Gttm, all you say is true. Vent away. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like without the cult; if we'd have gotten out sooner. My husband left first (1998) then he died (2001) of cancer. I wonder sometimes if it was the religion that killed him. The cult of JW sucks all will, life, and personal power out of a person. Killing a person's spirit would understandably lead to dis-ease and death.
fiddler
JoinedPosts by fiddler
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To the lurkers: This cult of a religion keeps killing my marriage over and over
by goingthruthemotions infirst let me say, if i could turn back time and never get involved with this cult.
i would.. to the lurkers: .
if you on the fence and could leave.
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You must not say Gee, Gee wiz, or Golly
by Truth and Justice inbefore i start my subject post, i like to extend a warm welcome to all the new members that have joined the site.
i just can't keep up with all the new names.
nice to see all of you here.. i haven't posted anything in a while because of work, scheduling and everything else, but i do have some interesting thoughts that i would like to share with all of you in the coming months.
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fiddler
Not watching Indiana Jones because of the scene involving the name Jehovah! I never heard of that but I am going to assume that The Life of Brian was also off limits for At Least the stoning scene 😆 And how about the very wholesome movie Pollyanna? Had a great hell fire and damnation sermon in it where the name Jehovah was invoked. Whatever, all the Petty rules dished out at meetings, assemblies and or just by holier than thou elderettes was so repressive and ridiculous!
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The Bread Illustration (Feb 16 Broadcast) - Massive Contradiction
by fizzle inso... bro flodin puts poison onto the first loaf of bread and says that this pictures someone "sinning against the holy spirit".
he then puts the bread into the trash can stating that jehovah completely discards anyone "sinning against the holy spirit"... meaning they cannot ever be forgiven...he says that the pharisees "sinned against the holy spirit" because they denied indisputable evidence of the operation of jehovah's holy spirit displayed by jesus... therefore jehovah would completely discard them... no way back for them.. fast forward a little... we have the bible character stephen...acts 6:8 says: now stephen, full of divine favor and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.so stephen was showing indisputable evidence of the operation of jehovah's holy spirit.now we come to the bible character paul (saul)... he was a pharisee.paul would have seen stephen in action... witnessing the indisputable evidence of the operation of jehovah's holy spirit first hand!yet paul not only waged war against all christians but he personally approved the killing (stoning) of stephen.according to the bread illustration paul should have been discarded by jehovah at this point for "sinning against the holy spirit"... he would have been put in the trash can... no way back at all...but what happened according to the bible?
jesus appeared to him on the road to damascus... he became one of the most zealous apostles in bible history with jehovah's full support!so what on earth is the bread illustration all about?
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fiddler
Paul undoubtedly came up against a lot of different feelings and interpretations of Jesus' words in his time. Even Paul's own interpretations could easily have been called into question...he was, after all, After Jesus. Just because Paul said 'this or that' doesn't make his words the 'word of God'. Just because the governing body says 'this or that' doesn't make them inspired. Using gross visual imagery to influence heavily indoctrinated cult members that they should avoid being with their unbelieving family members is....well, Cult like.
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Just realized this recently - as a JW, I never "owned" any of my accomplishments or talents & abilities....
by Muddy Waters injust realized this recently - as a jw, i never "owned" any of my accomplishments or talents & abilities....we were always told how we are nothing, just specks of dust, grasshoppers, worms.... lowly, despicable sinners in need of redemption, born into sin & misery, constantly facing temptations that we could never handle on our own but only with "jehovah's help"... so we were continually marginalized, all our abilities and talents... they would even quote scriptures that said things like "why should we boast as if we didn't receive these abilities..?
"it was a weird mentally psychotic dichotomy -- being told we were worthless sinners, undeserving of god's kindness -- and on the other hand being the only ones who would survive the great day of jehovah the almighty god at armageddon.
(well, probably, maybe, if we did enough and *kept* doing enough...)so we didn't "own" any of our abilities and accomplishments.
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fiddler
This thing of 'honoring' our natural gifts and talents is a huge point to make! Thank you MUddy Waters for posting this. As a born in JW I had a love for music ever since I can remember. When I was 9 years old I fell in love with the violin and although Teachers noticed I had a gift for it; almost perfect pitch, it was just a side thing and 'hobby' as far as JWs went. Even when I tried to just offer my playing at a 'get together' as a gift or just a nice offering to the occasion, it was almost as if I was discouraged from it...when I played there was generally no comment or if there was it was a 'won't it be nice in the new system to persue your musical interest?' I kept my music in my life private pretty literally 'in the closet' and all through marriage and motherhood that's where it stayed. Later I finally started finding outlets to play (worldly) as my kids got older. It was then that I started to hear encouraging comments and people actually wanting me to play. Then I started teaching and the rest is...well, getting to know all these 'wordly' people in their homes and in the community The break from the cult was inevitable for me. I was 41 when I finally came out of the closet...years lost where I could have been working with other musicians and honing my skills. I know my story is not at all unique in the ex JW experience. I try not to be bitter and am glad I got out when I did but every now and then, when I'm with my fellow music teachers and such, I still find the low self esteem and a feeling of being a fake creep in.
