A study of the book of Jeremiah can overturn the entire Watchtower theology, which rests on 607 BC and an interpretation of the "70 years" that is at odds with the actual text.
Londo111
JoinedPosts by Londo111
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8
The book of Jeremiah
by truthwillsetyoufree init occurred to me the other day that i don't actually know all that much about the bible.
dont get me wrong, i was a very dedicated and studious jehovah's witness and i studied the bible every day - or so i thought.
i have now realised that during the time i spent in that religion i didn't study the bible - i studied jehovah's witness theology.
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To all those underage and awake…
by Londo111 ini salute you.. when i was in, i was a brainwashed idiot.
it instilled an arrogance and made me part of a community that contributed to your suffering.. i remember when i would see a jw parent drag their teens to the meeting.
some of these parents had converted recently, some had been some years.
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Londo111
That last sentence would make a good t-shirt.
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Dealing with family
by G Skero ini'm in my mid 40's and recently started bible study and going to meetings.
my family is really having a hard time with this.
my kids that are over 18 are no longer speaking to me and won't have anything to do with me.
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Londo111
G Skero:
Right now, JWs are in the "dating" phase with you and will be putting their best foot forward with metaphorical flowers and candy. They will give you lots of attention and seem like the most loving people on earth. Some of them will be sincere in doing so, but this practice has been nicknamed "loveboming". It's very hard to think through that. Once you are committed, things would change.
The study process is a low and slow process of indoctrination. There are insider doctrines that you will not be told until you are "ready". You are taught outsider doctrines first, spun and made palatable for outsiders. Slowly you will be introduced to less palatable, less believable teachings.
Example of an insider doctrine:
* In 1919, Jesus appointing the JW/Watchtower Governing Body as the Faithful and Discreet Slave as God's sole channel with mankind. A relationship with God is impossible without recognizing them as the Faithful and Discreet Slave.
* All non-JWs will be eternally destroyed at Armageddon.
* You should die rather than have a blood transfusion, but blood fractions are okay.
* All non-JWs are "bad assocation", so you should only have JW friends.
* Even if you are a JW, if you become inactive (don't go door to door each month), you are bloodguilty and be destroyed at Armageddon.
* Higher education is bad.* You should really consider pioneering...perhaps doing with less, taking a part time job, and do evangelizing activity for 70 hours each month.
* Anyone who decides not to be a JW anymore, or whom the elders expel, are to be completely shunned, not so much as a hello given to them.
* If you see or hear of anyone validating Watchtower rules (maybe celebrating holiday, attending another church, reading books like Crisis of Conscience, reading websites such as this), the matter must be reported to the elders immediately.
* Elders can form secretive investigative committees in regard members and investigate a person's behavior without their knowledge, questioning family and friends close to that person.
* Elders can form judicial committees, where they pull the member in a backroom because of violating Watchtower rules, or if it comes to light that they believe differently on a matter (such as whether Jesus invisible Presence began in 1914). Judicial committees are secret trails where no observers or recordings are allowed, no legal defense allowed and results (including being disfellowshipped and shunned) cannot be questioned.
I'm sorry your kids aren't speaking to you... that is what many of us former JWs have to contend with ourselves. Even being just inactive, my family has very little to do with me. If I were DFed or if I resigned, they would have NOTHING to do with me.
I encourage you to read Combating Cult Mind Control and make it a priority to reestablish a relationship with your family above all else.
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To all those underage and awake…
by Londo111 ini salute you.. when i was in, i was a brainwashed idiot.
it instilled an arrogance and made me part of a community that contributed to your suffering.. i remember when i would see a jw parent drag their teens to the meeting.
some of these parents had converted recently, some had been some years.
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Londo111
I salute you.
When I was in, I was a brainwashed idiot. It instilled an arrogance and made me part of a community that contributed to your suffering.
I remember when I would see a JW parent drag their teens to the meeting. Some of these parents had converted recently, some had been some years. But it was obvious their children were uninterested in “the truth”. Without speaking a word, their attitude emanated from them in waves.
