To “BU2B”: Now that is a most stellar and poignant post if I ever saw one! It can’t really get any clearer or more obvious than that to cause any normal, thinking person to wake up and realize that the WTS is nothing but “human reasoning” – and completely flawed “reasoning” at that!
Posts by SAHS
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42Ironic quote in the 5/14wt lesson "Are you moving ahead with Jehovahs Organization"
by BU2B inthe whole article makes me ill with its worse than average mind control.. i was going to only include one quote but there are so many doozies that i will post what i feel to be the worst.. from paragraph 6.
"gods organization survives and flourishes on earth because the people who are part of it have his approval.".
the great tribulation has been "so close" for over 120 years of wt history.
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23
Female Attendants
by Quarterback inthe best thing to come from the regenal convention this summer, is to see women used as attendants at the end of the program.
they were used in distributing the new publications to convention delegates..
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SAHS
“Splash”: “They don't get the same badge and I think they have to register as a +1 to a brother.”
Sounds to me an awful lot like a little pooch on a leash. How insulting and demeaning. I applaud any women who leaves the WTS on the grounds of extreme sexism and hyper misogyny, thereby cutting that damn chauvinistic leash!
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62
Name Some Things That JWs Look Down Upon That Normal People Wouldn't Even Think About?
by minimus injws look down on others for saying, "bless you" if someone sneezes.
it has something to do with the demons.
another example is that it is considered satanic if a man took his hat off for a lady!
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SAHS
Drunkenness and bestiality. They seem to frown on that in my area.
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How Rutherford used Bible Prophecy to Legitimize the Watchtower
by donuthole inwhen rutheford took over the presidency he was faced with several schisms.
one on side you had bible students loyal to charles russell and his teachings.
on the judge's side, you had those bible students loyal to the watchtower and rutherrford as president.
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SAHS
Well, “donuthole,” Pastor Charles Russell, as whacky as he was with all that pyramidology and numerology, was at least purportedly a champion of Christianity – namely, its main character, Jesus Christ. Just a glimpse of the year texts during Russell’s era confirms at least a basic respect and affinity for the Lord and Savior by including therein a name we don’t really see much of these days in JW land – the name Jesus Christ.
But when that “judge” Rutherford guy came onto the scene – or more like craftily and forcefully stole the show, that name Jesus Christ began its steady disappearance from the WT literature, and not just the year texts. The thing is, Rutherford wanted to really go spiritually backwards in that he went from progressive Christianity back to the ancient Mosaic Law (i.e., no blood transfusions, etc.) and related everything to the ancient Israelites crawling around the desert under Moses.
It certainly reminds me of where Jesus said at Matthew 23:2 (RNWT) that “the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of Moses.” Since the Rutherford era, the “Governing Body” (now apparently comprising the entire “faithful and discreet slave” solely by themselves) has seen itself, not as servants directing people to Jesus, but, rather, as the modern-day “Moses” leading the modern-day “Israelites” into the future “Promised Land” of the New System (now just referred to as “Paradise”).
Talk about anti-progressive thinking! And, of course, a large reason why the WTS wants to kind of distance itself from that poor Jesus fellow is because his message was indeed progressive and based on love. He was more focused on the essence of the Law rather than the petty legalities and technicalities.
Ever notice how in all the scriptures used by the WTS, they seem to kind of skim, or even skip, over the gospel accounts relating to Jesus? I mean, sure they will give some (token) mention of it, such as the Sermon on the Mount, etc., but all in all they seem to really focus much more on the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), with all those fancy dos and don’ts and endless stoneable offences, and when they do cite the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament), they predominantly focus on that arrogant prick, the apostle Paul, with all his misogynist and Pharisaical crap. But the reason, I believe, that the WTS seems to just skim over the teachings of that Jesus fellow is that they just don’t quite lend themselves to, or jive with, all that other legalistic, Pharisaical stuff (i.e., Moses and the apostle Paul) which they keep thumping.
So, now it’s all Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah, and more Jehovah – even in the New Testament, into which they methodically and compulsively insert to the max – as well as “the apostle Paul said this” and “the apostle Paul said that” and more Paul, Paul, Paul. That is because Moses and Paul lend themselves quite well to the WTS’ authoritarian regime, whereas Jesus lends himself quite well to, well, Christianity!
So, that is why the noticeable change between the Russell and Rutherford eras. Simply put, Rutherford used and capitalized on fundamentalist backward thinking to bolster his own monarchical empire, . . . . of course with him at the top. And it’s been that way ever since, with the current pope committee (“Governing Body”) at the very top!
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26
Did You Ever Have A "Crush" On Anyone Here?
by minimus ini know that many many have had crushes on me..
