OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  29

  The bridge

  by truthwillsetyoufree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my father, who is an active jehovah’s witness, told me yesterday of an experience currently doing its rounds amongst the witnesses in relation to cart witnessing.

  there is a bridge called ‘the bridge’ which is a well known place for people committing suicide.

  apparently the jws have been setting up there literature carts there for a while now and ever since they have there has been no more suicide attempts from the bridge.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Well, maybe this info. from wikipedia sheds some light on "the bridge."
  
  The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has the second highest number of suicides in the world, after the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge,[33] with around 1,600 bodies having been recovered as of 2012, and the assumption of many more unconfirmed deaths.[34]In 2004, documentary filmmaker Eric Steel set off controversy by revealing that he had tricked the bridge committee into allowing him to film the Golden Gate for months and had captured 23 suicides on film for his documentary The Bridge (2006). In March 2005, San Francisco supervisor Tom Ammiano proposed funding a study on erecting a suicide barrier on the bridge.[35][36] In June 2014, a suicide barrier was approved for the Golden Gate bridge.

  I know JW's don't have a cart in China by the bridge.
  
  
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  13

  Could you really trust the Governing Body to the right thing?

  by no-zombie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  over the years, many have speculated on how the governing body might reform the society into something that might actually bring some positivity in to the world ... and a resent melancholy moment, i re-watched the youtube clip of usa for africa's, 'we are the world' which was released in 1985. now while i know our men in warwick would never actually consider organizing the brotherhood to do something completely selfless in helping the truly worldly poor, something that would actually improve the religion's reputation ... but the question is ... could you really trust the governing body to run an aid program like usa for africa or band aid, without skimming from the top?.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9bnonfkcbi.

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  OnTheWayOut

  They saw how willing their members were to help out after hurricanes and other disasters, so they "organized" that to say that people who do go to disaster areas should go only when they are approved (meaning they are in good standing with their congregation at least) and people should only donate to the worldwide work and let Watchtower figure out how to use the funds to help disaster victims out, and they should stop donating cars, clothes, canned goods. I was a recipient of a car and canned goods and the like after Hurricane Hugo. Back then, the spirit of individuals was wonderful. Some families can only donate a small amount of money, but have excess "stuff" and have strong backs. Well, too bad for them.
  
  So they ruined it. They turned it into a profit scheme. "Look at all this worldwide work money coming in. We should buy lumber and supplies from loyal brothers at a markup with at least part of the donation money."
  
  They closed HQ in Brooklyn after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York's World Trade Center. Talk about worse than Joel Osteen. Literally, for Christ's sake, they could let people use the bathroom and charge their cell phones and tell them they cannot spend the night, but can have a cold meal and then be on their way.
  
  They have taken away congregation moneys with the promises of knowing where to spend it to do the most good for the members. It's all a scam. I wouldn't trust them to ever do the right thing.
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  25

  1 Timothy 2:11-15...Woman and silence in the congreagation

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1 timothy 2:11-15let a woman learn in silence with full submissiveness.

  i do not permit a woman to teach, or to exercise authority over a man, but to be in silence.

  for adam was formed first, then eve.

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  OnTheWayOut

  JW's are all about loopholes like the two women facing each other or being interviewed by a man and not directly addressing the congregation.
  
  Loopholes like blood fractions and a host of other things, the FDS being spirit-directed instead of inspired, not being wrong in the past but rather the light got brighter, YADDA YADDA YADDA!
  
  
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  56

  Sex before marriage

  by Jules Saturn in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  for ex jws, pimos, pomos, faders, born again christians, agnostics, atheists, etc.

  what is your opinion regarding sex before marriage, has your view been influenced since you left?

  in western society, you’ll probably find yourself ridiculed to be an 18 year old virgin so i am curious to hear opinions from here.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Vanderhoven&:
  Hi OTWO,

  Do you agree that the Bible is against sex outside of marriage?

  Do you believe that if this Bible standard was followed that our society would be better off in terms of the number of unwanted pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases and the problems that go with them?

  The Bible is against sex outside of marriage, yes.
  If "they" could get every human to abide by this one thing, sure- most of those particular problems would be nearly gone. (....just "nearly." I imagine there would still be unwanted pregnancies and abortions to some degree) But getting the human population to abide by one thing- WHO THE HELL ARE WE TO INSIST UPON IT?? And in your fairy tale of such a society, we no longer have to deal with problems like rape because men only have sex with their wife. And where does it stop? Should we go back to multiple wives? Should we arrange marriages young to make sure those crazy kids don't have sex before they are married? I won't even bother with applying other Bible standards since it is too "off topic" to discuss stoning your children or allowing slavery, etc.
  
  A society that enforced such a thing would probably be a depressed society. People marrying whoever they wanted sex with and not checking compatibility, all so they could escape the death penalty for violating that "one standard." (I don't see any other way to enforce it.)
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  56

  Sex before marriage

  by Jules Saturn in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  for ex jws, pimos, pomos, faders, born again christians, agnostics, atheists, etc.

  what is your opinion regarding sex before marriage, has your view been influenced since you left?

  in western society, you’ll probably find yourself ridiculed to be an 18 year old virgin so i am curious to hear opinions from here.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Vanderhoven, that is the strangest "defense" of the Bible.

