scratchme1010

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Posts by scratchme1010

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  11

  The very first Watchtower, in the very first page, predicted the 2016 US Presidential Election!

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  don't believe me?see for yourselves!.

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  scratchme1010

  LOL!!!
  
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  20

  Round and round the not so marigoround

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find most theist arguments to be either confused or dishonest at best.

  and most of them i regard with mild annoyance.

  but there is one track of thinking that is so stupid it really gets under my skin: when, in order to try and prop up "faith", people try and tear down reason and critical thinking.

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  scratchme1010

  When, in order to try and prop up "faith", people try and tear down reason and critical thinking.
  

  I perfectly understand, and I think I see the context in which you mention that. What really annoys me are those believers that come to "ask a simple question" but don't like the answers they get, then they start showing what they really want to talk about. They start going on and on about what they want to say, completely disrespecting and dismissing any critical thinking.

  However, my personal policy is that I come here to share my thoughts, not to convince anyone of what I believe. I can't care less if people like/dislike, give me thumbs up or down over my thoughts. They belong to me, just like theirs belong to them. As annoying as they can get, the reality is that at the end of the day they all have to live with the choices they make based on their faulty logic.
  

  Why the fuck do you care what people believe?
  

  That question can go in your direction too. The question makes no sense in this context, though, considering that this is a forum for people who most likely have the same RELIGIOUS experience as being JWs.
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  26

  Bethel Library moving to Warwick, are older items 'vanishing'

  by Lostandfound in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a post re dates etc from fatfreek reference was made to huge library at bethel with items dating back to pastor rs day.

  like the year 1975 which has vanished from wt theology, are gb using move to let them put all old and inconvenient items into some sort of cold storage and off library shelves.

  already the revelation book has gone from the orgs website, and that was quite recent relatively, we studied it 3 times at congregation book study, yet now, like type and antitype it mysteriously was never there.

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  scratchme1010

  Simple question, how does keeping or throwing items will affect (a) what they said before and what they say now, (b) what they will continue changing in the future, (c) your own personal stance on the WT, or (d) what current and former JWs think of them? (OK, that was a 4-part question).
  

  In other words, how relevant it is that they keep or discard their own old literature? They cannot undo their past, and by now it's clear that they are as full of --it as they have always been, and those who choose not to accept that will continue making excuses for them, so why does it matter?
  
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  22

  The Timing of Telling My Parents My College Plans.

  by WeatherLover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know that at some point i have to tell my parents that i'm planning to go to college.

  i basically have two options:.

  1. tell them early.

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  scratchme1010

  Your pros and cons seem very clear. My question to you is, how do you plan to afford college and support yourself independently if your parents are not supportive at all and maybe shun you? My best guess is that your parents don't have a college account for you, so that means that you are going to come up with the way to pay for college. Even with financial help and loans, there are still a lot, and I mean a lot of expenses related to college.
  

  Tapioca also has a point when mentioned that going to meetings and going to college don't have to be mutually exclusive, and trust me, I saw that a lot. The last congregation I went to was in a college town, and all the time there were new JWs that started coming to meetings in that congregation because they started college. I now realize that to many of those courageous people, going to meetings in that congregation was part of their fading. I saw them starting in the congregation and slowly but surely detaching from it. Trust me, you are not the very first person going to college to run away from parents and all other stuff, JW or not.

  My suggestion is to make sure that you don't get overwhelmed with leaving the JWs, not having support, and having to support yourself at the same time that you attend and pay for college. It is a lot to deal with all at once, Trust me, I know. Plan, plan, plan. Then plan again.
  
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  29

  The true cost of being raised as a witness

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how do you view your upbringing as a witness?.

  most of us who were raised as witnesses would appreciate that some aspects of our upbringing were ok. a foundation and measure of stability came with it.. but, it struck me too, that we also lost so very much!

  and we lost a lot of potential.. by this i mean, we need to look at not just what we lost, or what was deprived of us, but what that ended up costing us as adults into the future.. if i take $10 from you, you have lost just $10.. but, if you were going to use that $10 to buy something that would end up earning you $1000, then i actually took $1000 from you!.

