Wildflower, you're a gorgeous woman.
Leavingwt, looking at your child I can but congratulate you on leaving. May he live to be always happy and free. If I were to find a reason to leave the WTBTS, he would be the best one I could find.
Posts by dgp
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105Your faces
by goldensky indear all,.
i love it when your avatar is a real picture of you.
i look at it with interest and my heart warms up.
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15
AN OPEN LETTER TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
by hubert inevery year i like to bring up this letter for the "newbies" on this forum.. i found it very true, and right to the point.. thanks again, gaila noble.. hubert.
an open letter to jehovah's witnesses.
you may not remember, but i know you very well.
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dgp
It is always sad to keep reading these stories.
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76
STOP Talking to Your Family OR ELSE!
by UnDisfellowshipped in" (the watchtower july 1st 1963 issue, page 411).
" (the watchtower july 1st 1963 issue, page 413).
" (the watchtower july 15th 1963 issue, page 446).
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dgp
Welcome Oceanblue, from a non-JW. You're very young and you have every possibility to live a good life. Don't think of the past but as a way to determine what is NOT the right thing to do.
I can relate to your worldly friends who didn't stop checking on you. They do love you for who you are. Treasure them.
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16
Are only Christians of good morals ?
by wobble inthis thread is prompted by the direction my other thread took, the one about "where was god...".
on that thread lwt posted a quote from ann coulter about how superior were christians because they don't kill babies (abortion) they don't kill old people (euthanasia) and they don't do this or that.. it is the same attitude that seems to permeate the "christian" sects, we have everything right and only we are moral.
( of course this attitude is extreme in the cults, like the jw's/wt where all "worldly" people are in thrall to satan).
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dgp
Well, since someone mentioned Buddhism, I thought of things Oriental, and remembered this guy (Wikipedia, too):
Confucius (Chinese: ? ? ; pinyin: Kong zi; Wade-Giles: K'ung-tzu, or Chinese: ??? ; pinyin: Kong Fuzi; Wade-Giles: K'ung-fu-tzu), literally "Master Kong," [ 1 ] (traditionally September 28, 551 BCE – 479 BCE) [ 2 ] [ 3 ] was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese thought and life.
His philosophy emphasized personal and governmentalmorality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism (??) or Taoism (??) during the Han Dynasty [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] (206 BCE – 220 CE). Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism (??). It was introduced to Europe by the ItalianJesuitMatteo Ricci, who was the first to Latinise the name as "Confucius."
Wasn't it Gandhi who said " "I like your Christ. "I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ".
Let me just add this pearl, found in Numbers 31 (NWT, by the way):
1 Jehovah then spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Take vengeance for the sons of Israel upon the Mid´i·an·ites. Afterward you will be gathered to your people.”
3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying: “Equip men from among YOU for the army, that they may serve against Mid´i·an to execute Jehovah’s vengeance upon Mid´i·an. 4 A thousand of each tribe of all the tribes of Israel YOU will send into the army.” 5 Accordingly from the thousands of Israel a thousand were assigned of a tribe, twelve thousand equipped for the army.
6 Then Moses sent them out, a thousand of each tribe, to the army, them and Phin´e·has the son of El·e·a´zar the priest to the army, and the holy utensils and the trumpets for blowing calls were in his hand. 7 And they went waging war against Mid´i·an, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses, and they proceeded to kill every male. 8 And they killed the kings of Mid´i·an along with the others slain, namely, E´vi and Re´kem and Zur and Hur and Re´ba, the five kings of Mid´i·an; and they killed Ba´laam the son of Be´or with the sword. 9 But the sons of Israel carried off the women of Mid´i·an and their little ones captive; and all their domestic animals and all their livestock and all their means of maintenance they plundered. 10 And all their cities in which they had settled and all their walled camps they burned with fire. 11 And they went taking all the spoil and all the booty in the way of humans and domestic animals. 12 And they came bringing to Moses and El·e·a´zar the priest and to the assembly of the sons of Israel the captives and the booty and the spoil, to the camp, to the desert plains of Mo´ab, which are by the Jordan at Jer´i·cho.
13 Then Moses and El·e·a´zar the priest and all the chieftains of the assembly went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses grew indignant at the appointed men of the combat forces, the chiefs of the thousands and the chiefs of the hundreds who were coming in from the military expedition. 15 So Moses said to them: “Have YOU preserved alive every female? 16 Look! They are the ones who, by Ba´laam’s word, served to induce the sons of Israel to commit unfaithfulness toward Jehovah over the affair of Pe´or, so that the scourge came upon the assembly of Jehovah. 17 And now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had intercourse with man by lying with a male. 18 And preserve alive for yourselves all the little ones among the women who have not known the act of lying with a male.
Whatever happened to the women who had not known the act of lying with a male? Did they ever get to know the act?
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16
Are only Christians of good morals ?
by wobble inthis thread is prompted by the direction my other thread took, the one about "where was god...".
on that thread lwt posted a quote from ann coulter about how superior were christians because they don't kill babies (abortion) they don't kill old people (euthanasia) and they don't do this or that.. it is the same attitude that seems to permeate the "christian" sects, we have everything right and only we are moral.
( of course this attitude is extreme in the cults, like the jw's/wt where all "worldly" people are in thrall to satan).
