Jesus cursed the fig tree because it wouldn't grow fruit after he told it to. Someone pissed in his corn flakes that morning.
Nosferatu
JoinedPosts by Nosferatu
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6
Crazy Stuff Jesus Said and Did
by Oubliette inwhen we believe that the bible really is the inspired word of god, we approach it with a certain mindset that does weird things to our thinking abilities, namely shutting them off.
due to this cognitive bias, we blindly accept that whatever we read in the bible--no matter how bizarre, outrageous or non-sensical--must be there for a good reason, even if we don't or can't understand it.
the fault of course is ours, not the bible's, and most certainly not god's!
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55
Being pressured and getting increasingly stressed.
by NBird inhello, i'm a 17 year old born in and i'm done with this religion.
one hundred percent.
i came to the conclusion a year ago that i wanted to leave.
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Nosferatu
Your situation is a LOT like mine was. I was never baptized and I wanted to get out when I was your age. Of course, it's easier said than done. I used to pretend I had LOTS of homework on meeting nights, and I'd get out of going to them.
When I turned 18, I believed that it should be my choice and wanted out. Again, easier said than done. My mother arranged for a brother a couple years older than me to study the Watchtower with me on Fridays. I immediately hated the guy. He tried to build rapport by talking about video games with me. I didn't play video games much and I told him that.
So anyway, he starts studying the Watchtower with me. Easy stuff, read, underline, move on. I did it unenthusiastically and never made eye contact with him. But that wasn't enough for him. He wanted me to sit beside him at the meetings. When I told him I was fine where I was, he went, got my books, and moved them beside him. I was pretty pissed off about that.
He wanted me to start commenting at the Watchtower study, so he would commit me to a specific answer and would tell the conductor to look for my hand on that paragraph. When it came time for me to comment at the Kingdom Hall, the conductor would stare me down, waiting for my hand to go up. The guy studying with me would nudge me, whispering at me to put my hand up. I just froze, stared at my Watchtower, and didn't budge.
The guy studying with me told me that I should throw out all my Led Zeppelin and Guns n' Roses CDs. Of course I didn't do that. When he came over for a study and my parents were doing stuff downstairs, we had to go do it in my room. I purposely didn't vacuum because he was allergic to cats. I had a giant Led Zeppelin flag hanging on my wall in my bedroom, and all four members watched us study the Watchtower. The guy studying with me was very noticeably uncomfortable in my bedroom.
He once made arrangements to pick me up for the meeting. Instead of going with him, I took my own car and left him waiting for me in his car.
Eventually, everyone just gave up on me. I wasn't progressing, so everyone just decided to quit encouraging me. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
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53
Forum Policy: Off Topic Comments and Nonsense
by Simon insome people didn't seem to get the message so i'll repeat it to make clear:.
posting off topics comments and general gibberish / nonsense is something i class as spam and will not be tolerated.. any posts found will be removed and if it's repeatedly by the same poster then they will be deleted as well.. thank you for everyone else who uses the forum for proper discussion..
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Nosferatu
But I like it when my threads get derailed! It makes it more interesting!
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Former Unbaptized Publisher, New Here
by GloomySunday informer unbaptized publisher, here.. i'm new to the forums and have hesitated for months to join this forum.
i was raised in a jw family, and was never baptized, because one of my parents didn't think i should be baptized early.. my mother became inactive, but i eventually went back for social contact, eventually starting a study.
i raised a few questions, only to find that the conductor would get irritated and defensive when my questions would get deeper into the topic.
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Nosferatu
Welcome to JWN!
I was the same status that you were when I left - unbaptized publisher. They were really pushing me to get baptzied. I knew that if I got baptized, I would have problems leaving. The whole disfellowshipping thing scared the hell out of me and caused me to never go through with it. There was also the requirement of going door-to-door the rest of my life which I absolutely hated.
A few months after I quit going, I got the required shepherding call so they could get verification to announce from the stage that I was no longer an unbaptized publisher. Now that I look back on it, I think it's really odd to do this. They're essentially slapping a "spiritually inactive" label on people so the rest of the congregation can withdraw their "love".
After that shepherding call, I was just glad to have it done and over with.
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69
What would it take for YOU to come back?
by noonehome in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!
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Nosferatu
For me to go back, I'd need to be dead and have my corpse dragged into the Kingdom Hall by a rope.
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25
Happiness/unhappiness
by lostinthought ini was told by a family member the other day "if you want to leave jehovah, go ahead.
but don't think you'll ever be happy.
all the people i know who have left got burned by the world and they come back to the truth".
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Nosferatu
Being out of the truth, I can tell you I'm very unhappy with my life. I have lots of worldly friends who are loyal, good-hearted and trustworthy. I want to get back into the truth where I can again be ignored, judged and backstabbed so I can be happy again.
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24
NEW BIBLE RELEASE
by The Searcher inhad a brief chat with an elder from a distant congregation today: long story short - he has spoken to "someone" at london branch regarding the 'famine' of bibles within the org, and was told by this "someone" to just wait until nearer the end of this year.. he said it sounds like we're going to get an announcement via the annual meeting!!.
i said that it was strange that two world wars, the spanish 'flu, the wall street crash & the great depression couldn't stop the society producing bibles, so something major must be causing it now.. does anyone have any more info on the new york court action against the wtbts and the nwt writing committee?.
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Nosferatu
a sister in my congregation is still using her 1960 'Green' NWT, full of underlining and annotations.
When I was a teenage JW, I had picked up a green NWT at a thrift store for sixty cents. I used it for a little bit until I got councelled about using an out-of-date bible.
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Stuff You Would Lose If You Went Back
by Nosferatu inso we know all the things the wts prevents us from doing, but that's much, much different than the stuff we've grown accustomed to.. for those who have been out for a number of years, what kind of things would end up being abandoned if you suddenly started going back to the kingdom hall?
you know, stuff that you now do on the nights you used to attend meetings, the things you own, the things you wear, etc..
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Nosferatu
So we know all the things the WTS prevents us from doing, but that's much, much different than the stuff we've grown accustomed to.
For those who have been out for a number of years, what kind of things would end up being abandoned if you suddenly started going back to the Kingdom Hall? You know, stuff that you now do on the nights you used to attend meetings, the things you own, the things you wear, etc.
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We're Jehovah's Witnesses
by Nosferatu in"ours is the god of true prophecy, what he fortells comes to be".
i don't know if this song is in the new "scream at jehovah" songbook, but i always found this lyric odd even when i was in.
it seems to imply that there are many gods and not just one.. anyone else ever think that?.
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Nosferatu
"Ours is the God of true prophecy, What he fortells comes to be"
I don't know if this song is in the new "Scream at Jehovah" songbook, but I always found this lyric odd even when I was in. It seems to imply that there are many Gods and not just one.
Anyone else ever think that?
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Why do they use 'human' apostates?
by carla inwith all the threads about the dc, i am wondering why on earth does the wt use the wording 'human' apostates?
will next year have a 'spiritual' apostate talk?
i don't get it and no, i have not and will not go to their site and watch the mind numbing video or whatever......
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Nosferatu
Well, there's always the possibility of a JW encountering a talking snake or a real live smurf. Satan the Devil sure is crafty!