Posts by Joel Wideman

12

worried about my sister, looking for insight

by bigsis in

jw
friends

i'm new to this site and forum so i'm not sure i'm in the right place.

my sister married a j.w.

and now they have a baby.

Joel Wideman

Welcome! As Now What? pointed out, pushing will only reinforce the persecution complex. I myself know this all too well. The best thing you can do is show them unconditional love.

28

Mormons and JW: same horror story, different halloween costume!

by dezpbem in

jw
friends

a while back i did some online research on the mormons.

i came across some ex-mormons sites.

i was shocked to see that their exit stories and problems were almost the same!

Joel Wideman

It was researching the LDS that led me to my understanding of the WTS. There's some scary parallels there.

19

How long did you LURK before joining in the fun???

by kid-A in

jw
friends

i am curious, how many of you were lurkers on jwd before joining in the party?

im not sure if there is anyway to know how many people at any given time are just reading the posts and not posting, versus active members.

i am going to do a pseudo-scientific analysis based on responses to the following questions:.

Joel Wideman

Actually, I was looking for an online group to participate in.

38

Does anyone know of a good church I could go to?

by Andrea Wideman in

after being a catholic and a jw i am really gun shy about organized religions.

i identify myself simply as a christian.

i am looking for a church to go to for fellowship.

Joel Wideman

So, it isn't that you want a church, you want a singing group. Got it. ;)

38

Does anyone know of a good church I could go to?

by Andrea Wideman in

after being a catholic and a jw i am really gun shy about organized religions.

i identify myself simply as a christian.

i am looking for a church to go to for fellowship.

Why do you feel you need to belong to a church? I do not feel this way. I am perfectly happy having a personal relationship with Jesus, and I don't need any man-made organisation telling me how to do that.

22

The GB, Evil incarnate, or just trapped like the rest?

by daystar in

if you believe that the wbts is a high control group, cult, or whatever, do you also believe that the design, the isolationist doctrines and subtle mind control is all on purpose?

or did it just sort of evolve that way?.

in other words, do you think russell, rutherford and the governing body purposefully look(ed) for, or make(made) up, biblical evidence to support controlling doctrines?

Joel Wideman

Third explanation: Crazy.

57

Is it possible that a child molester is NOT a pedophile?

by sir82 in

i realize many here have (unfortunately) much more experience with this sort of thing than i do.

any personal insight, or direction to research material, would be appreciated.. there was a letter to all boes about 8-10 years ago, saying that if an appointed elder had any incidents of child abuse in his history, he had to step forward & admit such, so that his status as an elder could be reviewed.

none of the elders in this congregation said anything.. it was later (maybe 5 years ago) discovered that one of the elders had sexually abused his daughters some time in the 80's, before his appointment.

Joel Wideman

er... just thought I'd point out that 16, or even lower, is legal in many locations, many of them in the USA. What confuses people is that the US has left the age of sexual consent up to states, but the age for pornography is set at 18. As for sexual attraction to developing teenagers, that's ephebephilia.

26