acsot

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Posts by acsot

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  8

  Paradise Erf....JW style in WT Dec 1 2003..oops

  by shotgun in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jw's and the wt consistently use psalm chapter 37 to point out the meek will inherit the earth and live forever upon it.

  most bibles now translate these passages as land instead of earth.

  should it be earth or land?

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  acsot

  All the JW's must get glossy eyed when they read Paragraph 9 so the WT put a reset button in Paragraph 10 to set things right again.

  very funny!

  At http://www.commentarypress.com Ray Franz has an essay which deals with Psalm 37. An interesting read.
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  35

  Comments You Will Not Hear at the 1-25-04 WT Study

  by blondie in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  review comments

  will be in black and parentheses ()

  wt quotes

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  acsot

  Thanks again Blondie for the review. I only just now saw it. Mum is hooked up by telephone for the meetings, an MS arranged it, not the elders! I think, however, that she'll be busy today doing other stuff, like maybe watching "Seabiscuit" on dvd.

  but after hearing the specific word NEAR over and over and over again in all of its associated contexts can someone not become immune to its meaning?

  Absolutely. I could barely sit through the meetings after awhile, and started missing more and more. I think that's why some of the JWs I know in the bigger cities are "serving where the need is great", going into foreign language congregations. Struggling to learn a new language helps prevent the insanity-from-monotony syndrome. Even if it is a language that will probably not be used in any other sphere of activity like work or with extended family, such as Hindi or Tagalog. Many long-time Witnesses I know are learning these types of languages, ostensibly to help out. But there are lots of native speaking people of those languages, so they really don't need massive droves of "foreigners" in their congregations. I truly think it's because the R&F are bored out of their minds and need to do something to keep themselves distracted.

  Thanks Blondie, better get to the video store! As an aside, my Bible reading with mum in the evenings is going well. I'm going to check other translations (I'm using the NEB) online and print out various chapters that were suggested to me in my other post (sorry for the hi-jacking)!
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  27

  My Husband Just Thinks I am Being Vindictive

  by Mystery in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  situation:.

  my mom and sister came down in november "during thanksgiving" break.

  my mom has been a jw since i was 1 year old.

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  acsot

  I was about to write what Patio34 and unbeliever wrote, but they already did, so ditto what they said.
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  21

  What are some of the wackiest comments you've heard at a meeting?

  by doodle-v in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  nearly every cong has few goofballs who you can always count on to give some really off the wall comments during a meeting.

  i remember one sister in particular who would give incredibly loooooooooooooooooong comments lasting 5 minutes at least!

  lol!

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  acsot

  I've mentioned this one before, but once an elder giving a part on the service meeting said "brothers and sisters we must work hard to increase our sexual appetite". Well, let me tell you we just roared. We were laughing so hard we could barely breath. Then he gets angry at the audience and tell us that we have bad minds and wrong thoughts and that of course he meant to say "spiritual" appetite and how could we be like that etc. etc. The more he sputtered and stammered the worse it got, we just laughed even harder.

  If he could have disfellowshipped the whole congregation then and there I'm sure he would have!
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  69

  My heart is ripped out !!

  by Puternut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am absolutly miserable !.

  i am a newbie here, some of you have seen my posts.

  and for those of you, who are old timers, this is no news to you.

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  acsot

  I still feel I need to belong to something. I was so active and I am absolutely doing nothing about my faith. I am actually mad at God. Is there one? Do I now just fend for my self as far as a belief is concerned?

  Stop! If you can't stop, slow down! That was said with a smile . When I first disconnected from the Borg the initial feeling was relief - pure, exhilarating relief - no more guilt, no more feeling that I could never measure up (and this after learning two foreign languages to serve where the need was great, special pioneering, moving to pioneer), relief at not having to sit through mind-numbingly boring meetings, etc. Only after did I start to feel angry. Then I felt adrift. What you're feeling is normal, it's another stage. What helped me was reading somewhere that after living such an intense religious experience, it is difficult for ex-JWs to suddenly put on the brakes as it were and stop all the "busy-ness" we were involved in as JWs.

  And that's all we, and you, did as JWs, really. We thought we were exercising faith. We thought we were worshipping God. But we weren't. A publishing company was keeping us busy, so busy that we didn't have time to think for ourselves or even determine how to worship a deity, if in fact there is a deity or deities. We weren't doing anything about our faith as JWs. We were just running around like crazy. Our intentions may have been good, but it had nothing to do with worship.

  What you are doing now has more to do with your faith and belief system than all the meetings and service and Watchtower reading you did as a JW. As Ray Franz mentions, we had a borrowed faith, dictated to us by a bunch of old men in Brooklyn. It is as far away from true faith as you can get.

  So once again, be easy on yourself. Take it slowly. Do not, I repeat, do not, jump into something else for a long time. I would even suggest not to read the Bible for a couple of months. And don't go near the New World Translation. You actually have to learn who you are, religiously speaking. Maybe in the depths of your soul you were meant to be Buddhist rather than Christian. Or Taoist. Or Methodist or Baptist. Doesn't matter. Just take the time to look about, spend time in nature, read other types of literature, grab a book of different philosophical beliefs, read up on Native American creation stories. Read up on science, I mean real science with a genuine bibliography and quotes which are not taken out of context, not the Watchtower version found in their Creation books. Then make up your own mind! That way you'll be building up your own faith, not some corporation's idea of faith.

  Take it slowly, take time to feel your emotions, painful as they may be. Only by going through them will you come out the other side. And there is an other side, a light at the end of the tunnel.
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  7

  Why bother reading this post? Indeed, - whyyy? For Petes Sake ...

  by Celtic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  celtic harumphs.. despite the jw whatdoyoucallit doodahs, how is it possible, and, can you hang onto your childhood dreams, without going bananas in the process.. i know in my business the grass is'nt always greener on the other side, my point is, how do i / can i become an economic migrant or expatriate let loose to explore the world and new horizons.

  is it possible to start out with 500 quid?.

  if i stay in this country much more, i will go stark staring bonkers.

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  acsot

  This culture is fine, it's our absurd climate that often, most, drives me up the wall.

  Well, where I am today it was minus 34 degrees Celsius with the wind chill factor. Feel better?
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  25

  We're beating the WatchTower !

  by Simon in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  ... in web traffic at least .

  our current ranking: 26,434. their ranking: 26,911 .

  what's interesting is that if you view the figures for both, the wts site gets a lot of visits from people (big name) who then view very few pages.

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  acsot

  Congratulations Simon and Ang! It's also because of the internet that I disconnected from the borg. You've saved more lives than you'll ever know, Simon!
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  22

  Captain Kangaroo dead at age 76- farewell

  by wednesday in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  'captain kangaroo' bob keeshan dies at 76 by

  ap file ''captain kangaroo'' entertained and educated children for 36 years.

  keeshan died of a long illness, his family said in a statement.. .

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  acsot

  I loved that show; it's like my whole childhood passed in front of my eyes when I heard the news.
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  4

  Thank YOU For the WARM Welcome

  by Forever_classy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  thank you ((((((frannie, been there, brummie, maverick, worldlygirl, sf, joker10, oxnard hamster))))) for the warm welcome and understanding...i hope i am of some help to you understanding "us" the non-jw civilian.

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  acsot

  I must have missed your post, but better late than never!

  Welcome!!
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  6

  The WTS: Forsake all others before me!

  by Maverick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i contend that the wts is it's own god.

  it is jehovah!

  and it tests the loyalty of its worshiper all the time.

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  acsot

  I saw it also, it seems so eery to us, yet I imagine to many "normal" people it must seem illogical that anyone could think like that.