Posts by rebel8

32

Please help....in a dilemma..

by crazyhorse in

please help with this: when i was in college, there was a lot of talk about university and how all who pursue that are wasting their time and all that.

even before going to uni, there was a lot of pressurr on me concerning my decision.

during that time, two elders sat with me for appointment as ms and asked me if i have freedom of speech in the org since i'm going to uni and i said no.

A certain amount of interpersonal pressure is normal when you are not doing something a person you care to impress wants you to do, but you have the added pressure of the Armageddon threat and loss of all your friends/family.

It seems though that you have to find a way to say no. Think about all the reasons a person might reasonably say no to the appointment, and pick one:

I'm not ready for the responsibility.
I need to grow more spiritually first.
I'm not going to attend meetings anymore.
I don't want to.
No thank you.
I am going to meditate and pray on this and I'll get back to you.
I have developed IBS which is causing me to have explosive diarrhea. I will need to get this under control before I can take on more responsibility, so as to not bring reproach on jehoho.
I'm depressed and discouraged.
I'm going to move somewhere where the need is greater.
I'm anointed.
Jehovah told me I'm Charles Russell reincarnated.
I'm going to serve jehoho by tending a field of Miracle Wheat and feeding the hungry.
I've developed Tourette's and will blurt out random apostate statements in the microphone.
I've developed an erectile disorder causing me to have spontaneous erections while giving talks on the platform.
I've joined a softball league and we play during meeting times.
The demons have been bothering me.

22

Are we imperfect from birth?

by Pinku in

are we imperfect from birth?.

there may be some scriptures that say we are imperfect from birth because of (fictitious) adams sin.

such verses make no sense like many other prima-facie meaningless verses such as joshua 10:13; isaiah 40:26; john 3:13;11:26 ........ however, there are scriptures that say we are capable of displaying perfection which is already within us.

rebel8

The notion that there is such a thing as a perfect being strikes me as totally implausible on its face.

67

Child with brain tumour taken from UK hospital by JW parents

by Fe2O3Girl in

jw
friends

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28978655.

a five-year-old boy with a brain tumour has been taken without consent from hospital by his parents, sparking a major police hunt for the family.. ashya king was taken from southampton general hospital and is now believed to be in france with his parents and six siblings.. police said he needs constant medical care and there are "serious concerns" for his life if he is not found today.. brett king, 51, and naghemeh king, 45 removed him from the ward on thursday.. ashya's father was pictured taking him from the hospital"everyone is sending their love now.

we love you so much and we want to see you very soon and i love you so much and can't wait to see you.".

rebel8

Watching that video was disturbing. While it is nice to see his passion for his child, it seems so misplaced in the face of evidence-based medicine.

Seeing the poor child with no muscle control was sad. Sometimes the dad would place his hand over the child's face, oddly. And the place he chose to rest his right hand in the beginning of the video...I know those are minor points of course, but they just added a whole layer of ick for me.

Even if this is not a blood issue, let's not dismiss the fact that dubs inherit hundreds of years of brainwashing against science and medicine, placing individual opinions over tested evidence. Such jw behavior nearly killed me a few times as well when I was a kid.

This may not be directly taught as much today, but the paranoia about doctors and arrogance that the common man knows more remains to this day. For this reason, we see many vitamin peddlers, reflexologists, iridologists, etc. in the Borganization, thriving while the sheep substitute woo for medical care.

wts bears some responsibility for this. They never retracted any of these teachings formally. Also, they know the flock relies on them for advice on medical matters, and they have an extremely permissive attitude towards woo. The HLC continues to promote the anti-medical philosophy.

…if ten thousand doctors swore on ten thousand Bibles that aluminum ware is harmless to human beings, I would not believe them… – The Golden Age 07/25/1928 p. 695

More quotes here.

87

Brett King (Jehovah's Witness) Releases Video of why he removed his ill son, Ashya, from a UK hospital

by jwleaks in

jw
friends

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14etqn9zpwk .

jw leaks.

rebel8

I feel sick to my stomach.

On the one hand, as a healthcare professional, I know mistakes can be made and everything isn't certain. It's critical to be educated about your condition and make informed decisions.

On the other hand, I was a victim of the jw "I know better than doctors" mentality that is so woven into the thread of its culture. I hope this little one is not a victim of the same.

101

A question for Athiests.

by new hope and happiness in

jw
friends

i am now an athiest myself, but i think being an athiest its a bit like having a faith.

some get very hooked on it and "preash" others (like me) simply get with with there lifes.

i am sure that some athiests like to have discussions about the non existence of " god" in a similar way that "thisists" do about the existence of god.

rebel8

I was not allowed to go to science classes in public school, so the only beliefs I had about nature came from the dubs. Should no one have ever "preached" the "gospel" of evolution to me, I'd still be chained by prescientific beliefs.

