truth_b_known

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Posts by truth_b_known

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  28

  Dissolved Congregations--Minneapolis--St. Paul.

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we know all the dissolved congregations in minneapolis/st.

  paul now:.

  1. lake of the isles .

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  truth_b_known

  Woodbury? That wouldn't happen to be there on Century BLVD in Oakdale?
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  33

  Special meeting next month (February 2020)

  by Jofi_Wofo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was announced today that we will have a special weekend meeting next month.

  it will be 3 hours long and will include some streamed content.. no explanation was given as to what the meeting will be about, only that it will be exciting and we will not want to miss it..

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  truth_b_known

  "Special Meeting" is Watchtower speak for "Organizational changes" and not anything spiritual. I remember back in the 90s my parents were certain we were getting a letter that was announcing the beginning of the Great Tribulation. In stead, we got a letter that said we were no longer to charge for our literature, but rather ask for a donation. This was of course to protect Watchtower's religious tax exemption in the US.

  I am sure this "Special Meeting" will boil down to Watchtower financial business. Donate more. We are taking direct control over you congregation's financial accounts. We are selling your Kingdom Hall and sending you an extra 20 miles one way to attend meetings somewhere else because Jehovah's blessings.
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  38

  Dumb things JWs believed

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am not talking about the usual crap from the cult writings, but rather things idiots believed on their own.

  maybe even helped on by the cult but not directly taught.

  i knew an old man now long gone kunde in michigan.

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  truth_b_known

  Some of the most disturbing things I heard, but were not Watchtower quotes -

  Dinosaur fossils were made by demons to get mankind to believe in evolution.

  All dinosaurs were herbivores. T-Rex's teeth were used to strip bark of trees to eat.

  Just about anything other than real medical assistance provided by licensed doctors worked better than real medicine (too many to list).

  Any urban legend in reference to Smurfs.
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  19

  First Proper Chat With the JWs in Almost 11 Years

  by passwordprotected in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  since disassociating in october 2008, i've had little to no direct contact with the jws, apart from immediate family members (ie my parents).

  i've lived in my rented flat since may 2014 and haven't had a knock on the door in that whole time.

  until saturday morning.

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  truth_b_known

  PasswordProtected:

  Your arguments are wonderfully bright, honest, and intelligent. I really appreciate the "one less god than you" line of thinking as well as pointing out the conformation bias, which is huge.
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  34

  SuperBowl 54: US Sports vs UK Sports

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. physical

  so a few things .... apparently it's superbowl 54, and also the centennial of the sport.

  erm ... i'm not a mathematician, but aren't there 46 superbowls missing?.

  americans claim that uk sport ("soccer", aka real football) is too low scoring.

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  truth_b_known

  Its all bread and circuses.
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  45

  The end is so close now....

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  aren't they tiring out from saying this now?.

  a jobo pimi-lite i know has a terminal illness (no names, no pack drill), was told, 'hold on, the end is so close.

  the pimi-lite said they will need to hold on to their 'go bags(tm), then!.

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  truth_b_known

  As always, with Watchtower it is always a game of semantics. What exactly does "close" mean, especially without a second point of reference. My dear old dad always told me you have to have at least 2 points of reference before you can gain perspective.

  So, as I recently learned, remains of modern man have been found going back over 150,000 years. That's what anthropological research has found. Geological research has found that massive, near extinction level events happen on Earth about ever 6,000 to 10,000 years. This is why history only goes back so far. Literally, ever so many millennia civilization is reduced to rubble and ash. So, were pretty much over do for another pressing of the reset button.

  That being said, the Judeo-Christian fairy tale of Armageddon is no closer now than it was back in 1872 when Zion's Watchtower preached gloom and doom. In fact, I love bringing up to Witnesses at my door that things are better now than they have ever been in human history.
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  22

  Middle class elders and pioneering children

  by Steel in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was looking at my hall the other day some of the upper elders who are retired now have had some pretty good jobs and lives of relative comfort.

  i am not exactly sure what the education levels were but they were white collar.

  most likely started in a world where you didn’t need a lot of education to get a head.

