I've always wondered whether growing up a Scientologist would have been worse than growing up a Witness. I'm fairly certain I would have been better off growing up a Mormon.
Battle of the cults, if you will.
neverendingjourney
JoinedPosts by neverendingjourney
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6
Scientology is a Lot Like Watchtower in Breaking Up Family
by OnTheWayOut ini saw this on facebook and knew it should be here.
while i am confident that my jw loved ones wouldn't take a look at it, maybe someone here can show it to their jw's and they will see how shunning family is awful when they are looking at a situation exactly like that of watchtower.. a report at http://jehovahswitnessreport.com/blog/scientology-and-watchtower-strange-bedfellows.
mentions this abc good morning america story:.
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What happened to the "Witness" part of Jehovah's Witnesses?
by donny ini just got back from my afternoon walk/run and about a block from home i saw two sets of jw's going door to door handing out invites to the memorial.. the first pair walked past me and only said "good afternoon" as they passed.. about two minutes later the second pair approached me and handed me an invite to 2014 memorial on april 14. i asked them why they chose the jw's as their church of choice and was told "we'd like to chat more but we have a set number of invites we have to get out before the memorial.
if you contact the kingdom hall listed here, they will tell you more... on how god's kingdom will rid the world of satan and the evil associated with him.".
i replied "you can't talk now?".
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neverendingjourney
From my last time attending, it seemed that any non-JWs would feel VERY out of place.
This has ALWAYS been the case, at least it has been for me, and my memory goes as far back as the early 80s. It's not tailored for the general public at all. I don't understand how any sane visitor would leave feeling anything but complete confusion over what took place.
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neverendingjourney
The more differences from mainline Christianity, the more things they can point to that separate them from Christendom and "prove" they have the truth.
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83
Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning
by respectful_observer indidn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.
apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.
(completely unconfirmed.
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neverendingjourney
And just to further show how little thought I've given this guy, it just dawned on me that he has the same name as the semi-famous English actor. RIP, I guess.
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83
Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning
by respectful_observer indidn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.
apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.
(completely unconfirmed.
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neverendingjourney
@BluePill2
My brother was a Bethelite. I would nag him for GB stories, but he always seemed defensive about it. In retrospect, I think he was disgusted with it, but wouldn't say so. Or maybe the disgust was on a subconscious level. Thankfully (or not) his Bethel buddies were mostly happy to fill in the details.
For years I wanted nothing more than to meet a GB member. The first one I met was Carey Barber and he seemed like he had just pooped his pants. Sad, really. This would have been around the mid 90s. Still, I was in awe. By the time I was able to attend an international convention some years later, the accumulated doubts in the back of my mind had begun to take a toll. When a GB member would walk to the stage, flashes would go off all over the building. It could just as easily been Bon Jovi.
It was quite a let down. I went from idolizing these guys to feeling disgust over the blatant idolatry.
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Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning
by respectful_observer indidn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.
apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.
(completely unconfirmed.
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neverendingjourney
How do I know I've been out of the JW religion for a long time? GB members who I've barely even heard of are now dying.
When I was a teenager, I memorized the page out of the Proclaimers book that had the pictures of the governing body. I memorized their names and soaked up as much information about them as I could. I'd ask Bethelites to share GB stories with me. George Gangas loved to quiz Bethelites on obscure Bible knowledge. Dan Sydlik was beloved by almost all Bethelites. Henschell was a man of few words. And so on.
As far as I was concerned, those men were modern day apostles. More important than that, even, since they would live to see the vindication of Jehovah's name.
On the other hand, if I Guy Pierce had passed me on the street I wouldn't have noticed.
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Nephew Giving Once-Big-Shot-Elder Financial Aid
by snowbird inmy nephew is a graduate of an alabama university and harvard.. he didn't listen to the warnings about seeking higher education, and has a good job.. the elder sunk himself trying to keep his son, who did not apply himself in school, out of prison.. it's a sad situation, but it shows how foolish the wt's directives can be.. sylvia.
