No one should criticize someone who doesn't want to "come out" and identify themself as an "ex" anything.
That is a personal decision, period.
NightOwl
some ex-jws feel strongly we should all be "out of the closet" so we can present real faces to the public on the issue of cult dangers.
to those folks i say, more power to you, all the best.. for my own life i have a different approach.. compartmentalizing is healthy for me.
it keeps my past in the past.
No one should criticize someone who doesn't want to "come out" and identify themself as an "ex" anything.
That is a personal decision, period.
NightOwl
some threads question the intelligence of people who would "fall for" the teachings of the wts.. one of the current threads on this topic uses the terms "king......dumb.....hall" and calls jw's stupid, mindless, idiots.
my question is: what are you falling for now?.
nightowl.
I think there are some who have left the WTS and feel they are free of being caught up again. Are they being just as "mindless" as those they accuse? Are they really that much "smarter" than those they accuse of being "brainwashed idiots"?
I have some family, in addition to some friends in the Org. and they are anything but idiots.
They are just people who happen to believe in God in a particular way that is not popular.
Who is not brainwashed in this world? I don't think there is one.
Who even has an ORIGINAL thought? No one. Your head was empty when you were born and others filled it up.
NightOwl
some threads question the intelligence of people who would "fall for" the teachings of the wts.. one of the current threads on this topic uses the terms "king......dumb.....hall" and calls jw's stupid, mindless, idiots.
my question is: what are you falling for now?.
nightowl.
Some threads question the intelligence of people who would "fall for" the teachings of the WTS.
One of the current threads on this topic uses the terms "king......dumb.....hall" and calls JW's stupid, mindless, idiots
My question is: What are YOU falling for now?
NightOwl
the etan patz story was huge when i was a kid in the 70's.
very scary, parents didn't let kids out of their sight.
investigators found the body several weeks ago, and now this guy comes forward.. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20120525_neighbors_shocked_that_etan_patz_rsquo_s_confessed_killer_lived_among_them.html.
The more you jump to conclusions without all the facts, the more you look like those "hateful apostates".
NightOwl
http://books.google.com/books?id=hxoev5wpqukc&printsec=frontcover&dq=subject:%22philosophy+/+general%22&hl=en&sa=x&ei=1rg4t7fhx6mjath33yah&ved=0cgoq6aewca#v=onepage&q=subject%3a%22philosophy%20%2f%20general%22&f=false.
.
Very nice.
Thank you.
NightOwl
just want to share this amazing debate!
caltech cosmologist and physicist sean carroll teams up with skeptic magazine publisher and science historian michael shermer in this epic debate with noted conservative author and king's college president dinesh d'souza and mit physicist ian hutchinson as they go head-to-head over one of the most controversial issues of our age.
as science pushes deeper into territory once the province of religion, with questions such as why there is something rather than nothing?, where did the universe come from?, how did life arise?, what was the origin of morality?, and others, inevitable conflicts arise over the best approach to answer them.
The problem with science is it cannot cope with the intangibles, these being the things that cannot be perceived thru the five senses.
NightOwl
sometimes people with ordinary understandings and expectations encounter things outside their experience.. they deal with it and move on.
they tell people and answer questions.. eventually, somebody explains it and the incident (and the story) goes underground.. .
......only to re-emerge.. if it is an unusual incident or report eventually there will be others who come along.
So everyone who has seen a UFO has not "seen" a UFO, but has "seen" something else?
If so, then what has the person actually "seen", because if you say that what they have "seen" is not what they have "seen", then you must tell them what they actually saw.
Now, seeing as you were not there when they saw what they saw, how in the world can you say that they saw this or that, but they really didn't see what they saw?
NightOwl
just want to share this amazing debate!
caltech cosmologist and physicist sean carroll teams up with skeptic magazine publisher and science historian michael shermer in this epic debate with noted conservative author and king's college president dinesh d'souza and mit physicist ian hutchinson as they go head-to-head over one of the most controversial issues of our age.
as science pushes deeper into territory once the province of religion, with questions such as why there is something rather than nothing?, where did the universe come from?, how did life arise?, what was the origin of morality?, and others, inevitable conflicts arise over the best approach to answer them.
To answer the question: No.
NightOwl
i understand that the jehovah's witnesses are paranoid when it comes to the paranormal.. how far do the roots of this paranoia go?
has anyone ever had any personal paranormal experiences or know of anyone who has (first hand)?.
and what are some of the more popular stories that get retold in jw circles?.
Jeffro,
You are just an ass.
NightOwl
sooo i was a ministerial servant (omg a ministerial servant on this site!?
you apostate!!!
) yea yea i just wanted to see what other people think and whatever, coz i had a few questions myself, (butttt its not like i was about to start throwing them with rocks and stuff, they arent that bad).
I dropped from 12, sometimes 15 a month to about 5 hours a month. We had an elder/MS meeting and when they dismissed the Servants, they asked me to stay over for a few minutes. They asked me about my situation and I told them whatever I told them.
The truth was that I was burnt out from all the responsibility. Meetings, personal study, parts, field service and I was just tired, but I didn't tell them that. I just said I had some overwhelming personal problems.
I told them I was going to step down, even though they really didn't want me to. The announcement was that I had been deleted.
Eventually, it lead to my inactivity.
Did it hurt? Yes.
Was it a relief? Yes.
Was I confused about how much of this belief system was still in my heart? Yes.
One of my friends in the congregation is an ex-elder and while he is still active, he feels that the burden of not having to "perform" month, after month, after month, is a great relief. No more 30 mins early, no more waiting for the last one to leave the hall to lock up, no more conducting the book study, meetings for field service. No more committees, no more nothing.
Wherever this leads you, will be wherever it leads you.
NightOwl