At the time, I thought they were “rebellious” or a bad seed, that maybe if they would only give “the truth” a chance…
Now after waking up and reading experiences of the underaged knowing it isn’t “the truth”, being forced into meetings and field service, being subject to the whims of fanatical parents, I emphasize. It is no wonder they don’t look happy.
Of course, when I was 17, I briefly considered leaving the religion (after being baptized at 15), but my father threatened to kick me out if I did. At the time, I didn’t have access to the information that is everyone’s fingertips nowadays. I’d no easy way of properly evaluating the religion. My family called the elders who quickly re-indoctrinated me.
So many of my peers over the years left. I now realize they were not “weak” or “worldly”, but they were smarter than I was.
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Just a reminder about voting
by Simon inthere appear to be some people who are of the mistaken opinion that endlessly clicking the like or dislike button 20x will mean 20x votes.. it doesn't !!!.
only one vote is ever counted.
1 user, 1 vote, each post.
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Londo111
I just clicked like on the OP a bunch of times just to be ironic. :)
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American democracy in crisis
by slimboyfat inokay cut to the chase.
the united states has got a problem.
hillary clinton is so unpopular that practically any republican who ran against her would probably have beaten her.
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Londo111
As an idealist, I'd say there's been a problem for a long, long time. Unfortunately, America is not designed for more than two parties, and it is in the interest of these two establishment parties to keep it that way and perpetuate themselves. The elite hire lobbyists to influence things their way.
As a pragmatist, I've to work with what I've got. I've to vote for the lesser of two "evils". Not that I think Hillary is evil... yep the primary did not go the way I voted, she is the candidate the establishment wanted...but I'm not for or against her and don't really understand the "scandals" that seem mountains made out of molehills. Besides nowadays it seems that a vote for anyone but Hillary Clinton is a essentially a vote for Vladimir Putin.
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Describe your witness self, then describe yourself now.
by The Rebel inmy witness self :-very hollow, slightly lofty, characteristically judgemental, overwhelmingly convincing.. my non-witness self:- and in my imperfect way no longer taking the passive attitude to reality, and most importantly no longer feeling an outsider with my " true" friends..
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Londo111
When I was in: high anxiety, guilt, gloom & doom, stressed and repressed.
I’m much happier now.
Of course, there are core qualities that I had that were positive that I still have, just unpackaged from cult indoctrination. I feel the good aspects of who I was are still there, only grown and unrestricted from growth.
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"Confidentiality" of Elders!
by stuckinarut2 insomething struck me the other day.. elders are told to maintain confidentiality with regard to the details of judicial cases or congregation "discipline" in an attempt to dignify individuals etc.. this is even the case for known child abusers!.
yet, if they suspect someone of being an "apostate", for instance being a member on this forum, they will spread such information far and wide, through the witness "grape vine" to congregations miles away (or even in other countries).
so, does that mean they place more importance on "apostasy" rather than child abuse?.
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Londo111
This reminds me of the Bunker videos and how everyone sat around and gossiped about Kevin.
"We tried to help him, but..."
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Warning: Watchtower computer dept. registers accounts on Ex-JW sites, coerces people to divulge their personal details
by WTS Archive inwe had a bad experience with watchtower trying to infiltrate our forums.
let this story be a warning for all you guys here.
if you value your privacy do not ever send your real contact details to anyone, even if you trust them (because their accounts could be hacked or accessed by their relatives - and yes, this happened to people i know several times already).
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Londo111
The Watchtower MO is to deny involvement and let the individual fall on their sword... -
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Three graphs in connection with the Watch Tower's current financial situation
by slimboyfat ina number of public statements by the governing body indicate that they are experiencing financial difficulty and they have appealed to jws to donate more money.
public information on the financial situation of the watchtower society is limited.
but what does the information they do publish indicate about their situation?
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Londo111
I do wonder how many vendors there are that surround the organization, those whose vested interest is that the organization continue and do business with them.