Oubliette

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Posts by Oubliette

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  44

  Governing Body Letter details things that "have never been done before." - Really?

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  [note: copy/pasted this with permission from reddit.].

  once each year, the governing body writes a direct letter to the congregation members included in the yearbook.

  in his annual message to the catholic faithful (urbi et orbi) delivered on christmas day, the pope spoke about world peace, terrorism, and the refugee crisis.

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  Oubliette

  "They had removed their tattoos"
  

  I'm calling bullshit on this "experience"!

  
  

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  Note that it says "tattoos" as in plural, more than one. Do the math. Here is some information from a medical clinic which removes tattoos. It has some info to help with the calculations:
  

  Infinity Med Spa Can Permanently Remove Your Unwanted Tattoo

  What does tattoo removal cost?

  We charge $49 per square inch with a $98 minimum cost per treatment.

  How many treatments will I need?

  The number of treatments depends entirely on the size of the tattoo as well as the ink used for the tattoo. Most patients need between 5 to 12 treatments to remove their tattoos (results may vary).

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  A single small to average tattoo is about 6 square inches. That's $350 x 5 to 12 treatments = $1,750 - 4,200 US per tattoo. This, no doubt made up, "experience" claims this couple had more than one tattoo, at least two, probably more.

  What kind of moron would spend many thousands of dollars getting their ink removed after just reading some random religious website? In fact, let's read what is actually said about tattoo removal on jw.org:

  "The Bible mentions tattoos just once, at Leviticus 19:28, which says: “You must not put tattoo marking upon yourselves. ... Tattoos can be costly and painful to remove." - What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?
  

  So in the Bible, in the Old Testament's Mosaic legal code which Christians are not even obligated to keep (Romans 10:4), there is one single, solitary sentence which says the Israelites should not get tattoos. Nowhere does it say that people today, nearly 4,000 years later, should remove them after perusing a website.
  

  This is just too fucking stupid to believe. Never happened!
  
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  44

  Governing Body Letter details things that "have never been done before." - Really?

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  [note: copy/pasted this with permission from reddit.].

  once each year, the governing body writes a direct letter to the congregation members included in the yearbook.

  in his annual message to the catholic faithful (urbi et orbi) delivered on christmas day, the pope spoke about world peace, terrorism, and the refugee crisis.

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  Oubliette

  Consider: A married couple became disillusioned with religion because of the hypocrisy they had observed.

  How ironic. That's exactly why I left this religion: because of the hypocrisy that I observed!

  Let's review: It's a cult!

  
  
  
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  14

  Adult Homework and Extra Credit

  by lovesjehovah in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it seems that once we became sensible adult humans, we lost our way.

  we stopped asking questions.

  we submitted to the bidding of the world.

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  Oubliette

  Teach young people to think critically and independently, which is what I do every working day of my life!
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  24

  Do our loved pets come back when we do?

  by Nichole in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have recently started studying and im really enjoying learning all about the truth!

  i am a huge animal lover and have my dog trixie for 11 years now, i got her when i was 12 years old and she has been the best friend and companion, i am so lucky and grateful to have her at my side every single day!

  i get worried a lot about what will happen when the time comes that she has to leave me, anytime i even think about it i start to cry because it would break my heart not to have her with me anymore!

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  Oubliette

  SWB: You'd be better off putting your question to people who actually believe the Watchtower doctrine instead of us.

  No. What they tell her will neither be true nor comforting.
  
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  24

  Do our loved pets come back when we do?

  by Nichole in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have recently started studying and im really enjoying learning all about the truth!

  i am a huge animal lover and have my dog trixie for 11 years now, i got her when i was 12 years old and she has been the best friend and companion, i am so lucky and grateful to have her at my side every single day!

  i get worried a lot about what will happen when the time comes that she has to leave me, anytime i even think about it i start to cry because it would break my heart not to have her with me anymore!

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  Oubliette

  Nichole: My partners dad teaches me the truth

  Welcome to the forum.
  

  Your first problem is believing that any one person or group has "the truth." They don't.
  

  Truth is not something that can be the exclusive property of any one individual or group.

  You are obviously very attached to your pet; often they show love more unconditionally than our fellow humans!

  The Bible is an ancient book filled with a wide variety of stories and accounts, many of them quite horrible. Remember, the god of the Old Testament routinely required animal sacrifices to feed his narcissistic ego.
  

  Although the Bible has particular historical value for its wide and pernicious influence on humans--individually and collectively--over the last two thousand years, particularly in Western civilization, it is nothing more or less than the religious writings of any other ancient peoples. They are the stories, myths and collected "folk wisdom" of bronze- and iron-age peoples living in a pre-scientific world.

  So instead of studying the Bible, particularly if you are doing so with Jehovah's Witnesses, you will be far better served by educating yourself to develop your critical thinking skills and learn to evaluate competing belief systems accordingly. Many that do this find that we are better off without any religion at all in our life.

  Oubliette
  

  
  
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  45

  Closest to the truth?

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i know many jws that state that the watchtower corporation is the 'closest to the truth'.

  thus they quiet their cognitive dissonance.. i don't have access to a corporation library any more.

  is this a stance that the watchtower corporation has actually claimed?.

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  Oubliette

  "Almost" true is still false, and "close" to correct is incorrect.

  Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

  Imagine Jesus saying this:

  • I am the close to the way and almost the truth and might be the life." - John 14:6 aN
    
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  23

  Update 8: "fix your attitude, young lady"

  by Esmeralda001 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my study conductor lectured me about my attitude this morning!!!!

  apparently some sister complained to her that my attitude was irritating.

  the sister in question is just bothered by the fact that i ignore her along with her four daughters.

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  Oubliette

  If anyone ever told me to "fix my attitude" I'd have told them to mind their own fucking business
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  20

  Statistics - Spreadsheets - Opinion

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, spent a fair bit of time on the stats.. the 2010-2015 numbers are available here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0bwv5uvzb3-67axpzavk0m0nttfe&usp=sharing.

  also there are spreadsheets of: ratios, peak-pubs, and the best is a combo of ratios, peak pubs & average pubs.. you can play with these by "select all" and "sort" according to your preference.. if you would like any other combination, i would try to create it and post it for you.. of interest:.

  as has been noted, the biggest standout of 2015 is the increase of only 18k in peak pubs while having 260k baptized.

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  Oubliette

  the biggest standout of 2015 is the increase of only 18k in Peak Pubs while having 260k baptized.

  So that means that (not counting for deaths) 242k JWs have left the religion!

  That's fantastic news!!!
  
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  79

  The really cool feeling of community within JWs

  by Phaedra in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i remember going out with other jws after the memorial.. small gatherings.. picnics at some local landmark.. the feeling of closeness, camaraderie, friendship with like minded people you could trust.. haven't experienced it since i left.. really miss that..

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  Oubliette

  Atheists can't possibly offer the same closeness and trust which Christianity offers.

  So true:

  
  

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  Nothing brings people together like religiously motivated torture.
  
• 
  79

  The really cool feeling of community within JWs

  by Phaedra in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i remember going out with other jws after the memorial.. small gatherings.. picnics at some local landmark.. the feeling of closeness, camaraderie, friendship with like minded people you could trust.. haven't experienced it since i left.. really miss that..

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  Oubliette

  d4g: You may not end up with as many "friends" in the end, but the quality of those new relationships will doubtless be better overall, since your friendship will not compete with loyalty to an organization.

  Well said.

  I would rather have a few people that really love me for WHO I am rather than many superficial and conditional relationships based on WHAT I (pretend to) believe.