I'm glad some people preach.

19

Lillian Gobitas Klose, the Jehovahs Witness who refused in 1935 to salute the American flag in Minersville, Pa. started a trail that ultimately changed American legal history died Aug. 22 at age 90

by Sol Reform in

lillian gobitas klose, the jehovahs witness who refused in 1935 to salute the american flag in minersville, pa. started a trail that ultimately changed american legal history died aug. 22 at age 90. only three years after it had ruled against the gobitas family, the supreme court voted 6-3 to overturn that decision in a case involving a family of jehovahs witnesses from west virginia.. regardless of what one might think of jehovahs witnesses, lillian gobitas is an example of a person whose willingness to fight for her beliefs has expanded everyones personal freedoms.. http://republicanherald.com/news/minersville-girl-made-legal-history-1.1744279.

lillian gobitas klose, 90; test of faith went to u.s. supreme courtlillian gobitas klose sign the guest book.

atlanta news obituarieslillian gobitas klose, 90; test of faith went to u.s. supreme courtby elizabeth montgomery the atlanta journal-constitution.

rebel8

As a side note...

more than 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were eventually removed to concentration camps

Interesting. The dubs have claimed so many different statistics--once they even said more jws died in concentration camps than Jews. I wonder how many actually did.

103

I'm meeting with my congregation Elders Today HELP PLEASE

by LennaB in

meeting with my congregation elders today.. going to tell them about the things i discovered about c.t russell.

(astrology, racism, ect.

) i don't know how to present this information or what to say.

rebel8

As of right now I'm questioning if god even exsist.

That's just reality. There is zero proof the supernatural world exists, so this "certainty" you had before you woke up was fake. Accepting that we don't know everything about the universe can be freeing and restore the sense of curiosity and wonder the cult replaces with bans on independent thinking.

I now realized that I got married for the wrong reasons..

That sucks. Now your opportunity is to explore your relationship as it now is and what prospects it holds for both of you.

You mentioned you started studying in "Nov/13". Do you mean November 2013? So it's been less than a year that you've been studying and married?

So much of life is ahead of you, and even if you were partly affected by the cult before last year, you still avoided so much by not being directly involved all your life.

I'm lost and I don't know how I'm going to break to my friends that I'm not going anymore..

You actually don't have to tell them. They'll notice you're gone, and the love bombing will begin. If they ask, you are free to not respond or say you don't want to talk about it. If you choose to respond, that's your choice--no one is forcing you.

You mentioned they bought you dresses. That is a new one on me. I guess they've taken love bombing and mothering to a whole new level. Seems weird.

28

Should some people actually be Witnesses?

by Apognophos in

it seems to me like certain people actually benefit from joining the religion.

primarily i'm thinking of ones with drug problems who are only able to quit because they are working towards baptism.

another example would be those who are always getting in fights or who have a big ego, and who learn to be pacifistic and humble as a witness.

rebel8

I know lots of people who deserve to be Witnesses. Abusers and killers. They deserve all the happiness that religion can provide.

49

Turns out it was true - "the truth" was the only reason my marriage lasted so long

by Shattered Reality in

i haven't really been on here in like, a year.

my stbx introduced me to this site and then a whole buch of life happened and i just sort of never had time for forums.

but here i am at 3am, another sleepless night, and i feel like i am simply lost.

rebel8

He wants me to live with him for a few more months while he gets on his feet financially to be able to support himself without my help...

everytime he starts texting or receives messages on his phone now I want to smash it

ewww...no. Clean break. Rip the Band-Aid off--it'll be less painful in the long run. IMHO

If he wants to be friends and cares about you, then he wouldn't do this. Does he know how much pain this is causing you?

Seriously. Yuck.

103

I'm meeting with my congregation Elders Today HELP PLEASE

by LennaB in

meeting with my congregation elders today.. going to tell them about the things i discovered about c.t russell.

(astrology, racism, ect.

) i don't know how to present this information or what to say.

rebel8

Hi. We're in the same time zone.

One thing is sure--you are not being influenced by demons.

Jehovah gave you a brain and you're using it. There's nothing wrong with that. Thoughts are just thoughts.

In fact, you are directly following the Society's direction.

Awake! 2000 June 22 Do Not Be a Victim of Propaganda!

We need to scrutinize whatever is presented to us, deciding what to accept and what to reject.

Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant or misleading information

Use discernment: Discernment is "acuteness of judgment." It is "the power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another." A person with discernment perceives subtleties of ideas or things and has good judgment.

Using discernment, we will be able to recognize those who are merely using "smooth talk and complimentary speech" in order to "seduce the hearts of guileless ones." (Romans 16:18) Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant information or misleading facts and distinguish the substance of a matter. But how can you discern when something is misleading?

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Test whatever you are reading or watching, to see if it is truthful