NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

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  8

  Angelic Singing

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jo 38:7. when the morning stars sang togetherand all the sons of god shouted for joy?.

  this passage and others apparently reveal a belief among some jewish communities that angels sang.

  the natural corollary is that angels had a language, and that language would naturally be supposed to be a superior one.

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  NotFormer

  "Many commentators have discussed this passage with a general denial that Paul was to be taken literally."

  Many Pentecostals would disagree with those many commentators. I have had that verse quoted at me many times as justification for the Pentecostal belief that babbling in tongues is the Holy Spirit speaking through you in a heavenly language.

  The above is a total non sequitur, but you reminded me of my own dark past. Interestingly, you use the term "ecstatic glossolalia". I, for my troubles, have seen plenty of that in my travels.
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  5

  In the last week of Christmas . . . JW News releases a special video with an AI ‘guest appearance’ by M. Stephen Lett

  by jwleaks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  merry xmas everyone.. https://youtu.be/39lpikmd-is.

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  NotFormer

  It's actually kind of amusing. I smiled (a bit) 😌 The only bit that made me cringe was the GB bloke at the start. 🙄

  Bribie, go undercover and get yourself to a Carols service tonight*. Report back to your Hall tomorrow morning with your observations 🌄.

  Merry Christmas, one and all! 🧑‍🎄🍗🕯️☃️🎄🙏

  * I'll be going to one tonight, but I won't be undercover.
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  3

  Merry Christmas, Then And Now

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you were in, how did you react when someone wished you a merry christmas?

  was there ever a wt article about it?

  what there ever car group around-the-water-cooler talk about that sort of experience and how to deal with it*?.

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  NotFormer

  When you were in, how did you react when someone wished you a Merry Christmas? Was there ever a WT article about it? What there ever car group around-the-water-cooler talk about that sort of experience and how to deal with it*?

  Now that you're out, what is your current reaction? Do you wish a Merry Christmas to others yourself? How have things changed, if at all?

  * I know it sounds a bit trivial, but I also know that it often said** that JWs like to gossip about what "worldly" people say to them and to regale other JWs with their pithy retorts to such.

  ** On boards such as this in many posts going back through the decades
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  13

  Elders, Jews and Dead Bunnies

  by KalebOutWest in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i thought i would give my personal experience on who i am, how i came into the world of watchtower, why i left, etc.

  this would explain a lot about the answers i give and why they don't directly reflect my personal convictions (like a normal person--and i do mean that literally, kinda).

  i cannot put everything here, but i can start bit by bit.. when i was 17 years old, my mother was on her third marriage and kinda starting her fourth (as she was dating this surfer dude-like guy who wasn't even 5 years older than me).

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  NotFormer

  "2 Elders, Jews and Dead Bunnies, four weddings and a funeral" ;)

  A partridge in a pear tree?

  ...Lucy screams

  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/snoopy-christmas--137430226109575221/
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  35

  The Governing Body Are Proud To announce..

  by Ron.W. in

  1. social
  2. humour

  the governing body are proud to announce... can you finish off the line for them - the more outrageous the better,, .

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  NotFormer

  The end is imminent. Meanwhile, our projects in NY state and Italy are not expected to be completed for years yet. Donate generously!

  "To announce ... that the judgement starts with God's House"

  Funny how God's House is "Bethel" in Hebrew... 🙄

  Ron.W., how long do you think it will be before one of the GB is sporting a full on Santa beard?
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  39

  Merry Christmas Everyone

  by jhine in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it's that time of year again .

  in the words of the bard ( noddy holder ) " it's christmaaas " .

  merry christmas everybody .

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  NotFormer

  "He served as the bishop (City Overseer) of Myra and died in 343 CE"

  He supposedly went up to Arius during the Council of Nicea and belted him one. That's probably why JWs won't celebrate Christmas: Santa Claus hit their guy! 😳🙄
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  39

  Merry Christmas Everyone

  by jhine in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it's that time of year again .

  in the words of the bard ( noddy holder ) " it's christmaaas " .

  merry christmas everybody .

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  NotFormer

  "Following and acting out the Christmas celebration seems very cultish to me!"

  Just as well nobody asked you then. 🙄

  Keep celebrating folks: Scrooge has left the building! 🌲🍗✨🕯️☃️🎄🧑‍🎄
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  8

  Pidgin English

  by markweatherill in

  1. social
  2. humour

  https://www.jw.org/hwc.

  i just discovered this translation into 'hawai'i pidgin' and for some reason found it very amusing.

  they even dubbed the caleb and sophia cartoons into this dialect.. not because i look down on pidgin speakers in any way, more about the way translations like this are revealing and telling in unintended ways..

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  NotFormer

  I remember some people from New Guinea coming to the church I was attending in 80s. They taught us "Rejoice in the Lord always" in Pidgin.

  "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice" became "Hamamas* oltime long bikpela, hamamas oltime long em", IIRC.

  * Stoopid autocorrect tried to make this "Hamas" 🙄
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  3

  Is There an Underlying Mental Disorder that Can Help Explain Why JW's Lie So Easily to Protect Their Church?

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think some of the points in the medical article below is spot on, especially the part about anxiety disorders.

  after regularly subjecting yourself to wt fear mongering, how could that not elicit an anxiety disorder?.

  mental health disorders that contribute to pathological lying.

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  NotFormer

  It's a repetitively iterated requirement* and the leaders lead by example. Perfectly normal people in that environment are going to pick it up osmotically. They don't need a mental disorder up front. That isn't to say that the cognitive dissonance of lying in the name of "Truth" won't lead to psychological problems.

  Perfectly intelligent and otherwise normal people in the Pentecostal movement can convince themselves that the repetitive babble they spout is some sort of true language gifted to them by the Holy Spirit.

  In the end, you run with what the group pressure tells you is right.

  * Being a bit hyperbolic here.
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  46

  What makes a cult (in the pejorative sense)?

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  michael moore writes:.

  a cult is an organization that enslaves minds and destroys families using cult mind control.

  cult mind control involves orchestrated deception, social pressure, psychological abuse, and repetitive indoctrination (brainwashing) centering around an unchallengeable ideology enforced in a totalitarian way in a closed socially-separatist community setting.

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  NotFormer

  The question is asking people what makes a cult. And people are honestly giving their opinions. That you don't like those opinions is neither here nor there.

  To be fair, I've been using the word "cultic". I could use "cultish" too, if you like. It's no skin off my nose.