comforted of god booklet.. first off, im sorry about the file size.
this seems to be a different edition of the book that atlantis put up a while ago.
it was my fault that the quality of that one was not so great, so sorry about that too.
The way I understand it, there was a schism when Rutheford took over.
There are at least several organizations that carry on with Russel's teachings. The Laymans Home Ministry from Pennsylvania, U.S. is one I am familiar with. You can order many old books from them written by Russel.
Thanks for the link Jaydee. This is a group I haven't heard of yet.
so it appears my dad is keeping track of when i left.
he has mailed me a letter - the first contact in over 6 months - because it has been a year since i left the borg.. for the sake of explanation, dad is a third gen witness and has been an elder all of my life - po in most of the congs i was in.. yesterday i received a letter from him, it began with "hi boy, this is your annual newsletter of births,deaths, marriages etc so thata you know what is going on with the family" and then went on to recount the family news for the year.
it was actually very touching and made me cry.
STR8, the letter is a good thing. If he wasn't preachy in it, and spoke of family, that means he wants to keep the door open to you. I know first hand how this goes, and I will share quickly what I can tell you.
If he does get preachy on you, realize that he can't help but be your witness Dad. Ignore it, and be polite. Avoid trying to prove him wrong. It won't work, and it will just make him work harder. YOU COULD show him or tell him what seems to be the most logical evidence that he is wrong, and it will cause him to alienate you or attempt harder to prove you wrong.
Now, what I said is hard to put into practice. It's hard to let your Dad get away with thinking he's right about everything, or maybe thats just me. But do avoid at all cost arguing with him about the things you know are right. It likely won't change his mind. I have tried it for the last 5 years with my Dad, and it hasn't helped family matters at all. Dad doesn't like me, and he told the rest of my JW family about how I am misguided. You can't prove them wrong, they won't listen.
I had a lot of good times with my Dad and other family before I started the "apostate" behaviour. We went camping and other fun things. As long as you don't try to bore a hole in their protective belief doctrine, you will still enjoy good times with them.
i'm jake.. i'm 21. and, i'm new to this site.
so, i just thought i'd introduce myself.
i personally, don't have any angst against the jw org., i'm just not involved in it anymore like i was.
Hi MusicJunkie. I love heavier music than most. Big fan of Megadeth, Nirvana, Old Metallica, and Iron Maiden. The big difference between me and people that like Nirvana today is that I was in to them before they got big. I like the songs that didn't make it to radio. I also like the ones that did.
But.. things changed. I'm just glad I never got baptized, I had thought about it and if I had then I would be doing the right thing in making sure that I tried my best at being a good witness, but if I were to have thought about it after that time period where I actually did want to dedicate my life to Jehovah, then I would have ended up like all the teenage posers in my KH who just posed as being the 'it' kids of the congregation the future of the congregation, most of them got DF'd. And I the outcast the bad 'apple', as many thought never got close to what some of those kids did. At least my mom doesn't have to be ashamed about that right? Lol
You and I have a lot of things in common, brother. You will find some cynical and bitter people on this forum. But you will also find some people that are just looking for friends with similar background. I am one of the latter. New here too. I left the JW home I was raised in when I was 16. Left a supposed "ancestory" of family that dated back to Russel. I would rather not listen to the guilt trip I get from my family. But that shit will always be there. To "Hell" with 'em. I have my own life to live.
i went and saw this movie last night and while i liked it to some degree, i was disappointed in it not being more then it was.
i was liking the idea of watching a man who had super powers, go from a drunk to something more, and thought it would have a more human edge.
in the movie, it even hinted towards a possible super villain and then comes this big off the wall twist of the wife being a super hero too.
I think Hancock is a response to the other Superhero movies coming out like Batman and Hulk. The review on National Public Radio shot it down pretty hard. I won't bother to watch it.
The new X-Files movie looks promising though.
just read this today: .
http://news.aol.co.uk/prayer-refusal-pupils-disciplined/article/20080704162734190726835 .
an education authority is investigating claims that two school pupils were punished for refusing to kneel down and pray to allah during a religious education lesson.
