by purrpurr 46 Replies latest jw friends
Purr ....great to have you here! If you want answers
just ask for references or proof....there is a SEARCH on
the top, lefthand side of this page...type in your subject
& viola ... massive info! Hang on for a great roller coaster
ride...................it is exhilarating!......and a bit scary.
All the best
clarity
Welcome!
Clarity... lol Viola??? lol
Do you mean voila?
LL
purrpurr,
Welcome! So a few quick things. First.....take it easy. Don't overwhelm yourself, but study as much as you can. People on this board believe a variety of things, and that is OK! Your personal views one way or another, are your own. We can discuss them, challenge them, evolve with them.....but NOTHING is off the table.
You can call it Christian freedom, you can call it the right to think......but you are able to research ANYTHING and ask ANYTHING.
Big difference from how we grew up, without even realizing it.
If you haven't gone to JWfacts.com try to do so. Everything there is verifyable. No "apostate lies" to make you scared of the boogyman.
As far as the paranoia of spyware, or modem spying.....while technically I am sure it is possible, I do not think it is plausible. Nobody in your hall probably even has the accument to pull off such a thing. Don't worry about it.
BUT.....the fact you ARE worried about should tell you something.....right? :)
Hello purrpurr and welcome to the site.
I'm sure you'll find lots of support here. Do bear in mind though that there's a whole mix of people on the site from all round the world and with a range of views so debates can get quite robust. There are even some members like me who have never been a Witness but are concerned about in relatives or friends.
If I can recommend one piece of reading for you, do try to get hold of 'The Magic of Reality' by Richard Dawkins - it's quite short and written very clearly and will give you a a non-religious perspective on the world (whether you agree with that perspective or not).
Hi Purr.....welcome to JWN. The fact you are here shows you know something is seriously wrong with the JW religion and you are now waking up. I was a true-blue elder but walked out with my family in 1995 and never attended a JW meeting again. I just finally concluded this dysfunctional religion could no way be the truth and itwould just be wasting my families lives to be a part of it any longer.
Now my sincere belief is.....it's a family destroying cult.
Hiya purrpurr, we'll done with that nerve wracking first step of creating an account on an APOSTATE forum! When I started posting, I was certain I would get found out immediately, as it was, I WAS grassed up eventually so please be careful as to what details you provide on here..
Take you time. I thought I had it figured out in weeks but life's MUCH MUCH bigger than that. Read, read, read. Ask questions here that you would never have dared to at the KH. And be aware that you'll always get a variety of answers that will require more reading!
Welcome matey!
Thanks everyone for your kind messages! I think I first started having alarm bells going off about 8years ago when I read the Jehovah's witness history book that the society published. Up until then I kind of imagined CTR and Rutherford almost receiving visions via the holy spirit etc. But then I read it was just a bunch of them sitting around and debating what they thought the bible was about. Suddenly it wasn't gods direction as much as mans own opinion! However I sat on those doubts like I suspect a lot of us do.
I doubt I will ever be able to leave the jw's as I couldn't bear to loose all my family...
You're not alone matey. I've had lots of tiny doubts for decades ( trumpet blasts = ohio convention, flip floppery about sodom and gomorrah, dodgy explanations of 'generations, really? ) but I've come to the point of not believing any of it now. But I'm still in. Got good friends and family, at the moment the cost of keeping them is keeping my mouth shut and attending some meetings, while doing a very token ministry. Fair price at the moment for me(other reasons apply too).
Idon't know if I'll ever leave either, but I'm working on it while trying to help my wife think more about what we're told to believe... Takes time....
What ABibleStudent said about helping others think (and reason) critically instead of telling them what you have found or believe.
Most especially those family members you'd rather not lose...
Always ask, never tell...
Always try to use "objective language".
Never attack or touch their idols (GB, FDS, Watchtower, ruling religious clergy class and hierarchy).
It may also be important to know or find out what is important to a particular family member to help you choose your question.
"What is the gospel in one word?" was the clincher for me on so many levels, and led to a voluntary full-on transformation in my thinking and beliefs. The integration, wholeness and clarity that followed is indescribable...
Now I love simple, short but profound questions.
"Is legalism apostasy?" (Impossible to answer correctly unless one is very clear on what these two words really mean)
"Is moralism apostasy?" (The same as above)
"Is the word faithS scriptural?" (The word never appears in scripture which instead speaks of only "one faith". Doctrinal beliefs, which the Watchtower holds out as faith, is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit, but rather something that emanates from man.)
"What is a prophet in one word?" (No, it is not a foreteller)
"What is a prophecy in one word?" (No, it is not a prediction)
