Posts by TheRedPill

It seems to me that the ones who think that we are "horrible" are the ones without enough personal and mental strength to really examine where they are at. The people in our life that feel like that, and won't speak with us are, for the most part, people that are blind "sheep," only doing what they are told and never wondering why. They are uninterested in reasons, they only can do what "big brother" tells them to do. It is heart breaking. My wife had an experience today with someone that we knew for a long time that she ran into. The lady tried to just stay away, but Jen yelled "Hello _______!!!' across the room. Haha. I tell you what, if being a "horrible person" means that you are an intelligent, reasonable, thinking, loving, caring person than I will take a"horrible person" over a "brother" any day!!!

23

Hi -New Here

by RandomTask in

i want to share since i'm new here!

i was more or less born into the jw religion and raised as one.

my mom was a pretty strict believer, but she didn't get baptized until i was 9, "surprisingly" my parents got divorced three years later.

TheRedPill

Random, you are absolutely right...(My wife wrote the first reply--now its me) It is many times much easier to simply be told what to do, and to be told that if you follow a set of rules that you are in a "special, saved" group. No thinking required, that's done for you.

I found that life was actually much simpler when I was part of it. My salvation was in someone elses hands. I really wasn't responsible since I relied completely on a group of guys in NY to show me the way to God. Since leaving I realize that there is one person in charge of my future...me. There was a time when I was scared to leave. It took a while for the little hairs on the back of my neck to quit raising up every time I thought about Armageddon. The biggest thing that helped that go away was my own research. It is spouted many times in WT publications that people say that thery are "not interested" to JW's at their door for years and then something happens to them and they "see the light" and decide to become a Witness themselves. I think the reverse is also true. Anyone who wants to will eventually find their way out...even if they are seemingly stuck right now. It concerns me as well that some people are stuck, but so was I...so were you for that matter. However, things change and we all move forward with our lives. I think we cause pain by trying to force things before our lives are ready for it to happen.

23

Hi -New Here

by RandomTask in

i want to share since i'm new here!

i was more or less born into the jw religion and raised as one.

my mom was a pretty strict believer, but she didn't get baptized until i was 9, "surprisingly" my parents got divorced three years later.

TheRedPill

Hi Random Task!

Like yourself, my husband and I left the organization together. Luckily, my side of the family left as well, but his side are still "true believers" no matter what the organization does. We have been out for two years now and still receive the Watchtower and Awake from his mom. What's funny is, the more we read the publications, the more we feel that we made the right choice! The inconsistencies and the hypocrisy are what drove us out. My husband had some serious theological questions regarding basic teachings and could not get any answers out of the local elders or the printed material. All the elder could say was "why is it such a big deal?"

We have come to the conclusion that although being part of the Borg was not for us, IT IS for some people. His family are classic examples. They are perfectly happy were they are at and we feel that it would only be destructive to take it away from them. I don't think that people are doomed to everlasting destruction for being a JW any more than they are doomed for not being one. We also felt that not "officially" withdrawing was the best way to go for similar reasons. It would cause serious divisions in his family if we did. So we try to remain semi-anonymous as well. (except for my picture posted on Mulan's thread--haha!)

Anyway, I always say take your time before you make any decisions regarding who you talk to about this. Once you've told someone you can't take it back. I think that those that are saying to live a life that proves the WT wrong about "apostates" (term used VERY loosely) are correct. Just make sure that WHEN your family begin to have questions about the organization that you are there to fully support them. Hang in there!!!

9

Are Muslims backed by the Christian God?

by TheRedPill in

i was reading in the book of a genesis today and came across an interesting set of scriptures, genesis 21:17-21. it talks about how after abraham sent hagar and ishmael from her house, hagar wandered about in the wilderness and finally, after running out of water, sat down with her baby ishmael and prepared to die.

gods angel then appeared to hagar and told her to rise up, and that ishmael would be the father to a great nation.

he then led her to water and hagar and ishmael and she lived a prosperous life in the wilderness of paran.

TheRedPill

spider,

I have been dealing with the same types of things since leaving. Naoh's flood, The Red Sea, Jonah, other "miracles" that happened in the OT, even the miracles that that Jesus performed are all seeming rather illogical to me. They are all taught to be so literal, yet I am starting to lean more toward the idea of them simply being legends passed down from parents to children. These legends become embellished, and instead of true, accurate, literal accounts, they simply become the "Aesop's Fables" of ancient times. The stories are inaccurate, however the moral of the story is still there.

I just thought it was interesting how all my life I skipped over, or it was never pointed out to me, that God promised the Muslims the same eventuality as the Christians. Again I am led to ask if you have to be Christian to obtain salvation.

6

Questions for Amazing and real estate agents?

by Leander in

jw
friends

i think i've reached the end of my candle with full time corporate jobs.

sitting in one spot for 8-10 hours is getting harder and harder for me.

i've been kind of kicking the idea around of becoming a real estate agent.

