Of all the world's religions, the JWs have the lowest retention of members when it comes to "born-ins". It would make sense for them to kick it up a notch with the indoctrination of young ones. I have also noticed they are pushing for child baptism in a way that I have never seen before. I am guessing they think the threat of being disfellowshipped and disowned will keep them in the fold.
Wild_Thing
JoinedPosts by Wild_Thing
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22
More Young Indoctrination
by freemindfade innot sure how wide spread this is, but from my social media land i saw 2 separate videos, from two halls in completely different towns featuring their kids having a demonstration on the service meeting (i am guessing last night as i didn't go).
these kids are really young!
maybe this was just a coincidence at first i thought it was the same video then realized theses people live hundreds of miles apart.
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What triggered your doubts / awakening?
by Tornintwo ini am sort of new here, used a different username for a while but things got 'difficult' at home so i've since been lurking.... what i would be really interested to know, if you don't mind sharing, is what it was that triggered your doubts and initial research which led to awakening, was it a bad experience, injustice, changed doctrine?
for me, it was seeing mistreatment of young ones in the congregation, they're under so much pressure and as soon as they go even slightly astray they are shunned, either informally (as bad associations which pushes them further into the 'world') or formally - with elders dying to throw the book at them so they even lose their family.... ...then reading about child abuse issues in the press.... ...which led me to silentlambs.
...then jw facts, this forum and coc, wham!
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Wild_Thing
What woke me up ...
My mother was married to my abusive father for 30 years. He was also an elder for most of those years. "Jehovah" didn't help us. The other elders didn't help us. Nobody helped us.
When things got so bad that we were in crisis mode, it was only outside agencies and "worldly" people that helped us. Then, I woke up. I was sixteen.
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17 year old son is blaming me for ruining his life from the Cult. He's complaining "I could have been a high school sports star!"
by PhilsWager2 inyou know about my not-so-ugly divorce and how me and my wife found out the religion is false.
she still attends while my 17 year old has been raging on me about all the wasted time he suffered from by being in this religion.
he think's his life is ruined, very angry we did not learn this was a cult earlier(he was 14 when he stopped attending after reading the revelation book, he said "in all time and history, how could a trumpet blown in revelation have anything to do with a jw bible student convention statement"?.
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Wild_Thing
Even though the witnesses say that you should prove the truth to yourself, or whatever, many people don't because they don't feel the need to prove it to themselves. The indoctrination is so cemented into their minds already that it is the "truth", that many people do not even begin to question anything until they see bad conduct that directly contradicts with what should be in "Jehovah's organization". I think this is especially true if you grew up a JW.
Also, it sounds like your son has very black and white thinking right now, which is carry-over from the JWs. That's the only way they think. Hopefully, with some time and distance from the borg, he will see that not ALL of the JWs are bad, and not everything is either good or evil. I would tell him that if he really wants to distance himself from what the JWs have taught him, he will have to let go of the black and white thinking.
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17 year old son is blaming me for ruining his life from the Cult. He's complaining "I could have been a high school sports star!"
by PhilsWager2 inyou know about my not-so-ugly divorce and how me and my wife found out the religion is false.
she still attends while my 17 year old has been raging on me about all the wasted time he suffered from by being in this religion.
he think's his life is ruined, very angry we did not learn this was a cult earlier(he was 14 when he stopped attending after reading the revelation book, he said "in all time and history, how could a trumpet blown in revelation have anything to do with a jw bible student convention statement"?.
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Wild_Thing
One of my favorite sayings is:
"When you know better, you do better." - Maya Angelou
Your son is too young and immature to understand this, but I hope one day he will.
It is normal for teenagers (and even young adults) to blame their parents for _________ (insert blank here). We could all blame our parents for something.
One day he will grow up and realize everybody has a screwed up childhood of some sort ... his was just much more "interesting"! All of us have to realize eventually that the past is the past, and ultimately we are responsible for our choices going forward. That is a life lesson to learn no matter how old you are.
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Catch phrases used by the GB
by stuckinarut2 ini read a comment on another thread that made me think of this topic.. how many catchphrases are used by the gb and organisation in an attempt to control or gain power or prevent questioning?
feel free to list as many as you can think of!.
i'll start:.
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Wild_Thing
"Listen, obey, and be blessed."
This one came years after I left. I don't know how new it is. I just know it gives me chills when I hear it. A very cultish expression, if you ask me.
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Catch phrases used by the GB
by stuckinarut2 ini read a comment on another thread that made me think of this topic.. how many catchphrases are used by the gb and organisation in an attempt to control or gain power or prevent questioning?
feel free to list as many as you can think of!.
i'll start:.
