Garrett

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Posts by Garrett

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  43

  Change to dress and grooming rules for JWs in USA soon?

  by RayPublisher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my guy with the lurk account on jwtalk (where all the kool-aid drinking jws go to talk about how wonderful 'the twoof' is) sent me some more interesting threads, here's one:.

  spoiler: starting new the new service year september.

  "there will be new directives from the branch through the circuit overseer on dress and grooming that will disqualify one to be a congregation publisher.

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  Garrett

  Ha, if this is legit, it would make my day.
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  36

  Small details...

  by Garrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a witness friend wanted to meet up recently and talk.

  since this person was a close friend and who i thought had a level head, i'd go ahead and speak with him.

  our conversation actually helped me figure a few things out not only for myself but also about the witnesses.. so we're talking and i'm telling him my experience and the doctrines that i disagreed with as well as the scandals that made me disgusted with the organization.

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  Garrett

  So,

  A witness friend wanted to meet up recently and talk. Since this person was a close friend and who I thought had a level head, I'd go ahead and speak with him. Our conversation actually helped me figure a few things out not only for myself but also about the witnesses.

  So we're talking and I'm telling him my experience and the doctrines that I disagreed with as well as the scandals that made me disgusted with the organization. after about half an hour of discussing this, we start talking about the doctrine changes that we've had over the years. I tell him that with al the changes that we've had and that our teachings are never set in stone, how do we know that what we currently believe is actually truth and not another doctrine that will be replaced by new light? I also add that what we believe today vastly differs from what Russell believed.

  his response to this was "those are small details, the core of our beliefs hasn't changed." That's when I had a eureka moment. I asked him to imagine a car engine. An engine is made up of many parts, the longer you have the car, the more parts you have to replace. As you're replacing small parts you're slowly taking away the old engine and replacing it with a new one. Soon, there would likely be barely anything left of the old which hadn't been replaced by the new. It's the same with our teachings... When do the small changes overtake the old beliefs and create a new "core." The organization introduces small changes, but those changes eventually pile up and before you know it, you're believing something completely different from what you once were. Unfortunately, my friend didn't have the level head I thought he had and didn't seem to understand my example.

  One last thing I finally realized is that the majority of witnesses DO NOT want to wake up. I no longer feel like the brainwashing is all that's keeping them in. I think that deep down, they understand what were telling them and they know that what we're saying is truth, but they don't want to face that reality. For them, living in their world, they are doing something that they believe has purpose. Taking that away from them is devastating and the majority is not mentally capable of allowing their mind to accept the facts that we provide them with.

  Those are my thoughts for the day. I would love to hear your ideas and opinions regarding what I wrote!

  I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day!

  Peace,

  Garrett
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  2

  TV shows we love to hate

  by Jonathan Drake in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  felt like starting a not so serious thread:.

  so i'm sitting here watching madmen.

  and i can't stop.

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  Garrett

  I say stop watching that show and take a look at Vikings.

  Personally, I don't have any shows like this, no, sowwy :(
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  62

  Christians not knowing the Bible

  by Viviane in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last night a young man in a bar struck up a conversation with me.

  our town is having our pride parade soon and he brought it up, the bible and how it's against the bible.

  me being me, i said that i couldn't care less that it was against the bible and that it was a horrible guide for morality anyway.

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  Garrett

  I must say, reading this post has been exhilarating and I only wish I had some popcorn with me.

  I do want to hear more from the mollusc guy, though. Since he's left, the comedic value of the post has drastically declined :/
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  65

  Now Even JW Men Are Going To Die At The Big A

  by OneFingerSalute in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so this weekend there was a part about not following jesus at a distance.

  the speaker made a big point of stating that any baptized jw male who was not either appointed ms/elder, or at the very least "reaching out" actively, was in fact following jesus at a distance.

  he said that the only way to live through the big a was to follow jesus closely.

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  Garrett

  Wow, that is insane! Hopefully this change will help some to wake up.
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  10

  I saw some witnesses today...

  by Garrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  gossiping.

  yep, that's right!

  so, i'm sitting outside a building, waiting for my martial arts class to begin when two sisters walk down the road leading to the building.

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  Garrett

  ...And what were they doing? Gossiping. Yep, that's right!

  So, I'm sitting outside a building, waiting for my martial arts class to begin when two sisters walk down the road leading to the building. You should of heard them, they were deep in conversation speaking about a supposed anointed brother who had done something wrong.

  So, I'm sitting there, waiting for them to approach me. After all, I'm sitting on some steps, alone, in the morning. That was the perfect opportunity for them to talk to me. Well, turns out they didn't want to have an interesting conversation seeing how they decided to walk right past me without even as much as a hello.

  I was saddened... I was so happy that I could finally talk to a witness that I didn't know about a topic that would make them squirm in their skin... ah well, maybe next time.

  On a happier note, I haven't been around in a while due to life (you know how that goes) but hope all of you lovely folk are doing well!

  Peace,

  Garrett
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  12

  Reasons there is no God

  by Lemonp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok, lets assume that god created everything as is, with no evolution involved.

  this is what jw's teach based on a singular vague verse in genesis.

  made according to their types.

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  Garrett

  What you and most fail to realize is that you are referring to the Hebrew god. There are many other gods that are just as "real" to people as the Hebrew one.

  Personally, I no longer believe in the Hebrew god or any other man made deity, however, remember that "Jehovah' isn't the only god out there. Thus, your Noah's ark story disproves "Jehovah" but not the other man made gods.

  Hopefully that makes some sense. It's been a long day.
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  11

  Another Elevated Group of J.W.'s Now?

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  why are only pioneers allowed to do "metropolitan witnessing"?

  why do they need "special training" to stand like a zombie for hours, speaking only to their fellow elite?.

  even a pioneer's mother couldn't answer me!.

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  Garrett

  In France, It's been like this since the beginning of the year. I don't have the official answer, but one can speculate.

  Some will reason that since we have a big JW sign, lots of literature and thus might attract more attention than per usual, the organization wants brothers and sisters that are well versed in JW doctrine so that they may correctly respond to any questions posed.

  In addition to that, maybe its a way for the organization to help pioneers reach their goal hours. I'm not sure if the pioneer numbers are dropping, but one can hope.

  That's all I have :)
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  69

  Average Age of this Forum?

  by Garrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  heyo!.

  i'm quite interested in knowing the average age of those of us who use this forum.

  i made a quick strawpoll that you can find at the following link: http://strawpoll.me/4340636 just pick an age and click "vote" if you wish to participate.. admins: if this breaks any rules, i apologize in advance..

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  Garrett

  After waiting a full 24 hours since my posting, here are the results

  Results
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  21

  Paint Nite - fun evening and a new hobby

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  we (and by 'we', i mean my wife) decided that we should try something new and she, erm, i mean 'we', liked the idea of painting.

  so i enthusiastically (i.e.

  begrudgingly) went along for the night to the "pain nite" event she'd booked us for a couple of weeks ago.. the premise is pretty simple: it's held in a pub or restaurant, all the art supplies are provided, the instructor then walks you through how to reproduce a painting they have chosen for the night and you have a glass of wine or beer, do some painting, have something to eat, have some more wine, more painting, more wine, realize you are drinking the dirty paint water and so on.. here's the site: https://www.paintnite.com/.

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  Garrett

  uh, excuse me... how much are you asking?

  That's beautiful! I wish I could do that!