It's something you might always relate to in one way or another. What that relationship may be might change from time to time. There are various adaptations. I used to think of myself as an ex-cultist, but I don't anymore. It's like a foundation for your personality has been laid, and you can't change the foundation. You can only decide what you want to build on it.
Justin
JoinedPosts by Justin
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27
Don't wanna be a JW...Don't wanna be ex-JW
by FreedomFrog inok...i definitely don't want to be jw any more.
i just want to be me.. on average, how long does it take to give it up?
to move on?.
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Book having to do with JWs
by under74 inokay, so i finally finished this book let it blurt: the life & times of lester bangs, america's greatest rock critic....i been reading it on plane rides so it's kind of taken me awhile.
i know i've mentioned it on a couple of threads and said it was good...and it is, but the author jim derogatis i think gets jw doctrine all mixed up.
just for background sake, lester bangs was raised a jw and it's brought up a lot in the book because it (of course, made an impact on bangs short life) .
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Justin
I'm afraid there is a tendency on the part of many to put the JWs in the same boat with other fundamentalists. It's like someone who isn't a dog-lover not bothering to distinguish among the different species - all dogs are dogs. So if other fundamentalists believe in a burning hell, it's assumed the JWs do too. Some fundamentalists use Paul's words at 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to avoid mourning for the dead, but I think JWs would say this merely refers to overwhelming and prolonged expressions of grief - not that we should not grieve at all. And as for hospitals, I know the Seventh Day Adventists have hospitals - and believe it or not, some people confuse the SDA's with the JW's. It is possible that a biographer, knowing that his subject was from a fundamentalist background, might make some assumptions as to what was believed and practiced rather than carefully studying the religion itself.
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Opinions on Matthew 15:21-28
by wordlywife inthis is a passage that has always bothered me, and was wondering if it bothered anyone else.
to me it sounds as though jesus thinks of some people as dogs and not deserving of anything.
maybe i have an incorrect view on this.
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Justin
I was not trying to "harmonize" John with the synoptics so much as attempting to show that even John did not completely ignore the situation of the historical Jesus, having him hold extensive dialogue with a Samaritan rather than just any Gentile. Even John has Jesus say to the Samaritan woman, "salvation is of the Jews." (4:22) John's vantage point is even further along into the new era, when Jesus is recognized as a universal savior. The statement attributed to the post-resurrection Jesus at Acts 1:8, that the apostles were to be witnesses "in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth," would seem to put the Samaritans in a class unto themselves.
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Opinions on Matthew 15:21-28
by wordlywife inthis is a passage that has always bothered me, and was wondering if it bothered anyone else.
to me it sounds as though jesus thinks of some people as dogs and not deserving of anything.
maybe i have an incorrect view on this.
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Justin
worldlywife, are you satisfied with these answers? As leolaia pointed out, the Greek word for "dog" in this case is a diminutive, meaning that the Gentiles were compared to house pets - little dogs, or puppies - which softens what may appear to be harsh. Jesus' mission as the Jewish Messiah was to his own people, but the Gospels anticipate the calling of the Gentiles in his incidental dealings with Gentiles. Even the Gospel of John does not clash with this because the Samaritans were in a class of their own - accepting the Torah (first five books of the Hebrew Bible) but not the remainder, and they may have even had some Jewish descent but had lost their identity.
Your question is one which should interest Christians generally, and is not peculiar to Jehovah's Witnesses. You may want to check out some of the Christian websites available and ask others what they think.
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Thought for the Day
by Justin in"some have such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at pleasure, so as to produce the effect of singing.
" - augustine of hippo, the city of god, book xiv, chapter 24.
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Justin
"Some have such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at pleasure, so as to produce the effect of singing." - Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, Book XIV, Chapter 24.
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Parousia- Is it just me? Has anyone else noticed this?
by upside/down inthe entire premise of the debate of christ's "presence" as discussed in matt24:3 to me makes no sense.
here's why: we have to assume by the question asked by the apostles, that they understood the whole "presence" concept, which they didn't.
they were merely asking him when "the end" would come, i'm not even sure if they know what "the end" really meant.
