I must be a dunderhead--I can't find the EDIT function after I post (within the time limit) and need to make a correction.
I've hovered my pointer over everything and can't find it.
Should I try prayer and fasting??
TerryWalstrom
JoinedPosts by TerryWalstrom
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Site Update: Jan 10, 2015
by Simon ini've made some updates to the user section of the site.
besides some cosmetic tweaks the most notable new feature is the ability to see a listing of the topics someone has posted on - this includes topics they started as well as topics they replied to.. it will look like this when you go to a user page or your own profile page:.
simon.
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New member, no longer just reader...
by freemindfade inso i joined very recently and began posting and commenting without a formal intro.
been reading for a while, decided it was time to jump in.
mentally i am completely cleansed of this thing, but still have to maintain a minimal involvement for spouse and family.
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TerryWalstrom
A HUGE WELCOME!
You are in a weird spot and it must feel unbalancing at times.
I think of it--and have thought of it--a number of different ways. For instance. . .
Have you ever heard of some very prominent figure who was a war hero, and later it is discovered it was a lie?
How awkward is that?
What do you do with the built in respect once granted the phony war hero?
It was automatic--now--the basis for respect, admiration, and empathy is called to account!
When we awaken to the JW mirage, we see something quite like that before us.
_______________________
Except, in the case of JW's it is slightly different.
How so?
When we 'wake up' to the 'truth about the Truth' one nightmare ends as another begins.
We have discovered something about our own status!
We are like the folks who invested their life savings with Bernie Madoff who awoke to the headlines: FRAUD!
Now what?
The others don't know our worship is phony and our credentials are counterfeit.
The others in the Hall still insist Bernie is their guy!! They won't allow anybody to say he is a crook! They insist they'll eventually become extremely rich--if they JUST HANG IN THERE!
"Wait on Bernie. . ." echoes . . ."Wait on Jehovah. . "_________________________
Should we stand up and shout, "FRAUD" along with those who know? Or, do we keep silent?
The victims continue to treat us with solidarity, camaraderie, and equal status with themselves--only as long as we keep our big mouth shut.
_____________________________________
The problem is TWOFOLD.
1. The basis for belief vanishes between us and the Governing Body ( dogma and teachings disintegrate as corrupt.) The source authority as 'channel of communication' is revealed to be a superstition like a lucky horseshoe.
2. Our identity is dissolved into a fiction of persona. We are faking it, whereas before, we were feeling it. In effect, we are forced to become what we hate: phony poseur.
_________________________
What options are before us?
A. Go along to get along
B. Make the noises of a dissident and incur penalty
C. Go covert and plant seeds as agent provocateur.
D. Live a completely bifurcated life, a secret life. Those inside, who continue to love and respect you, are loving and respecting the 'not-you' and you are loving and respecting the 'duped-them.'
______________________
There is a fallacy: SUNK COST FALLACY
It goes like this:
"I have invested SO MUCH in this _______________; if I leave now I lose everything I've put in so far!"
It is a gambler's addiction, chasing after the Big Win to offset the losses.
There is another term for it: being a LOSER.
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The price you pay can be long, slow, painful, costly, and ruinous over time.
Or, you can take the loss up front, and walk away from the table.
There is no mechanism in place whereby a courageous, honest declaration can be made which can cause a big RETHINK, is there?
_______________________________________________
Once there was a monk named, Martin Luther. . .
________________________________________________
Once there was a young student in Tiananmen Square who faced a column of tanks. . .
_____________________________________________
The fact of the matter is a harsh and ugly one. We have, and the others have, no
model of dissidence to look toward and say to ourselves:
"He/she did it--and so can I."
____________________________________________
Yours is a life ripped apart, secretive, ambivalent, and ultimately disingenuous.
We here, on this Discussion Group, have seen thousands pass through these portals.
We are the Triage center, the emergency room, the trauma ward, and the confessional.
We are each and all different. The only commonality we share, in truth, is we truly believed with all of our hearts one of the most insidious lies ever told.
Our hearts have a jagged tear, and the temporary Jehovah-shaped hole has cried out
to be filled with all sorts of nonsense.
So, bottom line?
We welcome you. We have been you. We are you.
Keep on keepin' on--and do the best you can along the way.
We appreciate the hurt which is your daily bread.
We are privileged and humbled by your demonstration of conscious integrity and
rational choice.
