Posts by dssynergy

43

How Important is knowing the Truth, Really?

by cameo-d in

is the quest of finding the real truth even attainable?

is the quest of trying to find out worth the risk and the sacrifice of losing the love of friends and family?

oh, i know many of you will say the "love" is fake or not true if it can't hold up to scrutinty.

dssynergy

I think we won't know the truth of things until after everything is said and done....that said, I think there are things that can be considered - as far as spirituality is concerned "spiritual principals" that are found in most spiritual practices (i.e. reciprocity, love, karma, etc)...anything beyond this - is speculation. We can read the holy books and interpret them to the best of our ability - no matter, we are imperfect, and until it's all over, we won't really know what everything meant....

I've said for years I was an agnostic JW...now I'm an agnostic fader...

my .02 cents...

DS

21

Does WikiLeaks have any Scoop on the WTBTS to be released?

by cameo-d in

since wl deals with documented facts, not merely rumors and speculations.....what would you most like to see documented and revealed about the watchtower, the gb members, or the wt true agenda?.

if you could ask wl to dig up information about any curiosity you have concerning this cult....what would you have them investigate?.

do you think there is any information that will be released concerning religions and cults?.

dssynergy

Wikileaks doesn't do the investigating, at least it doesn't seem to me - they just make available the documents that are submitted if they feel it would be of value to the public. There is nothing to say that as a journalist, anyone else couldn't do the same with the documents of the WTBS. Especially if it is done with some informative or comparative analysis, everything should be public domain (except the private letters released to congregations).

Done correctly, I think the WT would have a hard fight on their hands.

DS

41

Lying about divorce reason to be allowed to re-marry

by Big Softie in

i know my view on this but would be interested to see what anyone else thinks.. .

at a court hearing recently my estranged wife, who left me (i'm not jw) asked me if i would be prepared to lie to her elders and state that i had committed adultery (i didn't) so that she would be allowed to "get on in her faith".

this from a woman who before she left got intimate (emotionally, i'm not sure about physically) with two "sisters", one of whom took to buying her large bunches of red roses and basicaly furnished her new house for her.. now my view is that she has clearly stated and put in writing that the marriage ended because of my unreasonable behaviour (i.e.

dssynergy

She needs to have him lie so she can be scripturally free to re-marry. Marriage is "till death do us part" unless one of them has committed adultery.

19

My son contacted me... need advise

by Expanded-Mind in

jw
friends

2010 will go on the record as a great year for me!

in november i heard from my youngest son (a jw), who i have not heard from in 8 years (i am an exjw).

hearing from him was wonderful enough, but he added to that joy by telling me he was married (to a non-jw) and i have a grandchild.

dssynergy

You can have a relationship with your son regardless of what religion either of you are. That he contacted you to me says that at least at this point it is a non-issue for him as well. I wouldn't bring anything up too quickly. Do lots of observing...If your goal is to be able at some point to discuss the JWs, then you are going to have to bank a lot of trust and that means he is going to have to not be afraid that you are going to randomly accost him with bizzarre (to him) questions, comments, ideas, or accusatory/threatening arguments connected to the JWs. As someone said you don't really know where he is at - he could just be taking a break, or he could be having doubts and is completely ready to leave. Until you know more...tread very lightly.

22

While in, did you ever rationalize questionable behavior, entertainment, even sin as justifide?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

i'm not the biggest fan of depeche mode, but a couple of their albums were actually ok. there's one track by them i've always loved called, "strangelove" from their music for the masses album, and the lyrics remind me of my own thought process at times.

the lead vocalist sings at one point, "i give in, to sin, because you have to make this life livable.

looking back on it, i feel that i needed to watch that fight.

dssynergy

MLE,

I hear ya. In the same boat. I'm fading, but I understand everything that you said. Yes, I justify my actions. Right now I'm of the mind set it is none of their damn business. I tried it their way (no dating, no sex, blah blah blah) now I'm going to live like a regular person and see how that goes. I bet I'm happier, more content and less suicidal. :-)

7

What about WikiLeaks?

by dssynergy in

jw
friends

with all of the internal documents that i'm sure are floating around or accessible by insiders on this board, what about submitting them to wikileaks and see what they do with the material?

how embarasing would that be for wtbs for all that exposure?

i realize that wikileaks is mostly about governments - but i bet they would see the importance of opening up this can of worms too if it was shown to them.. just my .02. ds.

dssynergy

As far as I can tell, Wikileaks is still working...the website is still up, the rest of the group is still functioning....if I had the documents, I'd submit them.

7

What about WikiLeaks?

by dssynergy in

jw
friends

with all of the internal documents that i'm sure are floating around or accessible by insiders on this board, what about submitting them to wikileaks and see what they do with the material?

how embarasing would that be for wtbs for all that exposure?

i realize that wikileaks is mostly about governments - but i bet they would see the importance of opening up this can of worms too if it was shown to them.. just my .02. ds.

dssynergy

well, of course he does - but does that keep people from submitting??

27

Are JW's coached to be vague?

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

i recently emailed my jw friend a couple of questions about jw beliefs, and she gave a generic, vague response that did not answer my questions.

are jw's coached to answer in vague terms?.

i have been attending the tm "school," and although i see the "demonstrations" teaching jw's to give misleading opening lines at the door and canned answers to questions, my friend's response was not exactly canned.

dssynergy

@Retrovirus: when my mom was studying with me and I had questions she said " do you want to do something bad? Is that why you are questioning?" - uh, no I didn't want to do anything bad - I just wanted answers. Geez.

7

What about WikiLeaks?

by dssynergy in

jw
friends

with all of the internal documents that i'm sure are floating around or accessible by insiders on this board, what about submitting them to wikileaks and see what they do with the material?

how embarasing would that be for wtbs for all that exposure?

i realize that wikileaks is mostly about governments - but i bet they would see the importance of opening up this can of worms too if it was shown to them.. just my .02. ds.

dssynergy

With all of the internal documents that I'm sure are floating around or accessible by insiders on this board, what about submitting them to WikiLeaks and see what they do with the material? How embarasing would that be for WTBS for all that exposure? I realize that WikiLeaks is mostly about governments - but I bet they would see the importance of opening up this can of worms too if it was shown to them.

Just my .02

DS

Here is the link, just in case: http://wikileaks.tard.is/submissions.html

27

Are JW's coached to be vague?

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

i recently emailed my jw friend a couple of questions about jw beliefs, and she gave a generic, vague response that did not answer my questions.

are jw's coached to answer in vague terms?.

i have been attending the tm "school," and although i see the "demonstrations" teaching jw's to give misleading opening lines at the door and canned answers to questions, my friend's response was not exactly canned.

dssynergy

Case in point: They can't even be bothered to update the badly outdated Reasoning book, supposedly the JW's "goto" book for doctrinal exegesis.

Agonus - you give them too much credit - do they even know what a full exegesis is?? It would be nice to have articles that go through the exgesis (if any) when they make doctrinal changes. Instead of saying "ok guys, we've changed our mind again. Now we believe_____, and you will too." - it would be great if they said "we've changed our mind again, and here is why...." with an article that outlined the research and reasoning behind the changes.

And the idea that only JWs have a scriptural hope for surviving is bunk to me. There is so much they don't know, how can they be so dogmatic about things like that?? It seems arrogant in my view, to be so sure of things about which we have been told "no one knows the day or the hour" and when their own publications say that truly understanding the fulfillment of a prophecy comes AFTER it has been fulfilled, not before.

DS