Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  78

  So What Drastic Money Change is Next?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, they cheapened the product by getting rid of hardcover books.

  they reduced printing of mags.

  they drastically reduced the number of pieces of printed paper that members would "place" in people's hands in various ways, the biggest one being that they put them on a cart and don't encourage people to take them.they cut d.o.

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  Island Man

  Where possible, instead of building a kingdom hall, they'll have smaller congregations meeting in private homes. Think of how much they'll save in utility bills and construction costs. They can easily spin it by saying they're returning to the first century model and that smaller congs. mean the elders can give more attention to each member.
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  56

  Signs You Would Like To See At Watchtower Convention

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i think gb loesch has made some pretty bold statements that could be put in quotes with his picture attached could be a real killer!.

  believe and obey only the faithful slave, don't believe any negative comment about us in the press believe only us.. google: child molestation watchtower bible and tract society, klick on wikki.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jehovah%27s_witnesses%27_handling_of_child_sex_abuse.

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  Island Man

  A good strategy is to take phrases known to JWs and make powerful statements with them. Song lyrics might be a good place to look. Examples:

  'How does it make you feel' ... to be supporting an organization that covers up pedophilia?"

  
  

  
  

  The Bible: "Do not put your trust in men ..."

  The Governing Body: "Trust us completely!"

  
  

  
  

  Watchtower is guilty of 'history laundering'!

  
  

  
  

  Deceitful Religious Authorities ...

  • Fear independent inquiry.
  • Encourage their followers to distrust the media.
  • Are afraid of the facts that ex-followers will reveal to current followers.
  • Always resort to some form of censorship since truth cannot be refuted.

  
  
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  23

  Banned words in the organization

  by Addison0998 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was talking to my sister in law the other day about death, and i mentioned something about the afterlife, i don’t remember what i said but it was nothing shocking .

  but she squealed, “we don’t believe in the afterlife!

  !” and i reasoned, well we kinda do...life after death is the after life..and she just insisted no no it’s not the same thing.

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  Island Man

  "Witnesses try to differ just for the sake of being different."

  They truly are modern-day Pharisees according to the very meaning of the word!
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  16

  Consequences for having a non religious wedding ceraminy?

  by Addison0998 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey i was wondering if maybe someone who is an ex elder or who knows a lot about these things could help me.

  my dad is an elder but i need to be cautious with questions i ask.

  now that i’ve been woken up from my brainwashed love of this corrupt corporation and from my belief in the bible, and my fiancé is starting to wake up as well, i really don’t want to have the sexist, overused, impersonal talk outline used for my wedding ceremony by some elder who is trying to show off his talk giving skills.

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  Island Man

  I think your safest bet would be to have no ceremony at all. Just have a strictly legal signing of the documents. The moment you have any kind of extra ceremony or marriage talk - even if stated as being non-religious - you leave an opening for hardline elders to frame trumped up accusations that you've in some way dabbled with false religion or some form of spiritual uncleanness.
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  31

  Atheists - How Did You Become An Atheist After Waking Up?

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i consider myself an atheist.

  and right now i'm reading a lot on atheism in general (books written to answer creationists).. i'd be interested in knowing how you became an atheist after leaving the jws and how long did it take?

  was it instant or did your belief in a deity gradually decline?.

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  Island Man

  I didn't become an atheist after waking up. Becoming an atheist is how I woke up.

  I think it's the best way to wake up. You're far less likely to fall victim to another cult. And you're less likely to be plagued by lingering fears of being destroyed at Armageddon. It's the most sober awakening you can have. If you wake up and you're still a theist then you're still groggy with sleep and might go back to sleeping in another bed.

  How did I become an atheist? An apostate posted a question or answer on a forum pointing out how Watchtower's Evolution book used distorted, misleading quotations from scientists. I looked into it and discovered how Watchtower and other Creationist sources make use of dishonest and fallacious tactics to discredit evolution. I took a fresh look at evolution and discovered there's actually lots of compelling evidence supporting it. I accepted evolution as being true. That meant the Bible can't be the infallible word of God. What else have I been misled to believe by religion? That question led to objective research into critical thinking and the atheist position. My eyes were opened quickly and suddenly realized how utterly superstitious, irrational and damaging, religion is. Watchtower no longer had any credibility with me. I lost all fear of apostates and apostate information and learned of all the rubbish tarnishing the JW organization.
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  30

  Shunning: Reasoning With JW's

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  perhaps this line of questioning could agitate a jw's thinking.

  it can't hurt.. you: is shunning a biblical teaching?.

  jw: yes.. you: so it must be god's law?.