Now you stand to become the change in the world you wish to see happen.
Welcome!
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How would they explain this one?
by StarTrekAngel inwhile there is plenty of pressure for young jws to refrain from every act of premarital sex, self pleasuring or by engaging with others, there isn't a whole lot of advice on the bible regarding this aspect.
i have just recently began to wonder about it so the only thing i can recall regarding this on the scriptures, is the famous words recorded in 1 cor 7:39 or any other paragraph that speaks against sexual immorality.
however, i came across deut 21:10. check it out.
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TerryWalstrom
If you want to understand the pathology of purity, you can look at the history of the Catholic Church.
Plenty of monks isolated themselves from all temptations, took a vow of poverty and some, even a vow of silence. Even then, they felt those natural human longings. So, they beat themselves and the lashes had sharp metal at the end. They would bleed and weep and beg forgiveness.
The pathology was this: When you REDEFINE purity to include NOT BEING HUMAN, you have gone crazy.
What is SPIRITUALITY but a fancy word for not being human any longer?
Crazy people have a club all their own; it is called RELIGION.
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How about FIVE good reasons we can say the Faithful and Discreet Slave is "imaginary"
by Terry inthe catholic church has tradition and magesterium.. protestants have sola fide and sola scriptura.. mormons have 12 apostles and a priesthood.. muslims have the mullahs and the hidden imam.. 7th day adventists have the "visions" of ellen white.. jehovah's witnesses have the mouthpiece of god; i.e.
fds or faithful and discreet slave.. .
all these religions have something in common--mystical links to justify their own authority!.
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TerryWalstrom
The idea that God needs a CHANNEL of communication has never been questioned enough.
We seem to automatically assume into evidence an unexamined premise. We've created a presupposition out of it. It has become the foundation for the Doctrine of the FDS. A parable disguised as a prophecy.
The are of greatest distortion lies always in the CHANNEL between reality and knowledge.
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How about FIVE good reasons we can say the Faithful and Discreet Slave is "imaginary"
by Terry inthe catholic church has tradition and magesterium.. protestants have sola fide and sola scriptura.. mormons have 12 apostles and a priesthood.. muslims have the mullahs and the hidden imam.. 7th day adventists have the "visions" of ellen white.. jehovah's witnesses have the mouthpiece of god; i.e.
fds or faithful and discreet slave.. .
all these religions have something in common--mystical links to justify their own authority!.
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WHAT IS LEFT? Have all the major teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses now changed?
by TerryWalstrom inwas there a second coming?.
a 3rd coming?.
" (the 3rd coming?).
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TerryWalstrom
The fecunity of neuroses at the top of the Organization is breathtaking!
They can't stop fiddling with the knobs.
I should have said, 'These knobs can't stop fiddling with their knobs.'
Have you ever watched a neurotic wash their hands a hundred times a day?
Or, how about people who can't help but straighten pictures and adjust their clothing
over and over again?
The compulsion to 'adjust' is deeply born in End Times personality.
Contrarians to the core, I feel as though the Governing Body feels useless unless it is flexing it's power to alter, amend, abrogate, restore, innovate, and diddle with doctrine.
I'd compare it to a bodybuilder who can't pass a mirror or reflective surface without flexing and preening. What's the good have having all that muscle if you can't show off--eh?
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inheritance
by truthseeker100 ini have a good life and i am now worth around 3 million us.
my two children have their university degrees and a promising future.
what should i do with my money?
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TerryWalstrom
Step One: never announce you have 3 million dollars.
Step Two: Don't ask non-millionaires anything about money.
Step Three: As yourself who your heroes are. Do you want to live the way they live?
Find out how they handle their money.
Step Four: Find the most highly-rated financial consultant you can find.
Your biggest obstacle right now is being unable to know the difference between
friends and predators. I assure you, there are more of the latter waiting out there than there are the former.
People with money never talk about money publicly.
With Inheritance Tax at around 40%, you must think of your money as an ice cream
cone on a hot day. Unless you get it in a cool, dark place, it's gone before you know what happened.
Even very clever investors can find themselves penniless listening to their experts. It is your responsibility to check with many different sources before signing any contracts or paying anything to any attorney, accountant, advisor, etc.
Take some time and set it aside to read the stories of what happens to the majority of persons who win the State Lottery. It is a really cold-blooded fate, my friend.
