Posts by Alive!

54

According to one JW there can only be 1 of 3 reasons why you left.

by Bonsai in

i asked an old jw friend of mine why so many baptized individuals leave the jw religion.

"did it ever occur to you, old friend, that maybe they know something that you don't know and have valid reasons for leaving?

", i asked.. his response set me back for an answer.

Alive!

Hi Bonsai,

When you next talk to your old friend show him this......

I am a 60 year old female - I have no desire to do anything immoral by biblical standards.

I have not been stumbled by anyone in the sense of my pride being hurt, but after nearly 25 years I have been disturbed to the point that I had to face my hurt conscience and ultimately I was pushed to walk away from a group of people who have difficulty being honest in spiritual matters, use manipulative language amongst themselves and to non witnesses as a matter of form and who follow men who appear to use 'Gods word' with a lack of respect which is breathtaking, turning scripture to suit the whim of the day without due consideration for the conscience and faith of their listeners.

I left an environment which was my home - lost a 'life' of friendships and have had to rebuild my world at a later stage in my life.

It's not been 'cosy'

Would your friend like to consider the three main reasons people stay as cult members? I don't think so.

83

Seeking support ... Where can a Christian go

by Sevan in

jw
friends

hey all, .

so i recently posted for the first time and introduced myself.. i have been spending time reading various posts.

some informative, some not so much.. since i've been reading on here, i've read a lot from atheists.

Alive!

Hi Sevan,

Am feeling for you.

It was a terrible time for me when I did the unthinkable, looked the 'organisation' in the eye and thought 'this is wrong'.

I have always sensed there was something unseen going on, before I became a JW.

It is a rough road exiting the mind control of the organisation.

I believe.....like I breathe.

I'm not going to explain why or how - I just do.

This 'sense' just won't leave me or go away....you are certainly not alone.

The ancient writings that promise that God wills that All will be reconciled back to him.....

25

Study article: "Go, and Make Disciples.." is a hot mess

by Sanchy in

jw
friends

so i hooked into meeting via phone this week to listen in and was shocked at the absurdities mentioned in the study article (2016 may watchtower: "go,..and make disciples of people of all the nations").

the answer is obvious—only jehovah’s witnesses.

the answer the missionary priest gave in no way proves that jws are the only ones "preaching the good news".

Alive!

Is there a scripture where Jesus addresses hundreds of his disciples with the commission to tell the good news?

Just wondered if anyone had it handy?

I'll have a search in mean time.

so glad I don't have to read through those self praising Watchtower articles.....the last few years have got worse and worse.

20

UPDATE: My existential crisis comes to a close

by Freeandclear in

jw
friends

in case you read my other thread regarding my existential crisis and how it was making my life miserable and left me feeling hopeless, purposeless and joyless i though i'd share what's recently happened to me and my way of thinking and have i've for the time being resolved my existential crisis.

i write every day in a journal.

i've been doing this for years.

Alive!

Well, you are in good company of all sorts of men, from the great, from brilliant minds to the small and simple - for many, God just is...

Keep strong :-)

61

Did others experience this on the ministry or among JWs generally?

by slimboyfat in

sometimes it's hard to know if our own experience of jws was typical and what features were peculiar to our own area or the individual jws we knew personally.

i was wondering if others experienced this among jws:.

a few times on the ministry, when we were working wealthy areas with large houses, some brothers and sisters would make the comment that they look forward to taking ownership of one of these big houses after armageddon, when the worldly people have vacated them.

Alive!

@Old Hippie.

A few times out on ministry I witnessed Seasoned JWs jokingly talk about 'leaving their songbook' in the letter box by the gate of a desirable property - in order to have first dibs after Armageddon....their explanation, not mine....

This occurred in two different countries, and no-one looked shocked but laughed at the 'inhouse' joke....we're talking elders and pioneers here....a quaint little custom in these English speaking lands apparently.

I was a foolish little 'convert' - the stuff I heard, I should have ran, ran, ran.

Many were also obsessed also with what they wanted for an improved body.....and we are talking cosmetic here....

61

Did others experience this on the ministry or among JWs generally?

by slimboyfat in

sometimes it's hard to know if our own experience of jws was typical and what features were peculiar to our own area or the individual jws we knew personally.

i was wondering if others experienced this among jws:.

a few times on the ministry, when we were working wealthy areas with large houses, some brothers and sisters would make the comment that they look forward to taking ownership of one of these big houses after armageddon, when the worldly people have vacated them.

Alive!

