Bob_NC

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Posts by Bob_NC

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  26

  Why do they assume they were anointed?

  by Sheep2slaughter in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am well aware that this thread could diverge into a discussion of the legitimacy of the watchtowers view of heavenly class and earthly class and what not.

  ... but that's not the thrust of my question.

  i just replied to a thread about going to memorial and started thinking how after jesus started out no one talked about actually doing it after the initial time.

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  Bob_NC

  Let's suppose for the sake of conversation that CT and the Rutherford are correct and that there is a first-fruit "class" of 144,000 that go (went already) to heaven. Let's start the count with the first 12, then the 120, then the 500 and then all the congreagtions that sprang up due to the Apostle Paul and so forth. How long do you think it would take to get to 144,000 Christians? 10 years? 20 years? Hundreds of thousands died for their faith before the 1200s!

  Where does CT and Rutherford come into the picture? Johnny-come-latelys for sure. Late by hundreds of years. They weren't even close in being among the first 144,000 Christians, not even the first 500,000.

  Bob in NC
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  20

  I just had a thought that made me feel so much better about this fade...

  by sosoconfused in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is not monumental... i am sure all of you think it all the time.. but as a 3rd gen born-in ex-elder ex-pioneer ex-bethelite i spent so much time in this relion believing that for some reason that god, who loves all humans and created all things only wanted a few people to get knowledge of him - and this small group in america was his choice.. .

  now as i said i am sure 99% of you probably came to that realization before and it is common sense, but the very fact that as a grown man i never really thought about this for more than 15 seconds.

  the whole idea is just ridiculous and freaking stupid.

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  Bob_NC

  I recently read Steven Hassan's, Combating Cult Mind Control. It convinced me that I used to be under mind control, just as any active JW is. For me the freedom came once I was mentally able to see "God" apart from the organition and no longer call it "His" organization.
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  20

  I just had a thought that made me feel so much better about this fade...

  by sosoconfused in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is not monumental... i am sure all of you think it all the time.. but as a 3rd gen born-in ex-elder ex-pioneer ex-bethelite i spent so much time in this relion believing that for some reason that god, who loves all humans and created all things only wanted a few people to get knowledge of him - and this small group in america was his choice.. .

  now as i said i am sure 99% of you probably came to that realization before and it is common sense, but the very fact that as a grown man i never really thought about this for more than 15 seconds.

  the whole idea is just ridiculous and freaking stupid.

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  Bob_NC

  Howdy sosoconfused, What you are feeling is so normal. I can assure you that the turmoil will eventualy pass. It took about a year for me. But I still visit sites like this after 13 years, so it never goes away. But I must tell you that life is GRAND and oh so wonderful outside the bonds and lunacy of "we are the only ones." Please friend, let yourself feel what you need to feel at this time, but do know that a wonderful life with much accomplishment awaits. Message me privately if you feel the need.

  Bob in NC
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  31

  What do you do to cope with loneliness?

  by usualusername in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi jw netters.

  in the last few months i have felt extremely lonely.. .

  was a witness.

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  Bob_NC

  Ah yes, the loneliness. I have it too. I certainly don't want to go to church just to have friends. Work fills up a lot of time. May I suggest some activities like going to movies, starting a small garden in your yard, or even some bird feeders and bird houses. That seems to help for me.
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  48

  JW Preaching Work Ends in 20th Century ?

  by Scorpion in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  page 12 of the january 1,1989 wt original magazine paragraph 8 ends with the statement that the apostle paul's missionary activity laid a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century.".

  (a subtle prophecy that 'the end' will come by the year 2000 a.d.).

  this sentence is changed in the bound volume reprint to read "a work that would be completed in our day.

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  Bob_NC

  Gozz. I also could not believe that the WT Society would play both sides of the polotical fence in WWII, but they did. I didn't believe it until I saw the WT letter to Hitler expressing their support of his ideals. Thsis ssaid to have been done to get favorable treatrment of the WT message in Germany, and probably was. Even so, as I recall in the letter, it played word games about supporting him and was anti-Jewish.

