Wow, nice post, full of good words and wisdom!
willyloman
JoinedPosts by willyloman
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61
For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)
by Open mind indisclaimer: your mileage may vary.
if you are a married, "active, in good standing" (tm), jw male who has recently discovered that the .
watchtower is not what it claims to be, this thread is for you.
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38
If You Never Were A JW What Religion Do You Think You Would've Been In?
by minimus inmy family were all catholics.
i think i would've been one simply because i was raised in it and even if i didn't agree with everything, i would still be able to talk to my friends and family.. i would think i'd be a catholic in name only.
"religion" doesn't get me excited..
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willyloman
We've come to realize that if it hadn't been the JWs who came into our lives when they did, we'd have attached ourselves to whoever showed up claiming to have all the answers. Some of us just have a "hole in our soul" that needs filling, due to growing up in a dysfunctional family with no values and no direction. We were looking for something "better" and along came a really nice woman who seemed to have it together. If she'd been a Mormon, a Pentecostal, or a Soccer Mom, we'd have joined her church or taken up sports.
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If You Never Were A JW What Religion Do You Think You Would've Been In?
by minimus inmy family were all catholics.
i think i would've been one simply because i was raised in it and even if i didn't agree with everything, i would still be able to talk to my friends and family.. i would think i'd be a catholic in name only.
"religion" doesn't get me excited..
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willyloman
Oops, double post.
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To Current and Former Elders
by Styxx ini wanted to say a few things to current and former elders.
it was really a post by alltimejeff on 10/1/2009 that got me thinking about this and i address a few things that he says here.
but i dont want to single him out because i really think that he is typical of many, and he did in fact apologize for his actions at the end of his post.
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willyloman
whoknows:
Paragraphs 3 and 4 of your comments sum things up perfectly. I owe a lot to those guys who wanted to flash their badges, throw their weight around and "clean up Dodge." In the end, when I got tired of swimming upstream, they made it easy for me to leave.
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Crisis of Conscience
by EmptyInside inwell, i just ordered "crisis of conscience".
i'm kind of nervous about actually buying and reading it.
this life is all i've ever known, it's my whole identity really.
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willyloman
You've heard the phrase "paradigm shift"? Once you read this book, you will look at everything differently. For instance, you will recognize "the truth about The Truth" and that you occupy the moral high ground. Your path will be clearer after that.
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My JW Best Friend
by OnTheWayOut ini have always said to those that had questions about fading that they should expect to lose their friends.
it seems that in the vast majority of cases, only family (and sometimes not even them) are willing to overlook jw-weakness and maintain relationships.
if you do keep a friend of a jw, then they are potentially deep into jw-weakness.
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willyloman
OTWO: My condolences. Mourning the loss of "best friends" is all too common among us ex-dubs. It speaks volumes about the condition placed upon "love" by the WT Society and those to adhere to her death-dealing doctrine.
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Re-cap of my wife's awakening last week.
by Open mind inhttp://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/176622/1/update-from-open-mind.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/177326/1/point-of-no-return-had-the-f-d-slave-talk-with-my-wife.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/178025/1/my-jw-wife-is-looking-at-jws-on-the-net-wahoo.
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willyloman
The same PO gave testimony to the effect that JWs aren't required to "shun" family members
Reminiscent of the recent news that screenwriter Paul Haggis ("Crash," "Million Dollar Baby") walked away from Scientology after 30+ years for the same reason. Their leader lied on TV about their "disconnecting" policy (i.e, disfelloshipping).
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80
To Current and Former Elders
by Styxx ini wanted to say a few things to current and former elders.
it was really a post by alltimejeff on 10/1/2009 that got me thinking about this and i address a few things that he says here.
but i dont want to single him out because i really think that he is typical of many, and he did in fact apologize for his actions at the end of his post.
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willyloman
Jeff can answer for himself. Here is my response, since you included the rest of us in your condemnation:
Love for your fellow, and common decency should have kept all of you from becoming so ambitious at the expense of others.
