If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia. - Thomas Szasz
Oubliette
JoinedPosts by Oubliette
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8
How does "spirit directed" not equal "possessed"?
by Simon inreligious people in general and the jws in particular often make claims of being "spirit directed".. normally it's thrown out as a rather glib claim of being inspired by god / jehovah and to justify any decisions they make via an appeal to authority.. but think about it for a moment - suppose it were true ... how would it actually work?
when they talk about elders appointments and decisions being "spirit directed" what exactly does the mechanism consist of?
does some unseen force make hem raise their hand when they otherwise wouldn't?
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Oubliette
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How does "spirit directed" not equal "possessed"?
by Simon inreligious people in general and the jws in particular often make claims of being "spirit directed".. normally it's thrown out as a rather glib claim of being inspired by god / jehovah and to justify any decisions they make via an appeal to authority.. but think about it for a moment - suppose it were true ... how would it actually work?
when they talk about elders appointments and decisions being "spirit directed" what exactly does the mechanism consist of?
does some unseen force make hem raise their hand when they otherwise wouldn't?
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Oubliette
Well, since there are no such things as "demons," there can be no such thing as a "possession."
It is generally recognized today that what in the past was often attributed in ignorance to "demon possession," can now be diagnosed as one of a variety of mental illnesses. These are often--thankfully--very treatable with modern medicines and/or cognitive therapy.
How nice to have left the dark ages of superstition and fear and entered the modern scientific age.
The WTBTS however is still firmly stuck in the dark. When they call people that disagree with their delusional world-view "mentally diseased" apostates, they project their own mental illness on others and openly expose their own fears and doubts.
Let's review: It's a cult!
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Behold the face of indoctrination! My moms guilt tripping letter to me.
by BU2B ini wish i knew what it was like to have an unconditionally loving mother.
i know she loves me and cares about me, but only within her narrow wt spectrum.
if i do not meet her narrow expectations, i am a failure to her.
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Oubliette
BU2B, sorry your mom is FOG-ging you. But at least you understand why she is doing this, ... not that it takes away the pain of losing out on unconditional love.
Honestly, if it's conditional, it ain't love!
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a situation I know of and the mind set of the elders.
by joe134cd inok here's the situation i know of.. a women was in a situation where she was forced to reveal a hidden sin and was given a private reproof for it.
before this she had an other wise clean slate.
btw the reproof was for an unrelated matter and had nothing to do with apostasy.
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Oubliette
She should be thankful! -
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Before knowing TTATT did you really believe in things as...
by roberto avon indid you really believe in things as ;- the earth is only 6000 years old- the 144.000- 1914, based upon the destructiono of jerusalem- harmagheddon or the end of the world coming soon???
?i married a jw when i was an interested person and studying with the jw's ( not the way they wanted) but i told my wife before marrying her that " most probably " i would never have been a jw.she accepted me as i was and married me.
after that i had interrupted the study for one year, i started all over again with an elder of my wife's cong.
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Oubliette
The idea that the earth is only 6,000 years old is not a WTBTS doctrine or teaching.
I was, however, persuaded to entertain the other ideas you mentioned because I was persuaded to believe that JWs had "the Truth." And when I say, "entertain," I mean that I tentatively accepted that they MIGHT be true because I accepted that the religion was true.
I have since come to know that these are demonstrably false premises. No one individual or group can possess "the Truth" to the exclusion of others. Truth is not a tangible, concrete item which can only be in the physical possession of a single entity at a time. That is just ridiculous. Also, even if a group does have SOME ideas right, it does not follow that they have ALL ideas and teachings correct.
My reason for tentatively accepting the various JW doctrines was that, for a time, I really believed that Jehovah's Witnesses taught truth and were God's visible organization on Earth. Once I saw the WT leaders and the entire religion for the scam that it is, there was no longer any reason for me to believe tenuous doctrines that never had any independent basis in the first place.
In other words: I accepted JW beliefs because I was duped into believing JWs were special. It was NOT the case that I became a JW because I a priori believed their unique and often bizarre beliefs and unusual interpretations of scripture.
It all flows from buying into the idea that there is only "one true religion." There is not. That is a fallacy.
