scratchme1010

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Posts by scratchme1010

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  20

  Watchtower says: if your unbelieving relatives think you are in a cult, try to see things from their point of view

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  12 have empathy for unbelieving relatives.

  while we may be overjoyed about the bible truths we have learned, our relatives may mistakenly believe that we have been tricked or have become part of a cult.

  we should show empathy by trying to see things from their viewpoint and by listening carefully to discern their real concerns.

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  scratchme1010

  I didn't read your entire post, cognisonance, but the very beginning of your post title says it all and reveals the irony: "Watchtower says".

  For as long as what they say goes, people can go out and inquire.
  
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  42

  Why Are More JWs Claiming to be Anointed?

  by Ding in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  most jws i know claim they are happy being in the great crowd.

  they'd rather live on a paradise earth and pet lions than go to heaven.. heaven is a place they can't relate to, a place where they don't expect their friends and loved ones to be.. so why are more and more jws claiming to be of the anointed?.

  aren't they looked down upon as if they are crazy, proud, ignorant, or engaging in apostate thinking?.

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  scratchme1010

  Most JWs I know claim they are happy being in the great crowd.

  They'd rather live on a paradise earth and pet lions than go to heaven.

  Heaven is a place they can't relate to, a place where they don't expect their friends and loved ones to be.
  

  So why are more and more JWs claiming to be of the anointed?

  Aren't they looked down upon as if they are crazy, proud, ignorant, or engaging in apostate thinking?

  From the Wikipedia:

  "Grandiose delusions (GD), delusions of grandeur, expansive delusions or megalomania are a subtype of delusion that occur in patients suffering from a wide range of psychiatric diseases, including two-thirds of patients in manic state of bipolar disorder, half of those with schizophrenia, patients with the grandiose subtype of delusional disorder, and a substantial portion of those with substance abuse disorders. GDs are characterized by fantastical beliefs that one is famous, omnipotent, wealthy, or otherwise very powerful. The delusions are generally fantastic and typically have a religious, science fictional, or supernatural theme. There is a relative lack of research into GD, in contrast to persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations. About 10% of healthy people experience grandiose thoughts but do not meet full criteria for a diagnosis of GD."

  From me:

  Attention seeking is on the rise. Every person now seems to want to be noticed, some of them at any cost.
  
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  28

  When do you think the 7 clowns will add more members to the exclusive GB club ?

  by Chook in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  will they draw a new name out of a hat or do a kiss test i don't know..

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  scratchme1010

  When do you think the 7 clowns will add more members to the exclusive GB club ?
  

  I don't think of them at all. Can't care less.
  
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  18

  Where is the proof?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all know that the governing body claim to be "god's representatives" and the "faithful and discreet slave" that dispenses spiritual food..... but where is the proof?.

  according to the bible (if we just for a moment take it as a reliable source), all of god's representatives in the past furnished proof of their appointment - not just self referential claims or statements.. for instance, moses and aaron performed miracles before pharaoh (such as the snake staffs.).

  other prophets performed signs and miracles such as making the sun stand still, healing sick people, making walls fall down, etc etc.... even jesus performed miracles as proof of his divine appointment!.

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  scratchme1010

  What can they point to as PROOF CONCLUSIVE that they have been appointed by the Almighty to tell us all what to do?
  

  The same proof that Christians have to say that the bible is the word of god. "The bible is the word of god because the bible says so".
  
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  23

  Did a current or ex-JW help you to awaken?

  by TweetieBird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  was there something that was said to you that got the wheel turning in your brain, that caused you to start waking up to ttatt, either by a jw or ex-jw that you didn't know was awake?

  i'm trying to think of things i can say or ask of my current family members still in that may help them to start seeing the real truth about the organization.

  they think we're still in..

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  scratchme1010

  People like to say you can't wake up a JW they have todo it themselves. I agree to a point but having the information out there is very important so when one is ready they can wake up. Plantings seeds is also very helpful and this is what helped to wake me and a friend up. So I think it's very important that former JWs stay active in planting seeds and activism.

  Don't let people saying JWs won't wake up unless their ready stop you!

  I completely agree. I think something more accurate to say is that people cannot expect immediate results by showing things like facts and their own misleading words. But yes, some ex-JWs start rethinking and replaying past conversations, and remember things they have heard prior, but under a different light.
  

  If at all, it takes time.
  
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  6

  My non-belief actually make me a more moral person!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  no doubt we have all heard the statement from witnesses and christians in general that those who leave the faith only do so because they want to sin, or they feel guilty or whatever.... the reality is, i reckon we are all more "moral" now that we have left!.

  many of us contribute to humanitarian efforts, community groups, welfare groups, etc.. many of us actually do something tangible to assist people.. we don't look with critical eyes on them or their lives.. and most importantly, we do not joyfully await the mass genocide of men, women, children and babies by a petty, jealous, and tyrannical god!.

  thoughts?.

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  scratchme1010

  I have shared several times the same thing. I started, and I still do, feel more respectable, decent and with better morals once I left. Part of it (in my case at least) was that since I was born in I felt I never had the opportunity of defining my own set of values or to choose to be a good decent person on my own. All I heard during my life as a JW was that we have to do this or that because Jehovah says so.

  Then there is the proverbial "do as I say not as I do" culture I grew up in my JW family and the congregations. I saw way too many two-faced hypocrites to mention.

  Finally I realize that spirituality, and therefore, our own sense of decency and morals, come from the inside out, not from the outside in. Good, healthy spirituality gives you that same sense of being a morally clean person, as opposed to those morally bankrupted hypocrites in the WT who only behave in a seemingly moral way superficially.
  
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  1

  JWs are more at fault than those Bible writers

  by venus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  bible writers were somewhat naïve with regard to many subjects.

  through old testament, bible writers paint a god who exalts one nation over others.

  and through new testament, they paint him who exalts one of his children over the rest (something god cannot do—deuteronomy 10:17; romans 2:11).

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  scratchme1010

  They simply ignore all the mistakes Bible writers have made, and also try to justify them wherever possible.
  

  Or every bible believer ignores that possibility that the bible may not have anything to do with god.
  
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  14

  Going out in service.

  by Fader812 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i loved going out in service, i would empty my book bag out on the counter at the laundromat, walk out and go get a doughnut, i had a lot of hours and placements on my time card.

  i really hated talking to people, the anxiety was too much for me to handle, good thing my service partner felt the same way..

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  scratchme1010

  ...good thing my service partner felt the same way.
  

  How so? As a JW I never had one person that would go with me to preach, and I never had a saying about who I'd go with. We were always paired up with people. You always went to preach with that one person only?
  
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  4

  Is there a risk using jw library app on cellphone

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a question about the use of the jw library app on your cellphone.. the app is mainly used by jw and maybe interested people.

  in this world of big data, and less privacy, any government can track users of this app.. it's no problem when there is nothing at stake.. but, many governments, even the more secular like france and germany, have made restrictions for jw's.. what if you are a government official and jw?

  do you want to be tracked for being one?.

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  scratchme1010

  But, many Governments, even the more secular like France and Germany, have made restrictions for JW's.
  

  I'd suggest to check your local laws.
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  6

  What do you Think Would Happen ... if ...?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what do you think would happen.... .

  if the size of your city doubled and the increase in population was because jehovah's witnesses had moved in?.

  or scientologists?

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  scratchme1010

  It's been a while since I last came across one of those if scenarios. Who knows?