LongHairGal

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Posts by LongHairGal

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  18

  Watchtower (Study) August 2023 gaslighting and deflecting again.

  by was a new boy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  'they turn the story around to make it seem like you are at fault, deflecting attention and blame away from them to make you feel guilty.

  this type of emotional manipulation is called gaslighting.. .

  deflection is manipulation, and if it's coupled with other toxic relationship behaviors, it may be necessary to remove yourself from the situation.'.

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  LongHairGal

  WAS A NEW BOY:

  I believe this is obviously directed at the older people in the congregations (Baby Boomers and maybe the few older people there).. I’m Glad I left years ago.

  These Witnesses have been waiting forever for ‘the New System’.. Some of them, sadly, sacrificed so much needlessly maybe not getting that decent job and struggling now financially in their senior years!

  It was drilled into their heads to be in constant expectation of the ‘End’. To add insult to injury, many thought that the Covid pandemic was ‘it’. They feel let down because it was not. Now it seems the religion wants to readjust their thinking making them feel their expectations aren’t ‘right’. Well, where did they get these expectations from??

  ST GEORGE OF ENGLAND:

  I am Glad that you did get to do the normal things you did (university, retirement, etc.). Just imagine the many thousands of JWs who didn’t. They are sitting in congregations growing old waiting for the ‘new world’ in order to live. Doesn’t seem natural, does it.
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  53

  What`s the reason some of you think JW`s are in decline ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from what i can see no such thing is happening.i became a jw in 1960 and remained for about 30 years and the numbers of active jw`s today in the world are far greater than they were back then.. and here in australia the numbers are much higher than they were back then .. so i don`t see that their in decline or have any worries about losing support .. don`t the numbers speak for themselves ?.

  is it just wishful thinking on your part ?.

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  LongHairGal

  SMIDDY3:

  I agree with NICOLAU’s post. This isn’t the same religion anymore.

  There are several reasons the JW religion is in decline, in my opinion.

  Just because you haven’t seen enough people leave in your area doesn’t mean all is okay. I left because of the 1995 Generation teaching.. Even though many left, not everybody did.. Some JWS are in sleep mode. Others simply stayed too long and it’s too late to start over someplace else. Besides, we all know what happens if someone leaves: everybody there ostracizes them.

  It is also a total turn-off (to me anyway) that the religion promoted poverty for so long discouraging college and careers. They urged people to work part time and ‘pioneer’. Now, a substantial number of Witnesses who did this for decades are well into retirement age and broke and scrambling for money.. I am Glad I never listened.

  I also feel the religion has made itself obsolete with its notorious failed end-time dates. They are like the ‘boy who cried wolf’. If anybody looks at what makes up the bulk of the congregations it is older people (Baby Boomers).. What happens when these loyal die-hard people all pass away at some point? I don’t believe for one minute the religion will ever be the same.. Oh, it may exist in some fashion but I think it is inching towards joining the ranks of other defunct sects in the USA.
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  37

  The Org. covering up the SHUNNING POLICY !!

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://avoidjw.org/news/jehovahs-witnesses-mysteriously-deleted-shunning-videos/?fbclid=iwar3jjfsa3zx-4kxrdtjwopmzty-5wxhrxm1-gvjtp9j20ovqfpxh.

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  LongHairGal

  BETH SARIM:

  True. But it didn’t quite work out the way everybody there wished it would.

  Now the congregations are full of people who reached retirement age totally unprepared because they were led to believe the ‘New System’ would be here to save them!.. Multiply that by the number of congregations around and what kind of number do you have? I would say it’s a big number into the many thousands.

  Now, I’d like to hazard a guess as to the number of Witnesses who went against prevailing stupid talk and DID prepare for their retirement - like I did.. I would bet this number is smaller than the other number.. This is precisely why I wouldn’t want to be around any of these people or their chaos.
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  37

  The Org. covering up the SHUNNING POLICY !!

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://avoidjw.org/news/jehovahs-witnesses-mysteriously-deleted-shunning-videos/?fbclid=iwar3jjfsa3zx-4kxrdtjwopmzty-5wxhrxm1-gvjtp9j20ovqfpxh.

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  LongHairGal

  EXBETHELITENOWPIMA:

  ‘Discipline that means something’(?)

  Tell me something: ..back when I was in and worked at my full-time job and experienced shunning to some degree, would you say this was ‘discipline’? If so, I certainly did nothing wrong and was just being a responsible and sensible person.. As far as it causing ‘pain’: well, guess what? It didn’t. It was just an observation on my part that there were cliques of people there I was never going to know.. No loss because I couldn’t stand them.

  Now, I’m retired and the last thing I want is to run into any of those broke pioneers who never worked to plan for their future.
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  100

  American Healthcare: How your system works

  by Diogenesister in

  1. social
  2. current

  canada has universal healthcare.

  the consensus is that america never will.

  can anyone explain why, please?