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  truth_b_known

  What I found was there were usually one of two types of employments Witnesses had - construction/trades or janitorial. The Witnesses who had the wealth were not college educated. They are the ones that started their own construction or janitorial company and then employed fellow Witnesses. Often the business owners would take advantage of their fellow Witnesses whom they employed.

  I remember working for one such company when I was 19. The elder who owned the company stopped by the job site late in the afternoon. He told me and the other Witness working there that the job needed to be finished that day. It was a meeting night. The elder went to the meeting. We stayed and finished the job.

  Often such elders financially supported their adult children so their children could pioneer. It was common to find Witnesses in their early 20s living at their parents' home, sometimes married with children, so they could pioneer.
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  5

  Good Scripture to Show Watchtower = Pharisees

  by truth_b_known in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i read something today that immediate brought the watchtower/jws to mind.

  something to share with jws the next time they come knocking at your door.

  i'll even quote it from the nwt - luke 18:9-14.

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  truth_b_known

  I read something today that immediate brought the Watchtower/JWs to mind. Something to share with JWs the next time they come knocking at your door. I'll even quote it from the NWT - Luke 18:9-14

  9 He also told this illustration to some who trusted in their own righteousness and who considered others as nothing: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and began to pray these things to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like everyone else—extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give the tenth of all things I acquire.’+ 13 But the tax collector, standing at a distance, was not willing even to raise his eyes heavenward but kept beating his chest, saying, ‘O God, be gracious to me,* a sinner.’+ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home and was proved more righteous than that Pharisee.+ Because everyone who exalts himself will be humiliated, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

  I think back to being a kid in the 80s sitting through the Sunday congregation Watchtower study. How many articles were there in which Watchtower patting themselves on the back for being a "clean" and "upright" organization and contrasting itself to Christendom or the Catholic Church with all it's child abuse scandals? Probably hundreds of articles!

  How many times did Witnesses publicly raise themselves by announcing the were pioneering and going to put in 50, 60, or more hours in the ministry every month? The Mosaic Law required an Israelite to fast 1 time a year. Did God really care about the extra 99 times the Pharisees fasted?

  How many times did Witnesses publicly praise themselves for being more righteous than their own fellow congregation members by advocating the shunning of their own? I don't just mean disfellowshipped ones, but also those who were judged as "spiritually weak" and could only be spoken to at the meetings. To further serve pride they love titles such as Ministerial Servant, Elder, Circuit Overseer, Bethelite, etc. These titles divide and then raise the holder above other fellow members.

  Its as clear as the spilled scotch on Tony Morris' tie that Watchtower and their followers are just modern day Pharisees.
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  14

  Ever notice this about X JWs

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  its not just x jws but religious people in general.

  they feel free to post this crap on the internet about jesus is lord share this post, or some drivel but then if you post any thing that questions it you get jumped on like someone saying the earth is a globe at a flat earth convention.

  they can say what ever they want but don't dare question it.

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  truth_b_known

  I went from born in JW, to atheist, to more spiritualist. I enjoy studying the Bible through non-Watchtower lenses. I also enjoy studying Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. I like seeing the common thread that runs through them all and seeing how man made organizations twisted them into burdensome religions.

  However, I get your point. That's the difference between belief and faith. Belief is clinging to an idea that supports your way of thinking and opposing anything that goes against that same way of thinking. Faith is letting go and accepting the truth for what it is.
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  12

  The Governing Body Doesn't Wait On Jehovah

  by Afterburn in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  have you ever been told that humility requires waiting on jehovah?i have.

  lots of times.

  for decades.

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  truth_b_known

  According to the Bible, God gave his law to his people through Moses. The only time there was anything one might refer to as "new light" was when Jesus came to earth to fulfill the law. That's it.

  So, for centuries the Israelites had the Mosaic law with no new light. Then Jesus begins his ministry around 30AD. We get the Sermon on the Mount and a few other public discourses sprinkled with a few private meetings with the disciples. That's it.

  Even decades after Jesus' death and resurrection, the writers of the New Testament refine nothing. No new light. No change in Jesus' teachings. No "clearer understanding" of the Gospel.

  If anyone knows how many times Watchtower claims to have received "new light" I would like to know that number. I'm sure it will be a sharp contrast to the one time it actually happened and it took Jesus coming to Earth to do it.