amen, you said that you will not gamble with your future life by not believing in god. Here is what I think about that. After my horrible experience with JW's, life long I should add as I was raised in it and was 33 when I left, I hated god at first, then I stopped believing in him, part of my modification is that well maybe . . . as i added to this thread before, but I will say that IF there is a god, he certainly sees how cruel the JW's are, and in that case he understands why I can't say I believe, so if god is the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving being that he is supposed to be, then he (she?) knows why I am the way I am and surely understands why I can't jump in there and believe and he wouldn't want me to believe just to hedge my bets because that would be big hypocrasy.
freein89
JoinedPosts by freein89
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142
Do you believe in God now?
by Ron1968 in.
this question has probably been asked before, but since i am a newbie, i wouldn't know.. anyway, i would like to ask if you believe in god or a higher power since becoming an ex-jw?.
ron
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39
Why cults hide their old publications.
by refiners fire inhere is a classic example of why it is that cultic religions find it necessary to conceal their old publications from the scrutiny of the membership.
this example is from 7th day adventism, but i assure all readers it is a classic and well worth the reading.
still, it is necessary to lay out a little background to the speech i will be quoting from before proceeding.
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freein89
speaking of hiding old publications, I read here that JW's sanitize the bound volumes, can somebody post some examples, I never would have believed or even conceived they would do that, but now it makes so much sense, get rid of the individual copies, which you have already paid for, and buy the bound volumes, just the money part kills me, now it looks like it is a way to hide "old light" besides. I would love to hear about some specific examples!!!!!
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142
Do you believe in God now?
by Ron1968 in.
this question has probably been asked before, but since i am a newbie, i wouldn't know.. anyway, i would like to ask if you believe in god or a higher power since becoming an ex-jw?.
ron
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freein89
I am leaning toward no, when I first left it was NO but I have since softed my stance just a tad. I am open to the POSSIBILITY that there may be a god. My problem is that in the US, the Christian view seems to be the prevailing view and Christian notions of god came from the Bible and here is where my problem with god comes in. In the Bible, god's chosen people were given a promised land, but the only problem was that people already lived there, so those poor people had to convert or die. Why would the all-powerful god give his chosen ones land that was already the property of someone else. Would I give my children a gift and then say "Oh yeah but it already belongs to little Johnny over there, so try to take it away, and if he won't give it over, just beat him up and take it, by the way you might have to kill little Johnny and all his relatives and friends to get the gift that I have given to you. I love you so that is why you must kill to get the gift." So based on scripture, I reject the god of Christianity.
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22
Let the shunning begin!
by Cicatrix inboy, this has just been my lucky week.
twice in one week i was the recipient of "active shunning" by former congregation members.. scene one-the local discount food place where all the blue collar folks (and a few smart upper crust ones) buy their food.
i'm busy grocery shopping and sister zealous comes marching down the other side of the aisle, dutifully studying the cans on said shelf.
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freein89
When I first DA'd myself, my sister dutifully shunned me, I think she actually took pleasure in it. I moved away, but a lot of non-JW's knew me around town, they knew my sister too and would ask her about me when they saw her in the grocery store or where ever. I found out that she would answer them "Oh she's fine blah, blah, blah" She would hear through others how the kids were or about my new job, that sort of thing and pass it along to the non-JW's. Now nothing she heard about how I was doing came from me because she wouldn't talk to me. But she PRETENDED to know how I was as if she were in normal contact with me. She did it because she was too ashamed to let non-JW's know she wouldn't talk to her own sister. What a hypocrite!!!!!!!!!!!
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Revenge is sweet....or is it?
by berylblue inwas reading an article about persons who had gotten revenge on someone who had hurt them (and not even in signficant ways).
i am trying hard to remember when i personally have ever exaxcted even a modicum of revenge on even some apalling wounds that others inflicted on me.
) i can't remember even one time.
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freein89
I think PLANNING revenge, but not carrying it out works. But you have to plan revenge that would't cause any harm. My daughter is in college and her previous room mates were nasty, when they all moved out they left the dining room table to pick up another day. My daughter said they didn't clean and they stole some of her food from the freezer. I told her to smear some grape jelly under the edges of the table so they would get sticky hands when they came to move it. We laughed and she didn't do it-thats my girl! Now her friends are rooming with her and she's happy, we had fun plotting and no one got hurt. When we finished plotting she was no longer upset, she was laughing - gotta cheer up my kids when they are down. Grape jelly, good clean fun!!!! Any fun revenge stories out there.
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My Active JW Mother Told Me They Have Sold Several KHs
by truth1 inmy mother who has been a jw for 38 years told me last night that the society had said they don't have the funds like they used to for the kingdom halls.
their congregation just sold theirs last month and another in their area just sold (michigan).
they say they are building double khs instead.
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freein89
I've been out since 89 and was very out of the loop until I began checking out you apostates (kidding I'm proud to be an apostate) anyway I live in a small town in Western Wisconsin and the JW's just had a quick build here last summer. Perhaps they sell and consolidate congregations to conserve and grow even more $$$$. Greed has no bounds.
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24
Explain this to me
by Ariell ini'm new here.. i would like to question those who tend to disagree with jw teachings, but still seem to believe in christianity and refer to god as jehovah.
i always told myself that if i were to ever leave i'd stay out of religion all together, because if this isn't the truth than nothing is.
christianity in today's society is so warped that it's not even funny.