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  scratchme1010

  How do you view your upbringing as a witness?
  

  Most of us who were raised as witnesses would appreciate that some aspects of our upbringing were ok. A foundation and measure of stability came with it.

  But, it struck me too, that we also lost so very much! AND we lost a lot of POTENTIAL.

  By this I mean, we need to look at not just what we lost, or what was deprived of us, but what that ended up costing us as adults into the future.

  If I take $10 from you, you have lost just $10.

  BUT, if you were going to use that $10 to buy something that would end up earning you $1000, then I actually took $1000 from you!

  I believe it is the same with being raised as a witness. The way we were all discouraged from higher education for example, or discouraged from charity work, or community social activities such as team sports, ended up costing us all MUCH more in the end.

  Thoughts?
  

  Through the years I have thought about this a lot. Many times, and in different ways, also as i mature as a person my views on this have evolved.

  It really depends on how/what you look at it. There are the things that we definitely missed, as having a normal school life and hindering our development in terms of our social skills, not being able to participate in normal activities that all others can. Depending on how each JW family handled it, those handicaps may have been traumatic for some. My parents were not that great at dealing with our not participating in activities in school that JWs aren't allowed. Some were traumatic and created psychological harm in some of us. Some were mild, and in some cases, some JWs look the other way and let certain things slide and not follow (or bend) the rules a little to accommodate for their children having a sense of normalcy.

  Those are definitely things that created negative influence in out lives. However, the other side is that when I think of my own family and other JW families I know, I'm not sure that life would have been any better had it not been for the structure that the WT provides. In fact, some people do join religions and organization in attempts at obtaining guidance on how to properly raise a family. In the case of my family, the WT gave my parents something that they otherwise would have never had in their lives, that is, a sense of belonging, a way to have some education (my parents were low level literacy people; they had a 4th/6th grade education), not to mention life forever in paradise on Earth and the pride/grandiosity that comes from having "the truth". That feeling of relevance is something that kept them in the JWs for their entire lives. I don't think that they would have any of those had it not been for the WT, though I might be wrong. Speaking of which...

  The reality is that there's no guarantee that my life as a non-JW would have been good/better. There's no way to know what life would have brought me growing up outside that shield.

  Personally I have many reasons to be happy and grateful for a few things that I believe I did right:

  1. Leaving when I was still young. I send them to the carajo when I was 23, now in my 50s I have a life history that doesn't involve them.
  2. Not believing what they claimed I was supposed to be/become because I left. That's the worst part of those cults, not only they tell you how you are supposed to be, but they also try to convinced people of the kind of life that awaits them if they leave. I always took that as BS.
  3. Embracing my JW past. I know that there are instances when I felt it was not appropriate nor in my best interest to disclose my JW past, but I am not ashamed nor embarrassed for it, especially since being a JW was not my choice.
  4. Letting go. I didn't become vindictive, nor did I become "anti-JW". I decided that I can't care less about what they do or say, for as long as they don't slander me, in which case they I will see them in court. Other than that, I do not care, nor follow, nor react in any way about any change they make, any policy they adopt, nothing. I just can't care less. They can have a drag queen giving the Watchtower study for what I care. That organization is out of my life, period. I know some people are not fond of my "I don't give an eff about today's text" attitude, but I know that for myself that's the right attitude to have, because I really can't care less about them.
     
  5. Minimizing influence. I decided to properly educate myself in negative influence, looking for professionals in the matter, reading reliable sources of information, obtaining support from people who know (a) what I'm talking about when I talk about growing up a JW and (b) specialize in this kind of mental health issue. I did that as opposed to looking for the opinion of other people who can only talk about their own experiences (which are not mine) or people who don't have a clue about high demand, controlling groups, shunning and other harmful JW practices. I rely on research, people who have studied these groups at a professional level, and can understand the things that born-ins have to deal because of their negative influence and growing up in a cult.
     
  6. Remaining realistic. I acknowledge the effect and influence of that organization in my life, but I also know that I have better choices today.
  7. Reinforcing my stand and place in relationship with the WT. I always hold my family responsible for their choice of giving the WT more importance than me. I didn't choose to leave, they chose to stay, and therefore, they are the ones who have the responsibility of looking for me, and the ones with the consequences.

