Posts by AJN

24

Bloody E-Watchman!

by czarofmischief in

e-watchman has decided to embrace the unholy watchtower whore and uphold her disgusting burdens on blood transfusions.

for the record, i now have e-watchman's email address and will be sending him copies of my commentary shortly after they are posted.

i have edited the content where necessary for sheer space (his verbiage is excessive and tiresome).

AJN

Has anyone done a domain search on networksolutions.com web site using the 'Whois' facility?

6

Self esteem/acceptance and Christianity

by AJN in

jw
friends

i've been in therapy for some years now (on and off - currently on) and during that time have managed to build my self-esteem and self-acceptance to a level where i am actually starting to like and value myself (after having abuse issues to address).

about 12 months ago i started reading conventional christian literature and web sites, by this time i had forgotton most of the jw beliefs (although the fear of armageddon still ran deep, disturbing my inner equilibrium.

i (re)discovered that to call oneself christian one had to admit to being a sinful human being who is deserving of death because of my very inbuilt nature.

AJN

Hi there

I've been in therapy for some years now (on and off - currently on) and during that time have managed to build my self-esteem and self-acceptance to a level where I am actually starting to like and value myself (after having abuse issues to address).

About 12 months ago I started reading conventional Christian literature and web sites, by this time I had forgotton most of the JW beliefs (although the fear of Armageddon still ran deep, disturbing my inner equilibrium.)

I (re)discovered that to call oneself Christian one had to admit to being a sinful human being who is deserving of death because of my very inbuilt nature. This was impossible for me to do as I would have been directly in opposition to the work I have done on myself in therapy. I just *could not* turn around and say "I am an inherently sinful person and I deserve death, I take Jesus as my ransom sacrifice in order to make myself good in God's eyes."

I'm wondering if that is why the WTBTS are wary of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts. Because they build our self-esteem up instead of tearing it down. They help us to accept and feel better about ourselves as we are and encourage us to keep on working on ourselves so that we can lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives (and make decisions for ourselves). They don't tend to judge us, their approach comes from a place of *unconditional positive regard* .

Sounds rather like unconditional love and acceptance doesn't it? Hmm, not something I remember coming from the 'Society' who proclaimed to be God's mouthpiece. If I recall correctly we never did 'enough' - if we had issues we were told to 'do more' - go out on the work more, read more, study more - generally telling us that we were insufficient and not therefore acceptable. That's really useful for the self-esteem building - NOT!

I am trying not to let my anger drive this post (which I seem to have recently re-activated by deciding to address the JW/belief fear issues that I have). I have to say though, the 'Society' angers me in their approach to psychiatrists and therapists. If I had been seeing a therapist/psychiatrist when I was in the 'Truth' I might very well have been diagnosed a lot earlier than I was. I could have been helped, got on the right meds, dealt with the depression, anxiety and PD traits. I feel that effectively the 'Society' stops ppl healing and getting help. In fact it rips away the very substance of self-esteem and puts fear in it's place. This is abhorrent imo.

Hmm, that's my thoughts for this morning lol.

Anyone got any feedback?

81

JEHOVAH

by minimus in

we all know that we do not know the correct pronunciation of the name of god.

over 6000 times, the tetragrammaton is mentioned in the ot.

yet for some reason, most bibles do not use the name jehovah or yahweh but a few times.

AJN

For those interested. You can download and/or get a hard copy sent to you.

http://www.tetragrammaton.org/itmdnnwt.htm

12

Anyone read the Left Behind series?

by AJN in

jw
friends

i've just started book one.

just wondering if anyone has read the books and what they thought of them?

:)

AJN

Thanks for the opinions, info and links everyone. It's great to get such a diverse range of opinions and perspectives.

I'm kinda fascinated with this prophecy stuff, I think I need to get it 'out of my system' as it were. I'll check out the books suggested too, sounds good :)

12

Anyone read the Left Behind series?

by AJN in

jw
friends

i've just started book one.

just wondering if anyone has read the books and what they thought of them?

:)

AJN

I've just started book one. Just wondering if anyone has read the books and what they thought of them? :)

3

How things have changed

by uriah in

the text below is from the jan 1st watchtower 1913. i don't recognise this in any jw congregations today.

the international bible students association.

this association sprang up spontaneously.

AJN

regardless of all denominational lines, quirks and frills

Yeah - how it's changed. Be gone ye Babylon the Great! It seems to be mental and spiritual arrogance to completely negate and demonise everyone else's beliefs on the planet. And that's *not* likely to change I don't think.

4

Instructions for Life

by darkuncle29 in

instructions for life.

1. take into account that great love and great.

achievements involve great risks.. 2. when you lose, don't lose the lesson.. 3. follow the three r's:.

AJN

Thanks for posting that, it's neat and thought provoking :)

25

Do you think the governing body sincerely believe what they teach?

by AJN in

i haven't had a chance to read crisis of conscience yet, it's a 2 month wait here unfortunately for delivery and i feel it will probably answer some of my questions regarding the gb but it occurs to me - i wonder if they *really* believe what they teach, if they *really* believe it's the truth or are they really manipulating money makers operating a dysfunctional mlm scheme that ruins people's lives.

or perhaps somewhere in the middle lol.. oh yeah, and if anyone knows how the 'new light' is supposedly delivered i'd love to hear about it.. what do you think?

if anyone has read coc and has any quotes that might be useful please post :)

AJN

Thanks everyone, there were some perspective expanding thoughts in your replies. What I mean is - wow - I'd never thought about it like that! I've been hiding from this 'stuff' (baggage, issues, whatever) for about 15 years, now I come here and you good people share all your perspectives and I absorb it and hopefully come to resolution. Yayy for technology and caring people :)

Hi gumby I really must get a hold of that book. It sounds fascinating. Didn't someone put it online at some point? (I seem to remember reading that) - no doubt it's been deleted by now though.

Joy2bfree. Thanks for the link and the welcome, I'll check the web site out :)

lastcall. "think most of them believe their own bullshit" - yeah probably eh. That's a scary thought.

Elsewhere. LOL - never heard them compared to Sadam Hussein, I must think about how I can present that point to my teenage son because in essence you seem to be spot on, and that's a bit of a concern.

Enishi. "so push what they know to be true deep into their subconscious" - I did that myself for years, that's why it's taken me so long to turn round and face this stuff. I just *have* to remove the fear.

Link. Good point, I could write to them couldn't I.

RPM. A newby like me :) Hi. I'm reading an interesting book at the moment called "Counting the Day's to Armageddon" by Robert Crompton. It talks about the early life of the religion and how it developed. It's useful info to know eh, thanks for your post :)

DanTheMan. Thanks for the info on the book, I am most keen to get a hold of a copy, the more opinions I hear about it the better it sounds.

RR. "instead of reversing some bad decisions and doctrinal changes, he explained them away with misappliocations and types and shadows." - Mmm yeah - that's well described. I see their tactics haven't changed a lot in the interim period. Have you read this? http://www.geocities.com/osarsif/earth.htm

gumby. You ask some interesting questions, it'll be interesting to see what develops.

littlewitch. Yeah good point, I hadn't thought about that one.

Greenpalmtreesstillmine. "but they have enough belief in the general teachings of the Society to continue on. " - I wonder if that isn't the way a lot of witnesses feel?

Nosferatu. "They know deep down inside they're full of shit, but they can do anything they want because they're of the anointed." - Yeah, interesting thought, it really does allow abuse of power eh. Do you think they could be sued for 'misfeasance' if they were a governmental organisation? Hmm, worth some thought.

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Thanks everyone :)

Hey - neat formatting options here btw.

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