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freein89
Welcome Ariell from a fellow newbie,
I think that if you look carefully you may see that many of the posts here refering to Jehovah are using the term in jest. Many of us are agnostic or athiest in the wake of our unfortunate lives as JW's. We use the various terms, titles and JWisms as a sort of bonding agent, sort of like super glue, it gives us a sense of being attached to something-each other for example, in the wake of the horrific knowledge that for many of us our previous lives were built on lies-that is the lies fostered and touted by the WBTS. At this point you may be too frightened to contemplate that you are more one of us than one of them. Don't be scared, read on with an open mind and you will find what you seek. You are here for a reason my dear.
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51
The Top 10 Lies Happy Husbands Tell
by teejay in"sure, honey, that dress looks fine.
why he tells it: hassle avoidance.
men employ these "forgivable fibs" not just to avoid hurting you ("of course you don't look fat in that outfit") but to make their lives easier ("i think that wallpaper looks great") and to steer clear of trouble ("i guess cindy crawford's 'sexy' in a conventional kind of way, but she's not my cup of tea").. it's not that your man doesn't care what you wear or what the living room looks like -- he does.
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freein89
related subject-this is husband management an upper level course-take notes. How to get your husband to install the new faucet, or whatever, this one really worked for me. 1. look cute, pink and fuzzy works best. Find me a man that can resist a pink fuzzy sweater. 2. Announce that you think he has been working too hard, smile sweetly. 3. Get him a beer, coffee whatever he likes to drink. 4. Give him a kiss on his cute little bald spot. 5. Smile sweetly-again. 6. Start getting out tools, even the ones you know have nothing to do with putting in a faucet, hammer, saw, screwdrivers, drill. 7. Sit on the floor with all the tools spread around you and start reading the directions-still smiling sweetly, also look excited about a new challenge. He will be able to take it for about 3 minutes and put the faucet in himself.
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28
Is it OK for men to cry?
by JH inis it wrong for a man to cry when he feels pain, either physical or emotional pain.
we all know that women cry when they become emotional, but for a man, is it appropriate or not appropriate to cry.
is it seen as weakness for a man to cry?
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freein89
You better believe it's more than ok. My husband crys, granted he tries not to but I see him wiping those tears. Sad movies and love and kindness from family. It moves him to tears. Now my husband is a manly sort of man-hunting and fishing guy extrordinaire. He is a hard working, blue collar, muscle bound hunk of MAN that cries and I love him all the more for it-so do our 6 grown children.
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As a loyal JW, what made you to start doubting the Watchtower ???
by run dont walk ini'm sure all of us were loyal at one time to the watchtower, believing in all of it.
(some of us probaly hated it from day one as well but, ).
what were some of the first things that happened or were said, that made you to start doubting it and beginning the loss of your loyalty to the organization ??????.
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freein89
I am about to turn 47-yes I am having a BIRTHDAY soon, I was raised a JW by parents who went through the motions, I wanted to be a good person-with all my heart I wanted to be a good person, so I had a sister pick me up for meetings when I was 11 years old. My parents thought I was being self-righteous. Can you imagine a self-righteous 11 year old? Anyway I married at 19 and my husband became an elder and we lived the good life being catered to. Who says there is no clergy class. We had 4 kids in 5 years and I did everything to be the proper elder's wife, I had nagging doubts and of course went to my husband with them like a good little wifey. He always soothed me and said "you know it's the truth." Meanwhile back at the ranch he was renting porn and carrying on with a 15 year old. Well eventually the old fur hit the fan and he was df''d but the girl went to the police several months later and my husband was arrested. The elders tried to talk her out of it, told her to let Jehovah's organization take care of it, the elders tried to visit him in jail that night, but were not allowed. You see their loyalty was to him even though they knew that he was guilty. WOW! Of course I had forgiven him without his even having to ask. Ever the good little wifey!!! I didn't know about the porn, or the girl until he was caught with the girl and then I caught him with the porn one night and it scared me to death, plus by then he had done some even worse things which I cannot even bring myself to write and I finally divorced him.
My original doubts from back when I was living in blissful ignorance were very simple. The society always said that as Jehovah's Witnesses we knew the purpose of life, I always tried to discover what that was, I read the literature, I studied, I prayed and of course waited on Jehovah but I could not figure out the purpose of the "happy purposeful life" I had been promised. These were the questions I went to my husband with. After he was df'd I finally saw the hypocrasy, life on the other side of the fence, my loving brothers and sisters weren't my friends anymore, all of a sudden I was one of the wolves in sheeps clothing that we were warned about at the meetings and that hurt. Then we began to study the "new" Revelation book and I realized, "They're making this stuff up!!!!" It hit me like 20,000 volts up my spine, just like that I said it out loud "They're making this stuff up" I'll never forget the shock as long as I live. I disassociated myself with a simple one sentence letter, " I no longer wish to be considered one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Of course much has happened since then and I fulfilled many of the self-fulfilling prophecies, they said I would be scum and sure enough I was. After awile I figured it out. any more of you out there who fulfilled those prophecies? It looks to me like those are the only true ones-at least until you figure it out.