The society wants to pretend everything is perfect and the way to solve all their problems is simply to script everything so no one ever says anything embarrassing or that doesn't exactly replicate what they would say. But guess what, they are boring and predictable and brain dead. All this driving away individuality has ripped the soul out of their organization. I remember when there was something like some personality. It's been a long process, really, but they have succeeded. The TMS used to be my favorite of the meetings, because you might hear someone put their own thoughts to something and it would be refreshing. Now there would be nothing to look forward to but disfellowshipping announcements.
FayeDunaway
JoinedPosts by FayeDunaway
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55
Some thoughts on the new midweek meeting
by Saltheart Foamfollower inthe new midweek meeting has been running for a month now.
here are my thoughts on how it is going so far:.
1) elders are looking frazzled from being on virtually every meeting and having to prepare unfamiliar formats for items.
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475
What is the alternative to JW?
by Formerbrother ini mean this with all due respect, i would like to hear from genuine people who think jw have it wrong and then what is the truth?.
im not talking about silly little quibbles here and there.. is jehovah real?
the the bible is word?
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FayeDunaway
Why are you so obsessed with the preaching work? Doesn't it matter WHAT is being preached? Perhaps not, since you think the Mormons are sticking close to the bible (Do some research into their beliefs and the difference between their 'milk and meat.' On the surface it all seems so rosy, but in the deeper reality, it is very, very weird. So are witnesses' beliefs, actually). A cult is a cult.... does it make it any better that they are preaching far and wide? Does that make it more true?
Former brother, go walk into a real church and ask some questions.
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475
What is the alternative to JW?
by Formerbrother ini mean this with all due respect, i would like to hear from genuine people who think jw have it wrong and then what is the truth?.
im not talking about silly little quibbles here and there.. is jehovah real?
the the bible is word?
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FayeDunaway
Jesus mentions helping the poor way, way more than preaching. How do Jehovah's Witnesses do with that, FB? Not so well. You are very concerned with following all parts of (their) bible, and this part is not masked by their bible, yet they ignore it. Why? It brings no benefit to their corporation. -
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New Here
by Grey Goose inhi one and all.. i've lurked for 3 years, about time i signed up.. i'm a still in ms due to family.. fully awake.. i look forward to getting to know all of you..
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FayeDunaway
3 years is a long time to lurk!! Welcome, and no pressure from us on when to to leave. But if you've got kids it's good to get them out if possible so they can have a normal childhood. But the whole situation is a mess and I feel bad for anyone who is fully awake and has family in. It sucks big time. -
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How do you feel about the expression "The Truth"?
by stuckinarut2 init's amazing how the expression "the truth" has become such an ingrained term used by witnesses.. "we have 'the truth'".
"is he 'in the truth'?".
most here have found out so many facts about the organisation, and felt the effects of being "gut-punched" as we realised these facts.. so how do you feel about the expression "the truth" now?.
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FayeDunaway
I didn't realize how VERY culty it sounded until I left.
Now when I hear people say it I want to say 'So how long have you been in The Lies?'...which is much more accurate.
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"Fa La La"
by OnTheWayOut inout at the mall with mrs. otwo, she sees a shirt on the rack that was marked down from $25 to just $4.
she holds it up and says, "should i buy this as a workout shirt?".
i tell her "no, because as soon as you figure out what it means, you won't wear it anymore.
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FayeDunaway
That Dylan song story is ABSOLUTELY CLASSIC. I can hardly believe it! I'm trying to remember the lyrics and see it from that perspective :D.
Re: jingle bells. Does anyone remember the sesame street segment 'Elmo's world'? A particularly strict sister wouldn't let her children watch it. She shut sesame street off right before it started. Why? Because the Elmo's world song was set to the same tune as Jingle Bells. 'Elmo's world, Elmo's world, time to play today'.... I told her ' but jingle bells isn't even a Christmas song.' She responded 'but it's ASSOCIATED with Christmas. I've done the research...'
Omg. So glad to not be exposing my kids to that insanity anymore!
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Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?
by nicolaou inseems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.
maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.
many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.
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FayeDunaway
Thats interesting, crow! All I know is that I can navigate around the bible a lot better than most people in my church. They try. An interesting revelation has been how we examine big sections of scripture at a time. The skill of going from Ezra to Philemon not so important for that. Witnesses very rarely read whole sections at a time. Scriptures take on a whole new meaning when read in context (duh! Took me so long to find that out but it should have been so obvious).
LisaRose I'm sending you a PM but very good points. My church is a lot like the Congregationalists.
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Non JW friends don't understand
by kozmo init never ceases to amaze me that your personal friends have no clue what it is like to have been one.
i was speaking with a friend the other day about having been a jw.
she said, oh i have a dear friend of 30 years who is one and she is so nice!
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FayeDunaway
Lieu, that's hilarious! And thank you HB and bless you for helping your friend get out of it!!
Sometimes (not so often as I used to!) I will mention to someone that I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. They'll say 'oh, that's nice.' Oh my GOD does that drive me nuts. Even when you try to explain 'NO it was really NOT nice' it takes mental energy that people aren't willing to invest. That's why I love this place, you all KNOW.
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Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?
by nicolaou inseems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.
maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.
many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.
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FayeDunaway
Thank you Lisa!! I don't know how you know so much about 'normal' churches, I know you don't go to one! But your points are exactly right, about mine and many others.
Doctrine was important to me when I was leaving JW's, and I spent a lot of time and passionate energy researching and proving to myself and my family that the witness doctrine is screwed up. Their doctrine is NOT one of the few things they have going for them. If I was going to name a few things, I think it would be ability to find their way around a bible (a skill learned from their practice of matching up scriptures all over the bible that don't actually go together), and the fact that they are a cult helps people feel close to each other (even tho this is usually pretty superficial and if you start diverting from the group views, they start dropping from your life like flies.)
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"I thought About You" Email
by BeautifulMind inhey everyone!!
i hope everyone is doing good today.
i don't share or comment often, but i'm in the mood to do that today.
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FayeDunaway
Magnum, AMEN!!