satan’s snares today.
in the main, satan’s tricks have not changed over the centuries.
in order for christians living in the corrupt city of corinth not to be “overreached by satan,” the apostle paul gave them strong counsel.
I don't understand why they need to comment on this. They really need to say it out loud that they are against hanging out naked with the opposite sex? Isn't it obvious where they stand on this?
What's next? A prohibition on tampons?
I hate to tell you, but this has already been done at the local level! There is nothing they haven't criticized.
i've never liked being late for meetings, 10 minutes early has always been 5 minutes late for me.
i'm a very punctual atheist at the meetings still.. when someone asks a simple question from the platform and not one dummy raises their hand, i still feel the need to raise my hand so that we don't all look like idiots.. my shoes still need to be clean and polished, my suits and ties match and are in good shape.
i never wear them anywhere else.. i still feel like saying hello to people that are obviously being ignored by everyone else.. people not singing out still bugs me, lol.
Answering questions, giving talks--hell, just showing up--has the potential impact of inadvertently helping recruitment and retention. You are another person that others look to as an example of a happy JW.
Go and build a life worth living.
Polish your shoes and wear your suits out to dinner at a nice restaurant. Give talks at Toastmasters. Say hello to the ignored people at atheist meetup groups. Join a choir. There. I just replaced all of your positive jw activities.
i'm new here; one of my relatives was a member on this forum a few years ago and told me about it.
anyways, as a sister who has been in the org since childhood and now in her late 40's (plus as a woman of color), i have noticed that a number of brothers have an ageist attitude.
they are very accepting of young women under 26 and rejecting women over that age, particularly those in their 30's and over.. is this an unspoken mindset from wthq (specifically from bethel), or is it that quite a number of males (sorry, i'm not sexist here) have this type of mentality?
In normal social situations, I see no problem with May-December relationships as long as both parties are consenting, mature adults.
I had a big problem with it in jw fundieland. I didn't know of healthy relationships like this. There was a huge tendency for men to look for someone much younger than them, if the man hadn't married the millisecond he got out of high school.
The relationships I was aware of were icky. The girls were super immature, as you can imagine when someone is deprived of normal life experiences that help you mature. They had dated little or not at all, and once they started dating an older man, they were engaged approximately 3 seconds later. They were swept off their feet with the fantasy of a ready-made husband who was spiritually and financially secure. This mate was fully ready to be her head so he could teach her about life and take care of her.
I am paraphrasing actual statements young ladies said to me back then.
My flesh crawls when I think about it.
It's a real thing in other fundie cults too. https://www.google.com/search?q=age+of+marriage+in+cults&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
the so called bunker video isn't just getting attention here but among jws as well.
i've heard a fair share of cracks, some half joking half serious about the prospect of the video playing out in real life .
but something else i've heard is that the video was meant to be figurative, an illustration representing the 'interior rooms' prophecy..
^This happened.Let's not forget that.
Metaphor, my ass.
the so called bunker video isn't just getting attention here but among jws as well.
i've heard a fair share of cracks, some half joking half serious about the prospect of the video playing out in real life .
but something else i've heard is that the video was meant to be figurative, an illustration representing the 'interior rooms' prophecy..
"meant to be figurative"=a lie people tell outsiders to avoid harming recruitment.
All I can say is the video would be a lot better with zombies.
i thought i would rework this and try it again.
i found an old baptism nullification letter here written by poster balsam, and revised it a bit.. i really think we should do a large-scale baptismal nullification request.
letter and more info here.. i am concerned there is no way to track how many people did it.
bump
after listening to the hearings of the australian royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, i am no longer content to have simply walked away from the organization.
as a matter of conscience, i do not want my name linked with the organization in any way.
i know this letter has been posted previously, and i thank the author.
I would appreciate any constructive suggestions from this community
Here are mine. This has the potential to spare innocent non-jws from the pain of ever joining in the first place.
You could modify it to suit your needs, of course. For example, you could change the reason for you not understanding the baptism, like, "I did not understand the organization's stance on child abuse, and I would have never gotten baptized had I known it."
I participated in the baptism ritual of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I did
not fully understand...
my favorite were the ones where they were reading a wt publication in the break room at work, and an inquisitive co-worker, thirsty for spiritual knowledge approaches them.
this leads to an informal witness, which eventually leads to bible study and baptism.. in all my years of working, i've never had anyone show the slightest bit of interest in what i was reading while i was on my break at work.
but as i said, maybe it's just me..
I did an assembly experience and was told to lie by the dude giving the talk. I think it was something about getting an imaginary scholarship offer and turning it down to pioneer. This didn't happen because I was physically prevented from taking college entrance exams in the first place.
I am a little fuzzy on the details now. It was so long ago & I haven't had my coffee yet. (I am making myself drink coffee a little later than the crack of dawn. ugh.) I think I had a thread on it years ago.
I can totally understand why people lie in these presentations. They live their lives believing the experiences 100%. Then they are honored by being asked to give one, and are not expecting a trusted elder to coerce them to lie. They are given "spiritual" reasons to lie and they obey.
this site is such a great and valuable resource and simon is to be commended for running it for so long.
when i first came i was in such a bad state and really needed support and friendship.
so many posters commented on my threads and showed genuine care some are real life friends, some are facebook friends, some i talk to on the phone and some are forum friends.. i have just realised though that everyone online is not your friend.
Smart and beautiful!
