Posts by scratchme1010

I don't know why people are complaining about the privacy issue. Do people really didn't know that there's a risk when you volunteer to place all your information online? I have a hard time understanding that.

16

Retirement Planning

by Whynot in

jw
friends

since waking up i can't help but look at the future in a different way.

while i was working i felt it was ridiculous for me to start a 401k because i thought for sure the end would come before i retired.

but now, i'm a stay at home mom with very small children and it bothers me that i have done nothing to prepare for the future.

scratchme1010

This is a great topic. Something that I feel sad about (many times) about some ex-JWs is that many refuse to let go and remain in JW "mode", meaning that they still don't take care about the reality of their lives and instead waste their time trying to start crusades against the WT or investing their time and energy in making a point to them.

I did make a point to them. I was angry for some time, but at some point I realized that I had to let go of whatever crap they come up with and concentrate in building and managing the life I want for myself. That includes financial planning.

I had no clue on how to do that, and growing up with both my family's poverty mentality (for some reason my parents thought that having money is a bad thing) and the JWs teachings didn't help at all. It was difficult at first since I had this constant nagging feeling of "I'm never going to catch up; it's useless to even attempt to catch up". But then I realize, well, if I never catch up it's better to die trying.

Time goes fast, life is too short, and next I knew was me having a good path towards retirement. This is what I did:

Let go of the mother fucking Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watchtower and all the useless shit they say, didn't say or changed. It's a total waste of time to continue scrutinizing what they say. I got it the first time, they lie, they are not the truth and what they say doesn't matter, period. I moved the fuck on. Every second that I waste trying to prove them wrong translates into time and energy I'm wasting and missing towards building my own life.
Education and research. I read books, looked for information on the basics on financial planning, such as, getting or never incurring in debt, investments, benefits offered by employers, maintaining a lifestyle within my means. learn, learn, learn.
Changed my attitude about money. Talking about money is not a bad thing. It used to be seen as something distasteful or something you just don't talk about. That's bullshit. Money is to be managed properly and there's no way to do that without learning and talking about it.
Got rid of the stupid poverty mentality and catastrophic thinking about today's reality and the world that the WT promotes. The time is now to take care of myself. Nothing more stupid than thinking that nothing we do or plan today is going to be destroyed soon. Fuck that shit. None of them pay my rent.
Get rid of the black-and-white mentality, the all-or-nothing nonsense that most christian religions promote. Every decision I made, including my financial ones, were impacted by that. No more.
Invested in a future, still do. I said to myself "One day i'm going to be 50, or one day I'm going to be 50 with a college degree". Guess what, I'm now pass 50. I try to use my time wisely.

The biggest challenge for me was the overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to even start. I decided to start with my feelings and attitudes. Once I got rid of the JW mentality, I started feeling less overwhelmed, and I keep my feelings of discomfort over prosperity in check. I embraced the concept of prospering and building wealth, but it was a process.

25

Jesus—a real, historical person

by Ireneus in

jesus was a real and historical person (not the way jws or the rest of the people think him to be) because of the following historical facts:.

1) the fact that the most influential political establishment of that time (roman empire) was convinced that jesus’ name would sell to suit their political agenda (to promote slavery) shows that jesus was as historical as roman empire itself; hence they implanted slavery-friendly verses into the bible as though spoken by jesus (such as mathew 5:39, 41; 24:45 ..etc) this was in contrast to the real personality jesus really was—he was a man of courage, who ‘walked alone to do what is right if those invited refused to accompany him.’ when his family and disciples were fond of sleeping, his delight was to spend early morning hours alone, in meditation, with god to the extent he could say he was “one” with qualities of god.

(mark 1:35; john 8:1, 2; 10:30) such a person would naturally be too famous and too crowd-pulling against whom even the influential people were helpless even when they were whipped out of the temple which reminds us of “hollywood rambo style” merely because of his moral authority (not that he had any supernatural powers to perform miracles).. 2) similarly, emerging religion (apostate christianity) too knew they could misuse the name of jesus to serve its commercial agenda.

scratchme1010

If you are interested in non-bible, non-religious information about Jesus of Nazareth, there's an interesting documentary that i saw in National Geographic about his life.

He was a real person.

5

Satan. Lucifer. Devil

by Doug Mason in

searchable.. full contents listing at the rear.. http://www.jwstudies.com/revolutions_part_5__satan__lucifer__devil.pdf .

doug.

scratchme1010

Thanks. It looks interesting.

23

I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if "Religion" had never reared it`s head.?

by smiddy3 in

can you imagine what the world of mankind would be like if their was never any concept of a god or religious beliefs ?.

for the love of me i can`t ,maybe i don`t have an imaginative mind equipped well enough to do so .. how about you guys ?

any takers ?.

scratchme1010

Acknowledging of course that in the real world today their are two sides to the coin of "Religion" it has it`s bad side and it also has it`s good side.

Asking about a world without religion is like asking about a world without politics, or education, or sports. Spirituality is part of the human experience. Religion is how it is supposed to be expressed as a community. The same goes to government. Politics is supposed to be how it is managed as a collective.

I don't see the point in wondering about humankind lacking what actually makes us human.

5

Looking For Your Words of Wisdom and Encouragement

by new boy in

jw
friends

this one seems to sum up what religious ideologies have given the world.. i have very deeply looked into the endless destruction and genocide that religious ideologies and dogma have inflicted upon human beings.

i have seen how damaged human souls are, how deeply depressive, meaningless, and prone to exploitation are the lives that many live.

religious dogma is at the root of this epidemic meaninglessness.

scratchme1010

Religion doesn't do anything to people. People wanting shortcuts in life and try to make problems magically disappear is what gets them into believing whatever magical crap they are told.

It's about time people start taking responsibilities for what they decide to think, believe, and consequently act upon.

Alex Bogdanov, I'm going to borrow the beginning of your post. I love life so much that I don't care about anything regarding god, religion, the bible and any other related nonsense. Life's just too short to waste it in nonsense.

19

Do any of the 144,000 in heaven take part in the destruction at Armageddon?

by Bonnie_Clyde in

i wondered about that when i heard garret loesch state that shortly before the tribulation the governing body would be taken up.

.

if this is the case, it seems like garret and the other seven would be there just in time to help out in the killing of billions.. i thought they used to say that some would survive armageddon before they were taken up..

scratchme1010

Do any of the 144,000 in heaven take part in the destruction at Armageddon?

Only if they are properly dressed for the occasion.

5

Letters Project - What do I say to my family

by Odrade in

forum
links

hey my old friends, i figured since this is where we landed when we first fled the watchtower, looking for support, back in '03, maybe i should pop back in and show you my latest project - i see some familiar faces around here.

i've been working on a website to function as part story, part news.

my plan is to feature what people are doing to integrate/reintegrate into their community - whether that's remaining in the xjw circles to help others who are leaving, or moving out into the larger social sphere and starting projects, being activists for other causes, etc.

scratchme1010

Hello. I wasn't in this forum in 2003. In any event, I think that's a great idea.

I typed a few letters way back when, and I may have them in an old hard disk that I have kept for decades. They were written in AmiPro so I doubt that I could even open the files. So I don't think I could contribute.

Interesting idea nonetheless. Looking forward to see the website.

18

JW's are slaves- but not in a good way

by joey jojo in

i was reading about the american slave trade again recently.

as anyone who has read anything about the subject knows, it makes for very uncomfortable reading.

every time i read the history, i'm left with a sense of outrage and seething anger at the pure inhumanity and injustice of what life must have been like for those people.

scratchme1010

JW's are slaves- but not in a good way

First time I hear that there's a good way of being a slave.