Muddy Waters

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Posts by Muddy Waters

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  34

  New JW phrase: bouquet of truth

  by ohnightdivine in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i heard it from someone who attended the latest wt study, and quickly posted it with - you guessed it - a picture of a lovely flower bouquet.

  .

  "how big is your bouquet of truth?".

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  Muddy Waters

  “... bouquet of truth...”

  I guess WT/ GB wants you to think of something sweet smelling, something beautiful, something pretty and to be desired by the eyes (bwhahahaha...!)... something presented in an acceptable and appealing way (more bwhahahaha! lol!!)... a lovely loveliness of delightful odors (like the sweet, “restful” smell of burning flesh offered in sacrifice to the most holy Jehovah....)

  ... and to pay more than the usual attention to these holy sweet representations of truth - never mind dying horribly at Armageddon if you don’t embrace these bouquets of truths, which change muchly on occasion, like the blood fractions thing, or the generation thing, or the GB/faithful and discreet slave thing.... or a multitude of other things, very important, life-changing things.... like education, choosing a marriage mate, having children, choosing a career... all minor, unimportant things to them in comparison to obedience and submission (humble submission, that is) to the great Gazoo, excuse me, to those taking the lead, and the GB, and so on up the ladder till you reach the great pumpkin that rises out of the pumpkin patch on Halloween night, oop, I mean the great jehovah god the almighty .... (and even Satan doth present himself as an angel of light)...

  ... but all these bouquets are still “truths” somehow, even cherished errors since we believed them in faith and love and obedience and humble submission... (truly I tell you that those killing you will imagine they are committing a sacred act toward god)... smelling and breathing in these hypnotic, repetitive teachings over and over again, as they repeatedly told us how wonderful were these words, and how appreciative we must be to even hear them, we lowly worms, like Jacob... like grasshoppers....

  We to cherish these precious, sweet-smelling bouquets of truth... (and Satan doth present himself as an angel of light.... )

  ... and though we “not to become worshippers of men” .. nor put our trust in nobles or in the sons of earthling man who have no power of salvation, except the Governing Body, of course. And their sweet bouquets of truth...

  .... and then find refreshment for one’s soul.... (and they bind heavy loads upon the shoulders of men.....)
  
  

  ...

  Well. I wandered and sequeyed (sp?) a bit. Heavy sarcasm, in case anyone needs to be told.
  

  🌷
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  16

  Memories from the Edge

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when waking up it often isn't an instant switch, there's a period of time when your conflicted feelings are heightened and most uncomfortable.

  can anyone remember specific instances in the time before you fully woke up that made you uncomfortable or guilty, despite you still being a 'believer'?.

  i can think of two right now, both about a year or two before i woke up:.

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  Muddy Waters

  So many moments of doubts and incredibility, yet suppressed and pushed back (for years!) as evil, independent thinking...

  But, some of them:

  - the allowance of BLOOD FRACTIONS! How did that make sense? What happened to “being faithful in what is least”..? And, not letting “ The little bit of poison from the world taint us/ spot us...”?

  - and yes, the REVELATION BOOK, and its constant emphasis on the governing body/ faithful slave, and the nations fearing them and the clergy gnashing their teeth over their glorious, condemnatory proclamations... (I wasn’t aware of any of these JW plagues against our religion, lol)

  - and the LOCUS PLAGUE being... JWs? With the witnessing work? This was us? ... climbing over the walls, into the rooftops, etc ... and this was the description or our glorious, sacred, witnessing work? A locust plague??

  - and JESUS being the rider on the white horse as the leader (seemingly) of all the hellacious plagues and woes to follow him...

  Oh, So much twisted reasoning, so much cognitive dissonance....

  - oh yes, and as already mentioned, how we never placed or were taught to specially present BIBLES, always literature.

  - and, when In field service, sitting in a coffee shop FULL of people to talk to, yet sitting *silently* at our table “as a Witness”.... Then go back to knocking on empty houses. (What happened to “witnessing in the market place” ....? and how does standing SILENTLY holding up a magazine compare to Paul and Peter’s example.... blah blah blah.

  - and why count time in field service anyway? What happened to, “... you received free, give free” and “not let your right hand know what the left is doing” and “not be like those who trumpet their good deeds before others, blah blah” (.... and the time counted never seemed right or accurate or honest...)

  - and why NO FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY ever??

  - and why take such shoddy care (read: NON-CARE) of elderly, sick, disabled, etc.? Why so dependent on “Caesar” when so contemptuous of Caesar...?

  - and why have TITLES and more titles and special, SECRET BOOKS??

  - if meetings are supposed to be so refreshing, why did I not feel refreshed??

  - and the scripture from Ecclesiastes something: “...to the making of many books, there is no end, and the pursuit of them is wearying to the flesh.” So, hmmmmmm....

  ...

  Geez... it took a lot for me to wake up..... 👀😢👀
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  31

  Don't give them 2019

  by snare&racket in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am writing the post i have wanted to write for some time.

  it's a heartfelt note to those still attending meetings, still caught between the lines of watchtower and the world.

  those with kids or a spouse in the society..... despite being mentally out....those who have weighed up that there is too much to lose in leaving.

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  Muddy Waters

  Awesome, thank you.
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  61

  JW Phrases

  by Holden Caufield in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what some jw phrases that you hate?.

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  Muddy Waters

  - The life of the fleshly organism

  - loose conduct / brazen conduct

  - fornication / porneia

  - make the truth your own

  - kiss the son lest God be angry, and you-ooo perish in the way....

