Odrade

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Posts by Odrade

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  16

  Fading -- does it ever end?

  by paterfamilias in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  next month will be my one year anniversary of starting to fade.

  a year ago, i thought i was just in the middle of yet another slump in meeting attendance.

  but one week led to another, and it got easier and easier to just stay away.. .

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  Odrade

  haha, Pater should have told about the elder who came to the door. When I opened, he let himself in and stood in our entry and cried as he offered me a bible study. This is the same elder who when I asked him a hard question, he just told me repeatedly that I should research it myself and it was my homework assignment. Never did get an answer. hehe. This is also the same elder who said (when conducting bookstudy) that people who don't answer at the meetings are pleasing Satan.

  hmm....guess that wasn't really about fading...really, both sets of parents are having a hard time with figuring out how to have a relationship with us. His parents just try to be loving and sympathetic because we are "weak." My parents are trying to ferret out exactly what "stumbled" us, so they can fix it and we'll come back. Little do they know...

  They have so much invested in their JW life though, it's not surprising they act that way. The part that makes the fade difficult is--like most xjws who are out without having the DA or DF label attached--they really do have what they feel are our best interests at heart. And they are afraid for us. So, although we would like to say what we feel, and throw stones at the WTS, we restrain ourselves for their sake.

  Sad really, how isolated and fearful this cult makes people.

  Odrade
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  55

  11/1/03 Watchtower: an open plea for more donations

  by paterfamilias in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i just read in the 11/1/03 wt an article entitled cultivate a giving spirit.

  never have i seen the society so unashamedly extend its hands in search of more money.

  i'm going to let the article speak for itself.

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  Odrade

  It should be noted that Pater only posted the box on the bottom half of two pages. This box explaining the contribution types was preceded and followed by an additional 4 PAGES of money grabbing. They reference (as usual) the bringing of possessions to the feet of the apostles, inferring that they are like the apostles I suppose. They speak of all the things that cost money.

  Here are a few more choice quotes from the closing paragraphs:

  Contributions, then, are an evidence of our love for Jehovah and of our desire to advance true worship.

  and:

  Jehovah encourages such giving because it shows that we have the right spirit and a good heart toward him. Those who are generous and rely on Jehovah will be blessed by him and will prosper spiritually.

  and finally:

  Using our assets--time, strength, finances--to help others and to promote pure worship is very pleasing to Jehovah God.

  Ozzie is right, there is a request for donations every fall. Usually an article in the KM and/or a short article about generosity in the WT. But this is the most blatant money-grab I have seen in all the years I have been reading the magazines. News from a couple of disgruntleds still inside the Org have also mentioned to me they are getting sick of all the letters to the congregation asking for money and recommending generosity.

  The WTS has always said they would not beg the "brethren" for money--since the beginning with Russell. I wonder what changed? I wonder if the WTS is now begging and hoarding in anticipation of a wave of bad PR and expenses from the pedophile lawsuits. Maybe they are collecting $$ because they know they are hemorraging members, and the funds coming in are starting to show that.

  Whatever the reason, 5 pages of solicitation is noteworthy.

  Odrade

  P.S. to Nos... the facilities at Patterson have private roads that have those lovely little Kingdumb names. If you build a road on your private property, you get to name it.
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  21

  Huh?

  by Aztec in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  awesome .

  moses would have to have had 1500 tons of food each day.

  that to bring that much food each day, two freight trains, each at least a

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  Odrade

  Ummm, sorry guys. I won't be around any longer. That message has restored my faith, and I no longer can associate with apostates. I have a judicial committee tonight to confess my sins of not believing and the brothers will pray for me for Jehovah's forgiveness, and to cleanse my heart.

  Goodbye.
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  45

  JW's Give Go Ahead for Birthdays???w/t 22/9/03

  by Latte in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the pinata

  an ancient tradition

  by awake!

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  Odrade

  Yep, I'm saving this one, so when I get caught celebrating my Birthday next time, I can say, well it's not about what it meant 100s of years ago, it's about ME getting PRESENTS!

  haha

  O
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  78

  The Geek Test

  by closer2fine in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  http://www.innergeek.us/geek.html

  closer

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  Odrade

  43.3925% - Major Geek

  hehehe.
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  4

  More Wisdom from my MLM mailing list..............

  by qwerty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  sorry the formating is a little out.

  there is some good advice for us all (i hope you agree!).

  i suppose the hard part is putting the advice into action.................... qwerty.

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  Odrade

  Sorry, ugh. sounds like the Kingdumb hall.

  o
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  37

  Shhh! There's a party going on!

  by cruzanheart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm here to report that there's a nest of apostates gathered at my house right now!!!

  we have calamityjane, arrowstar, dfwnonjw, six of nine, elsewhere, valis, big tex, cruzanheart (of course, since i'm posting!

  ), and badger.

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  Odrade

  yeehaw!!! party!!!

  <--------------me, sad cause I'm missin' all the fun.

  O
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  47

  tattoos...did you rebel and get one?

  by morty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after i left the "troof" the first thing i did was run out and get a tattoo.now ,some 18 years later i still dont regret it.i even have gotten a couple of new ones in the past couple of years......i mean not that i am covered in them,but i think if a women has them ,there is nothing wrong with that has long as they are not all over everywhere.ie...neck,face or lower arms......... i just think it is sexy on a man..( a few....not on the same areas as the women ..ie..face and neck as well.

  ) but for a women to have them all over her is not attractive....i think for a women to have a couple in a suddle place..( like for your partner to see or find.lol) is sexy as well...this girl in our town, has them covering her face and arms.i just think she looks scary......(i do also think that they must be done professionally and kept realistic.

  )...i know your not to judge a book by its cover but, this girl wonders why, parents will not let children to her house to play with her child?

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  Odrade

  Not yet.... SOMEONE (Luna) is supposed to be designing one for me...

  Odrade
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  8

  Common Enemies Are Not So Uncommon.

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was just musing..the majority of us here enjoy taking an occasional swipe at the wtbts.

  they've actually succeeding in uniting us against them by becoming what many of us perceive to be our common enemy.. then people here and at other boards sometimes feel unhappy where they are, so they leave, and they in turn unite against their former posters whom they now perceive to be their common enemy.. it seems to me that nothing unites folk more than a common enemy.

  the us is more patrioticly united than ever against it's foes, at the other end of the spectrum uk people who haven't spoken for years are talking to each other as they villify british airways for nicking concorde away from them.. jw's perceive the whole wide world to be their common enemy.

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  Odrade

  Monkeys??!!! Bwahahahaha!

  Whew.

  
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  17

  Loaded words

  by Odrade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know this subject has been done before, but.... some words we used as jws have a different meaning to us, even now.

  encourage, truth, witness, apostate, worldly... .

  so how did those words get so loaded?

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  Odrade

  Whoa! that was cool, Dan. Lining it all up like that really shows up not only how works based it is, but also how little they say that's of any value.

  O