dorktacular - You get a certificate at Master, but you should see the sword you get at Jedi!
I think most Witnesses are like Shawn - it just slips past them. That's the way it was in my congregation.
One of the last School talks I gave, I took the 5 minutes to explain all of the recent changes - sheep and goats not being seperated, 1914 generation - and spelled out EXACTLY what these meant in clear simple language. You should have seen the mouths drop open! One old time sister came up to me after, no dummy and no slouch in the study department, and told me she had no idea that's what the changes really were.
The very last talk I gave was connected somehow with Proverbs 8 - which the WTS says is a description of Jesus as Jehovah's helper during the creation. In fact, those verses are in the middle of several chapters where Sophia - wisdom, and a woman - is talking. The next week the school overseer read the WTS's offical explanation of Proverbs 8 during the meeting.
I quit the school.
"The WT has been foundering seriously since 1995."
I totally agree.
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Seeker4
JoinedPosts by Seeker4
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What did you think in -95?
by Samuel Thorsen inwhen i first read about wts having "new ligth" on the 1914-generation issue in the newspaper i was shocked.
(some evil apostates had been helpful and informed the paper weeks before i got my november issues of the wt.).
my thoughts was.
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Seeker4
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What did you think in -95?
by Samuel Thorsen inwhen i first read about wts having "new ligth" on the 1914-generation issue in the newspaper i was shocked.
(some evil apostates had been helpful and informed the paper weeks before i got my november issues of the wt.).
my thoughts was.
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Seeker4
I had stepped down as an elder by then - but I knew perfectly well what it meant. I had conducted the WT study in 1989 that used the same Greek words to prove that it had to be the specific generation around in 1914. Now they were using the Greek to prove the exact opposite!
It was the last straw for me. I never went out in service again. When a close friend elder invited me out with him, I explained that we should be going out in service apologizing for misleading people over the last 75 years! I was gone after that, slowed down my meeting attendance, step off the TMS, and faded.
I wasn't the only one - as this thread and many others show,.
In my own circuit, at an assembly, another brother told me, and I quote directly, "The Society is really covering their ass with that one, aren't they!"
My feeling is that the WTS peaked in the early 90s and has been in serious trouble ever since.
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Summer Concerts-Who will you see?
by lonelysheep insummer is about here, so you know that is prime time for concerts.
i am hoping to get tickets to poison for once.
i will also be seeing george michael :) and yes, i will be buying myself a ticket to new kids on the block for a september show.
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Seeker4
Tomorrow morning I'm interviewing Lori McKenna - she wrote a bunch of hits for Faith Hill recently and was the opening act for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's last tour. Then I go to see her next Thursday evening.
That's just the start.
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Do JWs Shun You?
by minimus inrecently, i've heard from various jw family members that either i am viewed as "close to being an apostate" because i had made some comments suggesting that the fds is clearly wrong on many issues over the years or that i "have left jehovah" and therefor by my new way of life, i must be shunned.
while visiting my dying non jw uncle in the hospital, i was told outrightly that it was wished that i never showed my face and that my mere presence was objectionable and that since i "left jehovah", they could not talk to me any longer.. their viewpoints saddened me because they said all this in front of my uncle who can barely respond to anything.
his reaction: he cried his eyes out!
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Some do, some don't.
There are some JWs who can truly be self-righteous pricks. What your relatives did to you is an example of that. Shunning someone becomes more important than showing compassion to a dying man.
So glad I'm out of the cult.
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Doublethink examples of Jehovah's Witnesses
by Mr Ben injw's are experts in what orwell called doublethink.
we often say that on this board.
here are a couple of doublethink examples:.
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Seeker4
Growth in WTS numbers is a sign of Jehovah's blessing / Lack of growth in the WTS is a sign that Jehovah is weeding out the chaff. Can't lose!
The eyesight of an eagle, able to spot a mouse in a field from thousands of feet, and adapt to a rapid drop onto the prey, is a wonderful example of Jehovah as a creator / Jehovah created all animals to be vegetarians.
I guess it was intended to spot berries, upon which they would swoop down at 140 mph!
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JW wife says she loves me more often NOW???? Should I test that?
by oompa ini was pm with a@g and have with others here in the one-in-one-out marriage situation, and have a question.
time flies.....i have been considered apostate for at least two years now, and it seems my wife says she loves me all the time....almost makes me uncomfortable.
i have changed, not her, and i realize that.