  I hope someone finds a copy of the letter so that you can read it for yourself and make up your mind. Reminds me of condemning the United Nations since the 1940s but then joing the UN as an NPO on the sly and thought no one would notice.
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  30

  Rumor : Elders' meeting about pedophilia issues

  by yalbmert99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  hi everyone, there is a rumor on a french speaking forum saying that the elders were to assist to a 9 h meeting,yesterday or today depending on availability, about pedophilia exclusively.

  meeting directed by an circuit overseer.

  more infos to come.

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  Bob_NC

  Dang! I used to be the first to know. Now I am locked out.

  By the way, "Brothers, there is to be no recording of this meeting. Absolutely no recording devices of any kind all allowed. That includes cell phones. All cell phones must be turned off while in this meeting room. If your cell phone is on, turn it off now and do not have it on at any time while in this meeting room."
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  43

  Help me figure out what to say...I'm not usually at a loss for words

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i finally found him on facebook!.

  his name is tollie padgett.

  he was my congregation overseer (before the "elder" changeover) when i was in prison in seagoville in the late 60's.. i've been searching for him for years and years.

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  Bob_NC

  Wow. Oh wow. Something similar happened to me and I stumbled with it. The brother for me was a former Special Pioneer and is, as far as I know, still City Overseer in a major southern US city. As I was leaving the Org, he called to encourage me, but also to investigate whether I had turned apostate.

  I suggest that you tell him these things that you mentioned, "I want to honor his memory in my life. Maybe just telling him how much his teaching methods and companionship meant to me. I want him to know I have always loved him as a friend and admired him as a person of integrity." Then it would be up to you to add, because of the research methods you shared with him, you came upon information that the WT Society has not considered and came to have questions that the WT Society's theology cannot answer. You don't have to say what those are. He will ask if he is interested.
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  3

  There is a natural life cycle to Witness mentality

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was thinking about how everything in life has a cycle to it.. physiologists tell us that when you fall in love (for instance) the brain is awash in "happy" chemicals that cause you to bond and idealize.. this lasts about 6 months and then.....you get your mind back and reality sets in.

  but, with religion and god and numinous thinking i'd venture to say the cycle is longer than that.

  i do think we "fall in love" with the god of our choice and have a numinous experience and start trippin' on the happy happy at the beginning.. but, real life has a way of editing the chemical bath and the frontal lobes eventually kick in.. .

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  Bob_NC

  Interesting for sure. I have read and heard of the 7-year cycle for love and romance. Supposedly, if a couple makes it beyond 7 years and are still happy with each other, then chances for a life-long relationship are good.

  So is ten years about right with religion? I can speak only for me. About 8 or 9 years after I got baptized I read an "apostate" book by a former CO. So I was willing to consider other possibilties about my love affair with "the truth". After reading the book I became really slack for a few years. But then something rekindled my love affair with"the truth" and I became zealous again for another 20 years. During the last 20 years I think way down deep somewhere I knew the real deal but was just not willing to face reality yet. But the intense love affair was long gone. I just knew how to do the truth pretty well by then.
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  9

  an elder will be at my house in one hour HELP!

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we've missed some meetings due to work and thinking it's bs and also one night my husband got drunk n fessed up n had a shepherding call n now the e is coming to see 'how we're doing'.

  help me please i dunno what to do..

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  Bob_NC

  First...Relax. You know this elder. Be warm and friendly and invite him in. Don't be guilty about ANYthing. When he asks you how you're doing, say you're doing quite well, busy, in good health, but really quite well. Then ask about his family. When the subject comes up about your hubby drinking, chime in with how embarrased you both are about it all, and how it happened by accident and so forth.

  How's that?
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  7

  Jehovah's Witnesses: Will the Elders help Non Jehovah's Witnesses in reproving a JW?

  by I_love_Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  here is a question that the ya!

  answers community deleted twice already within 2 hours today:.

  jehovah's witnesses: will the elders help non jehovah's witnesses in reproving a jw?.

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  Bob_NC

  Do you have more? From what you present so far, no. They will dismiss you as some worldly crackpot just trying to stir up something. Causing you, a worldly person, to be suspended from a worlldly website? Nah. They will chuckle with one other and say things like "sheesh" "you gotta be kidding."

  What to do? Frame yourself as someone favorable to Jehovah's Witnesses, how you hold them in high reqard as different, as separate from the world and a sterling example of pure living. Then complain about this one person and how it has soured your otherwise glowing image of JWs.