willyloman

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Posts by willyloman

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  9

  How did we get HERE from way back THERE?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  let's just say, for the sake of the discussion, that jesus never made any prophetic statements at all.

  his disciples and apostles had the highest possible opinion of him because of the way he lived, spoke, treated people, etc.. his followers were indoctrinated from birth (as jews) to expect that, someday, a righteous political and religious leader (messiah) would appear.. they were eager for this messiah to arrive.

  they were eager for jesus to be that leader.. his followers made the "leap of faith" and believed: jesus was that messiah.

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  willyloman

  "Jesus MUST HAVE warned us and we didn't get it!"

  The WT applied this same principal to their belief about the "end" in 1914:

  "Jesus MUST HAVE returned and we couldn't see it!"
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  92

  Wanted to get reinstated... Almost ready to give up

  by headisspinning in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'd like to hear from anyone who was disfellowshipped but fully intended to go back as soon as possible and how that worked out or didn't.

  i'd like to hear how soon you went back to meetings, how many letters requesting reinstatement you wrote, how you were treated, and how long it took you to get bitter and jaded.... or in the off chance you had a positive experience, what exactly happened.. really struggling here... thanks!.

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  willyloman

  it will be worth it, when you acoem back into the congrgationa nd are welcomed back with open arms

  That's if you are, in fact, welcomed back with open arms -- an experience that has eluded many returnees. By the time you are reinstated the dub gossip mill will have done irreparable harm.

  The Prodigal Son chapter is missing from the JW playbook.
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  14

  Topics 10 yrs. ago and topics today, what A difference

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was reviewing some of the topics 10yrs.

  ago, notice most of.

  topics were rater mild in regard to the witnesses..today, wow,.

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  willyloman

  After I discovered this site in '02, I went back and read every single post from Day One. You could do that then. It's grown considerably since.

  I'm not sure I agree it was a pro-JW forum when it began, it was just less anti-JW; the tone of most early posts suggested the writers were still in but had a lot of questions and nagging doubts and this was a place to air them.
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  189

  AndersonsInfo

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am sick and tired of people putting down posters like the andersons!

  they work hard to expose some things we might never have known about.

  why some find fault with them, or ray franz before them, or maximus when he was here is beyond me.. be thankful for those that decide to come here and share what they know about this organization.. we get elders who are still in their positions and they share with us a lot of interesting news and perspectives.

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  willyloman

  Some posters are credible, some are out on the lunatic fringe, and most of us are somewhere in the middle. With notable exceptions, few are scholars. Most mix fact and opinion freely and are not "reporters" (in the true sense of the word, not to be confused with today's news commentators).

  After you've been here awhile, you learn to sift through them and take away what's valuable. Most of us are bright enough to apply the caveat emptor principle to what we read here.

  Barbara Anderson knows what she's talking about and was for years an "insider" of high rank within the borg. If she sometimes sensationalizes the news, that's her dub training.

  This forum, if you haven't noticed, is a sensationalistic environment. Just about what you'd expect from a group of people who until recently believed God would soon kill 99% of all the men, women and children on Earth, except for JWs, of course. At some point, we all thought the certifiable lunatics who started this cult were the sole repositories of divine knowledge on Earth, despite a rep for multiple dipshit theories. We're smarter now, right?
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  56

  Who's old enough to remember Queen for a Day?

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was a kid back in the late 50's / early 60's (yes, i am very old, now let's move on) there was a television program that capitalised on the lives of miserable women.

  it was my mom's favourie.

  each day monday to friday there would be four women on the show, each with a sad story to tell.

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  willyloman

  While we're strolling down memory lane: Our cable system shows reruns of "Maverick" every morning (a series that ran from 1957 to 1960). Watching Maverick is one of my earliest memories, because 1957 or '58 was when we first got TV. I started taping them recently. Can't get that jingle out of my head: "Natchez to New Orleans, livin' on jacks and queens, Maverick is a legend of the west..."
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  8

  Some thoughts on why people become JWs

  by willyloman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  people become jws for a variety of reasons.

  i just read an interesting passage in a novel that i think applies to many of us to some way.

  the main character in the book is a retired military policeman.

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  willyloman

  People become JWs for a variety of reasons. I just read an interesting passage in a novel that I think applies to many of us to some way. The main character in the book is a retired military policeman. In the scene, he is discussing the reasons folks join the Army:

  "Some join because they want to shoot heavy weapons and blow things up. Some join because it's preordained. But most join because they're looking for cohesion and trust and loyalty and comaraderie. They're looking for the brothers and the sisters and the parents they haven't got anyplace else."

  Reviewing my own reasons for becoming a dub, I relate to "looking for brothers and sisters and parents I didn't have." My extremely dysfunctional family broke up when I was 13. My parents took turns with us for a few years and then we all wound up living with various friends and relatives. My sisters scattered across the country. By our late-teens, were all basically orphans. We were estranged from our parents for most of the rest of our lives. And the siblings all led lives separate and apart from one another and didn't communicate much over the years. So, for me, the dubs became my "family."

  We all know many dubs whose life course was "preordained," who were born in and are third or fourth generation and are given no alternative.

  I think the shooting and blowing things up part also applies to some of us. Not literally but figuratively, of course, but perhaps for the opportunity to "overturn entrenched things."

  Can you relate to any of these? And what was it that primarily motivated you to join the JWs?
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  41

  My JW mom refuses to attend my wedding!?!?!?

  by d_yell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok...i just don't understand this.

  i am getting married in a few months and i thought this would be the happiest part of my life.

  right now it is the most agonizing!

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  willyloman

  FYI: This post, and d-yells' dilemma, is six years old. Wonder what she decided, and how the wedding went.
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  22

  We Give/Gave Up So Much Over This Thing

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think of a reporter that breaks a huge story about some corruption in the government who won't reveal his source of information.

  the government uses anti-terrorist laws against that reporter to try to force him to speak.

  the laws are designed to protect the people and are used in a warped way to protect the government and allow it to hide it's corruption.

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  willyloman

  Thoughtful post. LOL at this:

  I will grant that I wouldn't want to be alone with some of you ...
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  30

  new to your hellbound apostate site

  by lil princess in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recently came to my senses and disassociated myself.

  i am in a wierd place mentally.

  i am a bit dissillusioned with what i have been taught and common sense.

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  willyloman

  Hellbound apostate (site) is such a inappropriate degrading and derogatory description.

  If there's a downside to satire; it's that not everyone gets it.

  Great subject line, princess. Welcome .
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  20

  How do Smart people create so much STUPID??

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  looking back on my life i just have to wonder: what was i thinking?!.

  how did i get involved with a religious cult in the first place???.

  i am embarassed, frankly!.

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  willyloman

  This explains a lot and bears repeating:

  It's no wonder it can take years or decades to undo the brainwashing and thought control perpetrated by such a non-stop torrent of mental, emotional, and spiritual garbage. Many "strongly entrenched things" (2Cor 10:4) need to be overturned and that can be a long and arduous process.