Steve Lowry

Joined

• started 35 topics
• posted 423 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Steve Lowry

• 
  108

  Sad News...

  by Sentinel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom had her valve replacement and triple by-pass surgery today.

  the operation lasted five hours, and they had just gotten her to her room at 8:00pm when she went into cardiac arrest.

  the doctor tried everything, even opening up her chest and massaging her heart.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  When I think of someone who passes at the age of eighty years these days, I ponder about all the things they saw in their lifetime. Most people eighty years ago didn't have electricity, or running water or a lot of things that we take for granted these days. Yet they had simplicity and clarity which we have very little of these days. Your mom saw World War Two and the peace that followed. She experienced the crash of 29' (she was just 4, but she still went through it) and no doubt like so many Americans learned about the value and strength of family. She saw aviation practically being born. Television and microwaves came into existence in her lifetime, as well as countless other inventions. She saw incredible breakthroughs in medicine. She witnessed the dawn of the nuclear age. She watched as the Industrial Revolution took hold. She saw major arteries and interstates shape the landscape, where there were once only dirt roads. She watched as this country grew in to a world power.

  Of all the generations that have come and gone, I think you mom?s saw and experienced the most. It saddens me to see this generation pass away. My dad is also 80 and he takes all these same experiences with him when he passes on.

  I?m truly sorry for your loss.

  Steve
• 
  27

  Finish this Sentence- JW's are good liars because.......

  by doodle-v in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  because they are brainwashed into thinking that "distorting the truth" is ok in circumstance involved in defending their faith-theocratic warfare.

  they constantly lie to themselves about what kind of person they really are and deny themselves life's pleasures-hence the "double life syndrome" lie to friends at school, lie to elders, lie to people in the cong.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  . . . because they believe they are above the truth.
• 
  38

  The Watchtower guilt machine is indeed a powerful tool

  by Nocturne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't posted as much here as i've wanted these past few weeks, but i've spent most of my time lurking here, or in chat.

  for the last few 2 months roughly, every meeting i attended became extremely painful to endure, such that i would come up with excuses to miss as many as possible.

  but there are 2 events that really gave me a swift kick to wake me up and realize that things had to change.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  If you still believe in God without the WT then ask Him for help. His grace is unbelievable.

  Best advice in this thread, Noc.!
• 
  38

  The Watchtower guilt machine is indeed a powerful tool

  by Nocturne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't posted as much here as i've wanted these past few weeks, but i've spent most of my time lurking here, or in chat.

  for the last few 2 months roughly, every meeting i attended became extremely painful to endure, such that i would come up with excuses to miss as many as possible.

  but there are 2 events that really gave me a swift kick to wake me up and realize that things had to change.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  Hey Noc.,

  Ya know, there is just no graceful way to leave the Watchtower Society. When you let them know you?ll no longer be a JW, it?s ?lights out? for you. You will also no doubt be "demonized" by the group. You are also prolly correct in your assumption that you will loose all your friends when they get the news, as well as some family members (if you have any besides your mom). And you should also brace yourself with the possibility that your relationship with your mom may also suffer. It will depend on her of course and how much love she has for you verse her love and loyalty for the Watchtower Society. Some quick advice here, don?t argue with your mom about the Watchtower Society. Try to avoid all dialogue with her regarding the JW faith. It only seems to aggravate the situation. And also, by not being pulled into such conversations with her, you will maintain control instead of her. You will now have to become the parent. You are now wiser than she is. It?s a sad revelation, but you are now the parent and she is the child. Try to remember this concept when she tries to "teach" you of your "bad" decision to leave the group. You know better. You don?t have to convince her that your decision is appropriate. You know it is. You don?t need her approval in this area. There?s power in this awareness.

  I think when we come to realize the reasons behind the way that people act the way they do, it helps us to gain insight into human behavior and thereby gives us peace. The whole shunning thing is just a cultic protectionism maneuver. That?s all it is. It serves to keep the masses ignorant (JW?s in this case) from the ?outsider?, by demonizing the outsider and diminishing anything the outsider may have actually learned and then tries to share with the group. It?s a simple controlling technique, and it works pretty well too. But knowing and realizing that this is just a cultic tactic, it tends to help the one who has left the group achieve an understanding of why he or she is being ?shunned?, and (I believe) helps the one to have peace about the whole process. When we maintain the proper perspective on this shunning business, it doesn?t have to have all the negative emotional feelings attached to it (guilt, shame, embarrassment, fear, regret, rage, etc.) that it is intended to have on the one who leaves. This doesn?t take away the pain of lost relationships (which will no doubt be cast aside), but it makes its much easier to accept what is happening, without all the other unnecessary feelings confusing the situation.

  Good luck to you Noc.,

  Steve
• 
  59

  Idiotic things only a jw would say

  by micheal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a c.o in one of his friday night talks noticed when he was invited for meals at the brothers and sisters homes that everyone has their chairs and sofa's pointed at the direction of the television set and asked why do people do that.

  then he went on to strongly suggest that everyone change this and either have their furniture pointed somewhere else or get rid of the television.

  what a total moron!!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  My mom, "Steve, there's just a little time left". (Pre-1975)

  "Even the apostles we wrong sometimes."

