Scully

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Posts by Scully

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  115

  Public Apology Nathan Natas

  by Simon in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  i'd like to offer a public apology to nathan natas for making a wrong decision when i deleted him.. i allowed a combination of previous issues we'd had and input from other forum members to bias my decision which lead me to what i now, in hindsight, believe to have been a mistake.. whether you want to come back and post here or not i wanted to at least say sorry and will reactivate your account..

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  Scully

  Thanks, Simon. I've missed NN's insights and friendship here.
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  42

  Is it GOOD that God KILLS BABIES??? Help needed in debate

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  [if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> </w:worddocument> </xml><!

  [endif]hello all,.

  my wife and i are atheists, raised and living as jehovah's witnesses.

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  Scully

  God does not think that killing children is okay, even when it is in sacrifice for his worship.

  ‘Hear the word of the Lord , you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. ~ Jeremiah 19:3-5, NIV

  They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire--something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. ~ Jeremiah 7:31

  They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger. ~ 2 Kings 17:17

  They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded--nor did it enter my mind--that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin. ~ Jeremiah 32:35

  According to the Bible, the concept of killing children as sacrificial offerings was a "detestable thing" - it didn't even come up in his heart - and made those who practice it worthy of destruction at God's hands. Would it be any less detestable in God's eyes for JWs to sacrifice their children on the altar of the blood transfusion doctrine?

  Now, I know you're discussing "god" killing children, at Armageddon™ or for such heinous crimes as teasing a bald-headed prophet. But those passages show that "god" disapproves of killing innocent children. However, those passages should give any JW with an active brain stem a jolt, one that might make them have second thoughts about signing their blood cards or the blood cards that their children carry. Those passages can plant a seed, even though you're on a completely different topic at the time.
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  31

  My act of REBELLION

  by Gojira_101 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well a picture says a thousand words!

  i had a tattoo done today.. it was actually interesting because as i was chit chatting with the tattoo artist, she asked me if this tattoo symbolized anything....well actually it does i told her.. me: i was a jw and they are strongly against tattoos or anything that is really "normal" for people.. tattoo artist: i know all about jw, my ex-girlfriend's family was all jw, and i remember one time going over to her parents house and her grandma sat us both down and made us read some scriptures from her bible as to why we were going to hell.. me: actually you will due at armageddon, that is the jw thing.. tatt artist: oh right that is what her grandma said.

  i forgot about that, you're right.. so then the rest of the conversation was just me telling her it's a cult and i told her never listen to any jw who comes knocking.. something else interesting that happened just before i came on here.

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  Scully

  I love my tattoo. I can still remember how excited I was when I decided on my design and planning it out with the artist.

  Of course, I got some disapproving remarks when my JW parents saw it... I had anticipated the reaction and was able to smile sweetly and say, "Well, I'm forty-(something) years old and as I recall, I don't need your permission and didn't ask for it!"

  Besides, they didn't ask their kids' permission to join a stupid cult 40 years ago that would ruin the family.
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  37

  Mom who regrets ever having her two kids

  by skeeter1 in

  1. social
  2. family

  the mother who says having these two children is the biggest regret of her lifeisabella dutton, 57, says she wishes she had remained childless'i resented the time my children consumed.

  like parasites, they took from me and didn't give back'.

  isabella dutton would have been happier not having children.

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  Scully

  You know what? This is the kind of thing childless people need to read before they have children. So many young women think of all the goo-goo and ga-ga cute baby stuff, without taking into consideration the enormity of the responsibility of raising children. They go into parenthood completely clueless - the baby is just another accessory that gets them attention.

  While my first reaction to reading this woman's experience was horror for her children, there were parts that I could certainly relate to as well. Sadly, our society tends to label mothers as "selfish" when they try to make themselves a priority once in a while - to look after herself, her well-being, her social life, her career and expecting dads to step up and co-parent the family equally, or ideally, in a manner that empowers both parents as partners and as individuals. Nobody should have to feel resentment toward their children, and if they do, it would seem that negotiating an arrangement that allows them to take feasible steps to mitigate those feelings is in the best interests of the parent and of the children as well.

  I'm kind of scratching my head though regarding this lady's admission of realizing that motherhood was a mistake for her within the first week of her firstborn's life... and then proceeding to have another child later on. At this point, she lost my sympathy because she compounded her own misery of her own volition. Martyrs get no sympathy from me, sorry.
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  24

  just curious. How about blood?

  by never a jw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have never been a jw, but i have lived literally surrounded by them since i married my wife, almost 20 years ago.

  since i never raised a fuss before, i guess i was also brain-washed into thnking that their religion was harmless and the leaders were well intended.. i have been reading your comments for many months and have come to realize how harmful the religion is.

  your comments have been mostly about the pain inflicted by shunning, deception in the literature, and the views on higher education.

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  Scully

  Well, I was one of the lucky ones. I was informed that I came very close to bleeding to death after childbirth, because I was led to believe that the WTS's doctrine was correct.

  I was unconscious for several hours afterward, had a hemoglobin level that was barely compatible with life, had IV fluids pumped into me for a couple of days and needed an extended stay in hospital.

