schnell

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Posts by schnell

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  144

  RC 2017

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  due to last years success, i will post everything related to the 2017 regional convention in this thread.. to start us off.... thanks to exjw reddit user ich3b we have advance notice of the theme (this is not a joke!).

  the theme for the 2017 regional convention is: "don’t give up!” .

  as always, if you have access to confidential materials you would like to leak but need to protect your identity, pm me or email me: wifibandit1 (at) gmail.

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  schnell

  That theme made me LOL
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  14

  The definition of a false prophet

  by HereIgo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the last time i spoke to my mother, who is a devout jw, she threatened me with typical jw scare tactics telling me how oh so close the end is and how me and my 2 young daughters will be slaughtered by god himself in armageddon.

  knowing that this is just a scare tactic, i respectfully listened, then replied that the jw's have wrongfully predicted the end of the world three times and were incorrect, 1914, 1925, 1975. i asked doesn't that make them false prophets?

  her response; " no, because the brothers are imperfect and jehovah knew their heart was in a sincere place.

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  schnell

  I get this kind of response too. Simple logic is outweighed by the paradise earth and resurrection and not wanting to admit they've been duped.
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  42

  I feel really, really sorry for those born into the Jehovah's Witness religion

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some facts that make the difference between you and me:.

  1 - as a person raised by non jw family, my parents have never loved me based on conditions set out by a group of old men who they don't even know.

  how does it feel to know that you are in the unique situation where your parents brought you into the world and said 'i'll show love to you.

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  schnell

  @Lee Elder, oh sure. I understand that, and I hope my post doesn't sound too strong. We do need validation and understanding and community.
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  21

  Living Vicariously Through the Sheep.

  by donny in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  when i got baptized as a jehovah’s witness in the summer of 83, my honeymoon period lasted about two years before i began to wonder if the society and its adherents were all it claimed to be.

  no of the things i encountered for the first few years was really faith shattering, they simply just made me pause and think.

  after a short while, i would file those issues in the back of my brain files and move forward.. .

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  schnell

  Hi Donny. I lived in Sulphur Springs for a time as a teenager and my great grandmother served in Paris, TX.

  I've also heard how detailed these reports and interrogations can get. Let me guess, they wanted to determine if there was "greed" or something.
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  42

  I feel really, really sorry for those born into the Jehovah's Witness religion

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some facts that make the difference between you and me:.

  1 - as a person raised by non jw family, my parents have never loved me based on conditions set out by a group of old men who they don't even know.

  how does it feel to know that you are in the unique situation where your parents brought you into the world and said 'i'll show love to you.

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  schnell

  Nailed it, sparrowdown.

  I do not feel sorry for myself or any other born-in for that reason alone. No, part of life is making an informed change for the better, and it's manifest even in our storytelling. (Fish out of water? Hero's journey?) Don't give up, and don't ask for sympathy all the time.

  I'm not saying never or that sympathy is always bad, but how much validation do you really need or expect? Pick yourself up, breathe in, breathe out, and carry on.
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  21

  Garden of Eden

  by Onager in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  where is the garden of eden?.

  i don't mean where in the world, i mean where in history.

  adam and eve get booted out of this place.

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  schnell

  @David_Jay, to paraphrase Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces, "When a myth is mistaken for history, it is killed."
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  21

  Garden of Eden

  by Onager in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  where is the garden of eden?.

  i don't mean where in the world, i mean where in history.

  adam and eve get booted out of this place.

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  schnell

  @David_Jay, my research corroborates what you say as well, and I am sure the story had more significance after the exile to Babylon. (Expulsion from paradise being the key detail.) I am aware that the tree of life, etc. were common in Mesopotamian lore, with roots back in ancient Egypt and Africa, but there is a theory that the particular telling in Genesis originated after 587 BCE.
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  21

  Garden of Eden

  by Onager in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  where is the garden of eden?.

  i don't mean where in the world, i mean where in history.

  adam and eve get booted out of this place.

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  schnell

  To answer the question: Missouri. ;)
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  21

  Garden of Eden

  by Onager in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  where is the garden of eden?.

  i don't mean where in the world, i mean where in history.

  adam and eve get booted out of this place.

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  schnell

  I guess my point is the Eden story has all the characteristics of a fable. And if it is a fable (which it is) then the fall of man is allegorical (not true) and the ransom sacrifice is not required and all Christian religions are no more valid than a Harry Potter fan club.
  

  You know what else has quite seriously all the hallmarks of a fable? The book of Job is riddled with the number 3, just like Goldilocks (3 bears; too hot, too cold, just right...).

  When I tried to explain that this quite seriously means the story of Job never happened that way (without even bothering to say that the story never happened or that it was just a guy who got sick), dubs looked at me like I was growing 2 horns.
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  8

  If you give a present, Jehovah will kill you.

  by schnell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you tell someone "merry christmas" or simply respond with "you too", then god is angry with you and you will answer for every such violation at your day of judgment.. if you eat some leftover birthday cake and a thin-skinned witness sees you and gets offended even though there's nothing wrong with the cake itself, you have become a stumbling block and god wants you to fix it before judgment day or else.. if you watch a cartoon featuring characters that may or may not be hilariously gay, it turns out that it does matter because this is an affront to god and he will judge all those who entertain such cartoons.. there are a lot of implications about god that jehovah's witnesses seem to make but never consider.

  the problem is that they don't follow it all the way through.

  in keeping themselves in god's love, and considering how they think he feels about matters in their daily lives, they submit to what is basically an ecclesiastical opinion that has terrible implications about god's character.

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  schnell

  • If you tell someone "Merry Christmas" or simply respond with "You too", then God is angry with you and you will answer for every such violation at your day of judgment.
  • If you eat some leftover birthday cake and a thin-skinned Witness sees you and gets offended even though there's nothing wrong with the cake itself, you have become a stumbling block and God wants you to fix it before Judgment Day or else.
  • If you watch a cartoon featuring characters that may or may not be hilariously gay, it turns out that it does matter because this is an affront to God and he will judge all those who entertain such cartoons.

  There are a lot of implications about God that Jehovah's witnesses seem to make but never consider. The problem is that they don't follow it all the way through. In keeping themselves in God's love, and considering how they think he feels about matters in their daily lives, they submit to what is basically an ecclesiastical opinion that has terrible implications about God's character. Here are some more:

  • If you watch a movie about Hercules, you have entertained false gods and enraged Jehovah's jealousy.
  • If you watch a movie about Snow White and the Great Tribulation immediately hits, you have entertained magic and witchcraft and if you then die during the Great Tribulation, you will be resurrected to judgment and cast into the lake of fire in the second death. And you will die, because God will make sure of it so as to keep his people pure.
  • If you watch a movie where magic is called magic, God is enraged. If you watch a movie where magic is called something different and you're cool with it and nobody's stumbled, then God's cool with it too until someone is stumbled or brings it to his/your attention.

  If you spend your life worrying about all this crap, you will waste it. You don't have to. Consider the implications of your beliefs. Ask yourself why you believe such things, and be honest. Is this really necessary? Is it constructive? Is it conducive to creativity? Is it realistic? Can you say it with a straight face?

  Oh, and...

  • The origins of every single thing matter because God was there to see it and he'll hold you to it whether you know or care or not.