after almost 2 years of being wrongfully disfellowshipped and over a year after finding this site....i am starting to read crisis of conscience.
i will not lie....i am a bit nervous as to what information i will find in the book.
i have a strong feeling that i will end up crying through most of it as i will start to see the truth about the "truth".
COC was the beginning of the end for me. Now it's funny to reflect on how much fear filled me when I first cracked that book open in the early stages of leaving.
Forbidden knowledge! No, just the other side of the story. What an awakening.
I donated both COC and ISOCF to the local library a few years ago.
Not afraid of books anymore,
alias
so i picked a book at the library recently containing a few years of sylvia plath's published journals.. never read her before and knew little about her story.. i started reading and felt like i was experiencing another version of myself.. where was i at age 18?
a repressed writer longing to fit into this world.. my first 25 years were sacrificed to 'right around the corner.'.
ever since i've been a budding creative.. still, her words and story haunt me.. .
hamsterbait,
I picked up 'The Bell Jar' and 'Letters Home' last night.
She wanted others to experience her so much.
She'll never know how much they do.
alias
wants us to enjoy life?
4. why do we need to set limits on the kind of recreation.
well to determine in advance whether some.
I takes diff'rent strokes........
ROTFL!
so i picked a book at the library recently containing a few years of sylvia plath's published journals.. never read her before and knew little about her story.. i started reading and felt like i was experiencing another version of myself.. where was i at age 18?
a repressed writer longing to fit into this world.. my first 25 years were sacrificed to 'right around the corner.'.
ever since i've been a budding creative.. still, her words and story haunt me.. .
So I picked a book at the library recently containing a few years of Sylvia Plath's published journals.
Never read her before and knew little about her story.
I started reading and felt like I was experiencing another version of myself.
Where was I at age 18? A repressed writer longing to fit into this world.
My first 25 years were sacrificed to 'right around the corner.'
Ever since I've been a budding creative.
Still, her words and story haunt me.
alias
i just attended a "reducing your stress" training, sponsored by my company, and training staff used the methods of "thework", founded by kathie byron.
in order to reduce your stress, you have to inquire yourself and put everyting you believe in, in doubt.
by the end of the 2 day work shop, i have all my "cult" warning lights on.
Great stuff and I truly believe this kind of help, or any help that resonates with you and what you may be dealing with or need at the time comes when we need it most. Like most help we don't need it forever, nor might we want to hang onto it as a crutch but just to get us through and teach us so we can move on.
Love this bikerchic. As a raised-in JW who's been denied worldly philosophy for my first 30 years, I'm curious about different approaches and tools some have found useful in working through their own "stuff". The four questions alone are a good primer into self-awareness and interesting to use when assessing personal beliefs (and really understanding the JW mindset).
alias
"Take what's useful and leave the rest" class
If anyone is interested in learning more, by all means check out the statements and lives of those men and make up your own mind about them and about what they had to say.
Thanks, Ding, for affirming the usefulness of doing our own research in our search for answers.
I am particularly interested in reading Lee Strobel's experience in 'The Case for Christ' to learn more about his Atheism-to-Theism journey and have the book he wrote about it (which I plan to read over the next few weeks).
The church he is affilated with is popular in our area, and although I'm not looking for a church, I am interested in reading about people's experiences and perspective on the BIG QUESTIONS — undoubtedly the reason why I've been lingering around here on-and-off for a dozen years.
alias
the wts sometimes turns the "stumbling" concept into a manipulative weapon.. the biblical concept of "stumbling" is that if you know someone else has a weakness you shouldn't do something that will cause him to cave in to that weakness.
for example, if you have a friend who is trying to fight alcohol addiction you shouldn't invite him to go somewhere where everyone else will be imbibing.. i think it's perfectly legitimate for a friend to tell you that he has a drinking problem and that he'd really appreciate it if you would refrain from serving alcohol while he's over.
but i think it crosses a line if the friend tries to manipulate you into swearing off alcohol altogether because the mere thought of you drinking booze will stumble him.. but some jws try to get others to refrain from doing things "so you don't stumble me.
Ding,
Good observation.
And so a conscientious JW gets caught between the rock and hard place of "don't stumble anyone" and "don't enforce personal views on others" and tip-toes around in the congregation constantly moderating their behavior between guilt and free will.
alias
as some of you may know, ours is a 'divided household.
' a term use by jehovah's witnesses to describe households where one spouse is in 'the truthtm' and the other one isn't.
in some of them (like mine) the 'unbelieving spouse' (ubm) may actually express a faith in the god of the bible and in christianity and perhaps even go to church.
Yep.
Hubby is invested in this belief system and attends meetings.
I do not.
Thankfully, we've grown to a place where its not a huge issue in our relationship anymore.
My parents and his whole side of the family are active JWs.
alias
inspired by many on jwn board, my goal is to every sunday study the article and find the manipulative parts.
if you would like to join me that would be great!
we can then find them together and then find what the scriptures or insights truly means with research, our own understanding, or maybe how it should be interpreted to ones self.
Butterfly,
Good catch. Usually you see the manipulation couched in terms like:
surely....
do we not...
My sensitive nature has often taken those subtle things as how I "should be" thinking or behaving.
Reading between the lines and doing things whole-souled honestly has costed me so much in this relgion. I've internalized enough subliminal messages for a lifetime.
Interestingly, my husband, who doesn't read between the lines the way I do, has a very different experience as a JW.
Thanks for your review.
alias
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I dreaded door-to-door FS. Every time.
The worse, nauseous feelings washed over me as we'd park the car at the end of the street and get out.
Anxiety and panic filled me so much that by my early 20s I stopped doing it all together.
I began writing letters so I could "get some time in" and please men.
And fought the cognitive-dissonance of a loving God expecting me to act against my nature for "hours".
Busy-work for sure... it's all JWs have to feel productive in life. Even if the whole morning is wasted driving around and finding nobody at home. A 3-hour morning gets tallied on a small paper slip and one's inner self is let off the hook.
Return visits and studies were a HUGE relief.
alias
What you talkin' 'bout watchtower?