  Basically, instead of addressing the issue of men raping women and then marrying them, it sidetracks with the use of words in the instance of Potiphar's wife and Joseph, then simply declares "Nonetheless, the claim......is incorrect."

  Especially in Bible times, but still so- rapists are generally men. And to suggest a softening of the meaning centuries later is just reinventing what the Bible says. It was clear that if the woman was "engaged," she should have saved herself by crying out, so the Bible refers to rape and the people who read it back then knew that.
  
  The Bible doesn't declare that people should stone a rapist (or otherwise kill him) unless she belongs to another man. The Bible tries to imply that the rapist is accountable for what he did. That means, he is stuck with the woman he raped. So that is written from a man's point of view- a man who understood the law not only allowed rape, but institutionalized it. If you want an unengaged woman, rape her and she is yours, especially if she did not cry out and doesn't want to be put to death.

  And really, when we talk about women in the Bible being forced to marry their rapist, we are primarily thinking about men who have killed her parents in some kind of warfare, and then the man takes the child as a wife, giving the non-Jew no choice in the matter- hence rape takes place. Women were just property, valuable for sex and doing housework.
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  56

  Sex before marriage

  by Jules Saturn in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  for ex jws, pimos, pomos, faders, born again christians, agnostics, atheists, etc.

  what is your opinion regarding sex before marriage, has your view been influenced since you left?

  in western society, you’ll probably find yourself ridiculed to be an 18 year old virgin so i am curious to hear opinions from here.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Sex outside of marriage is considered a sin by most religions. Religions invented sin to make people feel guilty and cause them to go to the religion to appease their guilt via donations and/or service.
  
  I have no use for religion and sin. For a long part of human history, marriage has been a protection to children. To me, that is the only part of keeping sex within a marriage that seems important. That, and we are still living under judicial systems influenced by the religious institution of marriage. So that means many people have to keep sex within marriage in order to protect their assets.
  
  But I don't see how sex before (or without) marriage is anything wrong. If people would just use birth control, it should be fine.
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  48

  Healing & Rebuilding Your Life - Feedback Wanted

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been invited to speak at an international cultic studies association workshop this fall.

  i could use your help in focusing on my presentation subject.. these workshops are for former members of any cult or other high-control, authoritarian group, not just jehovah's witnesses.

  last year, i spoke at one of their larger conferences in europe.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I know you asked for feedback and I hope all these different thoughts helped. In the end you know your topic and you will have to decide how much time to dedicate to each of these things.

  With your subject title, Healing & Rebuilding Your Life, you kind of have to cover your step 1, but it could be as little as a general statement like "Everything you knew to be true was a lie. Now what?"

  You don't want to offer any judging on the differing paths people take upon leaving, turning to God in another way or turning from God, but just emphasize that finding your path and yourself is important. There are many ways to say that. Loaded language might be a ln important part of that.

  I also had little trouble breaking from the language mentality. I think it was because I got out of the military to join the cult, and had already broken from one language set. I also read Steve Hassan books and COC and made myself aware of the loaded language.

  As I meet others, I see many still caught in cult thinking as revealed by their cult language- 'the truth,' 'field service,' 'in good standing,' etc. So I suppose #2 is part of #5. We have to examine ourselves to start finding our authentic self.

  Good luck.
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  28

  I don't get why some point to the no tolerance for gays and subjugation of women as a JW thing.

  by blownaway in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some churches have taken the step to allow gays, women instructing men ect.

  but its not a jw thing.

  its a bible thing.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Intentional, TD
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  48

  Healing & Rebuilding Your Life - Feedback Wanted

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been invited to speak at an international cultic studies association workshop this fall.

  i could use your help in focusing on my presentation subject.. these workshops are for former members of any cult or other high-control, authoritarian group, not just jehovah's witnesses.

  last year, i spoke at one of their larger conferences in europe.

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  OnTheWayOut

  OTWO: so are you saying that you think “Treatments & Interventions” is the most important issue for people that have left a cult? What do you think is the least important from my list and why?

  Every person's situation is different. In such a captive audience, people may have experience with your steps 1&2 and maybe 3, so I would focus on 4-6 to highlight more of moving on with a positive life.

  But that's just my thoughts.
  
  
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  20

  Is the Earth really that great?

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i enjoy watching nature documentaries; david attenborough being my favorite host and narrator.

  that being said, i’ve come to the conclusion that contrary to xianity’s teaching, the earth is not “perfectly placed/designed for life.” .

  when you actually observe the world at large, without blinders, it’s a wonder that life even exists.

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  OnTheWayOut

  Science does not yet know if Earth is extremely unique or just another planet in the Green Zone, a condition of habitability for a planet based on mostly whether liquid water could be found there, but taking other factors into consideration.

  Even when a planet is habitable, life had to start there (or be transplanted there). And its a long set of circumstances that leads from primordial soup to oceans and forests and the like. You need the spark of life to develop according to the available conditions.

  Earth benefits from its large moon and medium star and its axis and time of rotation and all kinds of other factors.

  Time will tell, but most likely not in our lifetimes, if life is so resilient as to succeed in completely different environments or if there are other planets similar enough where the spark took off. With so many stars in just our galaxy and so many galaxies, I'm betting on a bit of both (resilience of life and other earth-like plsnets) making us not so unique.