  Stupid defense used by JW's when trying to protect the Watchtower Society's image concerning "little" things like false predictions and past policies such as the ban on organ transplants.

  "Iggy dolls are demonized!"

  Silly little troll like dolls that became a fad back in the sixties.

  "If you have a cross in your house, that's like an open invitation to demons!"

  We had a JW lady who lived next door that upon realizing that the face of the gas controls on her stove had two crossing lines that looked a little like a cross, she scratched them out. I'm not making this shit up, man! Whata dumbass.

  "Steve, you just need to sit down with a brother and start to study again." I once made the natural mistake of sharing some stressful events in my life with my JW mom. I was no longer a JW at the time and I guess this was her opportunity to plug the Watchtower Society. I never confided in her again after that. This is one area of my life that I feel like was stolen from me. I haven't had the benefit of a mother's advice due to the nonsensical headset created for her by the WBTS.

  "There won't be any need for doctors in the new system, so there's no need to go to school to become one." What was told to my JW friend's older brother (Pre-1975) who wanted to become a doctor. His parents could afford the tuition but the elders told them that this wouldn't please Jehovah and the boy needed to put that time in service instead going and wasting his time at school. I overheard this whole conversation at the Hall one day, and the boy just sat there and cried. Today he would have been in practice for a quarter of a century. So much for dreams. Stupid bastards (elders).

  "I went to the store today and all these people around me were dead." A comment made by mom to me, after coming home from the grocery store one day. Meaning, that they were all to be dead shortly, due to 1975.

  There's more but this all I can think of now.
• 
  20

  The fall out of shunning

  by unbeliever in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom has shunned my df'd sister for 10+ years.

  my brothers and i are not baptised and she will have a relationship with us even though its very strained.

  we have gotten together a few times over the years and had a meal together that mom cooked.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  If I were in your shoes, I would invite both sister and mother for dinner, and see who shows up. I would refuse to attend any dinner that did not invite all members of the family equally. What happens then, is that the shunner becomes the shunnee - left out of events by their own will.

  This is good advice here for you, unbeliever. It?s all about disarming and modifying negative behavior. By following this example, you disarm your mother's arrogance and give her the option to modify her own negative behavior by electing (or not) to come to YOUR house for the family get-together. Also, I think you must stay consistent with your approach. There should no family activities that you should be involved with (cruise, etc.) where the daughter who is being shunned is excluded. Of course your mom is most prolly gonna feel like she is just being persecuted for her faith, and in a strange way will prolly feel some "spiritual" satisfaction which may only feed her resolve, but what can you do? If someone is hell bent on doing something wrong, wild horses can?t keep him or her from their fate.

  Good Luck,

  Steve
• 
  39

  This is just weird

  by IronGland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  http://members.aol.com/jesusimages/index.htm.

  theres more if you're interested

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  I'm sorry, but the guy (Jesus) just just looks like some beatnick out of a 1950's movie to me.
• 
  38

  Is the Devil making you happy, too?

  by littletree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is my first post, and i'm so excited (i've been reading posts on this site for over a year now; i tried to register back in october 2003, but had some problems.

  i decided to just go ahead and use my "real" work e-mail address, which seemed to have worked.

  just for a short introduction- i got baptized at 14, on september 1, 2001. and on september 1, 2003, the last day of our district convention, i decided i was never going back.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading your testimony littletree (yea, 'little' like a freakin' full grown oak!) How wonderfully happy you sound, and you should be too! I have talked to hundreds of former JW's over the years and they all are so happy to be free of the shackles of the Watchtower Society. I remember the night I got up and walked out of the Kingdom Hall (right in the middle of their service!) for the last time. To this day I get a smile on my face when I recall that feeling of freedom that I felt, and that was twenty-five years ago. It only gets better from here on out. Sure, there will most prolly be shunning in your future, but you don?t sound like the type to be bullied or intimidated very easily. Just keep coming here for support and encouragement. We?ll help you anyway we can.

  I'm very existed for you and your newfound life!

  Steve
• 
  51

  Internet...the best revenge against the Watchtower

  by DevonMcBride in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for over 100 years the watchtower was used to getting their way.

  they had complete control over their faithful members and those who left had no voice to speak out.

  the law was on their side protecting their teachings.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  I'm very encouraged by your post, BOA. It seems the other night in chat, that you became aggitated after I asked you some tough questions about leaving the group and possibly showing the way to others in your family. I am fully awre that this is by NO means an easy task and I repsect your decision to move forward. After that encounter I realize that the chat room may not be the place to get into this kind of dialogue with folks, so in the future when in chat, I'll wait for others who may be questioning to start the dialogue about thier personal struggles with the watchtower Society. Anyway, I meant no offense at my questions to you, I just think it was ill timed.

  Good luck,

  Steve
• 
  8

  Has anyone here been caught?

  by new light in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i want to post my picture here, but something holds me back.

  i am not df'd or da'd, and my whole family is in, so i do have something to lose if i am caught being a wt opposer.

  basically, i'm trying to assess the risk factor here.. has anyone been "caught" because of posting their face on this forum?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Steve Lowry

  Wow, I'm usually the last person to advise caution about coming out of the Watchtower Society and taking a public stand against it. But if all you want to do is post your picture, then it seems to me you put yourself in a position where you have everything to loose and nothing to win. What do you gain by posting your photo?