Swan

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Posts by Swan

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  9

  To all my Fellow Klutzy Friends.................

  by whyamihere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have had one hell of morning fulfilling in a klutziness state...... i was walking into jack's(my son)room to make his bed and clean up the toys.

  well, as i walked towards his room i miss calculated the door way smashing my foot and smacking my shoulder.

  i went flying into the room landing on the bed.

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  Swan

  No dear, I think you are the only one.

  Tammy
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  21

  What's the JW take on the medical condition Gender Identity Disorder?

  by HappyAtheist in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  hi from the uk.

  here the national health service (nhs) says that gender identity disorder (gid) aka transexualism can be effectively treated by hormones and surgery so people can live as the gender they 'know' themselves to be.

  however, i'm told that despite the condition being medically recognised that jw believe it is a 'lifestyle choice' (presumably like 'choosing' to be straight or gay as we all do :-) ) and one worthy of disfellowshipping.

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  Swan

  Swan...There is another interesting text about eunuchs in the NT that seems pertinent

  Yes, it does. Very interesting. I wonder why the WTBTS, always quoting Josephus for everything else, fails to mention this passage. They don't want to bring attention to Acts 8 and Matthew 19, maybe?

  Tammy
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  21

  What's the JW take on the medical condition Gender Identity Disorder?

  by HappyAtheist in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  hi from the uk.

  here the national health service (nhs) says that gender identity disorder (gid) aka transexualism can be effectively treated by hormones and surgery so people can live as the gender they 'know' themselves to be.

  however, i'm told that despite the condition being medically recognised that jw believe it is a 'lifestyle choice' (presumably like 'choosing' to be straight or gay as we all do :-) ) and one worthy of disfellowshipping.

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  Swan

  In Hobart Central congregation a transexual (Man -> Woman) started a bible study and coming to meetings. On her first meeting she went into the ladies toilet. There was an uproar, and she was told only to use the handicapped toilet.

  The congregation wrote to the Australian bethel and the verdict was that to get baptised she would have to start dressing and acting as a man again. Any operations that she may have had were irrelevant, being born a man the Watchtower stance was that she must revert back to the gender of her birth.

  Needless to say she stopped studying sometime afterwards.

  I just remembered something. In Acts (chapter 8 I think), Philip the Evangelizer, one of the 12 apostles, started preaching to an Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch asked "There is a body of water; what prevents me from being baptized?" And Philip baptized him then and there. He didn't tell him to wear a fake beard, talk in a deep voice, to start dating women, or any such nonsense like that. He, and apparently Christ, just accepted this eunuch "as is."

  Tammy
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  21

  What's the JW take on the medical condition Gender Identity Disorder?

  by HappyAtheist in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  hi from the uk.

  here the national health service (nhs) says that gender identity disorder (gid) aka transexualism can be effectively treated by hormones and surgery so people can live as the gender they 'know' themselves to be.

  however, i'm told that despite the condition being medically recognised that jw believe it is a 'lifestyle choice' (presumably like 'choosing' to be straight or gay as we all do :-) ) and one worthy of disfellowshipping.

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  Swan

  I can't quote any WTs, but I would venture that transexualism is prohibited because men are expected to dress as men, and women as women.

  There is a scripture in Deuteronomy they like to bring up, conveniently ignoring that it is an Israelite law, which JWs are no longer supposed to be bound by. That is one way to refute it, but maybe the best way to refute it is to tell them that there is a verse nearby prohibiting the wearing of polyester suits! Then counter with the argument that their own Bible says that when God created humans, it says "male AND female he created them." Not male OR female! And in fact, some babies are born with both male and female genitalia. They also believe that life as an individual in God's eyes begins at conception. Hence, abortion is wrong. If that is true, then how can all the men in the congregation, including the elders and Governing Body, be in good standing when they all started life as girls! Hormones to change some girls into boys are naturally introduced to the embryo weeks later. Do they all need to start living as women to be acceptable JWs in God's eyes? There are so many ways you can twist around their arguments, but the bottom line is, like homosexuality, they will never accept it. Hopefully with these arguments your brother can at least shut them up. Good luck to him! Tammy
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  18

