by Lozhasleft 53 Replies latest jw friends
No had no respect for "Christendom" because you had seen their fruits as a child?
You mean the Red Cross helping people around the world? the salvation army, United way, the missionaries, the orphanges, those fruits?
We all see what we choose to and ignore what we choose to.
In retrospect I see that I was looking for the religion to unify my family. I always wanted a happy family life and believed that if I was faithful and self sacrificing enough that Jehovah would make that happen.
That and all the other garbage that goes with being a born in.
Cult Classic
Quandry - that makes sooo much sense. Cults definitely play on that isolation factor.
The culling attributes of the JWS are apparently strong .
The variables such as the imminent end of this system of things ( Armageddon ) fear.
The JWS is a wholesome and clean organization that dispels wrong doers.
We have the correct interpretation of the bible where other organizations don't.
This is god's only solemn organization on earth, the others are not.
The list can go on endlessly , but unaware people do not realize that they are being subject into a trap
which later on they may really regret.
This is a candy coated kingdom that promises so much if you simply become a member
on the other hand if you choice not to you will probably die and be eaten by scavengers.
The WTS paints a picture of wholesomeness, a happy clean loving organization with a chance of ever lasting life in a Paradise
just to top the cake with icing. In reality its a muti-level marketing scheme created by a publishing company with a label
of godliness attached to it.
I did not get sucked in to the witnesses, but I got some practice overcoming manipulation with the help of my mother and ex-husband. I was a really bright kid, too. Honors and all that. But if I, as a smart person, was prepared to buy a delusion, I was also twice as good at fooling myself (and others, too). The time I spent with other survivors of spousal violence, I learned to break a lot of self-defeating habits, including beating myself up for being so stupid. My ex-husband tried to drill that habit home to keep me compliant and defeated. I carried that habit after I left, wondering for years how I could have got sucked in.
The terrifying, and liberating, truth is that any one of us is vulnerable. There are techniques to convincing people to conform that is very hard to overcome. These days, if I pick up a book that claims to be life-transforming and warns me within the first few paragraphs to be prepared for resistance from family and friends, I stop reading. It's about to feed me a lot of bull. Our trusted confidantes are our first line of defense against delusion.
Watchtower Corporation has a century of experience at this racket. It is built on a foundation of thousands of years of deception. We didn't really have that much of a chance as long as they held out some kind of carrot... eternal life, pet tigers, friends, "truth", whatever.
We are fortunate to live in a time that knowledge is abundant and accessible. Just a couple of decades ago, we would have to really go out and search to uncover the facts that we can now find in moments on the Internet.
Yes, I wish I would have known the truth about "the truth" sooner, but I'm grateful that I have learned it. And that I can come here and realize that I'm not alone. And that I have many things to look forward to for the rest of my life.
So many of you have thought so deeply about this subject and your views are all so interesting and powerful to read....thank you so much for posting guys...
PSacramento - For the record...No I didnt know anything about those groups you mention except some cynicism that they were probably profiteers when I was older...but as a child I grew up in a small Welsh village here in fifties Britain. I came from a broken family which was unheard of in those days in that area, and as children we were treated abominably by the villagers and some family on the basis of their 'godliness' in their narrow minded and bigoted village churches and chapels. I suffered this for many years and despite my sincere belief in God, which stays with me still, I was only too happy to agree with the JWs about the hypocrisy and lack in Christendom's congregations. Perhaps that helps you to understand my biased viewpoint.
Loz x
Lozhasleft try questioning your heart and not just your mind: (Hebrews 3:12) . . .Beware, brothers, for fear there should ever develop in any one of you a wicked heart lacking faith by drawing away from the living God. . .
I can assure you Alice that my heart has been more than examined ... as well as severely broken more than once in that, and by that organisation...if you doubt it go read my introductory post on this forum and thats just a sample....
And despite them, I have never drawn away from the living God ...I assure you.
Loz x
Well, I would guess that everyone has their reasons why they joined this religion. I've seen two of my uncles and my father in law drawn into the Organization through their aggressive wives. They seem to have the same temperment as I of being very melow, considerate and generally thoughtful people and so I presume they joined to please their wives because they were very nominal in their Catholic faith. Since my wife was baptized over 2 years ago, I can totally understand how the spouse of some one who committed themsevles to this religion could be pulled n Personally, the need to be spiritually united with my wife is powerful, but for some reason, I was able to see though it whereas my uncles and father in law did not.
