Posts by jwundubbed

24

My dad is now a ministerial servant tonight

by Wagurl in

my dad just became mistrial servant should i move out i’m almost 18. what the hell should i do?

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jwundubbed

You have gotten some great advice here, but I have to address something. A bunch of people have told you not to get baptized because then the church will have power over you. That is bunk. It just isn't true.

Baptism is a verbal contract at best and one they cannot possibly enforce. Can you imagine if you went to court over breach of contract? They have never ever even tried to do that to someone, because they don't have a leg to stand on. They have power over you only if you give them that power. The better reason not to get baptized is if you don't believe in the religion or in God.

No one should tell you if or when to get baptized. That is a personal choice between you and God. No one else gets any say in it. It isn't a contract between you and the religion even if they say that is what it is. it isn't a legal contract and the only power it has as a contract is if you believe in it.

For me, getting baptized was what brought me out of the JW. That was the beginning of the end for me. I didn't get baptized for them and it was that moment that I realized they had no power over me. Leaving physically and emotionally wasn't as easy as recognizing they had no power over me. I was still underage. I do not, for one moment, regret getting baptized.

38

Has Anyone Had Chinese Food Lately?

by minimus in

jw
friends

since this virus, i have noticed that nearly all of the take out joints in my area are closed.

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jwundubbed

I'm one of the lucky few that has an essential job. I only have it every two weeks, but I'm buying into my local community. Food that delivers are still open in my area. I use UberEats to give back just a little each week. I support my local shops.

I also support the Chinese. They are no more responsible for this virus than the rest of us. Viruses and disease are a part of life and if we are going to go there, then everyone in the world has the right to blame us for the fact that measles hasn't been eradicated all because some people in the US (the ones who started the false information) decided that vaccinations cause autism, which it doesn't.

I don't agree with blame game. That this strand of a virus started in one place doesn't really mean anything at all. Virus strands evolve and mutate and grow and spread from every part of the world. If you believe in God then you have to blame him since he created all life in the universe and viruses are alive, technically. If you don't believe in God then you can blame life, because this is what life is.

I see the point in blaming anyone for things we have no control over. I prefer to live life moving forward.

17

Reversed Shunning

by Difido in

i dont post really.

probably because i'm full of discord and shame about this religion.

i'm embarrassed, but working thru it.

jwundubbed

They shunned you. They basically said, 'You are dead to me'"

They don't know it yet, but they don't get to take that back. They put the ball in your court and you get to decide what you do with it. They can't just change their minds and erase what they did. They don't have that power over you anymore. They gave that power to you. It isn't reverse shunning. It is maintaining healthy boundaries from people who aren't safe to be around. You are making the right choice, not because anyone else agrees with you (even if we do and even if that helps you). You are making the right choice because it is your choice to make. You do what is right for you and it is the right choice to make.

15

Wandering which church to try next

by Talkie in

https://youtu.be/dzywddm5ucc.

jwundubbed

If you are wary of churches and organized religion, I would tell you to try the modern Quaker churches. They are called 'Friends Meetings' now. They aren't like any other organized religion. I'm not a Quaker but my sister became one after she left and I work for one in their daycare.

What is good about them after JW is that they are accepting of people of all faiths. You don't have to be a Christian to be a Quaker, although most are. They are mainly focused on social justice and social activism so you can actually see a group doing good works without try to advertise or convert to their religion. During services they all sit quietly in meditation and only speak if moved to do so. They have business meetings that are open to the public.

What is not so good about them after JW is that it is almost complete anarchy. They have almost no rules. They won't make a decision on anything unless there is unanimous agreement. They have a 'self-serve' and 'share community' that more resembles the selfish taking advantage of the selfless. They are predominantly well-educated and well-off people who do not recognize their own privilege even when they want to.

There are pros and cons to every organized religion out there.

21

Need help. Please and thank you.

by lastmanstanding in

i have a trove of old watchtower literature.

i know of course, and for example, to keep the three first volumes of the watchtower (bound) and a bunch of other items.

(and i handle them delicately.).

jwundubbed

If you are going to keep it for resource, then all of it is good to have. This is because when they send out 'new light'. they get rid of all the old copies that could conflict with the new light.