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Justin
I think the question, using the text as it stands, is whether or not the translation of parousia as "presence" is legitimate. If we focus on another word - semeion or "sign" ('What will be the semeion of your parousia' (Matt. 24:3) - we can see that it is really irrelevant whether parousia is here translated either "presence" or "coming." Why? Because semeion does not occur again until verse 30, which reads: "And then shall appear the sign [semeion] of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (KJV) There is no presence of the Son of man during all the preceeding events - the great wars, famines, earthquakes, persecutions, and preaching work. In other words, all the events which are supposed to prove an invisible presence according to JW belief do not in fact do so, and the only sign given is the actual coming of Jesus in glory. Because this parousia is said to occur "Immediately after the tribulation of those days" - referring to the "great tribulation" upon Jerusalem (verse 29) - one could infer that that event would be a sign of an impending parousia, but it is not called the sign. If one were to read Matthew 24 in the NWT, even with parousia being translated as "presence," one would not be lead to believe in an invisible presence if one were not already familiar with JW teaching.
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The Assumption Widely Ridiculed .. But Rarely Discussed
by metatron inif you are a christian, a jew, or a muslim, you belong to a revealed religion.
you believe that an angel, a prophet.
or other divine being came to earth and truthfully explained what your place in the universe should be.
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Justin
When the first flying saucer I ever saw landed, a little green alien came out and asked, "May I take a moment of your time? I'm in the neighborhood today to share some good news with you . . ."
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"Replacement doctrines" - things which JWs lie about to the interested ones
by Pole independing on the denomination of their interlocutor the witnesses often claim that their religion is free of a whole bunch of non-sensical doctrines which are so common in other religions.
oftentimes, however, it proves that they have something that i'll call "replacement doctines" - beliefs which which are difficult to figure out for the 'interested ones', but which in the long run prove to be just as bad as the stuff they disclaimed or worse.
example: in a catholic country like poland, jws often boast about the fact that they don't have the confession routine, where a person has his/her sins forgiven by a priest who acts as a representative of god.
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Justin
The major replacement doctrine is the Organization itself. People begin their study with JWs thinking the Bible will be the authority. But then they are gradually won over to the idea that the Organization, which "explains" the Bible, is the real authority. So the Organization has, in fact, become a substitute for the Catholic Church. Years ago, before the Catholic Church liberalized, it was no secret that it was considered to be the true Church, and possessed a teaching authority. But the JWs in effect begin as protestants and become little catholics.
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JOHN - The Lazy Apostle ?
by Lampokey infrom the gospel according to john , 21:25 new world translation :.
"there are , in fact , many other things which jesus also did , which , if ever they were written in full detail , i suppose , the world itself could not contain the scrolls written.".
well , john , here you are , charged with the responsibility to relate the life and times of jesus , and you do not tell us what these "many other things" are.. why not ?
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Justin
Two points: Regarding the correlation of Jesus' death with the passover, John apparently has Jesus die at the time the passover lambs were sacrificed at the temple rather than on the passover day itself. For this to happen, the Last Supper could not be the actual passover meal - though some have speculated that Jesus and his disciples may have had an "early" passover. This leaves us in the dark historically, but it does indicate that both John and the synoptics (other gospels) viewed Jesus as the true passover.
Secondly, the statement at the end of the gospel that all Jesus' deeds were not recorded, while it is hyperbole and it is, as it were, a post script, may be an allowance for the fact that this gospel is different from the others. So the writer may, in effect, be saying, "You may already know things about Jesus which you haven't read here. That's OK. This is the version we are offering now."
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Which Bullshistory would you choose?
by Norm inas we know the watchtower is chock full of incredible bullshit, here is some:*** w03 2/15 pp.
5-6 jehovah?a god worth knowing *** .
why did it happen?.
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Justin
The JWs came along at a later stage of the mother's grief. So perhaps their explanation "worked" for her, whereas the priest's didn't because he was dealing with the immediate shock of loss. I don't think she was prepared to hear, "Your baby is dead. Just get on with your life."