  The good thing about being aware of the things you mention, stuckinarut2, is that we now have better choices, and we come to appreciate a lot of things that many people take for granted. That makes us special and more appreciative and grateful for the things that we do have, and for the fact that we were able to leave.
  
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  21

  The sly tactics the elders are using to malign my name!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have had it confirmed now, that since stopping attending over 18 months ago, the elders have set out to deliberately ruin my name and character .. they have been talking to every witness from the local area and saying things like "be careful of him, he has the ability to implant thoughts in your minds, and he only pretends to be kind and caring".

  so, all i have to say to them is, "bravo!

  if that is the method you want to employ, you have reached the very depths of bad behaviour!".

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  scratchme1010

  Hello. And my two cents:

  ...he has the ability to implant thoughts in your minds, and he only pretends to be kind and caring...
  

  You are dealing with a bunch of people who believe that you have such great superpowers of implanting thoughts in people's minds, this magical ability of making people change their minds and put them against the believes that they have to reinforce on a daily basis so easily that they have to be warned by one of their authority figures.

  According to the elder, in a single conversation you can trick them into disregarding everything and anything they have done for them in that organization. And you can accomplish that (that's the kicker!) by being kind to them.
  

  When you look at how ridiculously laughable that is, maybe the fact that they are slandering you in such lame way may make you feel above them enough not to care.

  And of course, that's why fading is a process that requires planning. Fading is not just about stopping attending meetings, this is precisely the kind of crap JWs who want to fade have to prepare for. They are not going to be supportive, and they are not going to let people go by choice and because they want to. They are not going to make it easy or make people look good for leaving. No surprise there.

  That said, it's still annoying that they do that (not to mention that it's slandering). It is the best display of how immoral they really are.
  
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  2

  Row DD...

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  area lgt4, .

  block:- the graham taylor stand lg.

  row dd.

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  scratchme1010

  And I am sure a minority of those beliefs are even more wired than my former beliefs
  

  LOL! Interesting thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
  
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  5

  Lack Of Education Leads To Lost Dreams And Low Income For Many Jehovah's Witnesses

  by freemindfade in

  1. social
  2. current

  .

  http://www.npr.org/2017/02/19/510585965/poor-education-leads-to-lost-dreams-and-low-income-for-many-jehovahs-witnesses.

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  scratchme1010

  Thanks, no apologies needed. That's the most heartbreaking thing to see and in some cases, experience. Entire generations (no pun intended) of unemployed, unmarketable, undereducated JWs unable to provide for their families thanks to the WT's views on higher education.
  
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  31

  I need some advice please

  by JaMu in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i am a non-jw girl dating a jw man for almost 5 years now since end of high school.

  most of the relationship has been long distance.

  when we started dating, we wanted a serious long term relationship that would end in marriage one day.

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  scratchme1010

  Hello. Here are a few thoughts:

  In addition to all of this, he is a very stubborn person who always expects me to compromise and sacrifice things in the relationship, and always telling me that my life with him will be happier.
  

  That alone, JW or not is reason to kick him to the curb. That is never ok in any relationship, and yes, that should be a deal breaker. Furthermore, can you imagine yourself spending the rest of your entire life living with a person like that? If yes, there's no issue then. If no, really think twice before taking your relationship further.

  He is not a bad person at all, he just doesn't know how to express himself.
  

  Sounds like you are already making excuses for him behaving in a way that doesn't make you comfortable and happy. How is that your problem? And is that supposed to make it better for you?

  He's always there when i need to talk to someone and always makes me feel better and tries to make me happy...
  

  That is and will always be for as long as you keep putting up with his stubbornness and putting up with doing things the way he says, and worse, he will always give you a stupid biblical reason to do so.

  Like Dan Savage says: "DTMFA!".
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  5

  Very Good FYI! (It is about Nutrition)

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.nutritionfoodrecipes.com/2017/02/probably-didnt-know-never-eat-cucumbers-tomatoes-salad/.

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  scratchme1010

  Thanks, but I find that information difficult to digest