Richie
JoinedTopics Started by Richie
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48
did any of you read the entire bible once...?
by Richie injust wanted to know if any of you have read the entire bible?
- i remember that it was mentioned in the congregation many times that this would be a requirement that we were to read the bible in its totality at least once and especially as elders!.
i myself never had the time (or energy) to read the scriptures from cover to cover.
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36
Ronald Reagan - Too good for the toadies of the international community
by Richie init is quite remarkable how people who've done nothing to really further the cause of peace seem to win the nobel peace prize.
the most glowing insult to the integrity of what this prize should stand for, was best demonstrated with its awarding to yasser arafat, the father of modern day terrorism.. .
although i've never heard of one instant where arafat purposefully placed his life or well being on the line in face to face combat, he has literally sent thousands to their horrible deaths.
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28
My experience at the Memorial...
by Richie inthe memorial was held last night at a community center about 15 km away from the kingdom hall.
as a df'd person, i always feel more uncomfortable if the memorial is held at a location other than the regular kh, as i would otherwise know my way around where to sit in obscurity, as well as arriving just as the meeting is about to start.. well, i decided to come a little bit earlier (although not too early) - then walked inside the community center and suddenly i was standing in front of the wide entrance where practically everyone was gathered in order to get a perfect view of who were entering the hall.
needless to say, i felt like an alien, someone who did not exist at all, yet when i gazed into the eyes of many of the ones i know, i noticed that they were secretly looking at me and then quickly turned their heads away from me.
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27
Comments from the CO today
by Richie ini went to the meeting today to hear the public talk given by the visiting co. the talk dealt with jehovah's secret dwelling place and how we can all be taking advantage of "fleeing to safety" as it were, especially as the days are getting wicked as he mentioned.
he brought out the dangers of listening to apostates (there were 2 people in the congregation who disassociated themselves recently, which automatically meant that they were apostates according to the co's comments).
then he further elaborated on the fact that there were about 14,000 witnesses disfellowshipped in the usa each year and in canada 1400, about the size of a circuit assembly - also he said how terribly dishonorable it would be to be df'd and be as a dead person as it were (i felt so embarrassed as i am df'd) - during the talk he brought out two points which were extremely misleading if not outright lies: he said that just after the disaster of sept 11th, thousands of people "wanted to flee to security to the watchtower building and that they felt that they needed this security".
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25
Shunning is worse than the worst crime possible
by Richie ini have come to the conclusion that the shunning practices of the jw's are in fact worse than the worst crime committed.
just imagine, your own daughter shunning you, not wanting to see me or her first son (my grandson).
whenever i walk around in the village i live and i happen to encounter jw's, they don't even acknowledge that i exist at all!!.
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15
Is a University or College education still frowned upon today?
by Richie inafter about 8 months of "silence", i took the initiative to visit my daughter, who is an active jw - i wanted to see her, as i bought some good nutritional supplements which i wanted to give to her for her children.
she was kind but somewhat distant - we embraced each other and then talked a little bit about non-essential things.
she showed me my granddaughter, who is about 10 months old - very cute and so pretty.
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15
regret my "former" life as a Witness
by Richie indisassociating yourself slowly or quickly is a matter of perspective; think about it: you lose either way, i.e.
the witnesses will treat you like you've become part of the "bodysnatchers" of the world and no matter how you rationalize it, there is no honorable way out in the eyes of the witnesses.. i was df'd about 1.5 years ago (as they said that i left the organization so it was entirely my fault, but little do they know that their organization left me, as i appealed the gb's decision), and the sudden break-off of family and friends in the truth is always devastating to say the least - it's an emotional explosion which in your wildest dreams would normally never ever happen....i can now understand what death means, at least in the beginning....yes i was dead though living - even though when i went back to the meetings afterwards, i could feel the lonely emptiness, the non-existence of myself.
yet when by accident i would be gazing straight into the eyes of one of my (former) friends, he would just stare past me as if i didn't exist at all even though i attempted to smile at him in indicating respect to him....how convenient for them to ignore a fellow friend and instead make me feel like the lowest person on earth - but then..of course they were taught to respond in this manner to anyone who is df'd.... then i though to myself...what would happen when eventually i would be re-instated: yes, then after the announcement most would want to see me at the end of the meeting all happy and oh so loving and wanting to be my best friend all over again - in a heartbeat they'll change from zombies to angelic like mortal creatures of love.... for this very reason i cannot return to the meetings in the hope of wanting to be re-instated and have this hypocrisy again heaped upon me like tentacles.
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14
Traits of Abusive Churches and Toxic Faith Systems
by Richie inan exhaustive study has been done on the behavior of cult groups - in several books about "cults", they enumerated 21 major points where you can identify the traits of a cult-like organization.
bear in mind that the authors did not target jehovah's witnesses as a specific group at all, which made it all the more frightening!
but this dissertation generalized all cult-groups existing in the world.... 1. control-oriented, arrogantly assertive, power-posturing leadership.. 2. authoritarian and legalistic with dictatorial, dogmatic doctrines that are proclaimed to be "the truth".. 3. claims of being the channel of communication between god and humankind; having unique knowledge that makes them special.
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10
which bible do you find most unbiased...?
by Richie ina question to those who are still interested in reading the bible; which translation would you prefer?
the nwt or another - and if so, which one?.
:* richie
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10
unreasonable nit-picking by witnesses!
by Richie inhow many of you have had experiences where elders and others in the congregation presented and even pushed their own viewpoints on matters which should be left to each person's own conscience.. we are all aware of the frowns and negative opinions on the way we sometimes dressed; one elder commented on my tie as it was too bright - i once bought a pretty ornament which had a pyramid shape, afterwards a sister said that i should not have this in my house (she did not know precisely why...but sort of felt it was wrong!).
we got a few frowns when we had a wind chime, but at least there we did some research on and told the individual to mind his own business.. how many of you know the "demon inspired" proctor & gamble sign, which prompted many witnesses to abstain from purchasing any p & g products.
how silly!