Let's review: It's a cult!
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Watchtower in local newspaper
by lostinthought inforgive me if this has been posted already but this was in my local paper today.. http://m.recordonline.com/article/20150307/news/150309486/0/wap&template=wapart.
if you have time to read, this is an interesting article talking about watchtowers property in ulster and orange county ny and how much the properties are worth.
it also goes on to show how the tax exempt stays is hurting the communities..
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Oubliette
rebel8 said it best.
Living in that area must be like living in a dystopian nightmare.
The poor, hardworking average Joes pay for everything and the big, powerful entities take advantage of everyone and everything.
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Injected Buddhist teachings into Watchtower Study today
by cappytan inon the paragraph about meditation in today's study, i gave a comment about "meditating with a view towards mindfulness and awareness of the positive things in our lives.".
afterwards, about 8 people that i rarely talk to in the congregation came up and expressed how much they appreciated that point.. wanted to say, "thank the buddha.
" but didn't have the guts.
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Oubliette
CT, they no doubt appreciated it because it was fresh and interesting, not the same ol' rehashed tripe.
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Jehovah's Witnesses Are Believers But Know Not What They Teach
by minimus inthey simply belong to a religion.
they cannot explain why they follow all the dictates of the organization.
they live in blind faith.
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Oubliette
When I joined the religion back in the early '80s, it at least felt like we really were Bible students.
Of course, Crazy Freddy's ideas were whacked and false, but at least they were interesting and had the feel of scholarship, albeit a cheap imitation of the real thing. I actually enjoyed the rare but challenging discussion with someone when we would pull out the Bible and go over various scriptures and discuss and debate their meaning.
Now, all JWs are simply followers of whatever the WTBTS decides to print in their latest publications, in print or virtual.
Now JWs stand on the street by a literature cart and if someone is curious enough to approach them, they'll use their iPads to direct this bored or lost soul to a website. The Bible is little more than a prop.
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I Haven't Missed a Meeting in Years!
by Oubliette ini recently ran into a jw i knew from a few years back.you know how it goes, a few pleasantries that always seem much more awkward than they really should (not for me, mind you--for him).and then the question, "so what congregation are you attending?
are you able to make the meetings?
"i'm thinking: do you always start conversations this way?so anyways, knowing full well the jw-mindset, i decided to have a bit of fun.furrowing my brow, i said, "that's an odd question!
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Oubliette
I recently ran into a JW I knew from a few years back.
You know how it goes, a few pleasantries that always seem much more awkward than they really should (not for me, mind you--for him).
And then the question, "So what congregation are you attending? Are you able to make the meetings?"
I'm thinking: Do you always start conversations this way?
So anyways, knowing full well the JW-mindset, I decided to have a bit of fun.
Furrowing my brow, I said, "That's an odd question!" which threw him off a bit. Pausing just long enough for the full-effect to sink in, but not long enough for him to actually respond, I quickly continued, "I bet my meeting attendance it better than yours! I can honestly say, 'I have not missed a single meeting in over a year!' Can you say that?"
Puzzled and completely caught off-guard, he sheepishly said, "Well, no. I do miss the occasional meeting, ..." Adding a little too quickly, "But only when I'm really sick or it's completely unavoidable. You know how it is, don't you?"
"I understand, I understand," I said all the while shaking my head as if in disbelief. Pointing skyward I added, "You don't owe me an explanation!"
Keeping the momentum going, and really just wanting to go about my business, I concluded, "Anyways, it was really good to see you again. We should get together sometime. And, hey: work on that meeting attendance!"
"I will," he weakly replied.
"Good!" I clapped him enthusiastically on the shoulder and walked away.
What he didn't know was this: although I was completely truthful in every word I spoke, I did not mean them the way I know he took them.
You see, I haven't been to a meeting at the Kingdom Hall in over a year, and I can honestly say, "I have not missed a single one!"
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Zone visit meeting Australasia region 7th march...
by stuckinarut2 ini'm sitting here now going insane with this program of fear, obligation and guilt!.
oh man....seriously mind numbing.. i can't bring myself to share too much of it all now.... but i just want to get out...... tell you all more soon about the manipulative trash..... .
anyone else go to this?
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