Xanthippe

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Posts by Xanthippe

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  14

  Why do (did) the majority of the general population see the JWS is a decisive fraud ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the jws /ibsa have been going door to door now for over 100 years in many lands and countries, with numerous pieces of supporting literature counting in the millions.. you would think after all of the publicizing that the jws faith would have grown leaps and bounds but to date the jws has only 8 million following adherents.. other christian based faiths have grown vastly more but never publicly proselytized their faith to the extent the jws have... my basic concise guess is that they see this organization as a bit of commercialized fraud, orchestrated by a religious publishing house namely the watchtower corporation, trying to get people to purchase and read the wts's literature.. and yes the wts did place a set price on its literature including yearly subscriptions.

  was it just too obvious ?.

  did the wts not think that many people who they called on were from even bigger and older established christian faiths but didn't say or preach what the wts was preaching in their apparent version of the gospel ?.

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  Xanthippe

  We were friends with a nice couple in the congregation when we were first married. She was a JW, he wasn't. We had meals at their house quite a few times. He was very successful although I can't remember what he did. One time my husband asked him why he didn't come along with his wife and he said if you belong to a club you have to obey all the rules. I think a lot of people see it like that, good for them. I wish I'd listened to him
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  25

  History of Salvations: Israelites and Judahites

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  my material on the history of judaeo-christian salvations became unwieldy, so i divided it into 3 parts.. i have completely rewritten part 1, dealing with the israelites and judahites.

  http://www.jwstudies.com/revolutions_part_1__israelite_judahite_salvations.pdf .

  the url links to parts 2 and 3 are provided on its page 3.. i provide the complete bibliography at the end of part 3.. doug.

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  Xanthippe

  Christian faith, the real one. Not the one passed down in my family by my great grandmother

  Perry, the Reformation was all about finding the real faith, getting back to the Bible. Christian denominations have been asserting ever since we just have to find what the real faith is, get a better bible translation, pray for more Holy Spirit, find out what Jesus really meant and on and on. How many more years are we going to spend on this?

  Loving your neighbor as yourself.
  2. Turning the other cheek when possible
  3. Loving (having empathy) for your enemies

  Google The Golden Rule, Perry, these are not ideas that Christianity brought to the West. Confucius, Greek philosophers and even Zoroaster had these ideas.
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  10

  Internet Search Engines And Some Of The First Things I Typed

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it was back in mid nineties 93,94 or 95 before it became what it is today.

  anyway they had a bunch of search engines and the first thing i typed in it was jehovah witness, then jesus christ, next came lsd, magic mushrooms, nude pictures.

  i think in that relative order.. i remember reading a different story about jws in germany during the nazi era, not anything like the 74 yearbook's depiction.

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  Xanthippe

  The evangelical church played no part in my working out the cult was wrong.

  You misunderstand me, I meant you needed more than still believing the bible was the word of God. You have said yourself that mistake kept you as a theist long after leaving the cult.

  We left pre-internet and we found Bible encyclopaedias useful, particularly for the 607-1914 teaching. Also an interlinear of the Old and New Testament in one because it put such a different slant on familiar scriptures. The public library saved our lives, also it's where we found CoC.
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  10

  Internet Search Engines And Some Of The First Things I Typed

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it was back in mid nineties 93,94 or 95 before it became what it is today.

  anyway they had a bunch of search engines and the first thing i typed in it was jehovah witness, then jesus christ, next came lsd, magic mushrooms, nude pictures.

  i think in that relative order.. i remember reading a different story about jws in germany during the nazi era, not anything like the 74 yearbook's depiction.

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  Xanthippe

  I never went near any internet information about the cult until long after I had left.

  All you need is the bible and some determination. -Cofty

  Surely you said you went to an evangelical church for about ten years after leaving the cult? Perhaps you needed more than the Bible after all?
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  25

  History of Salvations: Israelites and Judahites

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  my material on the history of judaeo-christian salvations became unwieldy, so i divided it into 3 parts.. i have completely rewritten part 1, dealing with the israelites and judahites.

  http://www.jwstudies.com/revolutions_part_1__israelite_judahite_salvations.pdf .

  the url links to parts 2 and 3 are provided on its page 3.. i provide the complete bibliography at the end of part 3.. doug.