  Whats the aim of the people in charge?

  by JoeSinclair in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was about to post another reply to my previous thread but i decided a new thread would be appropriate for this question.. i have learned a lot in the last few days about the jw organisation and the waverings towards cult-like behaviour.

  i have read web sites listing cult like characteristics and then examples of what the watchtower chaps have done that looks similar.

  it was tempting, at first, to think that i am hearing from a collective of disaffected people who have been hard done by and to assume the reality lies somewhere nearer the middle than you guys say it is.

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  Swan

  Welcome Joe!

  I think it is a mixture, myself. I think that Pastor Russell genuinely believed his own horse puckey. When he died Rutherford wrested control away for himself, and I think he knew it was all BS. I think Fred Franz really believed all of his pet theories that he expounded in numerous publications. Knorr may have believed it, but I think it was more likely that as a business man, he knew which side his bread was buttered.

  I think many of the Governing Body believe their own rhetoric. I think they are probably, in-part, a victim of the cult-like system which they themselves have perpetuated to enslave others. So I don't hold them blameless, for they are complicit in many hypocritical things that they have rationalized to themselves.

  A great book to read on the subject is Raymond Franz' (nephew of Fred Franz) Crisis of Conscience in which he becomes a member of the Governing Body, discovers many of its lies and hypocrisy, and leaves the Governing Body because he cannot conscientiously support it any longer.

  Tammy
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  54

  From Lurker to Newbie

  by Warlock in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is my first post and it is extremely difficult, but where else can i go?

  i'm sure not going to join another religion and most of you have been where i have.

  just for the record, i was a drunk, drug addict and dabbler in spiritism when i began studying, which also makes it difficult, because the j.w.

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  Swan

  Welcome Warlock!
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  11

  Being a JW is smart; Until you do STUPID things to remain being one....

  by BecauseImBroken in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so it begins....

  a lot.

  her 3rd in 2 years, and 2nd in 6 months.

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  Swan

  Welcome!

  I admire your gumption and taking the high road about squealing. It's good that you are following your own rules and not theirs. They have no authority over you any more, and they damn well know it. Hence the threat against your father. Hang tight and it may all work out for the best even yet.

  Tammy
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  27

  My Friend died

  by pratt1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a few weeks ago i posted that a very good friend of mine from childhood was diagnoised with terminal colon cancer.. we were very close growing up in the dubdum, and we were in each others wedding party.

  our kids reffered to each of us as uncle and his kids look towards my parents as their grandparents.. we drifted apart after i left the lie, but we managed to stay in touch infrequently even if only to keep updated on the kids or other family members.. fortunately for me, i was able to spent a lot of time with him while he was in the hospital and hospice, and we reconnected as friends almost like the old days.

  on may 19th, although it was the day before my family vacation and i had a lot of running around to do, me and my wife went to see him.

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  Swan

  I'm so sorry for your loss.

  Tammy
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  44

  1st post here, on a journey of discovery...

  by kerc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so after a very, very slow process, thinking over things that were stored in a little box in a corner of my mind, i've decided to finally confirm or deny all the doubts i've had about the society.

  i'm a 34 year-old married man, work as an it consultant, with two kids, ages 9 and 2. i was "born" in the organization.

  so i took everything as true, never questioned anything, and did all that was asked from me.

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  Swan

  Welcome Kerc!
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  44

  1st post here, on a journey of discovery...

  by kerc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so after a very, very slow process, thinking over things that were stored in a little box in a corner of my mind, i've decided to finally confirm or deny all the doubts i've had about the society.

  i'm a 34 year-old married man, work as an it consultant, with two kids, ages 9 and 2. i was "born" in the organization.

  so i took everything as true, never questioned anything, and did all that was asked from me.

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  Swan

  Welcome Arthur!