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Living Through the Brief Liberalization of Jehovah's Witnesses, Never Recovering
by TMS inwith the book crisis of conscience detailing the turbulence at bethel during the early to mid 70's, the transformation from autocratic rule to governance by committee or a body of men, many of us can speak to how that felt among the rank and file of the local congregations during those years.
we learned new concepts based in large part to research done for the aid to bible understanding volume, then we were asked or coerced into unlearning those principles, going back to the old ways.
some of us never readjusted, finding ourselves very different from our more hardline compadres.. the inertia for the changes that eventually were initiated in the congregations came from the discovery that the greek words episkopos and presbyteros were used biblically to refer to all qualified men in a congregation, not just one.
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fiddler
As I said earlier in this thread, this thread was so enlightening as to what happened in th 1970's to 1980's. It truly was a different time for JWs and for those of us who came into it during those years it explains quite well why so many of us are now here. I was actually born into it in the late 1950's and remember well the Babylon The Great book in the 60's but it was early 70's that I made my dedication to a JW religion that no longer exist! They'd have to 'study' with me all over again to accept the religion as 'truth' today...fat chance good luck with that! -
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New WT pdf tells children to report. Irony?
by wifibandit inpdf.
why won't watchtower tell abusers "i'm going to tell on you!
" and follow through with the proper authorities?
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fiddler
It very tellingly doesn't specify who to tell. For a JW the 'who to tell' will be the parents (one of which may be the abuser) or an elder (who again may be the abuser). It doesn't say 'tell the police!'
Damage control for sure.
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David Bowie
by smiddy ini just heard the news david bowie has died ,so sad .
rip d,b, .
smiddy .
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fiddler
I have loved David Bowie since I first heard him in 1972. Afterwards, I realized that it wasn't exactly acceptable among Jehovah's witnesses...I think I once emulated his 'Ziggy' haircut and was criticized for it...oh well. It wasn't until the 1980's and the release of Labyrinth that he came into my life again and later I found that my own daughter adored him. It was with profound sadness that I texted my daughter Monday morning of his passing. We watched Labyrinth together on Tuesday and yes...smiled at the thought that we both have existed at the same time as David Bowie. What a genius he was!
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Share Your Personal Experiences Please!
by LaurenM inso since leaving the borg i've made quite a few stupid mistakes, hurting myself a lot..but i finally feel like i've learned and i think, in time, i'll find my happiness again...even more happiness that i could've ever had being a jw.. but my question to you guys is, what was your experience like leaving the borg?
did you struggle at all?
how long have you been out?
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fiddler
I've been out since 1999...too lazy to do the math...but in that time, early on, I lost my religion, a husband in death due to cancer but gained 3 of my 4 children in leaving the religion. That was a definite plus!
There were certainly rough patches for me and my kids learning the ropes of just being human...not some elite group entitled to life everlasting but just human having the human experiences that sometimes were great and sometimes were unpleasant. It's not like there were never unpleasant experiences in jwdom. In my life as a wife and mother in the JW religion I can truly say there was more unhappiness than happiness.
Upon leaving, although there has been unhappiness, there has been much more genuine happiness. I have one daughter still in the JW religion and I can tell you, that is the one truly unhappy point in my life and when I look at her I see a daughter who has given her true personae, her authentic self, over to a group of men (GB) who have become synonymous with Jehovah...one and the same! She actually believes that if she disobeys the governing body she is disobeying Jehovah, which to her represents the creator of the universe. How sad that a group of men can reek such damage on a human soul by impersonating the creator!
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Can somebody explain the songs and songbook obsession?
by careful ini've been out a while and have only put in a rare appearance at a memorial or brief visit at a convention/assembly to keep people off my back, so i haven't kept up on the songbook.
but one thing i've noticed that the org.
has been doing that they never did when i was in is all these "supplemental songs" that keep appearing.
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fiddler
The singing of songs, especially propaganda and brainwashing type songs, gets more strongly entrenched in the psyche in this way. I think that is what's going on here. I mean, how many of us after 10 or more years out of the religion still remember the words to many of the JW songs? I won't mention any because I know what insidious ear worms they can be!
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I just found out that my youngest brother committed suicide
by SnakesInTheTower inmy middle brother called me a couple of hours ago.
our youngest brother, josh, who was 38, was found by his friends in his apartment.
he hung himself.
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fiddler
Snakes, I almost don't have a right to post because I don't post here often but...feel so sad for you. This will impact you over the course of time. Those folks with the 'go fund me' account...let them go and do what they need to do. It is for your brother. As for the JW thing....they will do what they have been instructed to do; not what their heart tells them. Let them go...do what they do.
You on the other hand, need rest. Do what YOU have to do. Running around doing stuff you don't feel is not what you need to do. You'll figure it out.