Yes. I've heard that kind of conversation a few times in different countries - how very spiritual, ahem - last time I heard it, was the last time I went out in field service.

48

From yesterday WT, don't have kids and if you do then don't see them often nor the grandkids either

by purrpurr in

unbelievable paragraph in yesterday's watchtower was "encouraging" the sheep to not have kids.

most of their growth comes from the born ins and they are still on about not having kids?.

then it went on to "encourage" those that do have kids or grandkids not to spend to much time with them and instead to spend their time serving kingdom interests!.

Alive!

The Society seriously does your head in.

This paragraph extolling those who make sacrifices by putting off children, not spending valuable time with family but 'building' buildings - and then only a little while ago they acknowledge that such suggestions in the past have gone beyond scripture.

Enough.

87

The last video in the 2016 convention...

by problemaddict 2 in

...is an epic triumph is emotional manipulation.

bringing together all of the stories they told thus far and placing them int he "new world" complete with the little boy who was killed in a car accident coming back from the dead.. i have a good friend who is stuck in with family and plays the role.

he said everyone was crying, and the people next to him rated the videos by how many tissues they needed to dry their eyes.

Alive!

I just watched the video.

If I were still in the 'religion' I'd be suffering so badly right now - I was getting progressively mentally sicker and sicker when I was in ....fast forward to these days.... the org has morphed Into what would feel like an even darker nightmare for me, personally.

Why? Because I know in my heart that none of my sound minded believing/non believing family or friends would ever be attracted to such obvious emotional manipulation....and if I still believed this organisation actually represented the ONLY way to God, I'd be distraught.

98

Beards - September 2016 Watchtower

by Listener in

the issue of whether beards are acceptable or not is addressed in the september 2016 watchtower - well sort of.

it is as clear as mud as to whether they are allowed in places like australia, usa and britain.. 17. what are some factors that may affect whether a brother wears a beard?17 what about the propriety of brothers wearing a beard?

the mosaic law required men to wear a beard.

Alive!

Just imagine having to sit through this, read this and actually walk away feeling joyful and light in heart and spirit.

Just reading the excerpts feels like applying a spiritual vice to my mind.

Madness. It's madness.

45

JWs in denial, so sad

by Simon in

i had a couple of jw sisters call at my door today.. they started with the bizarre "can we read you a scripture" and read about "death being no more" and asked what i thought of that.. i said it sounded like a mix of disney and dumb.. they then launched into how god was going to put an end to death and wasn't that wonderful?.

i said it would have been more wonderful if he'd not created death in the first place.. they thought man created death by disobeying so i questioned why god couldn't have just forgiven them.

apparently "because he loves us" is supposed to be a satisfactory answer to why he kills us.. i asked how loving it was to kill hundreds of thousands of children in tsunami's, disease and so on.. at this point, they gave up on the 'god is love' and switched to the bible being true no matter what because it was an old book and moses had written the first chapter (says the book).. when i suggested it really wasn't that old and that most of the bible myths were copies of older stories from before it was written they questioned if i studied the bible and theology.. then i told them i was brought up as a jw so knew it was all crap.. now it was game on, they immediately switched to play defence questioning why i'd left (and i think they'd already taken a step back away from "the evil" obviously emanating from me).. not much time to say much before they cut and run so i told them i'd left because i found out it was all based on lies and that the watchtower was corrupt and covered up things like child abuse.. oh no, you're thinking of the catholics one of them said (some disdain in how she said "catholics" as though "we're so much better than them").. "well, i challenge you to do a search for the australian royal commission and you'll see the testimony the watchtower leaders gave and the damning evidence that they covered up abuse and reported none of it to the police.".

Alive!

Quite disturbing that the 'it's all lies' claim appears so many times - I WATCHED it LIVE - I heard the way the leaders tried to mislead the ARC representatives, under oath and in a court of law - there was very little that was open, candid or transparent in their demeanour and choice of phrasing - although I had already heard and detected 'manipulative' speech and underhanded phrasing through the literature, it really bowled me over to hear such words come from the actual GB member and of course senior Legal Personnel/Brothers from the Society.

I felt a little sad for the elders under question - they were absolutely out of their depth in the face of honest and forthright questioning.....so many 'oh my goodness' moments - I'm glad I had already 'seen' the light, if I had watched the ARC proceedings in state of absolute trust and faith in the organisation, I'd have had a breakdown.

Oh wait a minute - I DID have a breakdown, but that was a couple of years before the ARC rolled out. Sheesh. I was heartbroken.