Posts by rebel8

38

I'm so confused, help?

by Ponyo in

i want to share my story.

(might be a tad long).

i have no idea where i stand anymore regarding being a jw and where i stand in my marriage.. im 28 years old and the years are certainly ticking by.

rebel8

Is it possible your longing for this man is symbolic of other things?

I don't believe there is only one soulmate for everyone. I believe we can love many different individuals in our lifetimes.

You have a lot to work out in your head. I'm sure running off to this man might be really appealing as an escapist fantasy. But honestly you've got some young kiddos who need you. That doesn't mean you need to stay in the marriage, just that you can't be impulsive.

You're also questioning your religion, which is totally fine too. I wonder if it's best to start with that and figure out the family stuff later? There are a lot of facts about the org's teachings and behavior to learn.

Finding out about true facts is not apostasy or bad--even the Society has published stuff about it. <<That link has quotes from Society literature with no comments, so it's not an apostate site at all.

27

Out of the world, into the Truth

by apalro in

for some background - i studied on & off as a child with a jehovah's witness who has been patiently working on lots of our family for more than a decade and never gave up on any of us.

as a middle-schooler and a highschooler, my love for jehovah and any association with my childhoood bible teacher... faded.

disappeared.

rebel8

You got yourself out of bad situations and improved your life. Yay you!

Take a step back. Try to remove the emotion, what you want to believe and what you've been taught.

Let me save you the work. Here is what you will inevitably conclude:

The Bible is a collection of works from many different individuals.
It does indeed contradict itself.
It does indeed endorse hate, violence, rape, and other sorts of nasty things--Greek and Hebrew scriptures alike. (You can find a list of citations at evilbible.com. Then look them up in the New World Translation.)
There is and never has been any evidence of the existence of any supernatural beings.
The most important things a human being can do are these 2 things: (1) Be a good person and contribute positively to society. (2) Live a life worth living. This includes using your brain and your whole self in good, fulfilling ways.
If Jehovah is worth worshiping, and one day he decides to make his existence known, he'll be so happy to find you enjoying the gift he gave you (life). If not, you still win!

14

X/LDS vs X/JW!!!Who is more twisted and bitter.

by joe134cd in

since leaving the jws i have become fascinated by the lds church, because of the similarities both organisations have.

in reading x-mo forums i get the impression that they tend to be not as bitter and as twisted as xjw.

this is surprising as i think the lds is a bigger con than the jws.

rebel8

I guess I can't embed links here at the moment, because the page freezes when I do, so let me type it in old school: http://www.lulu.com/ex-jw

I made a comparison chart of ex-mormons and ex-jws and there are some freaky similarities. I spent time on an ex-mormon page to research it and they didn't realize how similar they are to us, right down to the disparaging nicknames we give to our former organizations.

27

There are only 4 ways to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses

by new boy in

jw
friends

there are only four ways of leaving the jehovah’s witnesses.

so there are four ways that could lead to shunning.

i say “could” because options three and four has some loopholes.

rebel8

5. Just walk out never to go back and be completely left alone with a clean slate forever like you were never there in the first place because you have dirt on elders and a bunch of dodgy brothers and sisters and the fallout will be just to messy for them to deal with.

6. Walk away cold turkey without fading or having dirt on anyone. Just quit without notice and completely stop all jw-related activities and contact. You may be DF in absentia, or not.

27

There are only 4 ways to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses

by new boy in

jw
friends

there are only four ways of leaving the jehovah’s witnesses.

so there are four ways that could lead to shunning.

i say “could” because options three and four has some loopholes.

rebel8

DF isn't a method of leaving the religion, when you think about it. A person can remain a practicing jw and still be DF. DF is just a disciplinary status.

6

A big question, why writtings or book?

by Crazyguy in

we often have debates on this site about what was written in the bible and why.

there are also debates about which bible is better .

then there's the debate about if the quran is really the better book or more accurate.

rebel8

I look at it differently than you, OP. I think, if there was a supernatural being that didn't plan to speak to us in modern times, and was giving us free will, he/she/it would have been way more detailed and clear in the writings. That way there'd be no question what was desired of us.

But this is all hypothetical because there has never been any evidence of a supernatural being existing.

27

opportunity for fornication

by road to nowhere in

ever see brother ugly who is 86 being taken to the doctor by sister frigid who is 65 and also not good looking?

they have to have a chaperone or at least sit in back and front seats.

or a man who can't bring the freezing daughter in the house when he stopped briefly by because hubby is not home.

rebel8

jw seem to think sex happens instantaneously. That is why you can't be unchaperoned for .05 seconds.

I remember one couple went on dates by driving in separate cars to restaurants. I remember, as a brainwashed jw, that was still wrong because nobody was watching to ensure they did not make out in the parking lot...while at the same time thinking there would be nothing wrong with that.

28

My Boyfriend is a recent Ex Jehovah Witness

by whatisthis12 in

i have been dating my boyfriend for almost a year now.

when i met him i had no idea that he was a jehovah witness.

we took a vacation and he lied to his parents about who he was with, and they ended up finding out not only that he way lying, but who i was.

rebel8

I feel like i will always be the girl that made him lose his relationship with his family and friends.

Whenever you're talking about this stuff, emphasize he is free to make his own choices. He is used to others making choices for him, so be sure to remind him he gets to make choices now. That may lessen the likelihood he will blame you if he later regrets his choice.

Encourage him to develop genuine friendships besides you.

Honestly though, this situation is long term. Leaving a cult gives you scars. It will take years for him to deprogram himself and then he can start the work of becoming his authentic self. If you are not able to deal with the prospect of him being in some level of emotional pain for years, then I'd say you have a decision to make.

Nobody is free of emotional baggage.

Once he is fully open to it, he will examine the teachings and his beliefs will start falling like dominoes, one by one, but fast.

If he is in an early state of this process, that doesn't mean he isn't going to progress later on. It does mean you have most of the work ahead of you though.

He has been out less than 1 year. That's a newbie.

6

Russia Moves to Declare the Bible “Extremist”

by NikL in

jw
friends

sorry if this has been mentioned already.. https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/russia/hearing-bible-extremist-20170727/.

kind of misleading headline.

it's the nwt version they want to label as extremist not the bible itself.. for those that don't want to go to that obnoxious website, here is the text.... russia moves to declare the bible “extremist”.

rebel8

Wait, wts is claiming the reason the Russians want to declare it an extremist publication is because of the pronunciation of god's name and not because of the violence, hate, rape, misogyny, racism, homophobia, emotional abuse, urging extreme lifestyles and anti-government content?

So now wts is a source of faux news.

What I see from major news media is Russia doesn't like them because they don't vote, support Putin, attend government rallies, etc., and Putin is known for labeling people 'extremist' if they don't support him.

I suppose their publication of this fake news on their website will seal the deal.

7

Who is ruling over the kingdom of the world?

by The Fall Guy in

according to the bible, "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.

" (1 john 5:19).

according to the deluded "slave", it's jesus; w73 8/1 p. 459 par.

rebel8

According to the Bible, "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one."

Well we DO have some pretty wicked people running things right now.

Just not a single individual as the bible said.....and this part didn't seem to be a prophecy because it was stated in present tense.