Definitely go! He will always remember his dad was there. Smile , be yourself . Commend him in front of others. Maybe your Christlike personality will noticed by some there and they may wake up a bit. That whole "won without a word" thing , ya know? Your son , especially if he's watching , will see others with the problem and not you and wonder why someone as good as you is being rejected. Set ego aside and be love, perfect love casts fear away. Pray and know that God's goodness and grace surrounds you like a shield. (Some scripture) as your son grows he will see the difference and find his way as long as you remain a positive loving constant parental figure in his life. You have to model the dad you believe in.
Awakenednow
JoinedPosts by Awakenednow
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26
My sons first talk
by lukejmedic inquick backstory:raised a jw, ms, reg pioneer, international need greater work.
i have been da for 2 years, divorced, ex and my son live 6 hours away near walkill ny.. my sons first talk is coming up, in august.
he is 7 years old.
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Am I the only "witness here besides the admins?
by TheOnlyRealWittnessHere inwith all the negativity here i was wondering if i am the only one here that's a witness.
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the topic pretty much says everything..
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Awakenednow
Most of us were at one time in life dedicated and loyal witnesses. The negativity comes with hurt and the anger from being hurt. There are many reasons and each has a different set of them. You are searching for answers you haven't found at the meetings or in the publications or you wouldn't be on this site. As you learn from your own efforts and research, which I encourage you to do, ( jwfacts is terrific and quotes organization literature and is truly an unbiased examination of WT teachings through the years) . You may experience similar pain as you realize the depth of betrayal at the hands of these self proclaimed shepherds. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit for believers not a slave class (type or anti type of an illustration or is it a prophecy , huh?) that holt spirit will open your spiritual eyes if you simply ask. So when you feel as we do you will understand and not be offended by it. Some of us were molested, mistreated, gave up education & retirement , sold our homes, gave up our health (I was an international construction worker and saw firsthand older witnesses who ended up sick directly because of their assignments who were sent home with no care/no money to get care/ no money from savings to take care of themselves/ abandoned by this org or Borg) I experienced a very similar tale of Candace Conti in the 70's and bro Henschel was spoken with directly who said they wont act because of two witness rule and because of the ignorant "child repressed memory theory" ...he was completely wrong in every way!!! Funny, I was one of the few with two witnesses. It was sick.
Anyway, with some knowledge of the issues, you will mature and will hopefully become more empathetic to those of us needing to gripe and vent a little and at the same time find companionship and insights as you walk the road less traveled seeking truth.
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Found this article cited on Reddit today, Interesting
by XBEHERE inin their fantastic book about cognitive dissonance, mistakes were made (but not by me), carol tavris and elliot aronson write about the great psychologist leon festinger who, in 1957, infiltrated a doomsday cult.
the cult was led by dorothy martin who called herself sister thedra.
she convinced her followers in chicago an alien spacecraft would suck them up and fly away right as a massive flood ended the human race on december 21, 1954. many of her followers gave away everything they owned, including their homes, as the day approached.
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Awakenednow
It's so true. I read the book "2" about a former Mormon and so the reality snuck in "the back door" and it freed me.
Funny when that guy that predicted the end only a few years back in the states was in the news, my Jw mom was rolling her eyes and laughing about how moronic he and his followers were. I cautioned her not to laugh to hard because Jws did the same thing, 1870's 1914 1925 (ancient worthy resurrection) 1975. That guy was not very different and the look on her face was sadly priceless. Like huh? It hit home but dissonance hit back and she went back under the spell.
I remember one of those books on the subject stated how religion and beliefs are lodged in the survival parts of our brains and any threats to the belief trigger that survival threat and they fight tooth and nail to hold that belief even in the face of glaringly opposite factual truth. The Scientology movie out on HBO is fantastic to highlight all this.
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(Not)Preaching advice
by paradisebeauty inhaving recently had an "awakening" - not from reading awake .... i realize i can not preach doctrines i do not believe anymore .
but i do not want the elders to start following my every move, because i also have plans to check other christian denominations.. so i am thinking, should i chat for an hour or two with an old visit and report the hours, should i tell the elders i have some doubts and i do not want to preach for now or should i just stop reporting and avoid the elders attempts to talk to me?
what do you think is the best sollution to get away with this?
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Awakenednow
I stopped service and counting time and when I was asked by a relative elder I just said I can't in good conscience encourage someone to believe something I couldn't explain and needed to figure it out. I mentioned that it just seemed so obvious that the other sheep Jesus spoke about were gentile believers and what do you think. Then I moved. No one cared about me to find me to report it and I let it be. Over 5 years ago...
You could just not turn it in and when CO comes around and they need to update the file and call you could say that you forgot to write it down and can't in good conscience report inaccurately that far back...Oops sorry, you were distracted by a few personal issues. Wait til they call, and you don't have to pick up the phone. (Just saying). What if they forget to call? You don't have to worry and the longer you don't the obviously harder to honestly compile a back report and you can stand on the principle of honesty. Of course you've probably informal witnessed here and there even if fading so you can come up with a few hours over that span and let them figure it out for their report to the CO
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Are J.W's obsesed with their statis??
by karter ini went to a j.w funeral and saw some people i used to hang out with many years ago and they all seemed to want to tell me if they or any member of their family were elders,m.s's,pioneers ect.. karter..