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  Xanthippe

  Why would anyone create a Creator-God whom humbled himself, washed people’s feet, rode a donkey, allowed himself to be spit on, stripped naked, beat beyond recognition, & nailed to a tree until dead... for the express purpose of being displayed in utter humiliation?

  So they could enslave the masses with the idea that excessive humility, obedience, submission to hardship, pain and suffering are good things. Don't let them forget their duties and offerings to the priests, clergy, monarch who's the divinely appointed head of the church.

  Normal humans move away from pain and discomfort. They also move towardsomething perceived as beneficial. This is called motivation direction. One repels, one pulls.

  Unless they have indoctrinated since childhood that suffering is good for their immortal soul. That self-sacrifice and giving until it hurts is good because look what Christ suffered for your sake. How can you give any less?
  
  
  
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  6

  Animals Have Soul

  by glenster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  awwrr see the video at the next link:https://www.facebook.com/animalshavesoul/videos/158795278097284/.

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  Xanthippe

  I've seen this on Facebook Glenster, l love it. Especially the lioness jumping into the guy's arms. It just grieves me to see how intelligent and affectionate the chicken, turkey and goose are when I think of the terrible way we have treated poultry.

  Even if we're going to eat them we should treat them well not stuff them in tiny cages where they can't move. Nevertheless it gives me hope that so may people do care about animal welfare now. Slowly but surely the world is growing up but it has taken so long!
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  17

  Celebrations?

  by Freedom rocks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone celebrate valentines day since leaving the borg?

  and which other celebrations if any do you now take part in?.

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  Xanthippe

  All of them, but only to the extent I want to. I let my daughter go to Halloween parties, she won a prize for her witch's costume at school. We always have a real tree at Christmas, presents and a special lunch, vegetarian for my girl, turkey for the rest of us. Birthday parties, firework displays on bonfire night. Easter eggs at Easter, chocoholics in our house but I like the cheap Cadbury ones with buttons in not those fancy expensive ones that taste weird.

  My husband and I didn't do Valentine's more than once because the restaurants were all overcrowded and the food overpriced. We saved our money for our wedding anniversary in March.
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  22

  Dead Wrong (A Tolerance for Ambiguity)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is your level of tolerance for ambiguity?.

  ambiguity is a clunky, uncomfortable word, imho.. .

  ambiguity means "open to more than one interpretation".

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  Xanthippe

  I read a science fiction story that asserted that humans have black and white thinking because we have two hands. On the one hand it is this, on the other hand it is that, quite literally. On another planet where people had eight arms and hands they were not at all black and white in their thinking. I thought it was a fun idea.
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  17

  Tattoos?

  by Wild_Thing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if seems to be quite fashionable nowadays for ex-jws to get a tattoo or a series of tattoos to symbolize either their time spent in the watchtower or their escape, and i kind of don't get it.

  i don't understand why someone would want a constant reminder on their body of such a horrible period in their life.

  on another forum, one woman shared that she was getting 25 bees tattooed all over her body to represent the 25 years she spent in the org.

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  Xanthippe

  I hate tattoos, sorry but I do.
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  8

  My 13 YO opened up to me about her memories of attending a memorial service

  by nonjwspouse in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  she was only around five when she last attended.

  it was just when i began the "for real" investigation about the jw and watchtower, previously believing the public face.

  i would agree to go with my husband so his mother could show off her grandchild.

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  Xanthippe

  Xan - I had to come to the help of my child through education, and allowing her to conclude for herself. That way, regardless of what his family members might try, she has been inoculated with education. whew. whew. Years of planting seeds with her, and open discussion ( well talking on my part mostly) has finally paid off.

  Good job, you worked hard for the sake of your child.