Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  24

  Shunning & separation from family

  by CJxfarmx in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was raised in jw as a child.

  my dad was a jw my mom was not, they are divorced now.

  i was never baptized or anything but i stopped going once i had the choice at age 12. now i am 41 and my dad will not associate with me, my wife or my 3 kids.

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  Island Man

  I'm sorry for your loss, though really it's his. You have a family, he has a cult a cult has him

  
  
  
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  12

  Suspicious Attitude Toward Married Brothers...

  by JW_Rogue in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is kind of different but i just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this.

  it seems that younger married brothers are viewed with a certain level of suspicion in the congregation.

  it's like the elders can be friendly with everyone in the hall including younger sisters.

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  Island Man

  "ecclesiocracy". I love that word, schnell! I think that's the word I'm going to start using as a synonym for the JWs' "theocracy" or "theocratic arrangement" when in any conversation with them. And if they complain I can always mention letters from Watchtower's legal department that make mention of the "Ecclesiastical Government of Jehovah's Witnesses."
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  10

  Pornography Question

  by IMHO in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why is it ok to look at naked pictures/videos of your wife/husband but porn if you look at another man/woman naked?.

  if you happen to divorce your spouse is it then pornography if you look at naked/sex videos/pictures of them?.

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  Island Man

  Because ... Matthew 5:28. You might as well be asking:

  Why is it ok to have sex with your wife/husband but having sex with another man/woman is adultery/fornication?
  
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  22

  I Think I have Found a Way to Litigate

  by Simon Templar in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been thinking about how the wtb&t society bullies all of its members into submission with the threats they use (by practice), i.e.

  “if you do this we will df you and you will be shunned”.

  “if you da yourself, we will make an announcement and your friends, relatives and family will abandon you”, etc.

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  Island Man

  Watchtower will say that at your baptism you voluntarily entered into a contract with them to abide by their rules and knowing the consequences that will come to you if you disobey.

  They will also say that the decision by family and other JWs to shun you is a personal decision and they cannot force members to associate with anyone. They will say that members are exercising their personal religious convictions when they choose not to associate with you.

  I think the best route that can be taken is to use their own literature to show their repeated instructions to members to shun their DFd relatives; and show the penalty that comes to those who refuse to shun DFd ones. You would have to make the case that WT is inciting members to engage in this action rather than the members just coming up with the idea all on their own.

  In other words, you would have to use a line of reasoning that is similar to the line of reasoning used to criminalize inciting of hatred toward certain groups. Work on proving that the JW organization and its Governing Body is an extremely influential authority in the lives of JWs and couple this with their instructions to JWs to shun former members.

  But it will be hard because religion is involved and states tend to be very wary of doing anything that may be seen by some as trampling on religious freedom. They will tend to err on the side of having your personal rights trampled on than doing anything that can be argued as violating religious freedom.
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  13

  Sex & Divorce

  by IMHO in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1. you can't have sex until your married.. 2. you're not married until you've gone through a legal ceremony.. 3. you get 'unscriptually' (although legally) divorced therefore not 'free' to remarry'.

  4. can you still 'scriptually' have sex with your former spouse?.

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  Island Man

  Interesting scenario. Watchtower will probably say no. They'd probably say that even if you're not scripturally divorced, you're still legally divorced and therefore, legally, not married to each other, so you'll be bringing reproach on Jehovah's name if you're having sex with someone you're not legally married to. They'd say you have to be both legally and scripturally married so that your marriage is honorable before all - both the governmental authorities and Jehovah.
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  22

  Can JWs really vote now , since when?

  by Crazyguy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is this true??

  ?.

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  Island Man

  If a JW in the US was DFd for voting, would their be a civil rights violation? I know the Civil Rights Act of 65 was more about race and color, but to deny (through threat of punishment by shunning) a citizen the right to vote seems to be on a slippery legal slope...

  That's why they don't DF you for voting. Instead, they say that the voting JW disassociated himself by virtue of his action. So they use this technicality to say that they are not sanctioning anyone for voting.

  But given that disassociated JWs are treated the same way as disfellowshipped JWs and given that a voting JW is disassociated against his will, I think this issue should be challenged legally.

  Maybe awake JWs should vote tomorrow and if their elders call them to a JC or tell them they're disassociated, then the awake JWs should threaten to sue and raise a storm about the legality of punishing someone for exercising their right to vote. See what happens.
  
  
  
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  33

  Fifteen years later, I went to the UN in person.

  by biblexaminer in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  of all the things that the watchtower has done wrong, what would you say is the singular most powerful thing that you could point a jw to, to crack their eyes open?

  what is the singular thing that can be expressed bluntly and conclusively that might shock a jw to their senses?

  if you could only carry one arrow in your quiver on your way to war with watchtower, what would it be?.

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  Island Man

  I believe that Watchtower's interest in the UN was that they were hoping to curry favor with the UN so that:

  (a) They would be spared when the UN turned on religion.

  (b) They would be the instrument that Jehovah would use to put his "one thought" in the mind of the UN to attack false religion.
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  17

  This should make most reasonable people stop believing in the Bible as infallible

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i think that few parts of the bible can make you atheist or at least agnostic or at least kill your belief in the bible as infallible or the work of a loving god as comparing 2 samuel 24 with 1 chronicles 21. most people focus on the 1st verse, but there are at least 4 major and 1 minor contradiction in the chapter (they are parallel accounts).in the new world translation, 2 samuel 24 starts like this:.

  24 and again the anger of jehovah came to be hot against israel, when one incited david against them, saying: “go, take a count of israel and judah.” .

  notice that it is an impersonal "one" who incited david to do the census.

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  Island Man

  Hey, thanks for giving me a great idea for a question.
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  10

  Starting a 'Bible Study' - The Basics

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i never was a jw.

  i was brought up in a fairly fundie sect (pb) and have been for many years an interested atheist.

  i am an admirer of the work of bart ehrman (and recommend his blog).. from time to time, jws call at my door and invite me to partake in a 'bible study'.

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  Island Man

  Jesus and Paul didn't have last names. Back then very few people had surnames. Most people only had a first name and were distinguished from others with the same name by the use of descriptions that included things like, the name of their father, their occupation or the place they're from: examples: "Jesus of Nazareth", "Saul of Tarsus", "Joseph the carpenter", "Jesus the son of Joseph", "John the baptizer", etc.
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  114

  "The G.B. is neither inspired nor infallible"

  by smiddy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  that admission in the feb.17 ,study edition of the watchtower , " who is leading gods people today ?

  " "the governing body is neither inspired, nor infallible, therefore it (they/we) can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction .".

  have the many jehovahs witnesses past and present who have lost their lives by refusing blood transfusions due to the prohibition on blood tranfusions by jehovahs witnesses really got the sense of this statement ?.

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  Island Man

  Guys, guys, guys! Have you thought of this possibility: Some brothers in the writing committee are plotting a coup! They're plotting to overthrow the GB, and articles like these are meant to subtly condition JWs' minds for the day when the GB will be ousted. They're using careful wording to subtly and indirectly undermine the prophetic mystique that currently shrouds the GB.