  The severe blood loss impacted our lives afterward too - despite hourly feedings, my body wouldn't make enough milk to breastfeed my newborn. I had to stop trying after a few weeks, because I wasn't recuperating due to lack of sleep, and my newborn wasn't gaining weight.

  In the years that followed, there have been numerous statistical studies on the subject, one of which was published in a medical journal where it was reported that JW women have a 65-fold risk of death during childbirth for lack of blood transfusion. That is not statistically insignificant, as the WTS would have JWs believe. (See: http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC3496240/)

  I have said this before and I will say it again here: If it were JW men whose lives were on the line due to obstetrical haemorrhage, this doctrine would never have materialized. The WTS has, time and time again, proved its disdain for the lives of women and children by compelling women to put their lives at risk at one of the most vulnerable times in a woman's life.
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  15

  shunning and jw funerals

  by man in black in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  when a jw from your area dies, do you attend the visitation or funeral ?.

  since i have da'ed myself, several people that i have known for years have died, and i have attended both the visitation, and or funeral.. but everytime, i have been treated like i don't even exist.

  just trying to follow normal human emotions, by attending and showing my feelings to the surviving family has been alot like running into a brick wall.

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  Scully

  I've never attended a JW funeral since leaving the JWs, and I don't think I would. Not just because of the potential for shunning, but because I would be so offended by the paltry excuse of a Memorial Service™ that spends more time pimping for the WTS than it does expressing warmth and the sense of loss for the deceased.

  I'd rather send a card. That way, the person has to read the sentiments (i.e., associate with you) before seeing the name you sign the card with. You get to express your condolences, a nice memory of the person who has passed away, and sign your name in love and friendship. They can't shun it.
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  8

  WTS Advice for Kids: Beat a Bully

  by Darth Rutherford in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wow... the irony is amazing.

  so here we have a cartoon about how to deal with bullying, which in itself is a positive message.

  what's incredible is that it's brought to you by a religious organization that dominates your life, and requires absolute, loyal submission from its members.. if you should dare stand up and question its unique, ever-changing, brand of contradicting "christian" doctrine, then you will be labeled as "weak", "worldly", "bad association", and possibly an "apostate".

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  Scully

  BTTT
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  8

  WTS Advice for Kids: Beat a Bully

  by Darth Rutherford in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wow... the irony is amazing.

  so here we have a cartoon about how to deal with bullying, which in itself is a positive message.

  what's incredible is that it's brought to you by a religious organization that dominates your life, and requires absolute, loyal submission from its members.. if you should dare stand up and question its unique, ever-changing, brand of contradicting "christian" doctrine, then you will be labeled as "weak", "worldly", "bad association", and possibly an "apostate".

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  Scully

  I just saw this animation today. The irony didn't escape my notice. They touched on being the target of bullying because of what you believe. They identified social exclusion (i.e., shunning) as a form of bullying. They identified negative labelling (i.e., name calling) as a form of bullying.

  They also state that the victim is not to blame. "It's not your fault."

  Too bad they don't recognize their own culpability as an organization that not only practises bullying In the forms of social exclusion and name calling, but promotes it as a good and proper and righteous thing to do to someone who either makes a mistake in their estimation or doesn't agree wth their beliefs.

  I think, if done correctly, we could use this to our advantage.

  A spoof would be wonderful. Satire, parody and editorial comment are protected against copyright infringement claims.

  BTW I wonder if frivolous lawsuits claiming copyright infringement is a form of bullying. LOL
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  112

  JW women in critical condition after being attacked by pit bull while out in service

  by JimmyPage in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20130319_11_0_twowom831238.

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  Scully

  It isn't "volunteering" if your Eternal Life™ on Paradise Earth™ is at stake if you don't go Door-to-Door™ in Field Service™.

  One of my elderly JW relatives slipped on some ice and had a head injury while going Door-to-Door™ a few weeks ago. Got ripped a new one for missing the Meeting™ the next day due to the massive headache and goose-egg on their head. I wish something like that would have woken them up. *sigh*
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  37

  My mom unfriended me on Facebook...

  by dazed but not confused in

  1. social
  2. relationships

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  Scully

  Sorry to hear that.

  If you have other family members who are JWs, she may have felt compelled to 'unfriend' you in order to prevent a cascade effect by other JW family members unfriending her. The social pressure to toe the line is strong, perhaps more than your mother could stand. I'm not defending her behaviour, just trying to look at the situation through her eyes. She may think that all of her JW friends can see what you "Like" and panicked, believing that her stance regarding The Truth™ would come into question if she didn't react as she did.

  I understand your feelings too - it's good that there's some physical distance between you that prevents easy access to your wife and children. When your JW parent show such disrespect for you, she doesn't deserve access to your children on any level. Period. I'd have a conversation with your wife about making any updates or pictures of your family that either of you post on Facebook be blocked from your mother's view via the privacy settings. Any JW who has ever snubbed me or creeped me on FB in order to access mutual non-JW friends gets blocked.