NOW WHAT

by jt stumbler 38 Replies latest jw friends

  • avishai
    avishai
    How and what do I teach my children?

    Teach them to say please and thank you. Teach them to respect their elders. Pretty much the main tenet of all religions is to "Be good, be nice, and don't be a jerk." Teach them to appreciate teh beauties of nature, Joy, simplicity, and happiness. Teach tehm not to look down on everyone else because they sell books for a giant publishing company. Teach them that it's OK to screw up, not "You better do it or Jehovah will kill you at armaggeddon. Teach them that it's OK to never be around someone who abused them and they don't have to treat them as a brother and face them and the elders in a commitee meeting.

    I am so happy to be a parent and not have to shove the bullshit down their throats that I had. To realize that I don't have to spank the hell out of a 2 year old in the be room because they won't sit still and be quiet for two hours. That they don't have to take advice from Janitors when they are abused and be told by those same fat buffoons that they will not have priveleges if they go to a therapist or be Df'd if they go to the police. I'm grateful for those things, Worrying about what to teach them about some cosmic big brother is the least of my worries compared to the rest of it.

  • JamesThomas
    JamesThomas

    Perhaps the most difficult thing to "deprogram", is the habit of belittling and reducing God, our Source, to a tiny and limited entity far away; which generally the wording within the Bible strongly reinforces.

    If we really look at our thoughts we can see that objective beliefs, concepts, interpretations and ideas of a god distant, are simply products of our own mind. Worshipping such a deity, is worship of the carnal mind. We are free to do this, and often do. There is a certain masturbatory comfort in it.

    The way to God, is not through the mind, but rather via the Reality of Life. Truth, is found in what is true (who woulda thought?); not in fabrications/beliefs of the mind.

    The only limits or boundaries to God, are in the mind.


    j

  • jt stumbler
    jt stumbler

    You guys are really great! I have never felt such encouraging and supportive comments in a long time. The more I come here, the more I feel like I am doing the right thing. Like a huge weight being lifted off my chest. My job is stressfull enough. My childrens schooling is stressful enough on them that they should'nt be forced to go additional 5 hours on something that is repetitive and more and more bogus as I am beginning to learn. I know I don't personally know any of you but for the encouragement and knowledge, I thank you! And for your experiences. I hope I can be of encouragement to others as you have to me. Sincerely, John

  • zen nudist
    zen nudist

    how about honesty....how about seeing the myth of THE TRUTH for what it is?

    I no longer search for THE TRUTH because now I am aware that no matter how hard I search I can never find anything but my own opinion and feelings...and these are never completely trustworthy as accuracy detectors.

    even if a billion agree on a lie it will not make it a truth....

    what seems true today may seem completely wrong tomorrow when newer means of measure are found.... as was the case with classical physics and atomic theory.

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    Hi jt stumbler,

    I'm sensitive to your question re: children. I was very much interested in religion, and I attended a couple of churches during several years after I was df'd. Only when my daughter was about to be born I realised I did not want to inculcate her any religious belief, and that I would never send her to any Sunday school or the like.

    I think children need stories, a lot of them. Stories only call for "belief" while being told, not "belief" in the hard sense of permanent imaginary structure. Children step into stories and out of them easily. They will do this with Bible stories just as they do with tales, legends or myths. I think this is the very best way to approach religious texts -- for them and for us as well.

  • avishai
    avishai
    My childrens schooling is stressful enough on them that they should'nt be forced to go additional 5 hours on something that is repetitive and more and more bogus as I am beginning to learn.

    Yep. And as we all know, 5 hours a week is MINIMUM. What about field service? There's at least another three hours. How about studying for talks? etc. I figured it out, and even in "spiritually weak" households, it's a lot more than five hours.

  • jt stumbler
    jt stumbler

    Thats true. It was like pulling teeth to force my kids to go. My wife was not too keen on going either although she never begrudged me. The kids would see that my wife would not go to all the meetings and they soon found excuses to stay home with her. Boy they are smarter than I gave them credit. lol. As far as service. well that was something I just could not make myself do. Hence I was considered spiritually week. Even after I stopped attending I would get call from the elders to ask for my time. I have to admit I would lie and tell them one hour so that I would remain "active". Eventually they stopped calling.

  • Quotes
    Quotes

    (I don't intend this to sound arrogant, so please don't take it that way)

    You came to us, a group of people at this web site, asking for the answers to life's great riddles?

    Sounds like you are still looking to have the answers prepared and pre-digested for you, just like Watchtower did for you.

    Sounds like you have made some execellent progress, I encourage your questions, and if you just wanted to get some opinions to think about, forget I said anything here.

    But, ultimately YOU have to figure out who YOU are and what YOU believe. That is a difficult step when leaving a High Control Group; that is why some people go from one HCG to yet another... they want the answeres handed to them... and you don't want that do you?

    Again, I'm typing this with a friendly, helpful smile on my face, even though the words are a little tough. :)

    ~Quotes, of the "If I knew that I'd be teaching Philosophy" class
    http://quotes.watchtower.ca/

  • garybuss
    garybuss

    I think the best thing to teach children is HOW to think, not WHAT to think. Pay for some philosophy classes when they are age appropriate and some exit counseling soon if they were exposed to Witnessism and have accepted any Witness philosophy.

    My sons were exposed to Witnessism when they were young, skipped it mostly for about 5 years when they were juveniles and two of them went back as adolescents. Children exposed to Witnessism need exit counseling maybe more than adults.




  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere
    Now what?

    Frog King: You must now make your way to the small intestines, or you most surely will die! Tthere you must seek out the sparrow prince the sparrow prince lies somewhere way up ahead dont look back Lemmiwinks or youll soon be dead Lemmiwinks Lemmiwinks the time is growing late slow down now and seal your fate...

    http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/s/southpark9849/lemmiwinks565740.html

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