Lots of nice comments here. I and my wife have recntly left after a painful coming to terms with reality. As former missionaries and P.O. we had given our whole lives to the WT. Our thoughts however were not our own, we were role playing 24/7. Your friend is doing the same. All JWs especially those "taking the lead" are. A ridgid supression of thought and opinion is necessary to internalize the programming. Yes, seek friends that like you for what you are not for what they can make you. Friends that love you because they feel comfortable around you being yourself not just you acting as an "approved associate". Only one more thought, the book of Hassan's, the second one is much better and more up to date with present cult recovery techniques. It is called, "Releasing the Bonds...Enpowering People to Think for Themselves"
peacefulpete
JoinedPosts by peacefulpete
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37
New here...(my story and a request for help)
by stephaniesays ini was raised in the organization.
my stepfather was a ministerial servant but was removed when i was 14, due to family problems, which he blamed on me (he was abusive, physically, and was told that if he cannot control his family, he could not be an example to the congregation).
i became pregnant at 15 and have not really lived around my family since then.
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Jews practiced human sacrifice
by peacefulpete inlev.27:28,29 says ..."but any devoted thing which a man devotes to jehovah from all which belongs to him, of man or of animal, or of the field of his possession, it shall not be sold nor redeemed.
everyone devoted to destruction(sacrificed) is most holy no devoted thing which is dedicated by man shall be ransomed; it shall surely be put to death.
this explains why jeptha, when promising to offer as burnt offering the first person to great him upon his successful return from war, had to kill his daughter dispite his feelings for her.
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peacefulpete
thats "Sacred Executioner"
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Jews practiced human sacrifice
by peacefulpete inlev.27:28,29 says ..."but any devoted thing which a man devotes to jehovah from all which belongs to him, of man or of animal, or of the field of his possession, it shall not be sold nor redeemed.
everyone devoted to destruction(sacrificed) is most holy no devoted thing which is dedicated by man shall be ransomed; it shall surely be put to death.
this explains why jeptha, when promising to offer as burnt offering the first person to great him upon his successful return from war, had to kill his daughter dispite his feelings for her.
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peacefulpete
Maccoby has a book out called "Divine Executioner" or something like that. It is reported to deal a lot with human sacrifice.
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Jews practiced human sacrifice
by peacefulpete inlev.27:28,29 says ..."but any devoted thing which a man devotes to jehovah from all which belongs to him, of man or of animal, or of the field of his possession, it shall not be sold nor redeemed.
everyone devoted to destruction(sacrificed) is most holy no devoted thing which is dedicated by man shall be ransomed; it shall surely be put to death.
this explains why jeptha, when promising to offer as burnt offering the first person to great him upon his successful return from war, had to kill his daughter dispite his feelings for her.
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peacefulpete
test
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Fully Gifted Creation, No God of Gaps
by D wiltshire inim leaning more and more towards a fully gifted creation.
i think god is so wise that when he first began "this" universe that he endowed it with tremendous organization potentiality, that would not require him to step in and guide it or help it along to produce intelligent life.. look at how scientist tell us all the elements are made in the stars, though nuclear fusion suns not only give us light and heat but also produce more complicated elements.
physicists tell us of wonderful self organization on the atomic and subatomic level.
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peacefulpete
The genesis story does not say that sun and stars where placed in the "sky" or "heavens" it says "Firmnament". The Hebrew word was that of a solid dome/canopy. Lexicons reveal how modern translators have again altered the meaning of a word to conceal the primative cosmogony/cosmology of the Bible.
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Why Was Adam Blocked From Tree of Life?
by AGuest inbecause... the leaves of such tree... were for curing.
curing what?
had adam reached the tree and ate... he would have been cured of his sins and once again become sinless.
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peacefulpete
gumby...btw you are a wide eyed, head bobbing, finger pointing Jesus freak. (he he)
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Why Was Adam Blocked From Tree of Life?
by AGuest inbecause... the leaves of such tree... were for curing.
curing what?
had adam reached the tree and ate... he would have been cured of his sins and once again become sinless.
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peacefulpete
love you too gumby
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Mesianic Prophesies
by Tyler inok, ok. just to draw attention from the "did jesus exist" thread, here is a new controversial topic.
if we take as read that the gospels teach the truth about jesus (at least the general impression) did jesus actually fulfill any prophesies about the messiah?.
i recon he did not.
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peacefulpete
tyler..sorry to have left you out to dry alone. You are dealing with an indefatigable jesus machine, no matter what goes in only jesus comes out the other end. You are of course right about Is. 53. The author intended to refer to Isreal spoken of metaphorically as a collective servant. Is 49:3 makes this clear. The idea of a suffering messiah was anathama to orthodox Judaism. The dying and raising hero mythology aparently did influence some quarters of late judaism enough to see this passage as a messiah reference. But however it was later interpreted, the author had made explicit the identification of his suffering servant.
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Why Was Adam Blocked From Tree of Life?
by AGuest inbecause... the leaves of such tree... were for curing.
curing what?
had adam reached the tree and ate... he would have been cured of his sins and once again become sinless.
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peacefulpete
The excuse that God's statements are unchangable is contrary to the rest of the OT. It is replete with examples of his regretting and repenting and changing his mind, declaring judement then being talked out of following thru. This is merely a modern attempt to explain the tale while preserving the 20th century cncept of god. The story is mirrored in a number of ancient cults, the Egyptian,Phenician,Babylonian,Etruscan,Indian,and others. In the legends of these people the issue is always the separation between gods and men. The human/s seek a fruit or tree the will make them gods and are thwarted by dragons/lions/monsters/spinning swords(Babylonian)etc. The Genesis tale is the same. the issue was not obediance or sin, the issue was immortality/and godship. The sin element was later overlaid upon the story by late Judaism and christianity. This explains the Cherubim/half human half bull monsters and the spinning sword to keep humans from the "tree of life" preventing them from "becoming like one of us". That is, becoming gods.
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The Holy Spirit... and DOES God Speak to Us?
by AGuest inmay you all have peace.
last night when i went to bed, my heart was quite heavy: there were things on it, in it, thereon... whatever... that i could not reconcile: i know what i have heard from my lord - how do i get others who love him to grasp that such a thing is possible, to understand that they do not have to take my word for it, but can ask him, for i am nothing more than a good-for-nothing-slave... and have "sold" myself into the "service" of the one who "bought" me... so that it is his will that i must obey... whether earthling man hears... or refrain?
this is not new "fight" with me, let me tell you: i know exactly how jeremiah felt, for i cannot count the times my heart has felt the same thing.
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peacefulpete
Simon..I feel very sincerely that this has turned into cult recruitment. Aguest is not a simple exJW having questions or complaints, she is delusional and dangerous. Already Noko and others have expressed a degree of infatuation with her and her claims to hear from God personally. Please consider if in fact you wish to be party to this.