Muddy Waters

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Posts by Muddy Waters

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  52

  My JW Elder Brother Passed Away

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he was basically a good man, just a believer in the religion.

  when we were both elders we were best of friends and then things deteriorated when i was not an elder for a while.

  then after becoming an elder again, i slowly drifted away from the religion and he drifted further away from me.

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  Muddy Waters

  So sorry for your loss. It sounds like your brother’s wife and daughter are behaving with actual compassion.

  ... Walk gently.
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  43

  Did You Ever Luke ANY Songs From The “Songbook “?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went on line looking for old jw songs and some of them were pretty good and some were just awful!.

  did you ever like any of those songs?

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  Muddy Waters

  Oh my god, remember the song that began dark and dirgy then light and happy...?

  “DARK DAYS ARE HERE! MAN LIVES IN FEAR! In dire expectation....”

  ”... but the bible holds out a hope for the dead! ... tra la la la de boop and true peace there will be...”
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  25

  Cart witnessing at the Toyota Grand Prix

  by Dagney in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  picture 185,000 people on the streets attending the biggest event in long beach.

  there is a main downtown street which is the only way into the grand prix.

  it’s chaos because it is not private property that can be contained; these are working boulevards with cars and people vying to get where they want to go.

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  Muddy Waters

  What gets me is how JWs are instructed (why???) to NOT APPROACH people, but to stand by or near the cart and let people approach them. Is it some legality?? And even if so, why should this stop, limit, or muzzle the Preaching of the Good News??

  Can you imagine Jesus or his disciples or the apostles, etc., STANDING quietly in a CROWD of people, while waiting to be approached for a piece of literature or directive to a website??

  I couldn’t even understand this when I was in... if our message is so urgent, so important, so life-saving, what the hell were we doing sitting in cars and coffee shops while strolling leisurely now and again to the odd door??
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  50

  You Know You're Starting To Wake Up When...

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  you start listening to music deemed "unsuitable for christians".

  you pretend to knock on the doors.

  you explain a jw teaching to someone and realize how ridiculous it sounds.

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  Muddy Waters

  Ah! Thought of another one!

  ... You start wondering if you should even bother bringing meeting clothes or Bibles, etc. with you when you go on vacation or even camping!! — omg, do any of you remember doing this??

  And then you would “bring back the love” from whatever congregation you visited while you were away! (In other words, look at me, I was a FAITHFUL Witness and went to a [stupid] meeting while on my [very rare] holiday! [Stupid me, what a putz!] Aren’t you all happy for me!? Now smile and rejoice and clap your hands to ‘accept the love’ and ‘return the love’!!) — Yet somewhere along the long, I heard they stopped doing this....
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  50

  You Know You're Starting To Wake Up When...

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  you start listening to music deemed "unsuitable for christians".

  you pretend to knock on the doors.

  you explain a jw teaching to someone and realize how ridiculous it sounds.

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  Muddy Waters

  You start feeling less guilty missing a meeting and even feel like it can be justified now and again...

  you wonder why it’s always the same people commenting again and again ...

  .... the uplifting, spiritual gifts and tracts and songs etc just feel burdensome, trite, cumbersome, boring, same old....

  and yes, “worldly” people don’t seem so bad and evil and awful and terrible... most of them are quite nice really!

  All the study, meeting prep, travel, clothes, book bags, organizing literature and study material week after week... seems less and less biblical and spiritual...

  ... you get tired of insincere smiles and smiling, and wonder how Jehovah’s happy people are so miserable

  ... you begin to dread meeting nights, it feels like such a waste of time....

  ... you do less and less field service, another pointless unfruitful endeavour....
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  9

  I attended my 2nd exjw meetup and it was brilliant

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i decided to attend my 2nd scottish exjw meetup and what a blast.

  so many experiences.

  it was incredibly engaging to actually meet people in the flesh and hearing their personal stories.. the damage the watchtower organisation causes to peoples lives is absolutely disgusting.