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dgp
I like this one. A long time ago, this pagan emperor persecuted the Christians because he thought they were a danger to the empire and to morals. Yep, that's right: to morals. Many hundreds of years after his death, he still gathers respect. His name was Marcus Aurelius Antonius Augustus, emperor of Rome. Wikipedia hast his about him:
Legacy and reputation
Marcus Aurelius took on the reputation of a philosopher king within his lifetime, and the title would remain his after death; both Dio and the biographer call him "the philosopher". [ 258 ] Christians—Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Melito—gave him the title too. [ 259 ] The last named went so far as to call Marcus "more philantrophic and philosophic" than Pius and Hadrian, and set him against the persecuting and philosophy-hating Emperors Domitian and Nero to make the contrast bolder. [ 260 ]
This very good man proves that you don't have to be a Christian to have good morals. So does Socrates, by the way.
Now, let us talk about some other fine fellows. The bad reputation that accompanies these God-loving and God-fearing men falls primarily over the Catholic Church. It is conveniently forgotten that there were no other Christian churches at the time (whatever the Witnesses say about that). Let's see what the Wikipedia says these good and pious men did during the first crusade:
Massacre
Further information: Siege of Jerusalem (1099)#Massacre
The Siege of Jerusalem, as depicted in a medieval manuscript The massacre which followed the capture of Jerusalem has attained particular notoriety, as a "juxtaposition of extreme violence and anguished faith". [ 88 ] The eyewitness accounts from the crusaders themselves leave little doubt that there was great slaughter in the aftermath of the siege. Nevertheless, the scale of the massacre has generally been exaggerated in later medieval sources, partly as a result of propaganda in Muslim sources, and partly as a result of the misinterpretation of the Crusaders' resort to apocalyptic language to describe the scenes. [ 87 ] It should also be remembered [citation needed] that massacre, repugnant though it might be, was an integral part of war throughout the ancient and medieval period. Contemporary Muslim reactions to the massacre were muted, when compared to later polemics on the subject. [ 87 ]
After the successful assault on the northern wall, the defenders fled to the Temple Mount, pursued by Tancred and his men. Arriving before the defenders could secure the area, Tancred's men assaulted the precint, butchering many of the defenders, with the remainder taking refuge in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Tancred then called a halt to the slaughter, offering those in the mosque his protection. [ 87 ] When the defenders on the southern wall heard of the fall of the northern wall, they fled to the citadel, allowing Raymond and the Provencals to enter the city. Iftikhar al-Dawla, the commander of the garrison, struck a deal with Raymond, surrendering the citadel in return for being granted safe passage to Ascalon. [ 87 ] The slaughter continued for the rest of the day; Muslims were indiscriminately killed, and Jews who had taken refuge in their synagogue were murdered when it was burnt down by the Crusaders. The following day, in a particularly cold-blooded atrocity, Tancred's prisoners in the mosque were slaughtered. Nevertheless, it is clear that some Muslims and Jews survived the massacre, either escaping or being taken prisoner to be ransomed. [ 87 ] The Eastern Christian population of the city had been expelled before the siege by the governor, and thus escaped the massacre. [ 87 ]
And, before we go too far, let's look at one comment by the Wikipedist:
that massacre, repugnant though it might be, was an integral part of war throughout the ancient and medieval period
That's less of massacre, right? A good massacre, after all.
Any comments?
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25
If You're Married Or Have A GF, BF,Do You Still Have Friends Of The Opposite Sex?
by minimus ini'm curious if you are "allowed'' to have "friends" of the opposite sex?
or is that a no-no?.
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dgp
I think that the definition of "friend" and "spouse" already brings different treatment of these two kind of people . There is a risk to be attracted by anyone, even that gorgeous woman who hinted interest when you were in the supermarket, for example, or the endowed blonde who always gets on the same elevator early in the morning.
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If You're Married Or Have A GF, BF,Do You Still Have Friends Of The Opposite Sex?
by minimus ini'm curious if you are "allowed'' to have "friends" of the opposite sex?
or is that a no-no?.
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dgp
I wonder if this question is asked in relation to the world of the Jehovah's witnesses or everyone. If it's everyone, I learned years ago that both parties have a right to have their own friends and their own individualities.
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To Ex-JWs: Do You Regret Learning it Was a Lie?
by leavingwt inthis question was inspired by a question on another thread.
to the ex-jw community here,.
do any of you regret learning that wt is not god's organization?
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dgp
Cantleave, you wrote:
The thing is I now don not have the ambition. Most people at 43 have reached their peak, I don't know if I want to expend the energies I should have in my 20's and 30's in my 40's
Only you know how you feel, physically speaking. But you can still reach a lot more. Go for it. You can do it. You're way better than what the WTBTS let you be.
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To Ex-JWs: Do You Regret Learning it Was a Lie?
by leavingwt inthis question was inspired by a question on another thread.
to the ex-jw community here,.
do any of you regret learning that wt is not god's organization?
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dgp
Paul from Cleveland, if the doctrine doesn't make sense in real life, it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
You also wrote:
Can man decide for himself what is right and wrong
Yes. Man can decide for himself what is right and wrong. If you don't believe me, see how the WTBTS has spent 130 years making decisions that turn out WRONG, and people who leave decide what is RIGHT.
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NCC Report: church members outnumber JW's 140 to one
by moshe inbased on a recent 2009 report of church membership in north america by the national council of churches, ncc, jw's are near the bottom of the list with about 1 million members and mainline churches have over 140 million.
jw's have not had any success in growing any faster than mainline christianity and they are definitely behind the mormons in growth.
well, this is one statistic you won't see in the wt yearbook.. top 25 churches ranked by membership:.
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dgp
We have to note that the JW's aren't growing much more than the Church of God, but more than the Mormons in percent terms. Of course, in absolute numbers the Mormons grew more. Almost three times as much as the JW's. Only four religious groups grew.