TheRedPill

I am a mortgage broker and work on a commission basis as well. My big piece of advice is make sure that you have a way to bring in some money while you build your business. It is pretty tough going at first, but can pay big dividends after a few years.

If you are in Washington State post a reply and I can e-mail you the name of a friend of mine who is an agent. He works for a company that charges a small desk fee, not a percentage of your fees collected. He says it is a much better deal than some of the larger companies where you end up paying over $20K to use their name.

Good Luck!

25

Ear pierced

by blahman in

jw
friends

i'm a jw and i know jw's are not supposed to have tattoos but im wondering if its ok to get my ear pierced.if anyone has any information regarding this please reply.thank you.

TheRedPill

"the tattoo scripture" -- Lev 19:28. This scripture is obviously to be taken literally. "Thou shalt not get tattoo's"

Lev. 19:27 -- "You must not cut your sidelock short around, and you must not destroy the extremity of your beard." (NWT) Obviously God was just kidding with this scripture...everyone knows that you can't be a spiritual person in good standing with God if you have a beard.

Lev 19:19 -- "...and you must not put upon yourself a garment of two sorts of thread mixed together" (NWT) Damn...there goes almost all of my District Convention suits...

9

Are Muslims backed by the Christian God?

by TheRedPill in

i was reading in the book of a genesis today and came across an interesting set of scriptures, genesis 21:17-21. it talks about how after abraham sent hagar and ishmael from her house, hagar wandered about in the wilderness and finally, after running out of water, sat down with her baby ishmael and prepared to die.

gods angel then appeared to hagar and told her to rise up, and that ishmael would be the father to a great nation.

he then led her to water and hagar and ishmael and she lived a prosperous life in the wilderness of paran.

TheRedPill

I was reading in the book of a Genesis today and came across an interesting set of scriptures, Genesis 21:17-21. It talks about how after Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael from her house, Hagar wandered about in the wilderness and finally, after running out of water, sat down with her baby Ishmael and prepared to die. Gods angel then appeared to Hagar and told her to rise up, and that Ishmael would be the father to a great nation. He then led her to water and Hagar and Ishmael and she lived a prosperous life in the wilderness of Paran.

I would like to know what others think about the promise that God made that Ishmael would be father to a great nation. Muhammad believed that he was a descendant of Ishmael, and so, those of the Muslim faith follow the teachings of Ishmaels line. Why do you think God promised that Ishmaels descendants (Muslims) would become a great nation, as well as promise Isaac that his descendants (Jews/Christianity) would also become a great nation. Growing up as a JW I was always told how Gods promise to Abraham about Isaac was a prophetic sign that Christianity was the true religion. Does anyone have any thoughts on:

1.) Why the promise to Ishmael is not treated with the same weight as the promise to Isaac

2.) Why the God of the future Christians would promise that the line of people that Muslims came from would be a great nation.

3.) How it seems that the feud between Isaac and Ishmael continues today through the Christian/Muslim wars.

15

Advice needed- please help!

by detective in

jw
friends

yesterday i received a surprise phone call from my jw friend.

we met up and uhhh, it was quite the mind-blowing event.

i can't believe it.

TheRedPill

The hardest part for me about leaving was losing the "hair standing up on the back of my neck" feeling that I was going to die at Armageddon. Leaving an organization that convinces you that all outsiders will die is very difficult. CoC really helped me because it took many of the dotrines that I had questions about and broke them down for me. I saw another side to the issues. It was nice to realize that I didn't HAVE TO ACCEPT the interpretation presented by Franz, but that it was just another possible way of looking at things. As a witness, that is an entirely new experience.

The other thing that helped me lose my feeling of dread was understanding WHY I was leaving the organization. I still believed in Christianity, morality and God. I just didn't believe in some of the doctrines that JW's taught. Many of those doctrines MUST be accepted to maintain a good standing in the congregation. That was the reason I had to leave, I couldn't accept them. I feel that even if I am wrong, I can honestly stand before God and say that I left for the right reasons. I left in my search for Him and the real "truth."

I would say certainly show him CoC. It helps to show that JW's while, in general, are good people...they don't necessarily have the one and only true religion. My experience is that that is rather comforting while leaving.

Best wishes to both of you. It's a difficult journey. Take it slow. Also, I agree with Joelbear...Do it quietly. There is no reason for him to force the ones that he cares about to shun him.

Take care--TheRedPill

38

Cases involving minors

by TheMatrix in

jw
friends

many on this forum criticize elders as being incompetent.

i've know a few myself, but you must agree that there are also very good elders also.. well, here is a case and i would like to know what you would do if you were an elder.. a fourteen (14) year old male has sex with a twelve (12) year old female.

the female confesses to her parents and the parents report to the elders.

TheRedPill

matrix,

once again you pull a great argument technique for the foundationally challenged. Ask a very general question so that you can say WRONG ANSWER and then give a very specific "right answer." Again the issue is the morality of reporting the child abuse to the authorities, an issue which you have yet to address...

BTW, great photo for such a learned Witness. Love the gun.