"I don't care..." pretty much sums up the attitude of the GB, many of the JWs, and the God of the Bible. None of them seem concerned enough about child rape to lift a finger to prevent it.
StrongHaiku
JoinedPosts by StrongHaiku
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39
Child Abuse - "I don't care. I haven't got any children".
by cofty inearlier this week i bumped into a couple of jws who i recognised from the cult cart.
a few months ago i had a long conversation with him one of them and found him to be quite friendly.
he is new to the area in the years since i left.. this time he was very defensive and said he wasn't allowed to talk to me.
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StrongHaiku
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How do jw's explain vestigial organs in humans?
by purrpurr ini only recently became aware of cases of people being born with tails.
having looked into it this is a evolutionary leftover and we have many other examples within each one of us like the appendix, wisdom teeth, and muscles to move the ears.
plus many more, this seems to me to prove evolution completely.
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StrongHaiku
I remember my mother and a number of people around me postulating that these were "side-effects" of imperfection (Adamic sin). Ah, the stuff you swallow when you are scientific illiterate.
DarioKehl - How'd I do? Feel like barfing yet? My teeth feel gritty from just writing that.
I threw up in my mouth a little. Mission accomplished. Nicely done.
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Whatever Happened to the Remnant?
by snugglebunny inback in the 50's, when i was just a skinny kid, my father became po of a new congregation.
he'd only been baptised for around 4 years, so his rise was quite remarkable.just one of his flock in the new cachement area was of the "remnant".
this lady was well into her 60's, childless but married.
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StrongHaiku
My mother is "anointed" and has been partaking since the mid-eighties. When she started partaking, there was the usual murmurs from everyone which varied in tone between disapproval to suspicion, with a very minority of approval. I know that it was heartburn for the elders. All of our family suffered for it. Remember? New partakers were not supposed to happen and their diminishing number was supposed to be proof that the end was near. So, you can imagine, sometimes, I think we were being treated like it was my mother's fault that Armageddon had not happened yet.
It was only until she talked/socialized with the more "revered"/older remnant, that the congregation (and the elders) seem to treat her as one. I sat through so many dinners and get-togethers surrounded by the "anointed". All I can say is that they all seemed ernest, sincere, and completely 100% delusional.
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Recent Observation: "Even if it's true..."
by freemindfade inhas anyone else heard this said more frequently lately?
"even if it's true..." i have seen it said on here a few times in quotes from in family or friends responding the negative things about the org.. i heard it tuesday night again.
in a pioneer sisters comment.
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StrongHaiku
"Even if it's true..." is typically followed by that old classic "Where would we go?"
Cognitive dissonance at its best...
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Witnesses and anxiety disorder
by mana11 ini saw this on a public user group for jw's .
the librarian [email protected].
the caption reads:.
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StrongHaiku
I think in some ways the Organization leverages anxiety and depression to use it as a way to keep people in and do more. Why else would they constantly come out with articles and talks to trigger people's anxiety and set them on edge? How many times where we told that if you felt anxiety or depression it meant that you were spiritually weak and needed to focus more on doing things for the kingdom? "Armageddon is coming soon! Anxious? Depressed? You should be...Why not pioneer?" LOL!
Religion (and specially this one) is great at giving you a disease so that they can sell you their cure.
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Facing up to the reality of the world
by purrpurr insince becoming atheist i have been paying more attention to world events and issues.
this is giving me some worry's when i see what's going on.
as a jw i could just dismiss stuff saying "armageddon is coming, jehovah will look after us" etc etc now of course i can't do that.
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StrongHaiku
done4good - This is a normal response to existential fear(s).
Very true and you hit the point better than I could have (especially using the "drug" analogy). The existential crisis is a very common and normal and well-studied phenomenon found in atheists (and theists). Unfortunately, we have been conditioned to think that religion/God is the ONLY cure to the discomfort it brings. Had we been taught otherwise, we would be able to cope with the discomfort better, or not even have it at all. I think that the main reason we feel the discomfort is because we were taught/indoctrinated/acculturated to have only religion/God as a coping mechanism to a very common human brain-state. The more we want to live as close to reality as possible, the more we need good tools and coping mechanisms that are based on reality.
For what is worth, when I am in an existential crisis, I try to go "back-to-basics". I try to look inward and remember the basic and simple things that make me happy. I love hard work. I love learning something new. I love ice cream. I love good and crappy movies. I love my girlfriend. It's all good. Sometimes, when the world gets too big, all you can do is try to focus on the small things that make life worthwhile.
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I wonder are they connected
by mana11 ini just couldn't help myself... i had to join these images....
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StrongHaiku
Come on, guys... Now what's so creepy about a couple of CGI kids fondling some white, pasty, doughy guy? Ok. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit there. -
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Some Watchtower growth projection numbers (5 scenarios)
by Saintbertholdt ini've been doing some watchtower membership growth projections.
the best, worst and most lightly future scenarios.
i've used the worlds population as a barometer of future watchtower growth.
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StrongHaiku
Saintbertholdt - The New World Projection (What if the Watchtower had fantastic growth for the next four decades. There are some reasons why this could conceivably happen...I'm doing the write-up now :)
Intriguing post...Can't wait to see what you come up with.
On a side note: The only thing that comes to my mind that could possibly give the Organization a "fantastic growth for the next four decades" would be for them so set a date for the GT/Armageddon. Historically, that is the only thing I have seen that has almost guaranteed crazy growth.
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Is it Wrong to Doubt or Even Disagree With the GB? The Watchtower Reasoning....
by freemindfade inthis would be a good one for jw apologist who scream and panic with anyone who feels the moral direction of the wt publishing company has gone astray.
a comment at the bible highlights last night blew my mind, here is the article that was referenced.
btw this account always bothered me, remember when it was in a drama?
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StrongHaiku
“He could have asked himself, ‘Why would Jehovah send an angel to someone else with new instructions for me?’ The prophet could have asked Jehovah to clarify the direction, but the Scriptures do not indicate that he did so.”
Based on the above, the only valuable and reliable instruction from Jehovah would be a direct first-person experience as anything else is questionable hearsay. Following that logic, why would anyone listen to any prophet from the bible, Jesus, the GB, or anyone else or even the Bible itself? Which is one of the main reasons I am an atheist.
If you want to leave the JWs just tell the elders that you asked Jehovah if the JWs were a “true prophet/religion” and Jehovah said “no”. And, if they get upset, quote the article and tell them you are following the counsel and don’t want to get eaten by a lion.
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Facing up to the reality of the world
by purrpurr insince becoming atheist i have been paying more attention to world events and issues.
this is giving me some worry's when i see what's going on.
as a jw i could just dismiss stuff saying "armageddon is coming, jehovah will look after us" etc etc now of course i can't do that.
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StrongHaiku
Great and just beautiful comments from everyone. I would add this...
Being an atheist is about the disbelief to one claim only - i.e. the proposition that God(s) exists. It says nothing about what one should believe, or fight for, or what may be a useful and positive world-view. It is only the beginning of the adventure and A LOT of work. Once one leaves Gods/faith behind, there is much work to be done and the need to create a world-view based on reason and evidence. For me, what helped was learning more about secular humanism, science and nature, social dynamics, politics, etc.
What I found was that there is a lot of bad in the world AND a lot of good in the world. And, I found that I could look at the bad things and, instead of running for a "security blanket" like a child, act like an adult and engage to help others and affect change. Regardless, I will take reality over fantasy any day of the week and twice on Sunday. As far as I know, this is the one life I do have and, even at its worst, it is pretty damned good.