it right, I found no enjoyment in life, and I would rather have renounced my faith and died at Armageddon than continued living for an eternity. That probably doesn't make sense to a lot of you but that's how my mind works.

It was by chance that I decided to do some research on the age of the Earth. My dad had kept saying that each creative day was around 7,000 years long, and therefore the Earth itself was only 49,000 years old at the most. I think this is a vestige of a long abandoned idea from the WT, but being a 70's child it's probably been ingrained into his memory. Either way I wasn't buying it. I planned to do research and then report what I had learnt to my parents. I looked up radiocarbon dating and the K-T Extinction boundary, and stumbled upon the site which later revealed to me some of the bigger problems with WT teaching - talkorigins.org

The response from the research was interesting. While the problem of aging wasn't a big issue, my mum in particular got very emotional about the idea of Jehovah using a meteor to kill all the dinosaurs. She couldn't tie this idea of utter destruction with an all loving God. I found it hard to admit as well, but keep in mind I hadn't realized the real 'truth' at that point.

I had found my research into carbon dating interesting - and later my dad came to me with several pieces of paper. They were print-offs from several WTBTS publications, talking about how inconsistent C-14 dating was. I decided again to look up the details and found that what the publications were saing was untrue or misconstrued. This puzzled me, but I had found a thirst for knowledge and it wasn't yet quenched. I spent weeks going over details on the Genesis account, particularly the Flood, and realized that the whole thing was a lie.

My last meeting was the last tuesday in October. I did my talk, and left the hall that night, never to return.

The night I told my parents and subsequent week was not pleasant, and I don't want to relive that time in writing.

94

Why 6 Billion People Deserve to Die in Armageddon

by Leolaia in

jehovah is such a righteous, merciful, loving god -- slow to anger, overflowing with loving kindness and blessing.

yet it somehow bothers many of you that he will shortly execute his judgment on mankind and wipe out 99.9% of the world's population, as if that somehow is supposed to conflict with his loving qualities.

personally, i have no idea why many of you feel this way.

Flat_Accent

Another time he did spend about 15 seconds to hear about Jehovah's grand promises. But he said he wasn't interested in "Beets -- The Wonder Vegetable" and articles on "What Should I Do if My Period is Late?"

Nearly died of laughter from that remark. Love it.

42

SURVEY SAYS: Please take my quick survey

by Terry in

i thought it would be interesting and informative to create the following survey.. please cut and paste it in the 'post' section and type in your reply under each question.. .

let the survey begin 10 questions.

1.rate on a scale from 1-10 the postive impact (10 being absolutely positive) of jehovahs-witness.net on your life.. .

Flat_Accent

1.Rate on a scale from 1-10 the postive impact (10 being Absolutely Positive) of Jehovahs-Witness.net on your life.

5

2.Rate on a scale from 1-10 the negative impact of Jehovah's-Witness.net on your life.

1

3. When you are in close proximity to Jehovah's Witnesses what actual, palpable emotion do you feel?

Frustration

4.On a scale from 1-10 (10 being Absolute confidence) how confident are you that the Bible is an actual source of Divine Truth?

1

5.Current active believing Jehovah's Witnesses, if approached the right way, under ideal conditions can be convinced to question their own beliefs.

True or False? (Remember, this is YOUR opinion.)

True

6.Which best describes how you feel about youor current position on religious matters?

A. I am depressed, confused, ambivalent and afraid

B. I am actively investigating as objectively as possible.

C. I don't think anybody has any supernatural revelation. It is all self-delusion.

D. I have mixed-feelings. Some days I believe. Some days I don't. I'm actively praying.

7.Name three writers who have done the most to get your attention and cause you to question IF you are right. (Any authors)

a) The writers at talkorigins

b) Richard Dawkins

c) Christopher Hitchens

8.What is your greatest personal fear?

Not finding a purpose to my own life.

9.What is your greatest person source of Joy?

The people I care about.

10.If you could wave a magic wand and go back to any year of your life, any age, any place, any time---what would it be and why?

I'd go back to when I was 16, and do something different at college. But I don't particularly want to re-live my departure from the Kingdom Hall.

What Topics are you sick of? What topics would your like to see covered more?

More of the same is fine by me.

83

Do You Consider yourself an Atheist / Agnostic / or Christian? Reasons ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

after having been raised in the jehovah's witnesses for 44 years ( getting out 6 years ago ) i have now come to peace with my view of what i personally feel about the existence of god , or no god, or whatever is flying around up there in outer space.

i am basically agnostic for sure / perhaps leaning atheist and i've come to that decision based on the years and years of unfulfilled false promises of being in a mind control cult ( jehovah's witnesses ) claiming to represent an alleged " god " or " jehovah " saying there would be a paradise, and armageddon to destroy 99% of the earths population.

also- i enjoy helping others without thought of being rewarded for it.

Flat_Accent

Richard Dawkins opened my eyes to the truth and beauty of our Lord and Saviour the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Pasta be with you.

6

I Find It Far More Comforting. . .

by breakfast of champions in

.

.to know that my "worldly" father will die of old age, rather than be destroyed forever at armageddon.

now that you have escaped the twisted jw worldview, what do you find comforting?.

Flat_Accent

I think it's comforting that 'this system' isn't really all doom and gloom. WT spends so much time talking about the world getting worse and worse, but this is just not true. There ARE decent people outside the organization. We CAN make the world a better place for ourselves and our kids. And of course we have chance now for self-improvement instead of just waiting on the 'new world' to make those changes for us.

Realizing you only have one life to live is a real motivator, I find.

Flat_Accent

Posts by Flat_Accent