by african GB Member 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
When I got DF'd a few years ago, I had this feeling of freedom and independence that I never felt before then. Having been born a JW I always felt I had to please Jehovah in everything I did.
In the midst of all that however, I had this gulity feeling that haunted me and kept following me. I just could'nt COMPLETELY forget about Jehovah. I'd even defend JW's when I hear people talking bad about them.
In the midst of all that however, I had this gulity feeling that haunted me and kept following me.
You were captive to the concept that WT is God's Organization.
There are thousands of DF'd people walking around with tremendous guilt and fear. They believe that they will die at Armageddon.
Most of them could "release the bonds" and move on, IF they'd spend the time to carefully deconstruct their cult experience. However, because of the Thought Reform (Information Control), many remain terrified of "apostate" literature.
leavingwt:
Yes, I thought it was still God's organization when I was df'd...that was in '96.... ten years of self-destructive, self-loathing behavior later, I stumbled onto e-Watchman... at the time it was a good soft-landing pad for a totally indoctrinated idiot like me, where I could see their prophetic interpretations dismantled.... it was shortly after that when I came across this place, which was WAY too 'apostate' for me. I was like, "holy shit, there's someone here named "Satanus"! ...and another guy called "Homerovah the Almighty"! What blasphemy!! LOL!!
If you look at my posts from 3 years ago, I was more than twice the Pharisee I am now!
Praise the Lord for progress!
~PS
If the WTS is all you ever knew, it's not surprising the their programming is still in your brain.
Frequent reading of Romans and Galatians without WT literature should help immensely.
If there is still lingering fear that the WT might be right after all, try periodic reading of Crisis of Conscience and look up the original literature to verify what Ray was saying.
We call DF'ing shunning. But last night I was thinking that it's more like "Shamming". They are trying to bully you into coming back. It's like an abusive husband. They can hit their wife and the wife can come back and say, "Well I deserved that."
This single fact alone shows how far away from Christianity they are. Christianity is about love and freedom. Ray Franz used the illustration of a man that demands respect from his family and demands that his house is taken care of in a certain way. At the end of the day, he may, on the outside, seem to have good results. His family is respectful to him, his house is in tip top shape. But how does the family feel? They feel downhearted and rejected. Another man may show his family love and respect and appreciation for what they do. Because of his appreciation and respect, this will encourage his wife and children to respect him, and he can have a well taken care of house also. So the outside effects are the same. But this second family is much happier and respect their husband/father much more because of the mutual respect and love.
The Watchtower is like this first husband/father. They demand respect. They enforce rules and regulations so that they will get unity. And you know, they DO have unity. But at the cost of what?
I didn't feel that until after I realized the WTS was just spinning lies
This single fact alone shows how far away from Christianity they are. Christianity is about love and freedom.
Yes, it's as simple as that, really. Good point.
LWT - Actually I should've said, "Christianity is SUPPOSED to be about love and freedom." All too often it is not shown to be that way by VARIOUS religions, not just JWs.
LWT - Actually I should've said, "Christianity is SUPPOSED to be about love and freedom." All too often it is not shown to be that way by VARIOUS religions, not just JWs.
Further, the Watchtower religion is almost exclusively dedicated to what they DON'T BELIEVE in. It's essentially a protest religion, IMHO.
JWs, what DO you stand for?
Let's see: NOT celebrating holidays, NOT going to war, NOT committing fornication, NOT associating with former members, etc, etc.
Tiresome.
It's essentially a protest religion, IMHO.
Russell was just mad because he wasn't around to initiate Protestantism so he had to make up his own.
I give Charles Taze a -1 for lack of originality.
