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really put his foot in his mouth last night.
You know I've been gone from that BS so long if I had to sit through a talk like that I would have a hard time holding back not just busting out laughing out loud. Funny thing was I used to take it so friggin seriously and it was total nonsense. Thanks for sharing that, it was a good one. LOL
Ruth
this isn't a popularity contest and i know i'm missing some but i wanted to give a special shout out to all of you who have experienced heartbreak and trials because of your wt exit and who i've come to love and respect.
i'm not a mommy myself, but every one of you inspire me.. palmtree, lozhasleft, watersprout, shelby (aguest), lady lee, tec, dinah, nugget, coffeeblack, morbidzbaby, snowbird, lovelylil.
now i feel bad already because i know i'm leaving some wonderful moms out but i wanted to get this thread up so that you all know how much i love you.. and i kinda miss my mom right now.. .
Wishing all you Moms a Happy Mother's Day. I exited the WTS after my middle son died as a result of an auto accident and my husband refusing blood transfusions to save him. That was 10 years ago. My other two sons were 13 & 18 when I left their Dad and it was rough. I left my JW life and was disfellowshipped for divorcing my JW husband of 30 years. I had to work with my sons to help them see what the WTS had done to our family and the death of their brother. They were in denial in the beginning but with patience in 2 years they both had left. My youngest son is now in the Navy, married and living a happy life. My oldest son has a son and still struggles with life but he knows the WTS is nothing more than a high control cult.
It's a struggle to leave the WTS but it is so worth it.
it was a beautiful, sunny day.
i was in the supermarket doing an early morning shop when i see an old friend of the family, a jw sister.. she asked me if i'd gone to the memorial and i told her no.
she said that the end is so close what with all the earthquakes and brother truthseeker, you need to come back to jehovah otherwise you will die and so will your children.
in the past, i've tried reasoning with my wife concerning the reading of religious materials to our children but the reasoning is not getting through.
she believes that since my oldest daughter prefers church to the kingdom hall (no surprise) that in order to provide any kind of 'true' religious instruction she must read wt material geared to the kiddies.
in the past, i reasoned that if she insists on reading material to her that will ultimately trash my way of life then i could do the same.
i do.. when i tell people that i was a witness, nobody can believe it!
i enjoy telling them why i left the religion, the harm they cause, and the benefits of being out of it.. do you express yourself in this way too or is it only me?.
I tell people willing to listen.
Last week a young man came by my house selling magazines. When he came to the door he said he wasn't a JW and he was a college student working with Urban Unity. Well I had to laugh because of course I used to be a JW. Because he said that I listened to his sales pitch and I subscribed to some magazines for my grandson.
Funny thing was as I was sitting down to fill out the papers I told him I used to be a JW and it is a widely accepted religious cult. I told him about my son dying as a result of the cult insisting on us refusing blood for him. It was a good converstation and the boy and I both learned something about each other. It was kind of cool, he was a nice young man and my grandson will be happy.
People need to know JW's are nothing more than a cult. We're planning on moving to Utah were we'll surrounded by Mormons. I've talked to lots of ex-mormons and they feel like we do about their religion being cultish.
how dare these people!.
they pretty much force you to pioneer, not pursue a good education, become a "servant" to their whims!.
they don't want you accepting overtime at work because stupid meetings and door knocking is more important.. they accept pedophiles in their midst more than they accept anyone that questions their authority!.
My then husband and went into the witnesses and totally trusted them. I look back now and wonder why we were so trusting, when we distrusted so much around us? My ex-husband and his new wife continue in the witnesses. I left him and the religion and got my son's out but it seems so utterly stupid that I blindly trusted them for nearly 30 years of my life. There is simply no sound reason to have trusted any of it.
It is so clear now isn't it Minimus?
i never could, like some others described, i could never ever see myself there, i just couldnt imagine it at all,.
i wonder if that was a sign that deep down i didnt believe it?.
Yep I could see myself in the New System but it was the New System as I understood it and it was a place of love not judgement and just JW's in it.
does anyone know anything about the gb member guy pierce?.
what is his background?.
what sort of personality does he have?.
Barbara your a wealth of information, thanks for keep us up.
Look back I never knew or even cared who were part of the governing body I suppose because when I came in it was just one man at the helm Nathan Knorr. So when it switched later on to a body of men taking the lead I just fully trusted it was in God's hands. What an idiot all of us were to fall for the JW baloney they dished out to us starving spiritually hungry fools.
writing at salon, laura miller reviews a new book by professor of religion, timothy beal.
"the rise and fall of the bible": rethinking the good book .
.. the thing is, many americans -- especially those raised in the less reflective christian denominations -- know nothing about how the bible was compiled.
After I left the witnesses I delved into biblical scholars studies and was astonished to know that many many changes happened to the texts as they reached us in the 21st century. I read Bart Erhman, Bruce Metzer, and others and learned our devotion to the words in the bible as coming from God was just idiotic. I do find worthwhile wisdom in the bible and still read it occasionally but my reading of wisdom has broadened considerably. I just wish I had known what I know now about the bible when I was a young woman it might have saved me from the devoted life I lead to the Jehovah Witness baloney. Oh well better late than never and I've been able to educate my sons who were raised in the JW's and get them out so that is good.
Have any of you heard of the "Jesus Seminar"? They are biblical scholars who have seminars all over the USA to educate regular folks on the bible and how we came to have it today. I've been to one and it was worth every penny I spent for it.
Ruth
paul's letters practically invent christianity.. the gospels trickled in after him.. paul never walked with jesus and yet explains him.. never a quote from the master at all.. yet, paul is such a maven.. if jesus couldn't be bothered to actually reveal what he was all about to his apostles with whom he ate, drank, spoke and slept---why this persecutor, saul?.
the apostles heard every word jesus spoke and were willing to die for him.. paul didn't--yet--miraculously explained every detail of the entire history of god's purpose including his messiah.. .
can anybody provide a non-gimmick answer?.
I found the same thing when it comes to Paul, he is really the founder of Christianity as it is today and some of what he says doesn't even stand up to what Jesus is claimed to have said. He is main writer of the NT too so what does that say?
