There is an excellent debate you can find on YouTube and it is in regards to the problem of suffering or Theodicy. Bart Ehrman and Dinesh D'souza debate many points as to why we suffer and reflect on the traditions that mankind has developed over the centuries. It was one of the most powerful and thought provoking debates for me as I was in your very shoes. Here it is for anyone who is interested.
Posts by Emery
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36Greetings
by Monsieur ini visit this site often for various reasons, above all to see the opinions of those in regards to their present state in life in relation to past or present tendencies in thinking (religious, morals, etc).. i had not found anything constructive or worthy of adding to this conversation but for one reason or another here i am doing so now.
i am presently an active jw member.
i believe that our faith provides a haven or parameters from which members can significantly obtain structure and order in many different ways.
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38
Jan. 1 WT, Their confession for given incorrect dates for the end.
by jam inhave jehovah,s witnesses given incorrect dates for the end?.
jw,s have had wrong expectations about when the end would.
like jesus' first-century disciples, we have "sometimes" (lol).
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Emery
This is just a good printed response they can use whenever somebody drops the false prophecy bomb on them.
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59
Elders finally took me to the back room...
by OneDayillBeFree inafter several months of leaving the meetings as soon as they ended or only staying for "the first meeting" then leaving the "second part", the elders finally cornered me at last night's meeting.. they said they were concerned about me and that being that i am a young brother in a recently divided congregation they saw so much potential in me to help out the congregation and become a ms.. i told them i was thankful for their thinking of me to help the congregation but that at the moment i could not due to my job.
then the began asking personal questions that got on my nerves.. they asked where i worked and how much i made.
they asked if i was going to college and what i was studying and for how long.
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Emery
Had something like this happen a few months ago, right before I got married. You did alot better than I would, I just told them what they wanted to hear, acknowledging my weak spiritual state and saying I will do better...syke! hah.
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50
Are you now ashamed of how gullible you were as a JW?
by biometrics innow that you realise how idiotic some of the jw beliefs are/were, do you feel ashamed of how gullible you were to believe them?.
if anything my past as an adult jw makes me understand how easily manipulated people are by the people and environment around them.
and that even intelligent people can be influenced beyond what is rational..
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Emery
I remember when i first felt embarassment about it all, I was studying "The Finished Mystery" the food at the proper time which game all authority to the GB. How silly is it that people get disfellowshipped by the authority of false prophecies and pyramid beliefs.
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37
Do you stil have Jw stuff
by d ini still have jw stuff like bibles and watchtower i have to get rid of.
do you any of you guys and girls here have stuff you to get rid of..
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Emery
It felt great when I started throwing everything away, it was such a relieving and powerful moment for me.
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www.JW.org - What the...?
by punkofnice ini've just held my vomit bag in from of me and taken a butchers at www.jw.org.
who is it designed for?.
what's the point of all those sterile vids?.
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Emery
haha, yes they started about 20 years too late.
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www.JW.org - What the...?
by punkofnice ini've just held my vomit bag in from of me and taken a butchers at www.jw.org.
who is it designed for?.
what's the point of all those sterile vids?.
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Emery
They are establishing their online identity and its a resource for publications going forward to save that $$$ for pedo cases.
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38
This is just plain CRAZY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by wasblind in" jehovah's witnesses were not in the concentration camps because they were criminals.. .
when officers wanted someone to shave them, they trusted a witness with the razor, because they knew that no witness would ever use such an instrument as a weapon to harm another human.. .
when ss officers at the auschwits extermination camp needed someone to clean their homes or care for their children, they selected witnesses, because they knew these would not try to escape.. .
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Emery
Well that sounds nice and I am sure the Witnesses were viewed as harmless but are there any references or quotes by anyone to confirm these statements in the Proclaimers book?
I agree with ya wasblind, soldiers from apostate christendom were the ones who rescued the witnesses. They should be greatful of that fact that millions have lost their of livess for the freedom they excerise today...Hitler wouldn't have been so nice about it had the Nazis won.
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The BEST way to "wake up" a JW
by Phizzy inwe have debated this over many years and in many threads, as all of us have family and/or former friends still in.
it seems that there is no "best" way to wake up a jw, it is as elusive as the "true" religion it seems.. but a comment made by poster "emery" on another thread stood out to me, he/she said :.
"what i have gathered is that most witnesses seem to be in it for emotional reasons.
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Emery
@redvip2000, Exactly!
THE MOST effective approach towards waking up a JW (IMO) is to let the organization do its damage. Those of us who are currently fading/irregular are in a better position to wake a JW up through our active fellowship. This approach won't work with a high and mighty happy JW. This normally works with the irregulars or JWs who have suffered many injustices. In my experience when their emotional ties to the WT is damaged, it gives you much more room to work with. Of course you have to be tactful and slowly reveal the TTATT because this normally involves risky conversations. So far I have had a 100% success rate with this strategy, but again I also clothe all of my interactions with sincere unconditional love which helps a lot.
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23
Jw;s like family
by d ini was wondering do you ever miss certain jw's?
i mean not all but just some, becuase even though we may rant and rave against jw's at times.
we have to remeber that for those that were born in the jw's theywere like family.which is why it is so hard at for me to let go completely.. although i have been out for about 5 yrs and it feels good.
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Emery
@DesirousOfChange, Yes I totally agree! Excellent post.