Lurker comes out of hiding : )

happy1975

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking for months, reading your posts nearly every day. I finally decided to come out of hiding because I need help. I post on another board that has nothing whatsoever to do with religion and I saw this post-

Well I'm proud to admit that I study the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses and recently became active in their congregation. My husband also -- he's a little ahead when it comes to priveleges, like he is allowed to preach from house to house, I still have to go through some questions and see if I qualify, I'm sure I do but waiting for the right moment to ask about doing so. We want our children to grow up devoted in this faith as well

I suddenly felt obligated to warn her, so I sent her a PM that said something like - Hi, I was raised a JW and it is not what it seems. PLEASE investigate further before you commit. I also sent her a link to this site.

She responded with the following e-mail today-

May I ask respectfully, how many years were you in the truth? Why do you think the lifestyle that this religion brings is not what it seems? All we try to do is imitate Jesus, God's Only Begotten Son the very BEST we can. I wouldn't of been offended if you referred it to me (which obviously I know it was meant for me and not the kids since they can't even read and of course I will not allow anyone misguide them).

It cheers me up that you did say you were raise as a Jehovah's Witness. Is it okay to ask what happened that you are now against them? Are your family still Witnesses?

I promise I will not criticize your responses, and will respect your decision to avoid "us". But I ask you politely that you respect ours as well . My kids are GREATLY blessed and I can explain why if you allow first. And they will definitely grow up with the best morals and the best future hope this world can Never offer, of course if they choose to, once they're old enough to make their own decisions. By then they'll know the consequences of departing from the truth which will keep me in peace of mind that I accomplished what God expects from his loyal servants.

If you wish not to respond to this e-mail, well, I just hope that someday you'll realize that being raised as a Jehovah's Witness is a true privilege/real blessing -- I would of loved to grow up steady in this path. At least I found it now. Better than never .

Before I look into that link you offered, I will verify with an elder of the congregation that it is a website from TRUE Jehovah's Witnesses. There are a lot of apostates that like to mislead people especially through the creation of websites that call themselves what they in reality are not. It's one of the Devil's tricky snares to blind us so we can be destroyed along with him in the future sooooo close by.

That is why I'm interested that you answer what happened that you gave up? If you were a fellow sister, and simply discouraged, I would love to be of spiritual support

My problem is that I have NO IDEA how to respond to her, but I want to say something because I wish someone had warned my mother about what she was getting us into back when I was just a baby. I want to say the right thing so that I don't scare her off. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Sorry this post is so long!

-Happy

daystar

I would say to explain to her exactly what happened to you without denegrating the religion. No malice, just truth.

candidlynuts

hi! welcome,

wow that is a problem.. she already seems perfectly happy to consider shunning her children in the future. by her statement: once they're old enough to make their own decisions. By then they'll know the consequences of departing from the truth which will keep me in peace of mind that I accomplished what God expects from his loyal servants.

i really dont know how you'd address this but i'm sure some more will give advise and an opinion soon.

again welcome! glad to have you here.

AlmostAtheist

Hi Happy,

Glad you came out into the open! Welcome to the board!

That is why I'm interested that you answer what happened that you gave up? If you were a fellow sister, and simply discouraged, I would love to be of spiritual support

Can you identify what it was that 'woke you up' to the Watchtower? Is it something that might catch her attention?

Sounds like she's thoroughly soaked in "the truth" at this point, so she's probably going to turn tail and run as soon as it's clear how you feel. That's not your fault. It's interesting that she says she's talk with you, and she understands if YOU might not want to talk to HER. Funny.

You can always chat her up on a particularly easy to shoot down doctrine, but I don't know how much success you'll have. It doesn't seem that JW's are very vulnerable to seeing why their doctrines are crap.

There were a lot of great suggestions on one-liners to say to JW's in a thread I started requesting them. Anything in there that might get her thinking? Thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/100524/1.ashx

Good luck! And don't feel bad if she doesn't reply or puts you on ignore. ;-)

Dave

defd

My problem is that I have NO IDEA how to respond to her,

That is because you cant. Meaning, her reply was honest and nice and all TRUE. My advise would be to leave her alone.