It would seem the Islamic belief system holds the worlds attention. It is too bad for them if their fundementalists are killing people and blowing up buildings. It paints a bad picture of their religion.
For those people that see it as a Christanity vs. Islam situtation, your religion isn't any better. The mass indoctrination of people to believe non-believers are their enemy has caused or encouraged all Holy Wars. Christianity hasn't changed. It is just broken into 1000's of factions. They all condemn Muslims, and Muslims all condemn Christians. Jerusulem is the holy city for both beliefs, and both will fight for it untill another Holy War breaks out. It doesn't matter that some disagree with what others are doing, the "others" will destroy civilization.
If your God intended to help mankind by giving the Ransom sacrifice, and providing the Bible, then you need a new God. Nothing else has caused more problems in the World than that. All Religions lie about their intentions and create a false sense of hope. Islam will destroy Christianity because Christians aren't ready to blow themselves up for their cause yet.
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1,61 euro per 1 liter = 9,57 us-dollar per gallon (!!).
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There are a lot of factors to consider when you see the price of fuel go up.
As an American, the cost of fuel is very high. It is raising the price of everything because the Country relies on trucks to transport everything we buy. There hasn't been a new oil refinary built in the U.S. since the 70's. That would effect the supply and demand aspect. But Supply and Demand are no longer relevant to the cost of petrol. It is Speculators and the buying and selling of oil stock that has driven oil prices up. If China needs more oil, then world prices go up. It is now a global economy. It effects everyone.
For those that live in Europe like our German friend, I ask if your goods are shipped by truck as much as our goods are. The U.S. infrastructure relies on goods shipped 100's or 1000's of miles. Also, we don't have a mass transit system like Europe has. I have to fuel up my vehicle and drive to work. I can't take a train, and most people cannot move within a bicycle ride from work. The U.S. is huge, and many areas are very rural.
i have been a fader for sometime now.
yesterday was the first time that i went to a july 4 picnic and fireworks - not that i went to specifically celebrate that day, i just wanted to get out and see people, see life.. i was raised in the truth and because of this i had many preconceived notions and ideas - one of them being that worldly people weren't fit to associate with, that anyone not serving jehovah would only "spoil my useful habits.".
i wandered around the park and for the first time i just observed people without any pre-existing conditions - there was a lot of activities for children, face painting, candle making and various rides and people dressed up as cartoon characters.
You are a Jedi Master on the forums and have a lot of posts. Being a "fader" has to be the worst form of Hell. Speaking of Hell, you should know that every other Christian religion teaches it. Here is your quote:
There were a few religious stands here and there, scattered about throughout the park. One member tried to recruit me - said I could be a "world citizen" - I respectfully declined, as I am kind of between faiths right now.
By stating, "between faiths" I assume that you think there is another religion you might be able to go to. That would require believing in things like Hell and the Trinity. The JW's are right in their critisism of these beliefs. Very true they are to call others false religion. But so are they. There is NO true religion, and switching one "flag" to another is not going to fulfill your search for truth or God. It will just lead you into another organized belief system. Sorry to be so blunt.
welcome all new ones to a breath of fresh air...i lingered in the polluting air of the kingdom hall for 28 years before i steped out for air.....i hope you did not wait that long...
Thanks for the welcome!
I am happy to be here, and I enjoy a forum where I know there are people that can relate to being part of the Jehovah Witnesses. We all have that one thing in common, and each of our stories are a little bit different. I look forward to hearing all of them.
Andy Green(sleeves)
http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/articles/bite.htm.
mind control - the bite model from chapter two of releasing the bonds: empowering people to think for themselves* .
* 2000 by steven hassan; published by freedom of mind press, somerville ma.
When I read the BITE model, I had the impression that it was written to describe only the JW's. I misunderstood where it came from. My mistake.
As far as your quote from Snoop Dogg, surely you don't believe that African-Americans are the only ones who aspire to be criminals in this country. There have been studies done to investigate why blacks are disproportionately arrested and jailed. A major factor has been the ill-conceived "war on drugs". One study in Delaware found this:
Thanks for the information. As you said, there are other factors.
