i wonder how many of us here hold on to this meeting place out of "loneliness.
could it be that we harbor feelings of "abandonment" and "loneliness" from being left cold and dry by the wt people and our families?
perhaps we do have a need to reach out to people with similar experiences.
I can't answer for everyone but I come on here to vent. It's comforting to know that we are not alone with our thoughts and that others feel as we do. Being a ex JW or a stuck in JW does not allow you to talk with anyone who won't throw you under the bus.
It's been great therapy for me. Thanks everyone!
i was browsing through stuff on jw.org recently and ran across some expressions that really grate on my nerves: loyal love, loving-care, and loving-kindness, as in: "please exercise loving-kindness toward your servant.
" who talks like that?
they must be relics of the fred franz era.
(that is, doubts).
in margaret atwood's "the handmaid's tale", a futuristic story of life inside a repressive, abusive big brother-style society tightly controlled by religious fundamentalists, there's a passage in which the protagonist is alone with another woman at a state-controlled centre where prayers are generated -- then printed out and read out -- by a machine.
the other woman asks, in barely more than a whisper, "do you think god listens to these machines?
Boy MarkofCane your post is spot on. We are experiencing the same thing with our family. They can't handle the truth, it would kill them. They would loose all of their social connections and it would be devastating.
speaking with inlaws i another congregation today who said exactly what is being said in our own hall.
the trolly work is long and boring and no one even notices they are there anymore but walk right on by.
jehovah really is speeding up the work lol.
More people are on the internet checking out EVERYTHING they come across. The internet is making a huge impact on who wants to become involved with these crazy cults. By nature, people will avoid anything that has "stink" on it. WT has a lot of "stink" on it. The internet is a wonderful thing for the JW's. More and more are checking it out.
The only way WT will have any kind of minimal growth is by baptizing all the born ins.
(that is, doubts).
in margaret atwood's "the handmaid's tale", a futuristic story of life inside a repressive, abusive big brother-style society tightly controlled by religious fundamentalists, there's a passage in which the protagonist is alone with another woman at a state-controlled centre where prayers are generated -- then printed out and read out -- by a machine.
the other woman asks, in barely more than a whisper, "do you think god listens to these machines?
today's text -.
sunday, january 24. they collected the fine ones into containers, but the unsuitable they threw away.—matt.
13:48.. understanding the lesson of this illustration helps us to avoid being overly distraught or disappointed if a bible student or one of our children does not make the truth his own.
i was browsing through stuff on jw.org recently and ran across some expressions that really grate on my nerves: loyal love, loving-care, and loving-kindness, as in: "please exercise loving-kindness toward your servant.
" who talks like that?
they must be relics of the fred franz era.
Proper food at the proper time.
god forbid you would talk about the dead person at his funeral.
so what do most people get after living 70-80 years?.
a 5-10 minutes eulogy.
Ttdtt
You were one of the good guys. It seems the good guys figure out this cult is BS. Seems to be a pattern.
god forbid you would talk about the dead person at his funeral.
so what do most people get after living 70-80 years?.
a 5-10 minutes eulogy.
i've seen it mentioned by a few on the forum that at some point there was a realization that had they not been born a jw, they never would've converted no matter how many times the jws tried to study with them.
this was my experience too, and i'm wondering how universal it is for those that were born-in but eventually left.
i think i started having this thought (more specifically that if i were not born a jw, i would surely have become an atheist by now) in my late teens.
OneEyedJoe
It's funny you ask the question. My spouse and I talk about that all the time. My spouse always says..."I wonder what makes a non JW want to become a JW. What's the attraction?' We are both born in.
I wonder sometimes if the instant friends that you receive, once you join the cult, is what attracts them. The ones we know that came into the cult as adults are all very social. They have little accepted groups they belong to.
We would have NEVER joined if we were born in . We just don't see the attraction. Let's see...no education, no material possessions, no non JW friends, no facial hair, no short skirts or tight blouses, no tight pants, no birthdays, no holidays, no social gatherings (even with JW's), no vacations (unless it's Brooklyn Bethel), no children. The list goes on and on. Gee....I wonder why we would never have joined.
