VERY NEW AT THIS BUT LOST IN SPACE

by stephenlettclownface 43 Replies latest jw friends

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  stephenlettclownface

  Thank you all for the kind comments and helpful instructions for the site navigation.

  Cheers
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  Vidiot

  stephenlettclownface - “…Often I will read things here that absolutely make my day…”

  You might get a kick out of this, then 😏:

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5154957863419904/1963-resolution-condemning-united-nations?page=2

  Great username, BTW.
  
  
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  Vidiot

  stephenlettclownface - “…One of my very best friends has polar opposite views on politics than me, and some of his religious views are polar opposite as well. Yet we love each other and have each other's backs and have done so for years now…”

  I’m guessing neither one of you are American, then? 😏
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  blondie

  I understand how it was the lack of the love Jesus talked about that made me finally realize that the WTS had it wrong. I was at a circuit assembly, and after a "enlightening" talk in the morning, I told my husband I was going home and not getting involved any more in anything sponsored by the WTS. Lack of love = me gone; just stopped going, talked to no one about why, "a personal matter" or a serious health issue, personal. It has been 23 years and I have kept my word. Glad to hear that things on here have helped. I found Simon's DB when I was in my confused state. It helped on the way to research myself and reconfirmed my position over and over and over. Glad to hear you have been able to put to rest some of the confusion. Love, Blondie
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  stephenlettclownface

  @Vidiot:

  As a matter of fact, I am a proud born and bred American. We are not all batshit crazy. The media makes the divisions between people working and living together every day all look much worse than they are.

  I live in California, the most left-wing state in the US. My political views absolutely go against the grain here. But even friends of mine who hold polar opposite views are happy to discuss things without resorting to acting like spoiled children.

  As for those that do behave that way, well, I wish them well on their way. People who are willing to blow up a friendship over conflicting views about religion or politics were never really your friend anyway.

  Cheers
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  stephenlettclownface

  @Vidiot:

  "Great username, BTW."

  Thanks. Now that I know what it is I guess I'm happy with it. As I said above I actually setup the login and password a long time ago, and I've been logged in ever since but haven't ever posted before.

  So after my post went live I was as surprised to see what my screen name was as anyone.

  Cheers

  
  
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  stephenlettclownface

  @blondie:

  Unfortunately my process was a long one. I nearly completely broke free back in the early 90's after reading Ray Franz's book (I was disfellowshipped at the time and allowed all of my anger and misgivings about the religion I was raised in to percolate to the surface).

  I believe that if the stuff on the internet now was on the internet then, I would have broken free then. Instead another 15 years or so went by before I was completely convinced.

  That was a decade ago.

  I feel blessed to finally rid my mind of all of that nonsense. I look at it with a lot of derision now.

  Cheers
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  stephenlettclownface

  @vidiot:

  "1963 Resolution Condemning the United Nations"

  
  

  Thanks for this. I'll look it over.

  Can anyone tell me how to adjust font size?

  
  

  Cheers
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  jehovaxx

  “wouldn't say that the feeling of brotherhood was fake, but it was conditional.”

  
  

  Surely this is true of any feeling of brotherhood? It has to be conditional. Any friendship for that matter. If your friend really hurt you time and again, in an extremely bad way then that would surely be the end of the friendship.

  
  

  You can have unconditional love for family members but if they turn out to be involved in really evil criminal activities then you surely would disown them and cut them off unless they were really sorry.

  
  

  The issue is JWs have set the bar far too high and with all these change they are lowering the height at which they set the bar.

  
  

  I think the feeling of brotherhood is real in the JW organisation. There are some really truly great people in the org and that’s why I’m staying physically in, even though I’m mentally agnostic.

  “ I believe JWs are right that Jesus is not God. There are a few other things I think they are right or at least partially right about but this one is the biggest one for me. I believe Jesus is God's son, but not God. And I believe that the only path to God is through following Jesus.”

  
  

  SLCF You sound like you have made up your mind that Jesus is Gods son and the Bible is his word. You may be right I’m agnostic so I don’t know. But if you are so sure about that then why not the other things the Bible says and what about all the promises in there? There will be a reseerection of the righteous and the unrighteous? Death will be no more and the meek shall inherit the Earth and they will find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace?

  
  

  Do you believe all the things promised in the Bible?
  

  
  
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  TonusOH

  jehovaxx: Surely this is true of any feeling of brotherhood?

  No. Even without context, we can understand how some bonds are much stronger than others.

  But in context, we also understand that the conditions for brotherhood as a JW are not healthy. The requirement to treat someone as a pariah at the drop of a hat, only to reverse course just as suddenly, is emotionally jarring. Especially when the action is not due to something between you and that person, but a decision handed down without explanation or detail, and enforced with the threat of your own disfellowshipping. And, if that person is readmitted to the group, you must welcome them back and pretend that everything is as it was before. It's not.

  Add the family dynamic to this, and the consequences are that much more painful. Moral relativism is not going to ease that suffering.