D.

TopHat

Those who give food at the proper time....Don't eat humble pie...they live high on the hog...They set a Double Standard...One for themsleves and another for us lowly R&F...if you have been Lurking for a few months then I would guess you know where to look up that info.

Goldminer

Hi and Welcome to the board!

First,remind her that you don't hate jehovah's witnesses,the vast majority of them are good people;your issue is with some of their teachings that lack biblical backing.Where does the bible say that God has an organization on earth today,that the FDS was established in 33 CE and again in 1919,that the heavenly calling ended in 1935,that Jesus returned invisibly in 1874,and again invisibly in 1914,that christ is mediator only for the 144000 (less than 8800 people on earth today),that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE,that christian men cannot grow beards,that you have to fill out a service report every month,that you have to go to 5 meetings every week or run the chance of dying at Armaggeddon?

Those are all part of the jw belief system,which they say are based on the bible.Therefore these questions should be easily answered using only the bible.maybe you can use some of that to make her reason and question the religion.A religion that teaches lies cannot be true.WT 91 12/1 p.7

I hope this helps,but keep in mind many are still in denial and living the jw honeymoon when they're at the point where this person is.You have a battle ahead of you but give it all you got.

Goldminer

diamondblue1974

Welcome to the forum....look forward to seeing more of you.

I have tried with some success in using an analogy to get people to think about seriously investigating their beliefs...hopefully this will make sense and give her something to think about...dont cut yourself up if you are not successful though...try to understand that this poor creature has been heavily indoctrinated... and her mind is not her own in many way.

Analogy:

You are a regular shopper at a supermarket and you have a loyalty card; you wouldnt dream of shopping elsewhere, you have shopped there for some 10 years; then on one visit you see a bunch of 6000 protesters outside your local store with accusations about the stores management...accusations about the stores products...one in particular that its products are not exactly what they say they are and could cause you and your family damage physically.

You walk in regardless and you are handed a letter by the meet and greet person in store which says that you shouldnt listen to the protesters outside and shouldnt investigate for yourself the allegations made; you are advised that you should stay away from the internet as there are other lies which are displayed there.

What would be your choice at this point; would you investigate further or would you blindly continue to shop there irrespective

Because this is exactly what the WTS are doing...they are saying that you shouldnt listen to other peoples views as they are lies...and that you shouldnt investigate yourself the allegations made; this is no different to the analogy above....the point is whether the person will admit it to themselves....and investigate further...often they will not...but sometimes they do...hence why we (JWD) have such a vast membership worldwide.

DB74

happy1975

daystar-

My story is actually pretty boring. I was just sick and tired of feeling that NOTHING I ever did was good enough. Being a perfectionist by nature anyway just made it totally unbearable. I faded and got some therapy and I'm feeling a lot better now. I didn't find this site until I was about a year into my fade. Let's just say it made me feel a whole lot better to find that I wasn't the only one who was driven into a depression. Finding the truth about the truth in all of the posts and links here just sealed the deal for me. Bottom line - I feel like I wasted a lot of years of my life.

candidlynuts-

that statement jumped right out at me too!! I feel like saying - so you'll be fine that you won't be allowed to talk to your kids if they choose another path when they're old enough to decide for themselves? Makes me sick to think about.

Dave-

Thanks. I'm going to take a look at your link and see if there's anything that I feel comfortable with.

Defd-

I know I'm new and all, but shouldn't you be out somewhere banging on doors insead of associating with a bunch of apostates? Just asking : )

-happy

TD

There's plenty of things you could say, but she appears to be too far gone. (Like poor Defd here.....) Her comments are fairly laced with cult-think.

For example, you can determine the truth, you can know the truth, you can tell the truth, but "Truth" is not a tangible object that you can "have" or "be in." Anybody that thinks in those terms already has "cobwebs in the belfry."

You could start by showing that the JW parent organization does not hesitate to lie when it's convenient

Here's a paper, for example that documents their historical revisionism in some detail:

http://www.catholic-forum.com/members/popestleo/Historical%20Idealism%20and%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses.pdf

Lurker comes out of hiding : )

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