Good luck!
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Dottie Thomas Sept 18, 1922 - Jan 9, 2015
by JeffT ini was in the house with her for all of the last week of her life.
she went quietly and peacefully and had people that cared a lot for her around at the end.
she and dad touched a lot of lives in very positive ways.
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TerryWalstrom
Gentle commiseration to you, my Friend; to the family, and to all those who mourn
her passing.
My grandfather once told me, he felt like as long as he was loved and remembered fondly, he was as close to immortal as he could comfortably tolerate:)
Each of us can only hope there is someone as caring as you who'll herald our passing with the same loving cocern as you've shone here.
Be strong, my Friend!
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Does the bible have a central theme? Does it prove inspiration?
by GreenhornChristian indoes the bible have a central theme?.
there seems to be a general consensus throughout christian religions that there is a consistent theme throughout the bible.
the seeming evidence of a theme coming from a collection of books written by over 40 different authors over a period of 1500 years is what givse credence to the claim that the bible is an inspired literary work.
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TerryWalstrom
One day a man wakes up and finds himself in deep trouble.
The cops tell him he is accused of some terrible crimes.
"I didn't do anything!" the accused man insists, but the cops say they
have all the evidence they need to convict him.
"What can I do? Who will help me?"
The Court provides a Public Defender who is a court-appointed lawyer.
The man consults and pleads with his attorney, "I'm innocent."
The lawyer says, "Nobody is innocent. Plead guilty and throw yourself
on the mercy of the Court. Maybe the judge will be lenient."
Unsurprisingly, the accused fellow refuses, insisting an innocent man who accepts false charges against himself, is worse than a criminal for betraying his own innocence.
The day of the trial arrives.
The Public Defender represents the defendant in Court and stands before the Judge saying:
"My client is guilty of thinking himself innocent, Your Honor. He refuses to plead guilty. He will not throw himself on the mercy of the Court."
The Trial proceeds.
The accusations are read to the jury. The Prosecutor lays out crimes to the jurors. Witnesses are called and testimony is given.
The Public Defender does the best he can, but the conviction comes easily after only an hour's deliberation.
At the time of sentencing, the Judge lays down his judgment upon the convicted man who stands dumbfounded before the Court.
"This Court finds you guilty as charged. You are hereby sentenced to live the rest of your life in abject guilt, depression, and misery for the crimes you've committed. This sentence will be fully discharged only on the day of your death."
The prisoner is then released into the world.
He scrambles about living here and there for a time, and never making much of a mark at success. He starts and ends a few broken families. He begins drinking and falls into a deep well of depression, finally ending his life in suicide at the age of 50; prematurely aged, penniless, and held in no esteem by friends or family.
He's buried after a pauper's funeral attended by nobody except the gravedigger who patiently waits for the service to end.
As the last shovel full of soil is tossed on top of the cheap coffin, the gravedigger wipes the sweat from his brow and blows out his cheeks an exhausted puff of air.
"Damn," he moans, "this son of a bitch must have been a real bastard. Ain't nobody show up for this. Wonder what he did?"
Only a small marker remained atop the freshly sealed gravesite.
Here lies an innocent man who refused to admit his guilt. May he rot in Hell.
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Is this a discussion forum or a debating forum , which is it ?
by smiddy indo you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.
just asking.
whats your thoughts.. smiddy.
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TerryWalstrom
Marvellous Marvin says: That said, on forums like this worrying about persuading is a waste of time.
I grok; I don't entirely agree for these reasons.
New people who are damaged show up here and their capacity to tolerate less-than-diplomatic handling is a disservice to their condition. I'm not saying coddle. I'm not saying kiss any toosh.
What is unique about showing up on a Discussion Forum like this?
The ones who arrive have been rough-handled into waking up. The falsity of "Brotherly love" has left a mark. People are hurting, confused, vulnerable and defensive.
Surely a bit of diplomacy is simple empathy, if not compassion.
Now, as far as the rest of us rascals--no need to be diplomatic with us. We count
scars as a badge of courage.
Marvin's blog site is one of the finest, most useful locations on the Web because there is not debate, preening, trolling or pontificating. But, it isn't a discussion site.
I think we could all be a bit more tender with the Newbies, if for no other reason, than because this is Triage. Only a few will make it through the tunnel to daylight anyway.
