Posts by Ingenuous

25

New Here!!

by carlitos in

jw
friends

Ingenuous

I also noticed over the years the lack of interest in their own religion's history or recent changes in creed. When the "new" information came out in 1995 concerning "this generation", as I commented with several elders about the monumental change in doctrine and how this would mean that there would be other changes to come, these elders themselves did not understand this "new" information. It sort of baffled me that these "holy" elders chosen by a holy spirit couldn't comprehend such information.

I had similar thoughts myself.

Welcome {{{carlitos}}}.

37

Hey Everyone.

by Sam the Man in

jw
friends

i've been lurking for some time and now its time for me to say hello.

i want to call myself sam on here to avoid any repercussions, whatever they may be i have learnt to cover my back in this life from the experiences i now ask if i may relate.

i was born into a black working class household in england to a mother who had remarried after splitting up with her first husband in barbados.

Ingenuous

Welcome {{{Sam}}}. You'll find much support here - as I have - and sincere people eager to help.

90

What would you have done?

by defd in

jw
friends

what would you have done back in the 1st century when jesus came on the earthly stage and started christianity.

would you have became his follower?

how about after he left the earth and christianity began to spread by means of the apostles, would you have been involved in the many congregations that were started throughout the area?

Ingenuous

Whether I stayed in a congregation or not would depend on how well the congregations Paul addressed responded to his admonition.

Paul wished some men who were giving the congregations special trouble would get their 'nads cut off. [Gal. 5:12]

Clearly, Paul wasn't the type to tell anyone to "wait on Jehovah" when it came to problems. He regularly incited faithful congregation members against those who insisted on practicing un-Christian behavior.

He didn't hide what they did, but publicly advertised it (in the congregation he was writing to and to all those congregations his letters were sent to) and left it to the congregation to as a whole to address the issues. [And in Revelation, Jesus addressed the congregations, not a group of men at the top of a hierarchical pyramid, not the elders at the top of the congregation, as being responsible for the conditions in it. He went so far as to deal with specific individuals.]

So staying with a congregation would depend on how Christ-like it was in dealing with problems, not whether it had problems or not.

And, as bethel put it so well, all this presumes they haven't forsaken the basic Christian faith or displayed the "rotten fruits" Jesus described.

38

District Assembly Title Generator

by ackack in

check it out.

http://neocrat.com/assembly.php.

if i'm missing some critical keywords, let me know, and i'll toss em in.. ackack

Ingenuous

OK, here are my favorites for articles:

p.3 Wasteful Brains from Hell
p.6 Endangered Goldfish from Dance Clubs

p.9 Immoral Llamas from the Moon

p.21 Young People Ask: What's the Harm in Flirting With Clean Well Wishers?
p.27 Tattoos or Cats -- How Should You Decide?
p.30 Comfort for the Stressed-out Cranes

p.31 The Bible Helped Me Overcome Satan's Angry Cranes

12

My mother attended a non-JW wedding reception today

by findingmyway in

my parents's best friends' (bro.

elder and sis.

pioneer) eldest unbaptized son got married today to his second child's mother.

Ingenuous

You know, I hadn't even thought of this - When it came to my sister (who was admittedly dishonest with my folks at times when she was dating), our parents attended her wedding, but didn't participate (didn't pay for anything or host a shower or walk her down the aisle or give her away). If I get married, it won't be to a JW, so they wouldn't attend that at all.

But, my JW Dad performed the first two marriages of my non-JW cousin!

Figure that one out!

51

Husbands! Smack your wife across the mouth!

by PopeOfEruke in

great advice received from a close jw relative who we visited last week.

she said that husbands are the head of the family, and if the wife doesn't support him in serving jehovah then he should give her a good smack across the mouth, thats what she deserves.

if only adam had given eve a good smack across the mouth when she proposed eating the fruit, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now!

Ingenuous

Did anyone ask her: "And you read that this is acceptable where in the Bible?"

61

List everything you hate here....

by under74 in

there seems to be some people here blaming this on that and that on this.

so, in the spirit of trying to clear the air and moving on i thought i'd start this post.

i'll start....... the amish--because they won't defend themselves.

Ingenuous

When I'm talking to someone on the phone and they start eating in my ear...

When I order a Sprite from a fast food place and the cup is filled with seltzer water...

Call Waiting...

10

Why am I so happy?

by jwfacts in

since i stopped going to meetings about six months ago i have been getting happier and happier and don't know why.

i don't know who god is anymore, or if there is an afterlife.

i don't have as many friends as i used to, though i am starting to build new ones.

Ingenuous

Completely owning one's own mind and living with true personal integrity go a long way toward creating happiness.

15

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 9-25-05 WT Study (Reflect)

by blondie in

(exodus 14:26-31; .

" (exodus 19:1019; .

don't jws who say they are the only true christians want to know christ?

Ingenuous

heretic - a number of blondie's past "Comments You Will Not Hear" are listed here.

Paragraph 7 says, in part:

Most people reject the good news that we preach. This does not surprise us.
Paul wrote: "If, now, the good news we declare is in fact veiled, it is
veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of
things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers." (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4) In
addition to Satan's efforts to conceal the good news, many people veil their
own faces because they do not want to see.

They completely ignore what Paul preached as "the good news." According to verse 5:

For we are preaching, not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as YOUR slaves for Jesus’ sake.

The "good news" was about "Christ Jesus as Lord", not about "ourselves". JWs miss the point that their preaching is not supposed to be about "themselves" (their interpretation of salvation and "the good news", the Org, how it is the only way to salvation, how they're the only true Christians on earth, etc.).

21

How to brainwash only part of your brain.

by Ingenuous in

i was talking to a mental health professional (don't remember her credentials) about jws.

part of what i couldn't get my brain around was how jws (myself included, when i was "in") can seem to function so well in other areas, but so easily and completely give up their minds to others when it comes to the org.

the behavior seems so irrational and deluded, with so many cognitive distortions at work, that healthy functioning in other areas would appear precluded.

Ingenuous

I was talking to a mental health professional (don't remember her credentials) about JWs. Part of what I couldn't get my brain around was how JWs (myself included, when I was "in") can seem to function so well in other areas, but so easily and completely give up their minds to others when it comes to the Org. The behavior seems so irrational and deluded, with so many cognitive distortions at work, that healthy functioning in other areas would appear precluded. Then the prof told me about two interesting phenomena.

Encapsulated (Compartmentalized) Delusion - A delusion that usually relates to one specific topic or belief but does not pervade an individual's life or level of functioning.

Folie à deux - (literally "a madness shared by two") is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis (particularly a paranoid or delusional belief) is transmitted from one individual to another. There have been occasional claims of shared visual hallucinations that are near, to exact, duplicates. The same syndrome shared by more than one person may be called folie à trois, folie à quatre, folie à famille or even folie à plusieurs (madness of many).... Folie à deux and its more populous cousins are in many ways a psychiatric curiosity. The current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that a person cannot be diagnosed as being delusional if the belief in question is one "ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's culture or subculture". It is not clear at what point a belief considered to be delusional escapes from the folie à... diagnostic category and becomes exempt because of the number of people holding it. While a large number of people may come to believe obviously false and potentially distressing things based purely on hearsay, these beliefs are not considered to be clinical delusions by the psychiatric profession and may be labelled as mass hysteria. [emphasis added]