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  Muddy Waters

  It sounds like HimselfIAm is channeling Yoda and Luke Skywalker with the help of a new age sage perhaps....
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  8

  After watching "the last man on earth" I've been thinking about the paradise

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you haven't seen will forte's "the last man on earth" on amazon prime, do as its really funny.

  the setting of the story is that 2 years prior a virus has killed all humans except one.... amongst the high jinks are the struggles he has with things like; getting water from the water system when the areas water supply is no longer being maintained, ditto sewerage, not having ready access to fresh foods that require industry like butter and cheese, not having access to medical help, being unable to communicate with anyone outside of shouting distance, having no electricity / electronic appliances.. it's got me thinking, all the wt's illustrations show the time when armageddon is over as being really joyful and there being plenty for everyone.

  but in fact that would just not be the case, especially since most jw's have no survival skills or expert knowledge of any kind.. jws just don't think about this, how are all those couples who are waiting untill the new system to have kids, going to have kids in a survival setting?

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  Muddy Waters

  omg, we love that show! — It was shockingly crude to us at first, we not being used to that sort of humour (haha, still so innocent or naive at times)! 😄🙃😄

  But it is really eye opening about survival when all our modern conveniences are gone and how one would deal with the actual realities of such a disaster.

  Not to mention how morality (and ethics) fits with or rises from our situation and environment ...

  This show is quite thoughtful and desperately sad at times yet hilarious most of the other times...

  (We have been watching it on Netflix.)
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  10

  Highlights from Leaked Bethel Videos - part 3, Family Day

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  then there was family day which had an enormous turnout, with guests getting live entertainment, dancing and a dj.

  they said that next time they'll cut back and not invite guests.. .

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  Muddy Waters

  I don’t get it... is this a Family Day celebration or appreciation day for Bethelites, or is to celebrate the “world’s” Family Day..? Is this for JWs only, or for Bethelites only or what the heck..?

  What are we seeing here?
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  6

  The twisting and manipulations of the scriptures used by the WTBTS

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower society has always been headed by narcissistic control freaks.

  scriptures as a front for their human agendas ( have the power so they can control its members ).

  they twist and manipulate scriptures to fit it in with their ideas and controlling ways.

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  Muddy Waters

  Oh they know how to twist scriptures, all right, even to mean the complete opposite!

  Examples:

  1). Bible: “Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling man, in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalms 146)
  

  WT interpretation: “... except for us, of course. You must trust ONLY us.”

  2). Bible: “In every nation, the man that fears God and works righteousness is acceptable to Him.” (Acts)

  WT interpretation: “... as long as he is one of us!” (a Jehovah’s Witness).

  3). Bible: (paraphrasing) “... if you see someone hungry or thirsty, or in need of clothing or shelter, you must help them and not simply say, “Go in peace, stay warm and well fed.” (Matthew)

  WT interpretation: this refers *only* to SPIRITUAL HELP and not to any actual physical help regarding a person’s practical needs, lest they become ‘rice Christians’ seeking to take advantage of our mercy and kindness (selfish, unappreciative swine that hurt people obviously must be...!)

  (oh, but they can sometimes help people in *extreme* circumstances or natural disasters, as long as it is organized and guided appropriately, with many rules and regulations and caveats and ‘Letters to the Bodies of Elders’ and limits and decrees and what-nots about all the proper ways to do this... while always keeping the caveat above in mind, that is, to not make any rice christians.)

  🙄😠

  ... oh, I know there are oodles more scriptures that they twist and turn and double back on... I could go on and on...
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  16

  The secret fears - did you have any?

  by days of future passed in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i think many jw's have secret fears in common, but don't often voice them.

  it's too bad because then they might wonder why?.

  for instance, one day at work while i was talking to one of the witness ladies, (on her belief of some bible proof of the last days) she suddenly lowered her voice.

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  Muddy Waters

  Geez... the fear, the constant worry that you will be, and remain, faithful ... so many tests and temptations and trials everywhere.... so many dangers to our “faith”... and then our secret sins and — gasp — “The Unforgiveable Sin”... !!

  Oy, my gods. One always “knew” they weren’t quite ever doing enough...

  It is hard to contemplate and remember that mindset now... so pervasive and consuming... you ALWAYS felt GUILTY about some damn thing you did or didn’t do....

  And then if making it through the Great Tribulation wasn’t enough, you had to worry about another Great Test all over again 1,000 years into our future.....