I joined a mainline church, was a deacon for a time, and attended many non-fundamentalist services at varying denominations. I guess I'm more in the "spiritual not religious" camp these days, so while I don't have anything against churches in general, I don't feel drawn to go anymore.
Londo111
JoinedPosts by Londo111
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25
Has anyone here joined a different church after ditching the JWs?
by NikL ini am just curious.. i have a cousin who is a baptist and his church streams their sunday services and i've been checking them out before i go to meeting with my jw wife.. i haven’t been to a church except for the occasional funeral and wedding and the only sermons i had heard were the tel-evangelist type.
anyway, all the church bashing by jws over the years made me unsure what to expect and i was pleasantly surprised.
they do use the bible and they don't spend the whole time begging for money.
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Were You Ever A True Believer?
by minimus ini was raised in the religion and for the most part believed that my religion was truth.
i recognized some mistakes were occasionally made but felt that nobody is perfect.
then i smartened up and realized how dumb so many of the beliefs are....was there ever a time that you truly believed you had the "truth"?.
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Londo111
Yes. Cults cultivate and retain true believers. Everyone else they chew up and spit out.
Otherwise I would not have done so many things I otherwise would not choose to do, or even found against my nature. Like going door-to-door on Saturday mornings. Attending 3 meetings a week. Studying Watchtower publications. Not having friends who were not JWs. Not going to college immediately after high school, but attempting to regular pioneer. Then when I did go, not getting beyond a two year degree. Not dating until I was “ready” and only with the intent of marrying a JW.
I would not have avoiding apostate writings and been afraid of “apostates”. Or been afraid of demons. Or afraid of God. I would not have gone to confess matters about myself to the elders when I’d “messed up” or reported on very private matters that happened in the bedroom between myself and my then wife. I would not have watched the news nightly with a view of finding any signs that the Great Tribulation was close.
I could go on and on.
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I need help understanding my moms decision!
by Holzy86 infirst of all i'm not a jahovas witness, my mother is.
i've asked my mother for some help over the weekend for my sons birthday, i understand jw do not celebrate birthdays.. every year i take my son out for a treat day, this year he has asked me if he can bring friends too so i said i only have enough room for one but he has asked for two, so i said i will ask nanny if she will help out to take my other son in her car with my netphew and older sister, but as soon as i mentioned it was for a birthday treat she refused to help me.. i just need to know if jahovahs witnesses will refuse to help family out when asking for help, i feel i've asked and made sure all the people she will be giving a lift to that it is not there birthday.
his birthday has just happened to have fallen on the weekend when we would have been taking him because he is at school monday to friday.
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Londo111
This is not your mother. This is her cult indoctrination. She is a victim of undue influence. While her authentic identity would more than likely help in whatever way she could, the cult identity is in the driver's seat.
I believe if you can understand it's not her that is the problem, it's the cult, while not solving the problem, it help cope with it. The good thing is you are in communication with her...many of us who got fully committed to the cult at a young age no longer are in regular communication with our parents, relatives, and friends who are still in.
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Something that doesn't get discussed all that much...
by Vidiot in...but i believe is relevant:.
just how much is the watchtower organization's "business model" dependent on its tax-exempt status?.
is it truly sustainable without it?.
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Londo111
Evidently it was important enough for Watchtower to stop selling its magazines and books in 1990.
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Do You Trust The News Media?
by minimus inobviously, trump doesn't.
but do you?
do you think that they are generally fair, unbiased and honest?.
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Londo111
It's not perfect, it makes mistakes, but overall, yes.
Unlike in Russia, there is no one entity that is "the media", but many independent venues. When fact checking, these independent sources known as the "media" are more trustworthy for the most part, as opposed to fringe "media" outlets that cater to telling audiences what they want to hear.
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Pope Francis Orders Vatican Archives to Reveal God’s Name Ending Centuries of Secrecy
by pleaseresearch init's from 3 weeks ago.
my mum told me about it.
but is this real or fake?
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Londo111
Kevin? Didn't he leave the Truth during the Great Tribulation?
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The Bible Texts Watchtower has never commented on
by ILoveTTATT2 inthe watchtower library is a great tool to learn more about the watchtower itself.
for example, answering the question "does the word "organization" ever appear in the bible"?
is easy to answer using it.
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Londo111
I remember counting up the numbers in the book of Numbers, lots of time they didn't match the total. I think the explanation given is "scribal errors".
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Went to the assembly..some.personal thoughts on it.
by integ ini've been as honest as i can on this forum throughout my time bouncing in and out..and been jumped on for saying anything positive about the "truth" or my experiences at the hall, but it's been a few years now since i have been attending meetings.
i go to the memorial for family reasons and went to the assembly today for the same reason...but one observation i have to make is most of us have all dealt with years of hearing how gawd awful "the world" is and how the only happiness is going to meetings and out in service.
now that is total bs.
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Londo111
I miss people as well. But most of that "loving brotherhood" was as real as monopoly money. The currency reveals its worth when you walk away from the game.
Any dualism of the JW organization vs the World is an illusion. The organization is as part of the world as anyone else...it participates in it and could not exist without it.
Being in the JW organization does not shield a person or provide relief from any problems in "the world". It just adds a special set of problems and pressures on top of it.
When looked at in the long view, while having severe problems, the world has never been better in human history and continues the upward slope of improvement.
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The Danger of Settlements
by Tech49 ini was pondering the recent influx of lawsuits against wt, specifically in regards to the child abuse cases (ie.
conti, fessler, lopez, etc).. in each of these, wt has settled for an "undisclosed" amount, assumed to be in the millions of dollars each.
i know there are many many more cases, subject for a different thread i'm sure.. i was reading something completely unrelated a while back that mentioned the dangers of settlement agreements for a large corporation or business (not just wt).
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Londo111
The Conti case was eventually settled.
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Warwick Tour Brochure
by konceptual99 inso we had this posted in the mega topic thread... wt: warwick world hq tour brochure.
the new world headquarters of jws, located at warwick, new york, will open for tours on monday, april 3, 2017.. in anticipation, a new eight-page glossy brochure about this facility has now been released:.
download pdf: https://download-a.akamaihd.net/files/media_cmsassets/70/fo_s-whq_e.pdf.
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Londo111
That's all forgiven since they've one token black guy on the GB!
I now bristle at reading or hearing the word: warmly
They've made it so saccharine.