OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  33

  Have you ever thought what the primary teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses is?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it is not “preach the good news” nor is it “believe in jesus and get saved” neither is it “believe in the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses and get saved” although in practice they do teach this.

  no, everything they claim depends on a belief in another doctrine which logic decrees cannot be found in the bible.

  the leadership of jehovah’s witnesses put absolute faith in a protestant doctrine which is given a latin name, sola scriptura, meaning “by scripture alone”.. good evidence of the governing body believing in the primacy of this doctrine was when being questioned by the australian royal commission, they resorted to the ‘authority’ of scripture to defend their stance on having “two witnesses” when they are investigating child abuse cases.throughout the hearing they paraded their naive trust in the bible as the highest possible authority proudly ignoring the fact that most people regard it as having been superseded by modern scientific evaluations of what is true.. .

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  OnTheWayOut

  Have you ever thought what the primary teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses is?

  Their primary teaching is that First Century Christianity was "the truth" and it has been corrupted, but just as Jesus came to cause people to abandon Judaism and convert people to "the way," Watchtower was created to help people abandon Christendom and convert to Witnesses.
  
  They claim the Bible is inspired and all we need, but then only "THEY" can understand the Bible so all that other literature was created. Even when they changed the Bible, it was right before the change, but now it's more right.
  
  The short version of that is "We are always right. If we were ever mistaken, once we change something, it is now never wrong."
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  32

  What’s The Strangest Belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there’s a lot.

  i think one strange view is how only 144000 go to heaven.

  since the number is mentioned in the symbolic book of revelation, you would expect that the number would be viewed as figurative, but jws say otherwise.

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  OnTheWayOut

  That their leaders are not leaders (because only Jesus is the leader) but their leaders are merely "taking the lead."
  That those leaders are directed by holy spirit, which allows for errors because they are not inspired. Yet, what does being directed by holy spirit mean?

  We could also look at their teachings on blood. They follow what they claim is a literal application of the improper usage of blood when it comes to transfusion, yet those same scriptures don't prevent them from allowing modern medicine from using blood for tests instead of what they say is the only proper use of blood- sacrifice and disposal.
  Then there is the whole blood/fractions thing they created.
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  33

  Whole families leaving the Org has increased

  by pomo6780 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have noticed in the uk a few families i used to know while in the borg have exited together.

  some include former elders and ministerial servants.

  i observed on social media pages that the kids have 'worldly' boyfriends and girlfriends and they look so much happier than they did in the org.

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  OnTheWayOut

  It wasn't happening that whole families left when I stopped attending. But I remember meeting at Flipper's Tahoe-fest, a whole family that left together when the husband stayed in just long enough to make sure his family woke up. It was a wonderful thing.

  I think it would often be true that one spouse is more ready than the other, and the kids are just ready anytime to drop that crazy cult.
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  15

  Hello Again

  by everbrighterhal in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm sorry if this is in the wrong category!

  i am formerly adimmedlight, or something close to that.

  i have been lurking here a few years now and while i did make an account before, i used a fake email (i no longer remember it, since it was made only to log in the one time i posted.. )because i was so paranoid people in my home town would discover me and "out" me.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I also never disassociated and was never disfellowshipped. I was a bit paranoid years ago about getting caught going to apostate websites. I could go on with the similarities. Anyway, the point would be that you are among people who will get it with no judgement attached. So welcome.

  Try meetupdotcom to find other ex-JW's, there are many groups out there.

  I have seen door-to-door preachers who were not JW. But I can usually spot the difference with the bookbags. That is changing these days.
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  6

  Dueling Guitars: Steve Vai and Ralph Macchio

  by compound complex in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  greetings, lovers of both the sacred and the profane!.

  i posted on the gilead song thread, where a tune of unimpeachable wholesomeness was wafting through the fetid air of my chamber.

  if you can get through the annoying vehicle ad, the famous scene from the film crossroads will turn you off forever to saccharine, gagacious music.. happy listening .

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  OnTheWayOut

  Wait, Ralph learned Karate so quickly.