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Awakenednow
Omg Yes! It's the measure of who is spiritual and who's not. Dumb, right? -
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My ex-wife... and I'm the apostate?
by Anony Mous inso, my ex-wife, which if you remember me fought hard together with the jw's to (unsuccessfully) wrest control over our child.
we're now 3y later, my legal rights have been affirmed a few times in court.
a few months ago, my ex asked me if i was okay with her having someone else in her life.
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Awakenednow
Yay according to the sex police, you are both scripturally free to remarry. (Read sarcasm)
seriously, just do you! take the lessons learned with gratitude and look at your blessings today, give the third finger salute to crazyville and blow a kiss and live your life. Your family is what's important. Keep your little one talking and don't demonize mom. Mom's trying to figure out what her life means same as the rest of us. If she is confusing your child consider counseling if you feel it's creating a problem. My ex went to jail...I had no vocabulary or context to help my kids through it so I went to therapy and she really helped me find the healthy way to explain really screwy stuff to young kids. I highly recommend it. My kids are terrific and well balanced teens with none of the typical Jw hang ups even with the non conventional trouble. Pay attention to your kids words , moods and actions and go with your gut. If kids are fine no worries but if the adult behavior starts rubbing off get help it will really pay off big time as they get older. Best!!
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Do JWs Try To Convert Believers Of Islam?
by minimus inor do they regard them as they do ultra conservative jews and not waste their time with them, since as a people, they willfully abandoned jesus christ?
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Awakenednow
Yes they do and it's the proverbial 'pot calling the kettle black.'
(Whatever that means, my mom used to say that all the time.)
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May tv.jw.org program
by zophar inthe may broadcast on tv.jw.org.
we need money!.
http://tv.jw.org/#video/vodstudio/pub-jwb_201505_1_video.
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Awakenednow
The money beg and grab is startling, not unexpected, and reaffirms my perception that this organization is what it's always been, a publishing company. I agree with the posters that refer to early publication brags that Jehovah's backing this and will bring in the money or the publication will cease. I like the thought of the funds running out because all my family are in and I want them to wake up because I want them in my life. Even so, This stuff helps me shake the shadows of cognitive dissonance that creep up on rare occasion from a lifetime in the cult. I'm glad for it.
although, having been a very loyal believer for over 40 years, I can honestly say that I believe the GB to be honest hearted and sincere albeit terribly misguided and doctrinally at odds with obvious scriptural truth. Call them out for the scriptural error and Pharasaic BS, but don't stoop to personal assaults. You get what you give and become what you preach. You guys are free so use it to rise above. The golden rule still is a valid spiritual concept. The cartoons made me laugh though. But, I met him once at a CA and my kids had a photo with him. The man was very kind, warm, friendly and genuine. Please be more respectful.
did anyone see the George Carlin skit about the scam of religion? Super funny. Worth watching. I heard it recently when I watched Zeitgeist on Netflix. It's in the first half of the movie. Also, The religion stuff in that movie about Jesus is fascinating, how his birth totally correlates to the stars and positions including the three kings which can be directly connected to the 3 stars in Orion's Belt named the three kings. Check it out!
The the love of money is the root of all evil. Religion is a snare and a racket! Hmmmm I heard that somewhere before.
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Prayer with my son before lunch. Your advice / experiences needed!
by Daniel1555 indear friends,.
i would like to hear your comments or suggestions on the following:.
a little background info.. i managed to fade completely.
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Awakenednow
Congratulations on maintaining your relationship with the folks in spite of "corporate policies and procedures". I'm blessed my elder father and mom, both baptized since 73 at Dodger stadium mass baptism and very active, still talk to me and my kids although technically I am dissociated . My story would take an hour to type and maybe I'll post another time, but I'm living with my "worldly" fiancé, with my 2 teens very happily and my folks come visit from time to time and share a meal. When they do, i ask my dad if he'd like to say prayer, which he gladly and graciously does and offers a blessing on my family. The name he prays to is not an issue to me as I know in his heart he is praying to a loving creator and not to the man made version of the God of "the truth". Praying a loving blessing over a meal has been proven in some scientific circles to have a positive effect on the participants in the quantum field and so my advice is to let go and just go with the flow and realize with gratitude that your folks love you enough and are awake enough to carry on a familial relationship. As your little one grows up, let him ask the questions and use the prayer differences to highlight spiritual truths as you see fit. Children are amazingly perceptive and your best teachers. There are many videos and TV shows etc, where people of different beliefs pray in different names and if you can simply show that people of all backgrounds pray in different ways including grandma and grandpa it shouldn't be that big of a deal as he grows up. It'll be for him, just the way his grandparents pray and dad does it a little different. Actually it's modeling independent thinking and finding your own spiritual path and a good thing. I would encourage you not to worry about it and just do you! Your little one will learn from your example more then the name of the god his grandparents pray to. And, you will maintain a loving and peaceful relationship with your parents that shows them you respect their beliefs as they've respected yours. Your children as they get older will see that you respect them even though you agree to disagree and it models an excellent example of mutual respect and tolerance. It's all good! God bless! -
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Awakenednow
Ummm I was wondering if anyone noticed the creepy faces by Jesus left shoulder and right hand along with the phallic cloud above his outstretched right arm . weird?