jp1692

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Posts by jp1692

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  38

  Breaking: Beards in The Watchtower

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the latest issue of the watchtower shows a man with a beard praying.. .

  i fully expected to see him 'progress' to clean-shaven in the following pictures, but instead he is still bearded when 'applying bible principles'.. .

  i then realized that he was already featured on the cover itself.. .

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  jp1692

  Vidiot: Ten bucks says this is just another tug on the leash.

  Agreed!
  
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  25

  We Now See Who the Anti-Christ Is

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no further comment needed..

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  jp1692

  "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross" or maybe a Bible. — Sinclair Lewis
  
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  70

  How do you feel about identifying roughly where you are from ? Country, Region,State ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi friends ,.

  is it just me or do others on this forum like to know where posters are from ?

  what country state or region you are from ?

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  jp1692

  Here are a few pics from El Capitan State Beach near where I live. My wife and I went there a couple of weekends ago for lunch:

  

  There's a lovely wooded area just off the beach:

  

  On the way home we drove by Lake Casitas:

  
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  70

  How do you feel about identifying roughly where you are from ? Country, Region,State ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi friends ,.

  is it just me or do others on this forum like to know where posters are from ?

  what country state or region you are from ?

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  jp1692

  I’m in Ventura County, Southern California, USA.
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  29

  Trump declares houses of worship essential service

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what do you think about this?.

  https://abcn.ws/3bqn4tt.

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  jp1692

  That’s fine, God will protect his own!

  Everyone else is a Darwin Award Contestant!

  
  
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  5

  Apps by the Governing Body

  by stumbledbyothers in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  may 2020 local needs.

  emphasis was on, if phone / tablet app did not come from the governing body, then stay away from it.. it was mentioned that their is a virtual cart app out there being used.

  an app not by the governing body.

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  jp1692

  I wasn't aware Zoom was created by the Governing Body!
  

  Let's review: It's a cult!
  
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  31

  Why Do You Think People Become Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  besides growing up in the religion, why do you think people turn to jehovah’s witnesses?

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  what made you become a witness?

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  jp1692

  Nobody joins a cult.
  
  You join a self-help group, a religious movement, a political organization.
  
  They change so gradually, by the time you realize you’re entrapped – and almost everybody does – you can’t figure a safe way back out. – Deborah Layton, survivor of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple cult
  
  

  People join a group because we are social animals and want to belong. The vast majority of groups are benign; many are even positive. The trouble is, the majority of ones that are harmful, destructive cults appear to belong to these categories even though they are not. Cult leaders are masters of deception.

  • So why did I become a JW?
    

  In my case, I was searching for meaning. Neither of my parents were religious when I was growing up, so they didn't provide me with much in the way of values or ethics. My grandmother, who was a wonderful person, gave me a Bible to read. I liked the wisdom of some of the proverbs and some of Jesus' parables, but other than that most of it frankly seemed like myths.

  So I examined a bunch of different religions and found that all of them had some ideas of value, but they also were loaded with a bunch of crap.

  Cult Recruiting Tactic #1: I began studying with JWs in my early twenties when two cute young JW women came to the door. Their physical attractiveness got my attention, but I was struck by the fact that they didn't believe in hellfire or the Trinity—two concepts of Christianity that I had come to reject on my own.

  Cult Recruiting Tactic #2: Also, the ideas of a world free of injustice, sickness and death appealed to me. I liked that then (and I like it still, although I know now that it's never coming from "Jehovah" or any other made-up "god").
  

  So I agreed to a "Bible Study"with an elder in the congregation. I was very skeptical over the course of the two years I "studied" with him and probably never would have joined, but I had a personal trauma which made me very emotionally vulnerable – Cult Recruiting Tactic #3.

  Cult Recruiting Tactic #4: That's when I started attending meetings. The "love-bombing" felt good. By then I was hooked.

  Cult Recruiting Tactics #5 – 7: Throughout my time as a JW I had many, many doubts. But the WTBTS (like any good cult) has very effective "Thought Stopping" ways to deal with that:

  • Keep studying the Bible (and the WT publications) and you'll understand later, or
  • Pray to Jehovah, or
  • Doubts are from Satan

  Eventually, the evidence was just too overwhelming to my logical mind and sense of justice that this religion was false just like every other one and was in fact of the cult end of the religious spectrum.

  By this time, I'd been an elder for over a decade and had a family with children that I was raising in the cult. I tried for six or seven years to find a way to leave with my family intact. It eventually became obvious that my born-in wife would never leave. So I went to "Plan B" and tried to figure out how to leave and maintain a relationship with my two teenage sons.

  Unfortunately, I was better at indoctrinating them in the bullshit creeds and beliefs of this destructive religion than I was at forming unbreakable bonds of love with them.

  I left the religion eleven years ago, and although I am technically still a JW "in good standing," my two sons continue to shun me simply because I no longer attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall.

  I truly, truly hate this fucking religion.

  Let's review: It's a cult!
  
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  16

  Why do the Elders stress the importance of meeting attendance....

  by Davros in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why do the elders always stress to the rank and file members of the congregation how important meeting attendance is, as well as the importance of always paying attention to every word that's being presented from the slave?

  but then, during the meeting, they rarely sit and pay attention themselves to the wonderful spiritual banquet being presented?

  they always seem so busy, don't they?

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  jp1692

  Because they're told to.

  It really is that simple.
  
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  15

  have you heard anything ?

  by lancelink in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was a witness from grade school ( 1976) until 2007. i seem to remember an important aspect that was always talked about at the hall as being a fact.they would say that "the rocks themselves would cry out" if the public preaching work was to stop,,,,, all i've seen and heard these past few months are the witnesses complaining about the witnessing work coming to a halt.but i've not heard one rock crying .. .

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  jp1692

  The rocks are all pretty quiet here in sunny SoCal.

  But you should hear the ocean’s roar!

  
  
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  158

  8 Documents Arrived Today!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1.--authorization and release agreementfor disaster relief medical assistance.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------2.--for the attention of all elders------------------------------------------------------------------.

  3.--additional direction regarding assistance with practical needs------------------------------------------------------------------.

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  jp1692

  Thanks as always, Petra!