Instead of getting rid of it completely, scan it. Make it a digital resource which can't be denied because scans are copies and hard to hack. It is hard to fake a scan. People don't even try. Highly confidential and high security documentations is considered safe to be filed electronically when it has been scanned. So you, should feel safe with scanning it. Then give the physical books to someone who can use them.

18

Put the Blame Where it Belongs

by cofty in

....

jwundubbed

SARS is actually SARS-CoV, MERS is actually MERS-CoV, this virus is CoVID-19, and all three are different strains of the coronavirus. COVID-19 is actually a strain that came directly from the SARS virus. It is all the same virus in the same way that Avian flu, Swine flu, and Spanish Flu, and the regular yearly flus are all types of influenza. Swine Flu and Spanish flu are both H1N1 viruses but Swine flu is a strain that grew out of the Spanish flu. The two big outbreaks of H1N1 hit us a little less than 100 years apart.

The fact that SARS and MERS and COVID-19 all came from Asia makes sense because they are the same disease originating from the same place. it isn't a conspiracy and it isn't about the goodness or badness of any country. It is just the reality of viral organisms, how they live, how they operate, and how they grow, evolve, mutate, and spread.

These are not different diseases that just suddenly pop up. They are the same types of diseases that grow and evolve and mutate over time. This will happen again and again and again until or unless the diseases themselves can be wiped out completely.

We almost wiped out measles and polio because people got vaccines. People in lower developed countries didn't have access to vaccines and then people in higher developed countries decided that vaccines are bad. The diseases began to spread again and now we have to worry about these diseases as well. We did completely wipe out scarlet fever and smallpox. If people would just make good choices we could wipe out more diseases.

The first step in wiping these diseases out is learning the facts and to stop spreading misinformation.

28

How many here believe the WTS really has has 8.5 million followers / 8.5. million members

by Hotpepper in

i think it's closer to 5 million with all the selling of kingdom hells and branch bethel's all over the world.

it's even hard to get a hard copy of the lastest craptower or afake mag now in new york city..

jwundubbed

if you count all the people who have left under the pretense of being 'inactive' then their number is probably conservative and they technically have many more members than that.

20

why do jws hate pagans?

by nowawake14 in

jw
friends

paganism from my view is just a mental fantasy.

it's not real.

so why do jws get mad at it anyway?

jwundubbed

Paganism from my view is just a mental fantasy. It's not real. So why do jws get mad at it anyway?

Bigotry doesn't become you. Paganism is not defined the same in the real world as it is in JW terms. There are actual religions that are called Pagan, Wiccan, Heathen, etc. They have their own beliefs and rarely believe in one male-normative God. They also rarely have beliefs that align with the ignorant stereotypes attributed to them.

Use your computer skills and look them up. They are real but they aren't what the JWs think they are. They are all religions and spiritual beliefs. You don't have to agree with them to acknowledge their existence, but denying them dismisses a lot of people with their own belief systems. If you want to be a bigot, then feel free to keep thinking that way. If you want to be open to letting people believe what they want to believe then don't dismiss entire groups out of ignorance.

16

Bring to ruin those ruining the earth, but what if we change.

by pleaseresearch in

this has come up recently with two family members who are jws.

if they are talking about this you can bet that others are too.

they seem to be all excited that a lot of attention in the news right now is about climate change, greta, extinction rebellion etc... as you can image they are very smug saying see.

jwundubbed

I would like citable, photographic proof that the JWs aren't contributing to climate change. I remember a lot of gas guzzling cars going out in service all week long. JWs spend way more time in their cars then regular people. I bet their carbon footprint is pretty heavy.

7

The apostat.es are coming!

by Simon in

forum
links

the new site at www.apostat.es will provide a few free tools to help us reach out to the jehovah's witnesses we still care about.

podcasts can be hosted for free, as can blogs and articles.

you can create your own store to sell your apostate tee shirts, posters calendars etc.. it will show jw's that apostates are normal, healthy folks who simply changed their minds about their former beliefs.

jwundubbed

Podcasts can be hosted for free, as can blogs and articles. You can create your own store to sell your apostate tee shirts, posters calendars etc.
It will show JW's that apostates are normal, healthy folks who simply changed their minds about their former beliefs.

Thank you for the laugh. Normal people don't make tee-shirts to show people how normal they are. Healthy people set boundaries, stick to them, and deal with whatever consequences come from that. They don't go to such great lengths to convince other people that they are healthy and normal. But again, thank you very much for the laughter.