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  Island Man

  The thought recently occurred to me that if the Bible really stipulated the kind of shunning that JWs practice, then instead of saying to treat him as a tax collector, Jesus would have told his followers to treat the unrepentant sinner as a Samaritan.

  Also, the fact that JWs admit to the fact that they use shunning by family to coerce persons into returning, demonstrates how depraved of spirituality they truly are. For this disgusting practice to work, their disfellowshipped or disassociated relative would have to have more love for his JW relatives than for Jesus. That would demonstrate that he's unworthy of Jesus, for Jesus said worthy disciples should love him more than family.

  But JWs are unwittingly admitting that they love family more than Jesus so they have to take away family to force the person to return because the person's love for Jesus is not strong enough to pull them back. The person's love for family association eclipses their love for Jesus so the family has to be taken away to emotionally manipulate them into returning. It's truly an indictment on the religion, for it betrays they don't have a strong love for Jesus and they don't have a spiritual paradise. For who has to force someone to return to a paradise? You force people to return to a prison. That's exactly what the JW religion is.
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  7

  Lost in Space -Netflix- No spoilers.

  by smiddy3 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i have just finished watching the first series 10 episodes and at first i was just a little bit curious and not to sure about it however it certainly grew on me .. it deviates from the old tv series and has a slightly more darker side to it as well as being a bit more modern with life situations judy being coloured and adopted ,and john and maureen a couple with issues and the robot is just out of this world .lets not forget dr.smith as a female and more sinister than her counterpart of the tv series.. i would rate it 8.5 out of 10 .

  and look forward to the next series and hope that their is one because i definitely think it has a future .. anybody else seen it ?

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  Island Man

  It was good - not excellent - but good. I enjoyed it. It's so hard to find good, entertaining TV series these days.

  I recommend you also try Good Girls, if you haven't already.
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  16

  They have a point...

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last week in the sunday meeting a sister made a comment and collapsed, a massive heart attack.

  one of the young brothers is a fireman and he gave her mouth mouth and according to the doctor this saved her life.

  so if she had missed the meeting that day she would have surly died because her husband is not in great health.

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  Island Man

  Maybe the stress of being at the hall caused the heart attack...

  I was thinking along the same lines, but more particularly the anxiety that came with giving a public comment. Stress, anxiety and physical exertion are all heart attack triggers.

  Also, maybe if she spent less time slaving for Watchtower she would have more time to make healthier lifestyle choices and reduce her risk of getting a heart attack.
  
  
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  39

  How many people have been woken up by the A.R.C??

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know of 1 that watched the video and never went back.. i think for some it was a the sum of the total or the "last straw" if you like.. karter..

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  Island Man

  I would guess myriads - a few myriads. Maybe 20,000 or so, and mainly in Australia.
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  25

  Jesus—a real, historical person

  by Ireneus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jesus was a real and historical person (not the way jws or the rest of the people think him to be) because of the following historical facts:.

  1) the fact that the most influential political establishment of that time (roman empire) was convinced that jesus’ name would sell to suit their political agenda (to promote slavery) shows that jesus was as historical as roman empire itself; hence they implanted slavery-friendly verses into the bible as though spoken by jesus (such as mathew 5:39, 41; 24:45 ..etc) this was in contrast to the real personality jesus really was—he was a man of courage, who ‘walked alone to do what is right if those invited refused to accompany him.’ when his family and disciples were fond of sleeping, his delight was to spend early morning hours alone, in meditation, with god to the extent he could say he was “one” with qualities of god.

  (mark 1:35; john 8:1, 2; 10:30) such a person would naturally be too famous and too crowd-pulling against whom even the influential people were helpless even when they were whipped out of the temple which reminds us of “hollywood rambo style” merely because of his moral authority (not that he had any supernatural powers to perform miracles).. 2) similarly, emerging religion (apostate christianity) too knew they could misuse the name of jesus to serve its commercial agenda.

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  Island Man

  There may have been an actual influential Jewish rabbi named Jesus - but the version portrayed in the gospels is surely highly embellished myth.