Dear, dear boy. I don't know how long you've toiled in the WT vineyard, but I was there for nearly 30 years and took it very seriously. I served as an elder for more than 20 years and I mean "served" in fullest sense of the word. If I have to explain that to you, you are either not very good at being an elder or you aren't one. I acted out of love or I wouldn't have made the many sacrifices that I did. As for common decency, that was my calling card. Ambition? I didn't think so at the time. Is ambition the same as 'eager to please?" And w ho are you to judge?
Nobody made you serve.
I did it because God wanted me to. My family wanted me to. The "friends" wanted me to. And because a lot of the guys doing that job weren't doing it very well. It was expected of me. I had "gifts" and was constantly being told I owed it to Jehovah to use then to help others. I was reluctant to be appointed. I was too young. I only had a handful of years "in the truth." I had no business being appointed, but I was told I was needed. Under the circumstances, I'd have been ashamed to say No.
I can tell you that the damage perpetrated by individuals like yourself, in this religion and others is immense. It is spiritual abuse.
What about the damage done to me? To my family, particularly my children? You think I did that, unaided? Yes, the damage is immense. Yes, it is abuse. We were abused by religion and like most addicts, we initially welcomed the warm glow it provided. But we abused the substance and it abused us. Eventually, there wasn't enough "Jehovah" to get that high again and we came crashing down spiritually. Do you know that feeling? Look around your congregation; the lack of spirituality is everywhere. You must have noticed.
Did I see hypocrisy? Yes. Did I see organizational corruption? Yes. It was all around me, especially at a meeting of elders. These were some of the most unChristian men I have ever met. Many of them were totally out of their element and unqualified to teach or offer genuine counsel to the afflicted. Many had been appointed without meeting the biblical standards. These men did a lot of damage. One difference between them and me is: They are still there doing their damage. I am not.
Rest assured, may it be Jehovah or just bad Karma, you will all answer.
Of that I have no doubt. If there is a god, and if the Bible is to be believed, I could burn in hell for my sins. I led people down the wrong path. I was the blind leading the blind. I, and every other JW who ever said "this is the truth" and convinced others to lay down the real life and pick up the standard of this sham religion, should certainly answer. Our only hope is that God is as forgiving as the scriptures suggest, that he is "not so unrighteous as to forget your fine works and the love you showed for his name."
As for Karma, your religion is seeing that play out now. Your Jehovah is tired of being misrepresented, and he's taking it out on your organization. All those negatives you're experiencing? It's payback, and it's a bitch isn't it?
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Evidence In Favor Of Bloodless Surgery Mounts
by Bangalore inevidence in favor of bloodless surgery mounts.. .
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/281102.
bangalore.
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willyloman
Bloodless" surgery is of course rarely completely "bloodless"
True. Which is why many hospitals call their programs "transfusion-free medicine" as opposed to the more inaccurate "bloodless surgery."
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Dissolved Congregation
by dudeson ini heard recently that 1 of the 4 congregations in our relatively small area has been "dissolved" and relocating many of them to the hall i used to attend.
it must be due to the low numbers these days.
our average sunday meeting attendance when i left was around 75.. does this seem to be a growing trend recently?.
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willyloman
In our area, there are four "English" congos occupying two halls - in addition to several "Spanish" congos in two other halls.
The Spanish side has grown a lot in the past 10 years, splitting twice and filling up seats at the hall.
On the English side, there's been a serious contraction, despite heavy population growth in the area.
Recently, the CO "moved" several families from three of the English congos to a fourth which was experiencing anemic meeting attendance, something on the order of 50 at the Sunday meeting, even less at the mid-week evening gathering.
Based on my past experience, I can imagine this reshuffling was not very popular with the families who were asked to move.
I am certain I could find a dub here who would tell us, with a straight face, that the fourth congo has "experienced quite a bit of growth recently." They are that programmed.