  Why couldn't he have learned to play guitar like that?
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  45

  November Is The Cruelest Month

  by JRK in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been going through old papers and photographs since my mother passed away.

  it has reminded me of some of the reasons that i really hate november.

  this year has added to it obviously.. thirty-four years ago, my father passed away in early november.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I hear you adding good thoughts of Dad as time went on. Hopefully, November will allow some good memories along with the sad ones.
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  93

  Higher Education

  by Brian J in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just spent 8 hours in a 1 day elders school last weekend.

  clarification given: "moving forward any elder, ms, or pioneer who themselves or someone under their roof enrolls in higher education, may no longer qualify for privileges in the congregation.

  their qualifications will have to be reviewed by their boe.".

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  OnTheWayOut

  Just spent 8 hours in a 1 day Elders school last weekend
  Clarification given: "Moving forward any elder, ms, or pioneer who themselves or someone under their roof enrolls in higher education, may no longer qualify for privileges in the congregation. Their qualifications will have to be reviewed by their BOE."
  So if my daughter goes to a 4 year college, my qualifications will be reviewed. Pathetic.
  This is a frekin joke right? The grape juice keeps getting more purple.

  I haven't read your story beyond this OP, I haven't read the responses. Forgive me if the 5 pages have taken a turn and I am late to commenting about this.
  Anyway, if you are staying as an elder for some "helping loved ones" reason, then use this as a further reason should such thing happen in your family. "I was removed because I supported my daughter's further education."
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  81

  Secret sex in the Org

  by pomo6780 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  2 pioneers of the opposite sex.

  the brother is in his mid-20s, sister is in her late 20s.

  both are alone in car as the only 2 out in field service.

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  OnTheWayOut

  People are people.
  
  The 2 pioneers in the OP removed themselves from the organization. They could easily have kept it quiet and married right away.
  
  The brother who flies to meet a sister and is DF'ed- again, they could have kept it quiet.
  
  The bananas and apples, who really cares that young people are silly?
  
  People are people.
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  69

  284000 baptized in 2017

  by jw-verite in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  seen in the 03/2018 watchtower study :.

  "during the 2017 service year, more than 284,000 “rightly disposed” individuals symbolized their dedication to jehovah by water baptism.".

  https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-march-2018/baptism-requirement-for-christians/.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I doubt the numbers are made up. But I doubt this is true: "So still no slowing down yet "

  The simple truth is that minors across the spectrum have been encouraged to get baptized. I, nor Watchtower, has exact data on how many youths they have, how many can be coerced to be baptized, and how many that will leave for next year as they get slightly older and feel slightly more pressure to follow suit.
  
  I would also be interested in the number of those that leave the religion and those that die. If Watchtower is still growing, it is very near it's peak. Don't worry, the slow decline has either started or soon will.
  
  As mentioned though, it is possible that these numbers have gone to fiction. Then they are already on the decline.
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  35

  Bible is good if we look for implied truth

  by venus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  thumbs-up gesture doesn’t covey much if we see only four fingers closed and thumb standing upward.

  but if we look for the implied meaning, then it is a positive, informal signal indicating a job well done, and saying ‘keep it up.’.

  similarly, biblical accounts don’t convey much if we see them as mere accounts.

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  OnTheWayOut

  The story of the garden has no implied truths.
  
  1) God warned Adam and Cain before they could act—this communication had no effect on both of them—one perfect and the other imperfect.
  
  Wrong. It's fiction that our understanding of genetics and how long humans have been on the earth have sufficiently proven to be untrue. If there was a hidden message in this fiction, it was put there by the priestly leaders that wrote or edited it- that the "God" of humans is a real SOB so y'all better do what "He" says thru his religious leaders.
  
  2) God performed great miracles over the Israelites, and Jesus too did the same—yet they had no effect on the people who simply preferred Barabbas to Jesus. Implied truth is that people would not change their course of action no matter what God communicates to them or does in favor of them.
  
  Wrong. Great miracles are used to insist that the religious teachings must be from God. It is written that the people still failed to listen after miracles to imply that they were too stubborn to change and that the reader of this story should be even less stubborn in the light of no current miracles.
  
  3) In Genesis 11:6, 7 we find God speaking about the ability of humans
  
  I like your thoughts. Let me add that I believe the point was to say that humans were able to accomplish much without God's guidance, but took it in the wrong direction. This was written/edited by the priests to tell people again that they should just do as the priests representing God tell them.