What mankind needs is to stop looking for answers and explanations and just needs to accept.
accept that we are here, how does not matter
accept that we die, end of story
accept that we can think for ourselves, not be told what to think.
oz
http://www.armageddonconspiracy.co.uk/sex-for-salvation-ii%282395055%29.htm.
judaism claims that the way to god is through obeying endless rules allegedly imposed by god.
the great philosopher immanuel kant claimed that judaism wasn't a religion at all, but a mere body of laws.
What mankind needs is to stop looking for answers and explanations and just needs to accept.
accept that we are here, how does not matter
accept that we die, end of story
accept that we can think for ourselves, not be told what to think.
oz
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/12/11/noahs-biblical-flood-actually-happened-says-famed-archeologist-who-found-the-titanic/ .
"the story of noah's ark and its associated flood continues to be retold to children and studied by theologians, alike.
while some dismiss it as a mere fable, others believe wholeheartedly that the event literally unfolded, with a massive down-pouring of water ravaging the earth at god's command.
what a joke
he says it actually happened...and has gone to Turkey to find evidence.
Should it not be the other way around??...evidence then the claim?
i think he will find a turkey in the mirror
oz
about a month ago, i wrote a post about a sister that keeps coming to my apartment giving me watchtowers.
i called her an older sister.
she is in her late 50's.
Me dont think you needed to make an apology...
I am not old but i have no idea who the craggy looking dude is that looks back at me in the mirror!
Oz
so, a good friend of mine, a pentecostal christian, invited me to go to a retreat with her church.
we're the same age-19 years.
we were friends before i became a witness and she was always patient and caring with me especially throughout my arrogant spell as a witness.
In my country, they are very easy going and play a lot of music. lol....(Australia?) .....Maybe i'm just making up excuses because i really want to go but i know that you all are right.
Please take it from those older and wiser...the music is a HOOK. The 'LOVE' is a HOOK.
But...you are going to go anyway!
let us know what goes down.
oz
so, a good friend of mine, a pentecostal christian, invited me to go to a retreat with her church.
we're the same age-19 years.
we were friends before i became a witness and she was always patient and caring with me especially throughout my arrogant spell as a witness.
NOPE, thats my thoughts.
The 'happy clappers' are as annoying as JWs in many ways. just have a look at their facebooks...
A retreat is another word for membership drive. Young people who feel a bit lost are prime targets for them and what better way to nab them than to get them away from all other influences and surrounded by a whole bunch of teenage jesus freaks. Serious, have seen it first hand with one of the wifes former friends. Total transformation from normal girl to bible spouting judgemental immature twit.
The LAST thing a person exiting one religion needs is to go into another too soon. Its like rebound relationships, great for a little while but can leave you trapped with the wrong person again.
thankyou your 'friend' and say no thankyou! You are a prize catch for her and the pentecostals...A JW no less! Praise the LORD! Hallelujah! (shudder)
oz
feels real strange typing this.
i was what you all call born in.
i was happy growing up.
Big welcome to you!
I served as a reg pioneer for a few years and as a MS. I left them in 1998. I had no doubts, or if i did i buried them so good i dont remember them. But what I did know was that i just did not want to be a JW or a christian anymore. I was burnt out, depressed and suicidal. I started leading a double life as my authentic self and the two worlds had to collide one day... and i let them (destoyed everything)
Towards the end i just could not stomach field service and if i did go i would ask to go alone, i would take a bible and nothing else, i could not bring myself to push magazines on people who clearly resented it. often if a house was empty i just stood on the porch for ages before moving on.
I started to hand talks back, esp public talks.
I stopped praying. I came to see it as nothing more than self affirming of what i thought, nothing more. I came to believe that God did not care one little bit about 'me'. Individuals were nothing more than colateral damage and pawns to this mad mans game of universal power struggle.
I was an apologist for them though for another 12 years! Until i found this place of refuge. I too was very conflicted coming here. Even being out for all that time it still felt very dangerous to log onto a forum of ex JWs. So began my journey of waking up.
I am glad you have already started to wake up and have the presence of mind to go easy on the wife. Too many here have lost a spouse when waking up. You will find a good many able to help you through confusion. It is truly amazing when you do wake up though isn't it! amazing clarity and yet it is mixed with fear too.
There are lots of serving and recently stepped down elders and Ms here...reach out for them.
Oz
there is discussion of doomsday cults at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/doomsday_cult, and much of it aligns closely with watchtower predictions and behaviour, so i was wondering why jehovah's witnesses are not mentioned.
here are some quotes from the article:.
doomsday cult is an expression used to describe groups who believe in apocalypticism and millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about.
Yes they should
but as fast as you may add them, they will take it down too.
Oz
the phone rang in the art gallery and i answered.. the voice was a young woman's.. one of her two parrots had died rather suddenly.. she wanted a colorful frame for the memorial portrait.
could we accomodate her?.
the remaining bird was sulking.. i suggested parrots without partners.. i don't where my tasteless jokes come from.
very telling, a kiss, IMO.
Pretty straight kissing with first JW wife, a later girlfriend just did not 'do' kissing. It made passion hard without it, another short lived relationship had the most unbeleivable kisses that was not matched by another till i met my now wife.
It might seem kinda obvious, but I would have to say my wife, every time is special and I would shrivel up without her kiss.
oz
if creepy contact lenses, facial piercings and people who talk insanely fast (and over-use the word "legit") are not your thing, then don't watch this video!.
however, if those things don't bother you, and you're curious about the "nuclear" way to eject jehovah's witnesses from one's doorstep, this video explains how this can be done swiftly and effectively.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvc1yoydby.
i can actually remember at least a couple of instances where someone revealed they were gay on the doorstep to my partner and i and this didn't get rid of us immediately, but it did force us onto the back foot.
he's ALIVE!
priceless experience for him, and oh so perceprive of the instant judgement and unaccaptableness of himself to these hypoctites.
Oz
i'm a new member & i'd like to say hi to everyone, intoducing myself.. i am a 3rd generation born-in at mid 50's & an active elder.. english is not my mother language, so pls ignore any grammatical errors.
i live in a small country in europe.. i'd like to thank you for all information posted.
some of them have rally helped me to understand and examine again my beliefs.. last new light concerning f&ds=gb has verified the idea that they are popes in the position op pope.. i still believe in god & in his son jesus christ but not in the gb..
perhaps you could make contact with msconcerned, he is a MS active, new here and worried...
oz