Posts by OneEyedJoe

91

Setback

by EdenOne in

i saw this coming since my mother-in-law's funeral .... the congregation's "love-bombing" over my wife had its impact.

i watched her drawing closer and closer to her friends in the congregation.

then she decided she would attend the memorial.

OneEyedJoe

the look in her eyes when she looks at me as if I was the very impersonation of evil.

I know that one. And I'm still an active JW that's just missing meetings here and there. It really hurts to see someone that you love, and that you know loves you (on some level at least) look at you that way. I'm really sorry man. I can't imagine the difficulty of getting her out only to see her sucked back in. That's terrible.

If you're not going for a divorce, just remember there's a chance that she'll find her way out again. It's happened before so you know that there's something that can break her free. You'll get another opportunity, and then you can encourage her and help her to do the real work to come to the conclusion that it's a harmful cult.

In the mean time, have you talked to her about how she's treating you? It may be (probably is) unconscious and you might be able to make her realize, at the very least, that it's going to hurt your marriage. I know it's easy for me to just be angry without saying anything, but I recently called my wife on her silent treatment for every missed meeting and the last one I missed she seemed a little less cold towards me than usual. Not leaps and bounds, but it's something. Maybe you can at least get to the point where you have a reasonably happy marriage without the psychological torture.

Also, talking to her about the stuff that injures you might make her see that the cult is causing her to treat the person she loves the most so poorly. That's not the effect of being closer to god.

You're not alone in this by a long shot, and there are so many who've been able to find their way to a much better, healthier, happier situation from where you are now. Maybe your wife won't make it out, maybe your marriage won't last, but you will find your way out if you keep going. Even in the worst case scenario, you'll find yourself in a much better place in the not-too-distant future.

13

JW Articles Loaded with Intentional Imbedded Misleading Clauses...

by freemindfade in

this makes me fume while i sit listening to this at the sunday beeting.... "hence, an elder who is tenderly compassionate does not try to control the sheep, making rules or using guilt to pressure them to do more when their circumstances do not permit them to.-w15 2/15 pp.

5-9. now this sentence makes the elders sound like they should not control, use guilt to pressure etc... but then it has a qualifying statement no one seems to hear.

when their circumstances do no permit them to.

OneEyedJoe

And who is the judge of what someone's circumstances permit? Why, the elders, of course!

This sentence isn't meant to say that the elders should be kind to the congregation. It's meant to tell the r/f that if they feel pressured, it means that they have the circumstances that allow them to do more, but they're too lazy/selfish/sinful/unworthy that they're not doing enough.

25

Today's (4/12) WT study - all about Jesus

by OneEyedJoe in

today's watchtower study article is all about jesus.

this stuck out to me after a year of hanging out on here where one frequent point of criticism is that jws claim to be christians but never talk about jesus.. anyone think it's a coincidence that today was the "special talk" follow-up to the memorial?

i think not - this is the most attended sunday meeting of the year, complete with many ubms, studies, and miscellaneous other potential victims who have been subjected to a coordinated effort to pressure them into attending.

OneEyedJoe

Para 17 was just glossed over in our cong! Why? because the elders felt so uncomfortable with the content of it!! "elders do not try and control the sheep, or make rules etc or pressure them to do more!"

I'm sure that would make any honest elder uncomfortable, since they're constantly told to pressure people to do more. I guess it would also make the typical egotistic elder uncomfortable too since it would be a threat to their authority.

25

Today's (4/12) WT study - all about Jesus

by OneEyedJoe in

today's watchtower study article is all about jesus.

this stuck out to me after a year of hanging out on here where one frequent point of criticism is that jws claim to be christians but never talk about jesus.. anyone think it's a coincidence that today was the "special talk" follow-up to the memorial?

i think not - this is the most attended sunday meeting of the year, complete with many ubms, studies, and miscellaneous other potential victims who have been subjected to a coordinated effort to pressure them into attending.

OneEyedJoe

The doctrine is that the ransom is FOR the anointed, but the OS are fringe beneficiaries of it. It's always explained in a way that subtly makes the r/f jws feel lesser, but they have no choice but to accept it since they still get "sayings of eternal life" out of the deal.