  - Dark days are here! Man lives in fear! Wickedness is alllll around...

  - bounteous blessings

  - Jehovah’s favour

  - read the Day’s text

  - guard your heart (your treacherous, deceptive heart)

  - Jehovah and his organization

  - Jehovah and his spirit-directed-organization

  - Jehovah and his faithful & discrete slave

  - turn in your field service reports

  - make Jehovah’s heart glad

  - in the new system

  - this old system

  - this old, dying, decaying world

  - worldly people

  - higher education

  - secular employment

  - what do we do with our recreation time

  - give your full attention to the next talk/ next speaker ...

  - how happy are we to...

  - serve Jehovah

  - loyal love

  - render the marital due

  - be in submission

  - God loves a cheerful giver

  - are you making sacrifices for the Kingdom

  - special pioneer / regular pioneer / auxiliary pioneer

  - exemplary

  - dress and grooming

  - conduct

  - forms of recreation and entertainment

  - meeting attendance, prayer, study, service, good association

  - example to the flock

  - disfellowshipped/ disassociated

  - spiritually weak

  - drifting away

  - lukewarm/ be spit out

  - cast into the lake of fire

  - dead with no resurrection hope

  - sinning against the spirit

  - kicking against the goads

  - gnashing of teeth

  - despicable thing (causing desolation)

  - working what is obscene

  - guard the tongue/ guard your hearts

  - be wise my son

  - and they will know that a prophet was in their midst

  - the Great and Fear-Inspiring Day of Jehovah God the Almighty

  - utterance

  - proclamation

  - judgment message

  - consider these things, ponder these things

  - imitate their faith

  - glorious ones

  - humble yourselves

  - obey, obey, obey, etc., and *probably* you *may* get saved...

  ...

  Geez, I could go on and on... I guess I really was paying more than the usual attention all those dreary years.....
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  5

  Great video! Essential oil cults and the similarity to religious groups

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsdriasvgtq.

  this is a great video- well worth watching.. it shows how a multi-level marketing group that peddles psydo-science can be compared to a religious group..

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  Muddy Waters

  Ha, as a JW, we did enter a MLM scheme, not thinking it was a scheme, but one of the things which helped me wake up, was seeing the similarities between them!

  .... giant sales meetings with same motivational talks, emotional manipulation, comparisons in presentations, sales figures and promotional products (magazine placements, bible studies).... so much is the same.
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  35

  Sometimes it's the little things....

  by dubstepped in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm listening to a podcast where a former elder describes how another elder conducted the watchtower study about hyperbole.

  the elder called it hyper-bowl.

  soon the whole congregation called it hyper-bowl.

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  Muddy Waters

  One word which stands out for me is the name describing the language of the Philippines, Tagalog.

  Having known a Sister from the Philippines, she educated me on the proper pronunciation of her language, taGAH-lug. (NOT “Tag-a-log”, as most brothers would say from the Platform....)
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  52

  My JW Elder Brother Passed Away

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he was basically a good man, just a believer in the religion.

  when we were both elders we were best of friends and then things deteriorated when i was not an elder for a while.

  then after becoming an elder again, i slowly drifted away from the religion and he drifted further away from me.

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  Muddy Waters

  So sorry for your loss. It sounds like your brother’s wife and daughter are behaving with actual compassion.

  ... Walk gently.
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  43

  Did You Ever Luke ANY Songs From The “Songbook “?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went on line looking for old jw songs and some of them were pretty good and some were just awful!.

  did you ever like any of those songs?

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  Muddy Waters

  Oh my god, remember the song that began dark and dirgy then light and happy...?

  “DARK DAYS ARE HERE! MAN LIVES IN FEAR! In dire expectation....”

  ”... but the bible holds out a hope for the dead! ... tra la la la de boop and true peace there will be...”
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  25

  Cart witnessing at the Toyota Grand Prix

  by Dagney in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  picture 185,000 people on the streets attending the biggest event in long beach.

  there is a main downtown street which is the only way into the grand prix.

  it’s chaos because it is not private property that can be contained; these are working boulevards with cars and people vying to get where they want to go.

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  Muddy Waters

  What gets me is how JWs are instructed (why???) to NOT APPROACH people, but to stand by or near the cart and let people approach them. Is it some legality?? And even if so, why should this stop, limit, or muzzle the Preaching of the Good News??

  Can you imagine Jesus or his disciples or the apostles, etc., STANDING quietly in a CROWD of people, while waiting to be approached for a piece of literature or directive to a website??

  I couldn’t even understand this when I was in... if our message is so urgent, so important, so life-saving, what the hell were we doing sitting in cars and coffee shops while strolling leisurely now and again to the odd door??
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  50

  You Know You're Starting To Wake Up When...

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  you start listening to music deemed "unsuitable for christians".

  you pretend to knock on the doors.

  you explain a jw teaching to someone and realize how ridiculous it sounds.

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  Muddy Waters

  Ah! Thought of another one!

  ... You start wondering if you should even bother bringing meeting clothes or Bibles, etc. with you when you go on vacation or even camping!! — omg, do any of you remember doing this??

  And then you would “bring back the love” from whatever congregation you visited while you were away! (In other words, look at me, I was a FAITHFUL Witness and went to a [stupid] meeting while on my [very rare] holiday! [Stupid me, what a putz!] Aren’t you all happy for me!? Now smile and rejoice and clap your hands to ‘accept the love’ and ‘return the love’!!) — Yet somewhere along the long, I heard they stopped doing this....