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  LongHairGal

  No, Syd, I never said any of those things. So, don’t put words in my mouth.

  I just don’t think it’s doable here..for many reasons.
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  7

  What it’s like to leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/05/19/felt-end-review-daniel-cox/.

  what it’s like to leave the jehovah’s witnesses.

  in ‘i felt the end before it came: memoirs of a queer ex-jehovah’s witness,’ daniel allen cox reflects on losing his faith after spending his early years waiting for armageddon.

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  LongHairGal

  BETH SARIM:

  Yes, a plan is definitely needed.

  A Witness who wants out needs to have contacts and a friend or two outside. If somebody is an adult and has a secular job that helps. The problem is if the person is younger or even a born-in JW adult with a sheltered life with everybody’s eyes on them.

  They must find a way to get an outside contact.. I wasn’t raised in the religion and I already had a secular job so it was relatively easy for me.. Once your ducks are in a row you can pick a day to start your ‘Fade’. Then you can experience the wonderful feeling of freedom and lightness of being - breathing in fresh air! I remember it well.
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  100

  American Healthcare: How your system works

  by Diogenesister in

  1. social
  2. current

  canada has universal healthcare.

  the consensus is that america never will.

  can anyone explain why, please?

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  LongHairGal

  LITTLEROCKGUY:

  I’m with you and want to go to the doctor when I want. I can imagine people dying because they can’t get the surgery/treatments they need in time!!

  As far as other comments: I remember many years ago I was in an emergency room because I had fallen on my tailbone. I was crying because I was in so much pain. I saw with my own eyes young mothers coming in with babies for regular care! I do understand that emergency room staff have to make a judgment call as to who is worse off. The guy coming in with the heart attack goes first, etc.

  I know people talk about Medicare and/or Healthcare for all but I don’t see how it could happen. Never mind the cost. Just who is going to pay for this??? Think about the current economic climate with no jobs. Never mind that the infrastructure isn’t even in place for something of this tremendous magnitude. Plus you need to staff these places. A doctor who paid big bucks to have his practice isn’t going to be forced to work in such a place for peanuts. I know a doctor who retired and moved because he didn’t want to deal with Obamacare.

  No, sadly, current Medicare recipients will be lucky to hold onto what they have with their supplement plans with the premiums that keep steadily inching up!
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  19

  Normal people don't give a darn if you're a witness

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this was posted on exjw reddit, check it out if some of you never have.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/13q6k5l/normal_people_dont_give_a_darn_if_youre_a_witness/ .

  i find this to be the case, people in general are so not interested in religion that they really could care less about jws.

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  LongHairGal

  LV101:

  Thanks. They may have their faults, but at least when I was Catholic, I didn’t get the sense I personally had a ‘bullseye’ target painted on my body like when I was in the JW religion!

  There’s a serious difference there - and it’s not because anybody has the so-called ‘Truth’.. They wish. The Witnesses are simply an intrusive cult-like religion with no boundaries.. I learned serious life lessons getting involved with them and am Glad I was able to pull myself out of that trap!
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  19

  Normal people don't give a darn if you're a witness

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this was posted on exjw reddit, check it out if some of you never have.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/13q6k5l/normal_people_dont_give_a_darn_if_youre_a_witness/ .

  i find this to be the case, people in general are so not interested in religion that they really could care less about jws.

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  LongHairGal

  XBEHERE:

  I had a pre-JW life as a Roman Catholic and knew zero about Jehovah’s Witnesses nor did I care.

  When I got enticed into the JW religion years later, I was baffled at how they described themselves.. They imagined they were talked about night and day by so-called ‘worldly’ people.. This simply was not true and I felt they were deeply deluded and legends in their own minds. But, of course, I kept my thoughts to myself.
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  6

  Crisis With Singles and Single Parents Looming?

  by Pathofthorns in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  likely we've all noticed that on the two major jw discussion forums the most active forums are the "singles or dating" forums.. it would appear that there is an increasingly large number of single parents appearing in the congregations these days for whatever reason.. i admire these ones for the effort they put forth to bring their children up taking on the role of both parents.

  from many of their comments in the "singles " forums, it appears many find being a single parent an extreme liability in "the truth" as far as finding a mate goes.

  i wonder if jw culture has something to do with how these ones are viewed as prospective marriage mates vs. the mentality in the "world".. as far the single people go, there appears to be almost a certain desperation to get married, further scaring off potential mates.

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  LongHairGal

  JOURNEYMAN:

  I’m not surprised the last comment you quoted by Roamingfeline is still very true in the JW religion: that ‘single parents in the “truth” are very lonely..and never invited..’

  These people were on the fringes of the congregation like I was and I would chat with them.. Maybe a single brother who was a parent might be viewed a little more sympathetically - especially if he had something going for him.. But, a single sister (parent or not) had hardly anybody be friendly or sociable.. I doubt if this has changed.