It would have been great to have seen a collective, "hell, no!" from pioneers since August is their last month to get any sort of break. But, in true fashion, this religion is sucking the life out of even the ones who sacrifice the most.
leaving_quietly
JoinedPosts by leaving_quietly
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15
August vacations cancelled
by wandasoo inhad a vacation planned for august, but got the rug pulled out from under my feet.
hubby said he wanted to go in september, but gave me no reason.
i finally told him i knew he had to pioneer in august.
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44
This week's WT study...made me so sick.....
by stuckinarut2 inthis week's study april 15th 2014 was called "do you see the one who is invisible?".
it was perhaps one of the most depressing, controlling, fear-mongering, stress inducing, doctrinally incorrect, hate-inspiring, judgemental, cult-like, irrational, hyped-up, critical, crazy, stretched out, fanciful, illogical, burdensome, inflated, coersive, manipulative, and brain-snappingly weird stuff i have read for some time.... (but i'm sure it was just a rehash and repeat of previous stuff...for the new masses....).
i had to keep up a sane appearance while in the hall, and even answer some garbage while this was being 'studied'... my cognitive disonance must be so strong now, because i found this one of the hardest ones to endure....now that i am home, i have poured a stiff drink and am trying to clear my head...... one paragraph was classic:.
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leaving_quietly
Did you notice how the completely ignore Luke 21:8?
Ha! I didn't catch it as I was preparing, but did at the actual WT study as we were reading through paragraph 13 where they say, "We are convinced that "the hour of judgment" has, indeed arrived."
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Today is Father's Day in the US
by leaving_quietly init is one of those holidays jws do not celebrate.
there is no reason for it.
it is not a religious holiday.
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leaving_quietly
Creature worship is a weak argument, what about graduation day, or wedding anniversaries, etc?
Or any "special" meeting where a GB member is a speaker?
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Does the GB claim the sole power of scriptural interpretation?
by DATA-DOG inwhat are the best quotes, old and new about this mystical power?
i just had a " come to jesus " talk with my wife.
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leaving_quietly
I don't believe they've ever claimed that directly. Indirectly, however...
*** w88 8/15 p. 14 pars. 19-20 Build Trust in Jehovah—By Diligently Studying His Word ***
Study is hard work. We can therefore be grateful that Jehovah’s organization grants us much assistance. In recent years some have claimed that individuals should be allowed to interpret the Bible themselves. The Ethiopian eunuch, however, openly acknowledged his need for spiritual guidance. As a circumcised proselyte, he no doubt already had a considerable knowledge of the Bible. The very fact that he would attempt to study something as deep as the prophecy of Isaiah 53 indicates this. Yet, when asked if he understood what he was reading, he admitted: “Really, how could I ever do so, unless someone guided me?”—Acts 8:26-33.
20 Jehovah’s people today similarly need spiritual guidance. Desiring to “speak in agreement” when it comes to spiritual matters, they welcome the help offered by Jehovah’s organization—and what a grand help that is! (1 Corinthians 1:10) We have a constant flow of information through the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. We have numerous books and brochures covering a wide range of Bible topics. English-speaking readers are particularly blessed to have the Watch Tower Publications Index 1930-1985, a tool that can help a person ‘keep seeking for wisdom as for silver and as for hid treasure.’—Proverbs 2:2-4.*** w67 10/1 p. 587 par. 9 Finding Freedom with Jehovah’s Visible Organization ***
As the canon of books of God’s Word was expanded and the Christian Greek Scriptures were added to complete the Bible, each book was written directly to the Christian congregation or to a member of the Christian congregation in its behalf. Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe that they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah’s visible organization in mind. -
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Dating Advice needed
by KateWild inwell i joined two dating sites yesterday and i have had lots of messages.
a couple of guys want to chat to me by phone to get to know me better.
i've been asked out on two dates.
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leaving_quietly
I don't know how old you are, but a guy taking me for coffee at 10am in the morning is interested in more than just sex, I am sure of it.
I'm a couple of years older than you. I hope my comment didn't offend you too much. It was made purely in jest.
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Dating Advice needed
by KateWild inwell i joined two dating sites yesterday and i have had lots of messages.
a couple of guys want to chat to me by phone to get to know me better.
i've been asked out on two dates.