A watcher - you should really do your own study, so I'm not going to do the busy work for you. You really need to be more spiritual and come to an understanding of the deeper things. Keep at it and soon you'll be eating solid food and not the milk meant for mere babes.

14

JW Personality used as an excuse....

by Anon_SA1 in

jw
friends

i had a discussion with a current jw member of +- 30 years, we got chatting about how you can be sure your faith is right and what checks can be done.

i then suggested looking at ex members view points and literature.

her response was her "i am not someone who takes initiative to look online at stuff, i doesn't feel my personality needs me look at outside view points" in summary she was saying her personality type is not interested in looking at other views.

OneEyedJoe

I get a similar response when I point out doctrinal flaws to my wife, "that's never been that important to me."

I don't think it's a personality thing as much as defense mechanism. They sense a threat and come up with any reason they can to avoid it. Since jws are often pressed for time due to all the indoctrination sessions and busy work, the "it's a waste of time/effort/etc" excuse is an easy one.

45

Why do we get TTATT and others don't?

by quest81 in

jw
friends

i have thought about how ttatt came full circle for me.

how the connecting the dots was simple and just made sense,.

how silos of information are literally at our fingertips today.. why is it that the ones we love cannot get ttatt?.

OneEyedJoe

Because JW's aren't looking for reasons to NOT serve Jehovah.

They do claim to be lovers of truth, though. Which makes it all the more curious that they have such an aversion to it.

25

Today's (4/12) WT study - all about Jesus

by OneEyedJoe in

today's watchtower study article is all about jesus.

this stuck out to me after a year of hanging out on here where one frequent point of criticism is that jws claim to be christians but never talk about jesus.. anyone think it's a coincidence that today was the "special talk" follow-up to the memorial?

i think not - this is the most attended sunday meeting of the year, complete with many ubms, studies, and miscellaneous other potential victims who have been subjected to a coordinated effort to pressure them into attending.

OneEyedJoe

You diss us when we DON'T talk about Jesus and you diss us when we DO!

We point out that, for those claiming to be Christian, Christ is not a focus. When he is a focus, it is only in a transparent and dishonest attempt to appear more Christian. Have an ounce of intellectual honesty, and stop over simplifying things.

Also, learn what a hypocrite is.

11

February 15, 2015 Watchtower Tells Lies About Bible Jesus!

by Island Man in

page 6, paragraph 7 dishonestly makes the following 2 claims about jesus:.

"he never called undue attention to himself.

instead, he directed all glory to his father.".

OneEyedJoe

Even in the highly flattering and clearly exaggerated gospel accounts tacitly acknowledge that Jesus (if he existed) was just another cult leader.

25

Today's (4/12) WT study - all about Jesus

by OneEyedJoe in

today's watchtower study article is all about jesus.

this stuck out to me after a year of hanging out on here where one frequent point of criticism is that jws claim to be christians but never talk about jesus.. anyone think it's a coincidence that today was the "special talk" follow-up to the memorial?

i think not - this is the most attended sunday meeting of the year, complete with many ubms, studies, and miscellaneous other potential victims who have been subjected to a coordinated effort to pressure them into attending.

OneEyedJoe

While I lack your dedication, I did something similar for a while. It quickly got to the point that there was no challenge to it and I got bored.

4

Theory of god

by azor in

i have noticed that theists have an aversion to the word theory.

as it is mostly attached to evolution, and they have a deep misunderstanding of what the word means.. i'm probably botching the following statement but the general idea is as follows.

it has been said that whoever sets the parameters of the battle or frames the argument wins.

OneEyedJoe

I like this idea. Obviously few theists will be swayed by it, since they will continue to misunderstand what a theory is , and god's existence isn't a theory to them. I guess it's not really a theory to anyone since it isn't fit to be called a theory in the way that evolution is.

My go-to rebuttal when the word theory is used as an argument against evolution is that gravity is also described by physicists as a theory. It's not completely understood, but it's effects are readily visible. The same is true of evolution. I posted something to that effect on here and someone suggested that my point boiled down to "if you don't believe in evolution because it's a theory, you should jump off a cliff."