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neverendingjourney
A borderline JW kept trying to talk me out of college. Repeating the company line regarding the evils of education made her feel good about herself.
Many years passed and I'm now financially set. She has a live-in boyfriend (she's been inactive for a while and has never been disfellowshipped) and can't leave him since she can't afford to pay rent by herself.
Stupid fu*king religion.
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The question of the crucifix.
by quellycatface inwhy do the jw's insist that jesus was crucified on a stake??
the practice by the romans back in that time was to use a cross.
i've even heard of some witnesses say it was due to "lack of wood.
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neverendingjourney
it was intensionally done to point out the false teachings of most of Christendom in how they worship or use that specific graven image.
I had more extensive comments on this topic on another thread, but the WT basically lures potential converts into applying a false process of elimination that results in only the WT being left as "having the truth." The more you can throw into that basket, the better. They encourage you to eliminate any religion that belives in the trinity, a literal hell, that all Christians go to heaven, that Jesus died on a cross, etc. After you've applied the test, well, the Witnesses must have the truth! In order for this game to work, you have to have as many unique or nearly unique views. Provided that you have a student who (a) is gullible enough to begin with the premise that God exists and that the Bible is true and (b) who does not possess the necessary critical thinkings skills to see the flaws in the Witnesses carefully-constructed arguments, such students can readily be duped.
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24
The question of the crucifix.
by quellycatface inwhy do the jw's insist that jesus was crucified on a stake??
the practice by the romans back in that time was to use a cross.
i've even heard of some witnesses say it was due to "lack of wood.
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neverendingjourney
I wondered how the demo would have looked if the student told the sister she had a pricey necklace with a watchtower symbol on it, given to her by her JW grandma.
About 15 years ago a fad started up at my hall where some of the brothers began wearing Watchtower pins (near replicas of the magazine logo) that were sold through a third-party company that sold field service supplies, you know, the type of place that would print catalogues and sell magazine covers, book bags, return visit organizers, that kind of thing. They're probably online now for all I know.
I pissed a few of them off by telling them that I saw no difference between a Christian wearing a crucifix and a Witness wearing a Watchtower pin on his lapel. One of them became defiant and started displaying them more prominently and buying them as gifts for elders. To the extent that there were rebuttals, they were distinctions without a difference or non-sequitirs. "This is a pin, not a pendant on a necklace." "We don't hang it on our wall and idolize it." "Jesus didn't really die on a cross."
I finally gave up and kept my mouth shut. Even back then it bothered me that these men were incapable of thinking for themselves and seeing the obvious connection. All that mattered was that there hadn't been an article from the society saying such things were unacceptable. If memory serves, the fad sort of died out on its own.
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Problems of Dating the Watchtower Way
by enigma1863 ini wanted to know what problems you have learned about dating in the "truth" acording to there policy.
i feel like you dont really know someone until you live with them.
also some put on a false personality until they get what they want i.e.
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neverendingjourney
This thread reminds me of a disturbing talk at a district assembly in the early 1970s. Back then all single JWs were expected to devote all our youthful energies into full time pioneering and were encouraged to "wait until the New System" regarding marriage.
The more things change the more they stay the same. The Watchtower published a book called Children in the early 1940s that advised youths not to get married on account of the nearness of Armageddon. The 10 year-olds this crap was pushed on would now be dead or well into their 80s.
Anyway, this particular talk actually advised brothers who felt unable to remain single not to waste valuable time on courtships as the only thing that mattered was a mutual love of pioneering and being able to serve Jehovah full time together. Yes, that's right, just marry the first person you meet who is also looking for a marriage mate and you will automatically be compatable with each other!!
I'm convinced this is what happened to my brother. He was in his early 20s and married a woman in her late 20s. She was already an old maid by WT standards. I think he truly loved her but I never got the sense that she did. She was always cold and unaffectionate towards him and our family in general. She was uber-zealous and was doing the "spiritual" thing, aka being obedient to the GB, by marrying my brother who had rank in the organization and appeared to be headed for a nice "spiritual career." It saddens me to see my brother because he's clearly stuck in a loveless marriage with no way out.