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leaving_quietly
What exactly are new guys interested in?
Need you ask this?
Seriously, though, I would tell if you actually find a guy you could see yourself with longer-term. That means getting to know him a little bit, too, but definitely not a first date sort of thing.
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If a Nuclear War Was to Start would you start praying again
by cassuk11 ini would be interested to know if the announcement came of an immenent nuclear war would you start praying or get drunk etc etc..
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leaving_quietly
To answer the question in the OP, no... I'd be more like this:
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20
Today is Father's Day in the US
by leaving_quietly init is one of those holidays jws do not celebrate.
there is no reason for it.
it is not a religious holiday.
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leaving_quietly
I'm just completely baffled after reading that article. Since when is giving a gift and a card and saying "I love you, Dad!" tantamount to creature worship?!?!?!?!?
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Today is Father's Day in the US
by leaving_quietly init is one of those holidays jws do not celebrate.
there is no reason for it.
it is not a religious holiday.
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leaving_quietly
It is one of those holidays JWs do NOT celebrate. There is no reason for it. It is not a religious holiday. It is not a political holiday. In fact, there is absolutely nothing in the WT Library that says JWs can't celebrate it, at least not in the last 50 years. Yes, in 1956, there was one single article dealing with this, and it's full of nonsense. Basically, WT says it's creature worship.
For the full 1956 Awake! bound volume:
http://ia600304.us.archive.org/27/items/WatchtowerLibrary/magazines/g/g1956_E.pdf
Or, the applicable pages:
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This week's WT study...made me so sick.....
by stuckinarut2 inthis week's study april 15th 2014 was called "do you see the one who is invisible?".
it was perhaps one of the most depressing, controlling, fear-mongering, stress inducing, doctrinally incorrect, hate-inspiring, judgemental, cult-like, irrational, hyped-up, critical, crazy, stretched out, fanciful, illogical, burdensome, inflated, coersive, manipulative, and brain-snappingly weird stuff i have read for some time.... (but i'm sure it was just a rehash and repeat of previous stuff...for the new masses....).
i had to keep up a sane appearance while in the hall, and even answer some garbage while this was being 'studied'... my cognitive disonance must be so strong now, because i found this one of the hardest ones to endure....now that i am home, i have poured a stiff drink and am trying to clear my head...... one paragraph was classic:.
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leaving_quietly
Par. 8(a): What is the antidote to fear of man?
Answer: "Faith in Jehovah" (according to WT)
Answer: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us" (according to the Bible at 1 John 4:18)
Par 12: Jehovah has instructed us to convey what important message?
Answer: "Under angelic direction, Jehovah's people are conveying an importang message: "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of judgement by him has arrived, so worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water".
This is completely misleading. It's not under angelic direction that JWs are to declare this. Revelation 14:6 says: "And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, and he had everlasting good news to declare to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. He was saying in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of judgment by him has arrived, so worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water.”
The real answer: "teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you" (Matt 28:20)Par 14: "We love Jehovah, and we love our neighbor. Jesus illustrated what love and mercy really mean in his parable of the neighborly Samaritan. We might ask ourselves, 'Am I, lie the Samaritan, "moved with pity" to give a witness?'"
OMG, I can't even begin to say how completely twisted this is. Jesus was talking about helping someone who was physically in no condition to help himself, regardless of that person's race or religious beliefs. He was not talking about preaching to someone.
Par 17,18: These two paragraphs talk about Gog and him coming against God's people. I personally do not see the connection between Ezekiel and Revelation. WT makes this connection because of the phrase "Gog and Magog" in Revelation 20:8. However, on closer inspection, we can see how far off WT is. First, Gog is NOT Satan. Notice verse 8:
and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Ma′gog, to gather them together for the war.
Who is "he"? In verse 7, that is identified as Satan. Who are Gog and Magog? "those nations in the four corners of the earth".Next, WT's timing is way, way off. Let's read Revelation 20:7,8 in their entirety:
Now as soon as the 1,000 years have ended, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Ma′gog, to gather them together for the war. The number of these is as the sand of the sea.
Do you see it? "as soon as the 1,000 years have ended". This is not at the great tribulation.
Finally, what would be the purpose? To destroy religion? "he will go out to mislead"