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SAHS
I sort of like Focus’ avatar. It looks kind of prrrrrdy. ;-)
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Hello and Thank You!
by Vintagewife ini've been lurking here for about 3 months and decided it was time to register and become active.
i left the organization 17 years ago.
like so many of you, i had endured less than christian behavior from the strong cliches that ran our congregation.
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SAHS
To “Vintagewife”: Welcome to the forum! Even though you have left the organization 17 years ago, I believe that it is still quite important to share your experience with others in similar situations because having been in the Watchtower cult has to have affected people on different levels. I myself have been in a strongly-JW family since my birth (in 1966), and I know only too well that much of the damage done remains with us on a subconscious level. (I’m actually still stuck in the damn thing, as I am currently living with my JW folks under their roof.) I still have the occasional dream about a slowly-approaching storm, obviously representing Armageddon, of which I never had any confidence of surviving since my early teen years. Like they say in any kind of support group, “You have to get it out.”
I too have seen how some of these “elders” really act, toward their spouse and children. They have that “headship principle” thing hard-wired into their noggins and thus feel pretty much compelled to play the part of the “alpha male” in the family and treat their wives as just another dumb child. (Sickening, really.) Let’s just say that their speech and vocabulary at home are not exactly the same as at the Kingdom Hall!
You mentioned about “those in charge being removed from their positions” and that “many were found to be adulterers and drunkards.” The JWs are really just as bad as everyone else, for sure – but the only difference is that they just think they are so much better!
Hang in there. It’s always encouraging to see so many others like yourself having had the courage to step off that whacky ride on the JW merry-go-round. Take care.
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Assembly Invitations: A Sad, Pathetic Anachronism
by metatron inso, witlesses are handing out assembly invitations locally for their gatherings to invite the public to attend...... .
a meeting that's 50, 100, 150 miles away?
there was an era when placards were put in storefront windows and bombastic sermons were delivered by radio.
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SAHS
If so many people already refuse to open the door to the JWs on Saturday mornings when they call right at their door, choosing instead to hide behind their curtains so they seem to be not at home, . . . then they SURE AS HELL ain’t going to drive a hundred miles or so to some convention where they’re surrounded by JW propagandists!
I think that this is certainly one for Captain Obvious!
http://www.cpbgroup.com/upload/Hotels.com/Captain_Obvious_New%20Feature_618x357.jpg
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58
Major reversal for the Watchtower imminent - Countdown: only 5 left.
by Focus in.
focus.
("armageddon" class).
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SAHS
“Phizzy”: “. . . you are stating " the bleedin' obvious". Having said that, it cannot ever be a bad thing to point out that, having painted themselves in to a corner, . . .”
“defender of truth”: “It's amazing how many Witnesses miss the bleedin' obvious, though. Those pictures are like a slap in the face with a wet fish, even to people with an iq of 10 or less.”
That reminds me so much of Captain Obvious on that current TV commercial about “hotels.com,” which you can see at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyRliaitQWs.
I think that us “apostates” are really fulfilling the role of the “Captain Obvious Class” for those folks unlucky enough to still be trapped by such a ridiculous cult as the WTS.
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12 Step
by lambsbottom inhello everyone,.
i've been attending sexaholics anonymous meetings for years now and it has kept me 'sober' when religion couldn't.
currently active but fading.. anyone on here attend any type of 12 step meetings?.
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SAHS
Actually, I have been in the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous since the late ’80s. Although, unfortunately, I have been on and off, in and out quite a few times. I was born into a stongly-JW family in 1966, and I have had quite an onging struggle with the AA program. (Nothing like the JW outfit to mess someone up enough to make any kind of normalcy a struggle.)
It’s kind of ironic that you have chosen the user name “lambsbottom” while trying to manage sexaholism – the idea of a lamb’s bottom just makes me somewhat horny. (As you can see, I also have some sexual “issues” myself , but I don’t bother with any 12-step program for that in particular. One 12-step support group is enough. After all, life has to have some kind of fun, before you’re done.)
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Pleading with my Captors
by not bitter ini have always had bonkers dreams and i remember a lot of them, even some from my childhood.
i have the common dreams of flying and being chased all the time.
and i used to dream about demons but not for a very long time.. but heres the thing, i often dream that i've been captured and about to be tortured or murdered and the rest of my dream is about me negotiating my freedom and promising all sorts of things if they will only let me go free.
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SAHS
I myself have had a reocurring dream about a large storm system slowly approaching from a distance. It certainly doesn’t take too much intelligence to realize that the approaching storm represents Armageddon – complete with dark clouds and multiple tornado funnels. (Those sketches in the big old orange-colored book “Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained” certainly had a large part to play in the psyches of many prepubescents.) Also, I have had many dreams about weird, uncanny “supernatural” things happening. In all these instances, I’ve always been really glad that it’s been only a dream. My, what fears are fostered by that Watchtower enterprise!