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Seeker4
"I will say that, in many ways, my wife and I lead separate lives."
That's what ended up happening with my JW wife and I. I kept a lot of my doubts to myself, and didn't try to convince her differently. She is 3rd generation JW, and extremely close to her parents, and I don't think she'd ever leave that.
What happened to me is that we no longer had the social life we once had. Our Witness friends didn't really want to have anything to do with me. I began developing friendships outside of the WTS. My beautiful wife was still beautiful, but she was now 50-plus pounds heavier than the little blond I'd married, and that definitely affected my passion for her.
A bad combination. I was suddenly being exposed to a lot of attractive women. Women had always liked me, but now there were women who wanted to sleep with me. Eventually I fell in love with someone else, and my marriage was over.
My ex is still a JW, and we get along fairly well, but living seperate lives, especially if the physical desire is no longer there, is really dangerous. I don't know what to tell you, Oompa, just sharing my experience. We went to marriage counseling, and things seemed to work out for a few years, but in the end we lost it. I'm sure it was mainly my fault.
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Tom Cabeen on EWTN's Journey Home tonight. I enjoyed it.
by Seeker4 inwatched tom tonight, and thought he made some excellent points.
i called, and actually got through, but the producer didn't put me on.
i wanted to ask tom if his leaving bethel in 1980 had any connection with the whole ray franz/ed dunlap incident,which was happening then.. as tom knows, i'm one of those ex-jws who became an atheist, so i took quite a different path than he did in leaving the jws, and i certainly don't agree with his conclusions.
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Tom, thanks for the replies. It was certainly more detailed than I would have gotten if they put me through on the show!
I found your experience astounding - but absolutely believable. The elders question you about your doubts concerning the WTS, which you haven't expressed to anyone. Then they gossip about it, it gets around the congregation, and they df you because people are talking about it!! "You've left us no choice.." Hahahaha!
That is JWism to a T.
Oh, I'm sure we'd have some great discussions. I do have to say that, even when I was a JW, I always enjoyed the writings of Thomas Merton. Reading Merton and Gandhi and Thich Nhat Han opened my eyes to what a truly spiritual life meant. It was a far cry from the way most Witnesses lived.
Thanks again for the reply and I send you all my best.
Quick question: Do you remember a Steve Lupo at Bethel when you were there? He was a very close friend, and I think he was in the study group with Ray, and may have helped when Ray had to leave Bethel. He's an elder in Burlington, VT now
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Living your lifes dream....Have you? Are you? Will you?......
by oompa ini subscribed to cruising world magazine for over 20 years.
many people or couples wrote their stories about either their life aboard a sailing yacht, or their time they put mainland life on hold for a year or more and lived their dream of cruising on an sailing yacht.
this became my dream, and i have sailed extensively since age 13. i also loved photography, and that goes real well with sailing exploration, and life aboard among the islands.. my first jw wife liked that dream too, my second jw wife does not!
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Seeker4
I was looking over my list, and one thing I've been working at is developing new friendships. I had a lot of friends as a Witness, people I did stuff with all the time.
Needless to say, those are gone! I've been cultivating some new ones (there's a JW word, eh??), but it says what I mean. I've been consciously working at developing new friendships. Putting it on the list reminds me of that.
Oompa- would love to meet you. A few people PMed me about my workouts. You have to really work at it, and diet is a huge factor. I eat very clean probably 80 to 90 percent of the time. Lifting weights has to be part of your exercise, not just aerobic stuff, and you actually lose more weight by lifting than by running. Intensity is the key - no matter the exercise. A slow steady jog, or people "toning" with these tiny dumbbells - pretty much worthless if you really want to see results.
My focus has been fitness and my health. I'm getting that, and the side effects have been cool - flat stomach, toned, muscular body, lots of energy. I rewarded myself by buying a bunch of new t-shirts for summer - all in size small! Showing off the hard work!
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Seeker4
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was. I could legally sign papers for the congregation. Not sure if it was called trustee.
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it is sick: Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate
by edward612 injust read the story... teacher lets morningside students vote out classmate.
i get the story from: the blog.
if this teacher did this she needs to be fired and lose her license..
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Seeker4
I have a feeling there is a lot more to this situation than what this article says. I'm not judging this teacher based on the scanty info in the article.
I've worked with troubled young kids in the past, kids that, even one-on-one, had moments when they were impossible to control. What that can do in a classroom is frightening.
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