i really needed to find a place to write this as i don't believe i can talk with anyone else about my account, perhaps it is similar to a lot of yours.. last night for whatever reason i said i would go online and look up information on jws.
i have been raised as a jw all my life and baptized the last few years.
i looked at www.freeminds.org and www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com and couldn't believe how easily the whole of my lifes teachings were refuted.. i can't stop my brain from running, bs just in regards to theology alone (1914, paradise earth, celebrations etc.
Whenever someone like yourself comes on you can immediately see the unconditional love shown to you. The people on hear are fantastic. They have been through what you are experiencing and you can check yourself everything that is said. I am in a position where I had to fade but boy do I wish I could come right out with it and tell my past so called friends what really goes on at the WT.
Anyway I wish you well and we would love to hear more of your story and progress out of the Tower.
so i gather most of the people on this forum are ex-jws who have seen the error of their ways.. good for you guys.. would that put you in the unique position of knowing exactly how to make a current jw have doubts.. if so, how might that be?.
i've tried science, philosophy, even simple logic and pointing out the quote mining but to no avail.. i'm not even saying there isn't a god, just that their version of the story blatantly contradicts emperical science in so many ways..
Hi goddidit, Yes you're right ex witnesses are in a unique position because as you say they have bin there and got the tea shirt as it were.
Because the WT know this, they ban their members from talking to us. They are so paronoid about it, that the society threaten their members with complete cutting off from their friends and family if they speak at any length to ex members about any spiritual matters.
the other day i casually mentioned to my wife how weird the new generation teaching sounds.
she at first had no idea what i'm talking about.
she read the article, yet she noticed no doctrine change (sidenote: way to go gb!
Yes my JW son has often said to me that I seem to know more what goes on in the org. than he does. It's true some have no idea about many things that go on.
i was wondering how many of the sisters on this board had to sit in the back seat while in service.
when i was single i almost always used my car and unlike most of the sister who turned over their cars to the brothers to drive and would then take the back seat in their own car i never did.
so i did not have a problem with this being single.
Women in the org are not encouraged to anything except pioneer and be a good wife.
My son who is a JW asked us to speak to him first before we ask his JW wife to help in any way. It's all about power.
i'm going through this at the moment and very disillusioned - especially when i find that people who i thought were my good friends (read: elders) are actually siding with my spouse..
It depends if the parents are JWs. If they are, then your spouse will probably put the religion before you what you say.
If the parents are not witnesses then scriptually she should be going by what you say, unless it goes against her faith.
i believe current count is 9 gb, so that makes 6 out of 9 for it to be so?.
how about two-thirds when all 10,800 or so are given a say?.
Very interesting reading in Ray Franz' bookks rer. the two thirds majority.
In a nut shell if 5 out of 9 vote for a change in maybe something really important, even affecting people's lives, it would not go through as the majority was not two thirds, even though the majority wanted the change.
Recommend everyone to read this in Ray's books. I am assuming this rule has not changed.
we set up a trust a few years ago but have an appointment with our attorney later this month to make sure it is current and make any changes necessary.
originally we had our daughter and our two sons to share equally.
now i feel that it should not be equal.
This is so difficult for you. I have one son who is a winess and one who is not. I am lucky they are both very helpful and loving.
What about being totally honest with and ask what she thinks you should do. Is it right for you to give your hard earned money to someone who apparantly does not care very much for either of you. It may make her think. If she continues to show a disrespectful attitude I know I would not be helping her out very much.
That is me. You obviously have to decide for yourself. It's not easy.
peter gregerson has a story to tell.
it's a story of spirituality, deception, confusion, and wisdom.
it is a story shared by many others who have caught a glimpse of a freeing pathway from the deceiving clutches of the watchtower religion and have walked that lonely road out.
Rick, I always listen to you on the internet and have only just got around to hearing Barbera Anderson. I personally agree with her when she says that most people in the org. really do believe they are right. We did when we were a part of it. Yes they do sell many publications, but they feel that is neceassay to spread the word. Of course we all agree that it is a terrable organisation to get caught up in, but that should make us even more determined to help those still in it, bearing in mind that they really do believe in it.
all the earthquakes, mudslides, and now volcanic ash in the sky of europe grounding air-travel.. the end is nigh!.
jeff.
Yes I thought the same Jeff. The earthquakes do seem to be coming regularly in a short space of time. Also they are bound to be saying something about the cloud of ash that has descended over Europe.
It's the unsuspecting householders that I feel sorry for. Many are often taken in when something like this happens.
if scientology has narcanon, and it has gotten people off drugs (although that 85% sucess rate they say they have is suspect), and becoming a jw sorta forces you into line, would it make sense to leave someone in if they were helping them?
if you knew somebody was a drunk, sex addict, drug addict, what have you, and they were studying, and it appeared that they were actually being helped (albeit by twisted means) would you leave them be?
like, if uncle jim was a fall down drunk that ran around on his wife, then someone introduced him to the wts, and it all stopped, would you still try and expose the cult even if they were actually helping and it was working?.
It's a very good question. My son was going off the rails in several ways before he became a witness. We his parents were trying to help and guide him but he wasn't listening. Then he got in with the witnesses and to be honest they did sort him out.
As black sheep says the same help would have been available elsewhere, but he chose this route.
He is now a much more resposable adult, but on the negative side he is going round people's doors telling them they will die if they don't change their ways. Also he does not have the ability to reason things out for himself, and of course he keeps his distance from the family because of the JW aversion to certain celebrations.
So there is good and bad. But to be fair, he did need something to help him, it's just a shame it had to be this religion.
