Posts by Swan

28

Did anything stick?

by agapa37 in

jw
friends

i know that many who left the organization left for there own reasons, which are interestingly similar.

is there anything (teaching) that stuck with them.

i am mainly refering to the princibles that are taught.

Lots of people turn their lives around without the JWs. People are basically good, anyway. There's AA, NA and other groups that people go to for help to change. There are counselors, therapists, and rehab that people go to for help. Some people have found the fortitude within their own selves to change. These people never needed the JWs to do that.

I still think I'm a very kind and caring person without the JWs. I do speak my mind and think my own thoughts now, so maybe that makes me evil in their eyes because I am a free thinker and not a robot.

I don't smoke; but just because someone smokes, it doesn't make them evil. Lot's of good people smoke. Smoking isn't a healthy habit, but it certainly isn't the evil demonistic practice the JWs claim either.

Tammy

12

How many JWs are there worldwide?

by klydia in

jw
friends

sorry, i'm having a hard time finding this information!

do they still print it on the back of their literature?

thanks for you help :)

Swan

Welcome K lydia !

80

All sex in dangerous and sinful

by Norm in

for the umpteenth time the watchtower society has published an article about sex.. this time i am referring to some material they have seen fit to publish on their website:whats wrong with premarital sex?.

http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2004/7/22a/article_01.htm.

as we know god is extremely preoccupied with sex.

Swan

No greater effort could be made on both your parts...I'd nominate you both for an award if one such existed.

DB74

I was rather surprised when I read your post, and then I looked at it more closely. At first I thought you said, "I'd dominate you both for an award if one such existed."

Tammy

55

for atheists/agnostics

by BlackSwan of Memphis in

jw
friends

how did you get to the point where you are at now?

was it primarily new information that made you rethink religion and god?

learning about the ice age, the universe, the fossils out there?

Swan

Hi Swan, I understood your point, I'm not saying that Athiest's dont want a better life for their kids or hope for a better world. Isn't hope something great that you have yet to attain for the future? After ones short 70 or 80 years of life, a mere speck on the scale of time, what hope can there be after that with no God If theres even a slight chance that there is a God, and he has a reward for us for the future... then I want to be a part of it, for that is the hope I have.

That's a great hope, Saki, and I understand it perfectly. I wouldn't disillusion you of it. But my hope is to play a small part in the growth of humankind. I hope that I am making the world a better place in the here and now.

And if it turns out there is a God with a great reward for the future, I would be most pleasantly surprised and happy to learn of Him. I think He would be a far more amazing being than the Bible portrays Him. I think He would certainly understand the skeptical nature of those of us who cannot believe in him any more.

Tammy

21

Who would tell 9/11 survivors to just get over it?

by Swan in

maybe the same people who post on this board and tell us to just get over it.

i get so tired of them dismissing our experiences and trauma by saying "why do you have to tear jehovah's organization down?

just get over it and move on!".

Swan

It's called: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
People don't just get OVER PTSD...........
Spiritual abuse counts as PTSD!!!!

CodeBlue, have you found that many in society think you should just be tough and shrug it off? Especially here in America. I think 9/11 may have been a turning point in how society thinks about PTSD. People are starting to understand its severity, but there is still a segment of society that thinks that people who go through trauma should be like John Wayne. You should snap out of it, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and keep going. Tammy

34

Do You Think ExJWs Go To The Other Extreme When They Leave The Organization

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know that i am enjoying some of the things i would've gotten involved with had i not been raised in the "truth".

Swan

Okay, now that I've started to keep track, I realize that I do have an extreme problem. I have made 11 calculations today alone. Two of them were in the hexadecimal numbering system. I think I'm a calcaholic!

Tammy

55

for atheists/agnostics

by BlackSwan of Memphis in

jw
friends

how did you get to the point where you are at now?

was it primarily new information that made you rethink religion and god?

learning about the ice age, the universe, the fossils out there?

Swan

No, I'm not Athiest or Agnostic, but rather a believer in God. A believer in the God that you once served.. Jehovah. I personally cannot grasp the concept of or even want to grasp the concept of their not being a God. Yes, I personally dont find the meetings all that exciting, but for me what keeps me going in life itself, is knowing there is hope. Hope for a better life. I will now fight to my death in defense of not just growing old, dying and thats it. I want what "Jehovah" promises. I want that paradise. I want my kids to grow up in that fantasy world as you all now see it. Just looking up into the sky on a dark night, showing my kids the absolute beauty of the heavens... real beauty... and all from nothing? I know, its much more complicated than I would like to believe... but that hope of a better life is what I'm living for.

Saki2Fifty,

I think you are missing the point. You assume that an Atheist or Agnostic has no hope, has no appreciation of the beauty of the universe, or doesn't care about a better life for their kids.

You can have all of those things and still not believe in God. You can have morals, ethics, dreams, and hopes and still not have to believe in God. You can wonder at the beauty of the universe, and be profoundly moved by it. You can be deeply spiritual. In some ways, you feel those things even deeper, because you realize that life is very precious, and fleeting, so you live your life to the fullest, and to do your best to leave a legacy for generations to come. Life becomes valuable because you know there is not going to be some divine being popping in to save your butt at the last minute. It's all up to you, and that challenge is what makes life worth living.

Tammy

17

Hiding from the reality

by KW13 in

jw
friends

.

as a dub, were the days you doubted it was the truth, maybe even for a split second?.

i remember, i was always thinking about something related to that, wondering 'what if its not the truth'..

Swan

Yes, starting in my teens I had doubts. And then I felt guilty about those doubts, so I tried to ignore them. I studied even harder. This brought even more questions and doubts to mind. Eventually I left, but even with all those doubts, I still thought there was a chance they might be right! Isn't that pathetic?

Tammy

55

for atheists/agnostics

by BlackSwan of Memphis in

jw
friends

how did you get to the point where you are at now?

was it primarily new information that made you rethink religion and god?

learning about the ice age, the universe, the fossils out there?

Swan

The fact that this god demands worship, and will kill you if you don't exclusively worship him, immediately makes old Jehovah very suspect indeed.

Yeah, I noticed that too. Not only does he require worship, but it has to be a specific way wearing certain clothes by only select priests. Also, beyond worship, he demands love and blind faith. He's very needy of our attention. If people don't worship him, he gets petulant and lets marauders invade the land and kill men, women, and children. He plays favorites. And for a spirit creature, he is awfully preoccupied with human sexuality and the aroma of burning meat and fat upon an altar. I like the smell of BBQ too, but he seems obsessed with it.

The more I read about him, the more I realize that he is a fictional character in a badly written book with little or no consistency in how he is portrayed between different authors.

Tammy

55

My Whole Life Seems Like A Fabrication

by Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit in

i'm brand new here but have been reading for months.

my sincere thanks to those who have come before me, shown me that i'm not alone, that i'm not nuts and not a loser.

i was raised a hoho, pioneered my best years away, i married a nice brother, my dad was an elder, one or of both my parents have been pioneers for 30 years+, we hosted bethel speakers and gb members in our home, my parents have had numerous circuit ass.

Swan

Welcome JC!