GrreatTeacher

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Posts by GrreatTeacher

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  45

  How to Choose a Wife!

  by snugglebunny in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  back in the day, when my family moved to a new congregation, i fell head over heels with a young sister who was an elder's daughter.

  it wasn't long before we were talking about marriage and i was contemplating buying her an engagement ring.

  my parents were not happy at all.

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  GrreatTeacher

  I don't remember this being a thing 20 years ago. It's horrifying to think that anybody who asks can just be shown your record card.

  This religion really has a privacy problem.
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  43

  How a Gay Jewish Boy from New England Came to Be and Leave the JWs (and what he did next)

  by CalebInFloroda in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  born in cambridge, ma to a liberal couple that escaped the conservative south, my parents raised me better than to become a jehovahs witness.

  funny thing was they got mixed up in it first.. while that is a story for another time, i myself had to go along as the third of five children in my family.

  dads job transferred him to texas and my mom worked fulltime herself, but eventually we found ourselves drinking the kool-aid of ambiguity intolerance and full-fledge belief that the bible was literal fact and that salvation was found only by those who were smart enough to enter the confines of the watchtower.. its weird how many people claim they fear children raised by two gay parents will grow up to be gay.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Caleb, that idea of god I can actually understand.

  The whole idea that you have to actively accept Jesus' gift of everlasting life never cut it with me intellectually even when I was flirting with mainstream Christianity while my son was young. God should be able to give forgiveness without any "sinful" human's participation in the process if he truly were all powerful.

  I have a similar story about having a high IQ, understanding that I was being taught some things that made no sense by the adults around me, but not being exactly able to put my finger on it due to lack of higher education. Though I have been able to get a degree, I still feel resentful that I was taught rubbish and believed it through my teenage years. If having intelligence is part of your identity, being fooled feels like a personal failing, even though I know, intellectually, that I was a child and I'm not responsible for what I was taught to believe back then.
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  56

  Question for atheists and nonbelievers

  by pressman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i profess to teach the truth to you all and get you to all to think and believe.

  believing in christ through his words and not through evil religious cults, like hoj and jw, can and will save you.

  do you all realize that every time you are victorious and receive something of value through your hard work and sweat, it was our holy god who blessed you.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Pressman "I just want you to believe and find the lord."

  I just want you to investigate rationally and then decide what to believe.
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  26

  A Titanic Thread

  by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

  1. social
  2. current

  14 april 1912: rms titanic struck an iceberg during her maiden voyage in the north atlantic.. 15 april 1912: after two hours and forty minutes, rms titanic sank, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people.. according to watchtower, when armageddon strikes, it will be the equivalent deathtoll of 4,000,000 titanics sinking.. praise jah?.

  b the x.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Also, it's Tax Day in the US! Income taxes are due today!

  And, the Watchtower won't be paying any...
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  32

  Conventions, Kingdom Halls, Relief Funds, and Other Financial Scams and Schemes of Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  a few seconds ago this hit the net todayhttp://jwvictims.org/conventions-kingdom-halls-relief-funds-and-other-financial-scams-and-schemes-of-jehovahs-witnesses/.

  conventions, kingdom halls, relief funds, and other financial scams and schemes of jehovahs witnesses.

  jehovahs witnesses often note that at their meetings (like church services), they dont pass a collection plate.

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  GrreatTeacher

  I think these are two separate issues.

  The deficit happens because a large "donation" to the Society is included as an expense for the assembly. Thus, though they may have met the actual expenses, a deficit is announced when they haven't also met the amount of this "donation."

  Then possibly because they are no longer meeting the budgeted expenses, they now seem to be levying a per publisher fee, pressuring local elders to make a resolution to cover the amount for their congregation. I believe it's about $10 per publisher, give or take.
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  91

  Setback

  by EdenOne in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i saw this coming since my mother-in-law's funeral .... the congregation's "love-bombing" over my wife had its impact.

  i watched her drawing closer and closer to her friends in the congregation.

  then she decided she would attend the memorial.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Spelling correction: hyper-religiosity.

  For some reason, I can't edit on my Samsung tablet.
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  91

  Setback

  by EdenOne in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i saw this coming since my mother-in-law's funeral .... the congregation's "love-bombing" over my wife had its impact.

  i watched her drawing closer and closer to her friends in the congregation.

  then she decided she would attend the memorial.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Hyperreligiosiy can be a symptom of bipolar disorder! It can feel like a "high" or it can also feel like self-medication for a depressive phase.

  Please research this to see if this sounds like what she's doing and, if so, talk to her doctor!

  This is how I grew up, though my mother ultimately got a different diagnosis. She literally used the religion like a drug. And you can't really reason with that.

  It sucked, big time. Please look into this possibility for your child's sake.
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  9

  New Avatar

  by mrquik in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can't help but think how many committee meetings this photo would have generated.

  this is on the caribbean side of cozumel at a quaint bar called mezcalito's.

  this side of the island is virtually deserted.

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  GrreatTeacher

  I really don't think that beach looks very naked, I mean it seems to be covered in dune grass and.......oh my god, you mean that naked man in the middle of the picture!!!
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  48

  How many here gave up having a family for the sake of the "truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a sensitive topic for many of us i know, but i am wondering how many here actually gave up the idea of having a family "in this system" for the sake of "kingdom activity or service"??.

  start the count here with my wife and i.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Maybe someone has a better understanding than me? Finklestein?

  What I recall was something about an assembly in the 1940s (maybe) where "John and Eunice" pledged to save their love for the new world.

  But, I'm really sketchy on the details. Anybody recall (reading about) this?
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  48

  How many here gave up having a family for the sake of the "truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a sensitive topic for many of us i know, but i am wondering how many here actually gave up the idea of having a family "in this system" for the sake of "kingdom activity or service"??.

  start the count here with my wife and i.

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  GrreatTeacher

  There was a time when they also encouraged people to hold off marriage as well, wasn't there?

  I wonder why this never stuck but the encouragement against children did?