One thing I am grateful to the JWs for is that I know I would never have picked up a Bible if it hadn't been for them. It just would not have been something I would have done, even though, as a Catholic, I should have. I really, really need to believe in a resurrection to earth because I need to see someone so badly it hurts. I hate the idea of disfellowshipping and shunning because it so obviously isn't Christian. I still believe God's name is Jehovah and I don't believe in the Trinity any longer because it doesn't make sense. There are so many nice people who are JWs and I am really going to miss them when I finally make the break. I panic just thinking about it. I certainly won't miss the holier-than-thou ones in the congregation (mostly elders, MSs, pioneers etc)
Posts by rebel
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21
By The Watchtower's Fruits, You Will Know Them
by minimus inthe society has for years loved to quote the scripture found in mt.
7:20...."by their fruits you will know them".
christendom and its clergy has been denounced because of their "rotten" fruitage.believers of the watchtower truly believe that the fruitage of jehovah's witnesses is the finest available.
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rebel
My gripe is they drain everything from you, physically, mentally, spiritually & financially and then, when they have squeezed all they can out of you, they drop you like a dead carcass. They only want to know you if you are pioneering, answering at all the meetings, selling loads of literature, have a good job and plenty of money, are of the right class (at least in the UK), grovel to the elders, gossip and inform on others, never speak your mind or question anything, ignore those who leave the WTBTS even if they are close family members, invite the CO for tea & cakes, pretend you don't like heavy metal or watch 18 movies, say how wonderful being a JW is etc etc.
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150
Financial Help.
by Yizuman inhit my posting limit and am using my second account..... i don't know if anyone can help or not.. but i am in a desprate situation whereas i have to swallow my pride and seek out some help.. i am behind rent as well as my morgage ( i own a moble home on a lot rent).. need food as well.. phone needs to stay in service since i am deaf and need it as part my text communication for hopes of landing a better job.
sister can email me to let me know if a employer calls, so i can drive over and find out what's up from there.. i work at wal-mart and alot of us have our hours cut to 20+ hrs a week, so this is hurting me fianacially.. job hunts is hard since i am deaf since most employers seems to prefer hiring a hearing person.. i know of a deaf friend who is unemployed and he went thru 20 job interviews in a month.
none of them ever called or emailed him to say he got a job.. family can't help since they all have their own problems to deal with.. i can post all the info you need if anyone needs it, such as my landlord's address and my morgage address if anyone wants to mail a check directly to them.
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rebel
When I was really strapped for cash (3 kids to feed, no money etc, lost big work contract) I typed up some flyers and went round to all the big houses offering to do house cleaning for them. I am qualified in my profession (won't say what it is in case sneaky elder reading and knows me - see other post) but I am not too proud to do a bit of cleaning if I need dosh. There is always work out there if you are fit - I know you are deaf but you are physically fit which is what matters.
Hope you find a way out of this
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What Doctrine Or Belief Didn"t You Agree W...
by minimus inwhen you get baptized, you are expected to swallow a multitude of beliefs that either you never really understood or simply didn't truly believe in.
when going over questions for baptism, almost nobody understood the concept of the"faithful and discreet slave".
yet after it was attempted to explain this mumbo-jumbo, every candidate meekly just went along with the explanation without ever truly understanding the fallacy.
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rebel
I never believed that anyone was anointed. Whenever I met one at the memorial or something, I just kept thinking that they were lying or mad. They never told me how they knew they were anointed - they said it was just a feeling. I used to feel really bad for not believing them. I have always had a problem with the fact we are supposed to have a remnant on the earth now. If 144,000 were to rule with Christ in heaven, they would have been gathered long before now.
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Elders Spying on JWs
by Yizuman ini hear crazy stories about elders spying on the congregational members.
i even hear of stake outs on member's homes.. anybody have any stories about elders doing crazy stuff that you have seen them do or even heard about from others?
meaning elders trying to catch members being in the wrong?.
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rebel
I was told by a brother in my cong that an elder actually 'stakes out' forums like this. He wants to see if he recognises anyone's details who might be either in his circuit or even congregation. This elder used to be in a neighbouring congregation but moved up north (England) but the brother who told me is a good friend of his and was told this is what he does. The elder thinks he is doing a good work. Who knows - he may even be reading this!
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"The Pope"
by Blackcat inanyone here have an elder in their congregation who thought he was the head of the congregation ?.
the elder in our congregation was looked up to as god himself by the faithful dubs in the cong.
hence in circles he was nicknamed "the pope".. he even had his own reserved seat in the kingdom hall which no -one dared sit in, it was the only chair in the hall that had armrests on it.....and that was "the popes" seat.
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rebel
Blackcat,
Your elder must have a twin brother in west London!
xxR
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60
Our Mother is in a coma :(
by noidea inkarla and i came home for a quick shower and a change of clothes.
we ask that you keep our mother and our family in your prayers.
we posted a few weeks ago that our mother had been diagnosed with pancreas cancer and was given 6-18 months with chemo.
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rebel
When I lost Claire, my mum said to me that I never really lost her. She came from me and she is still here through me. It is the same with your mum, you came from her and she will always be here through you.
Somebody on this board (Vivamus I think) told me much the same thing the other day.
You are in my thoughts and prayers
xxR
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Fun With Email (but not if you're naive)
by COMF inin the past few days i've received three emails from sources i don't know that had .bat and .exe files attached along with a picture.
for you who don't know, these files are executable; that means, they are programs that do things.
they are the stuff viruses are made of.. how to handle this: before you open an email, look to see if it has attachments.
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rebel
This is all very tricky. I get about 100 emails a day - mostly work-related. I work from home. I often get attachments. If I have to phone everyone before opening them to check them, It would take ages. Surely, as long as you have up-to-date virus protection, that should keep you safe, shouldn't it? Also, if you have a firewall, doesn't that give you a certain amount of protection?
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78
Calvinism
by Calvinist02 inthe basic 5 points of calvinism.
1. total depravity- all men are sinners.
we are totally corrupt and wicked.
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rebel
Hi Calvinist,
You stated that 'believing doesn't save you, repentance does.' But in your first post, you said we are all wicked, God chooses who he wants from us no matter what we do (good or evil), Jesus died for sinners (the evil ones among us I presume - isn't that all of us?). How do I know if I've been called? How do if I know if I'm 'in it'? I never understood all this talk about Grace and how God chooses us no matter what we do. Does this mean we can be the most evil person in the world and yet, God can still choose us? If I know I am sinful and I try to be good, isn't that good enough for God? The teachings of Calvin make it impossible for us to ever get anywhere. It is all doom and gloom. We are all sinners and worthless and will never amount to any good. We might as well do whatever we want, seeing as how God could still choose us because he chooses whoever he wants. I am really confused.
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unknown to me disassociation
by nightwarrior ini am new to all of this, even tho i have not been going to the meetings for nearly 4 years now, through the basic hypocrisy that i faced and the witch hunt i have had to put up with over the last few years.
because i dare to expose the bent dealings of a car salesmen, who happened to be a p>o> i tried to ignore all of this and thought let them get on with it.
my wife continued going to the meetings, and was shunned the whole 4 years, despite both of us being very active members of the cong.
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rebel
Nightwarrior,
You can't live too far from me - I am in London.
I would love to sue the elders in a particular congregation for what they did to a member of my family. I have taken so much crap from them over the years. When I really needed help and sympathy, all I got was the cold shoulder. Let me know how you get on. We may even know some of the same freaky elders etc.