Crap Shoot (page 2)

Crazyguy

My life would have been better simply because I would have had options.

John Aquila

My life would have been better simply because I would have had options.

Crazyguy, I think that is the Key. Michal Jackson's daughter was being forced by her grandmother to go to meetings and field service until finally the she refused. She had options. (Money, connections, youth, good looks.)

But some people have no options, in my Old Kingdom Hall an old homeless lady in her 50s living under the bridge was contacted by the JW sisters. They studied with her, told her she had to clean up her life and support herself to please Jehovah. The woman did and they helped her get a job at McDonalds and to this day she still works, is presentable, and has a circle of friends in the organization who invite her to gatherings and such. So for her, it was a good thing. I doubt it if anyone else would have taken the initiative to help her out. She had been homeless for years.

OnTheWayOut

And here's one for you. If my JW wife ever does leave the religion, she wouldn't want to hear how I wish I never.... She'll say that we never would have met and I never would have gotten her out of the JW's.

So "What if..." can get a person in trouble if they dwell on it too much.

Pete Zahut

I think we come to forks in the road throughout our lives and whichever direction we happen to choose, we deal with what we encounter and those encounters become our life story.

I think those who become JW's on their own (not born in) are already a bit lost or are searching or are heading for a fall and having any kind of strong direction in their lives is an improvement. JW's are out there actively recruiting people and the odds of them finding and attracting lost ones is very high. How many people do you know who were doing really well in life already, joined the JW's as adults? In my experience, it was more often than not, those who were at a vulnerable stage in their lives who became JW's.

Healthy organizations like to see personal progress and growth among their members even if it takes them beyond the group. JW's want to squelch the individual,cripple their critical thinking abilities and teach them to fear that which is outside the group. I think many who encounter JW's and stay with it for a good period of time and then leave, on some level are still convinced that they are bad people or possibly cursed in some way for having done so. That belief becomes a self fulfilling prophesy for them and they head straight for what they believe they deserve.

John Aquila

I think those who become JW's on their own (not born in) are already a bit lost or are searching or are heading for a fall and having any kind of strong direction in their lives is an improvement. JW's are out there actively recruiting people and the odds of them finding and attracting lost ones is very high

I agree 100% Pete Zahut

How many people do you know who were doing really well in life already, joined the JW's as adults?

In about 45 years as a JW--------NONE!-------0----------ziltzh!

John Aquila

So "What if..." can get a person in trouble if they dwell on it too much.

I'm already in trouble OnTheWayOut

Godsendconspirator

3rdgen, life is often random. Maybe that's how we all ended up at JW's. We just got bad luck

Driving Force

I partially agree with what Pete Zahut says about those who were more or less destitute, but is there any moral justification about taking over the mind of such people.

LongHairGal

JOHN AQUILA:

Yes, I have often wondered myself what would have happened to me if I never met the person who witnessed to me. What path in life would I have taken?

I will say this: I stopped smoking to become a JW and this alone is a benefit.

I agree it is a crapshoot and you can make yourself crazy wondering "what if?"

The story you tell about the lady living under the bridge who cleaned up her life and became a responsible citizen is not the only story I heard about somebody who was helped out of the gutter literally because of becoming a JW. So, in that respect they are "good". Go figure.

Maybe the only way I can make sense of my being in this cult was because it was helpful - for a time. Then, it was time to leave. I don't know what to make of it.

I will say to anybody that thinks the religion is "good" because of a success story here and there, this is NO excuse for all the bad that we know is in this religion!

John Aquila

I will say to anybody that thinks the religion is "good" because of a success story here and there, this is NO excuse for all the bad that we know is in this religion!

Totally agree LongHairGal

Crap Shoot

Share this