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Wild_Thing
theocratic warfare
Jehovah's happy people
this system of things or this wicked system of things
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Why is this scripture blank in some bibles and not in others? It is blank in the JW bible, too.
by Wild_Thing inand he replied, i do believe that jesus christ is the son of god.acts 8:37 (brg) | in context | whole chapter37 and philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
the officer said, i believe that jesus christ is the son of god.|acts 8:37 (gnv) | in context | whole chapter37 and philip said unto him, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
and he answered and said, i believe that jesus christ is the son of god.acts 8:37 (kjv) | in context | whole chapter37 and philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
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Wild_Thing
Rebelfighter pointed out in another topic that in the JW bible, Acts 8:37 is completely blank (It literally says "---"), while the KJV says:
And Philip said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
So I searched on biblegateway.com where you can compare several different translations of the same scripture, and it turns out several bibles have Acts 8:37 completely blank!
Does anyone know why? It doesn't seem too controversial of a scripture to me, especially to the JWs since they reject the trinity anyway. I don't think there is a conspiracy or anything! I just want to know why.
Below are the comparisons from different bibles from https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Acts%208:37.
Acts 8:37 (KJ21) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8:37 (ASV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (AMP) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart [if you have a conviction, full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah and accept Him as the Author of your salvation in the kingdom of God, giving Him your obedience, then] you may. And he replied, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (BRG) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (CJB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37
Acts 8:36-37 (CEV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
36-37 As they were going along the road, they came to a place where there was some water. The official said, “Look! Here is some water. Why can’t I be baptized?”
Acts 8:37 (DLNT) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37
Acts 8:37 (DRA) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (ERV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37
Acts 8:37 (EXB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
|37 Philip answered, “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” The officer said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”|
Acts 8:37 (GNV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said unto him, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. Then he answered, and said, I believe that that Jesus Christ is that Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (GNT) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37
Acts 8:37 (HCSB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
[37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]
Acts 8:37 (ICB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 [Philip answered, “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” The officer said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]
Acts 8:37 (JUB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If thou dost believe with all thine heart, thou may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (KJV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (AKJV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (TLB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 “You can,” Philip answered, “if you believe with all your heart.”
And the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8:36-39 (MSG) | Whole Chapter
36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.
Acts 8:37 (MEV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8:37 (NABRE) | In Context | Whole Chapter
[37 ]
Acts 8:37 (NASB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]
Acts 8:37 (NCV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
[37 Philip answered, “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” The officer said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]
Acts 8:36-37 (NIRV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
36-37 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water. The official said, “Look! Here is water! What can stop me from being baptized?”
Acts 8:37 (NIV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
[37]
Acts 8:37 (NIVUK) | In Context | Whole Chapter
Acts 8:37 (NKJV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8:37 (NLV) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 (*Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The man said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”)
Gevurot 8:37 (OJB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 [And Philippos said, “If you have emunah b’chol levavcha, it is mutar. And he answered, saying, Ani ma’amin ki Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua Ben HaElohim hu.]
Acts 8:37 (VOICE) | In Context | Whole Chapter
Philip: [37 If you believe in your heart that Jesus the Anointed is God’s Son, then nothing can stop you.
The Ethiopian said that he believed.]
Acts 8:37 (WEB) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37
Acts 8:37 (WE) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 Philip answered, `If you believe with all your heart, you may be baptised.' The man said, `I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'
Acts 8:37 (WYC) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 And Philip said, If thou believest of all thine heart, it is leaveful. And he answered, and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37 (YLT) | In Context | Whole Chapter
37 [And Philip said, `If thou dost believe out of all the heart, it is lawful;' and he answering said, `I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God;']
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11
Wife just went to circuit meeting
by menrov inhi, for a couple of months now.
i stopped (after some 17 years) visiting meetings etc.
my intellect and conscience could not longer stand the lectures from the platform and in the magazines.
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Wild_Thing
If you plan to persuade her to leave by using your position as "head of the house", I hope you can see that you will fail.
In fact, I don't see this tactic being successful in any situation. If my husband were to tell me I had to do something he wants me to do because "the man is head of the woman", his head would promptly be shoved up his ass. By me.
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Book Burning and other burning of materials done by JW. Any experiences Please post
by adjusted knowledge inas a very young child i have memories of several book burnings done by jw families.
it wasn't something arranged by the congregation, but elders did participate in it.
it was actually scary for me as a child of only about 8 years old.
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Wild_Thing
not books - but I do remember a rug burning because it was possessed by a demon who would vacuum and clean house after the couple had gone to bed.
Now that is one demon I would not get rid of!
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Does Tithing at Church Count as a Charitable Donation?
by OrphanCrow init has been interesting to see the shift in financial strategies that the wts is implementing recently.
from reading recent threads, it appears like 'they' are adopting a tithing donation system, similar to what is practised in "those wicked churches of christendoom".
i am curious as to who it is that stands to benefit the most tax wise in this recent shift.
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Wild_Thing
The church that I frequent sends out statements at the end of each year that documents the dates and amounts of each donation you gave that year and the total for the entire year ... but only if you wrote a check. I suppose you could write your name on the envelope for any cash donations, but I never do.