hello, i've been lurking for quite some time here on this forum, reading a whole lot and i've finally made the courage to create an account as a form of escape and in hopes to be understood and not feel "mentally diseased".
little background on me, i am a born in but i consider myself a pimo (physically in mentally out).
i feel like i've always had doubts but these doubts would sink with the meetings and the assemblies and every other little thing that drowns any doubts a witness may have.
"I honestly don't know why they accuse me of being mentally diseased?"- Jules
If they can 'label' you, then they think that they can control you. If they can't control you, then they can try to control how others view you and interact with you. It's all about control. Jehovah's witnesses are all about CONTROL.
Oh.........and welcome to the forum.
i was born in 1984 so was only 9yo in 1995. i read on various posts on here and on other websites about false expectations about 1975 and 1995. i'm aware of the 1975 failure but what was said in 1995?.
What happened in 1995?
More 'bait and switch' from the spiritual dullards known as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses:
October 22, 1995 AWAKE! magazine statement of purpose:
"Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away."
And then, without any forewarning, this change took place:
November 8, 1995 AWAKE! magazine statement of purpose:
"Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things."
The June 22, 1995 AWAKE! was slyly laying the groundwork for change and blaming the individual publisher for their own false expectations. The cover of that AWAKE! magazine was: FALSE PREDICTIONS OR TRUE PROPHECY - How Can You Tell the Difference? On page 9 it was stated: "More recently, many Witnesses conjectured that event associated with the beginning of Christ's Millennial Reign might start to take place in 1975. Their anticipation was based on the understanding that the seventh millennium of human history would begin then. These erroneous views did not mean that God's promises were wrong, that he had made a mistake. By no means! The mistakes or misconceptions, as in the case of first-century Christians, were due to a failure to heed Jesus' caution, 'You do not know the time.' "
i finally stopped attending the meetings about 4 months go.
i won't be going back - ever.. but i've decided the best reply to the watchtower is to be happy and i do try to be happy every day even thought i wasted my entire life on this religion.
i cherish every day, practice mindfulness and do my best to be content with the life i have.. it is only now that i see that most jws i know are deeply unhappy people.
Ha ha......this is great! I work in a business where I have to interact with many sales people and factory representatives. Monday, I took a factory rep to see one of our customers that is a Mennonite. After we left the customer, we talked about 'knowing' your customer personally and treating them accordingly. (No swearing, no off color jokes, etc.) Then this rep says to me that he is not religious at all but his sister was thinking about becoming a 'Jehovah'. I confessed to him that I had been raised as one but had been inactive for most of my adult life and now have no interest in it. Come to find out that she married a disfellowshipped witness and he wanted to get reinstated and she was going to support him. After she found out no birthdays, no Christmas etc., etc. she put her foot down and said no! At any rate, I told this rep that his sister would have to give up her life if she wanted to become a witness and that she would have to live each day as if Armageddon was coming tomorrow! His reply to me was: "That religion must be full of DEPRESSED people!" Even so-called 'worldly' people with little experience in the religion can figure out how oppressive it is.
will they draw a new name out of a hat or do a kiss test i don't know..
Seven 'spirit directed' clowns is about all Jehovah's clown car ( sorry, I meant forward moving "chariot") can carry. Any more additions and the clown car (sorry again, Jehovah's forward moving "chariot") may veer off course from it's current theological trajectory and crash and burn sooner. "Too many cooks spoil the broth" and 'Too many Popes spoil the Dogma'.
i suppose after lurking around for a few weeks i thought i might share my own personal story, as i think it would probably be a very freeing experience for me right now.
to start off, at 23 years old i'm actually a third-generation jw, my grandparents were baptized (my grandfather is actually an elder) when my mother was only a toddler, she was raised as a witness, then of course, married a witness and thus myself and my two brothers were born-in's.
growing up my mother was always very careful about what she taught me, all the good things for sure, about how we would live in a paradise earth and i could pet all the animals that i wanted and not worry about growing old, and she'd ask me who in the bible i'd love to see and talk with - my grandparents however, were a different story and the cause of i think, most of my childhood trauma.. they really drilled home the fact that we were the only people who were going to be saved, we were the only people that were going to survive and that everyone else was going to die horribly - that i shouldn't try to make that many friends in school because they would never be "real" friends unless they were fellow jw's and they would die anyway.
Welcome to the forum. You have opened a door on reality. Walk through the door and live the rest of your life to the full. Best wishes to you and I know you will learn a lot from many of the posters here.
one thing i picked up from the " remember the wife of lott" video was the amount of time the jw women gave over to improving their looks.. in days of old i doubt a jw wife would have been portrayed in a salon having a lot of beauty treatments .. that's not to say it would be looked down on, per sa, i just doubt it would have been portrayed on official propaganda videos as an acceptable way for jw women to spend time that could be otherwise given over to promoting " kingdom interests".
given the way the org uses anything to belittle women i'm surprised they let those scenes fly without negative comment.. just a minor point ....i know the vids have been done to death by now!!
!.
I am a man and I agree with OrphanCrow. Having been raised in this religion, I have been guilty of this type of 'objectified' thinking myself.The fundamentalist / religious outlook on life is insidious and difficult to bypass. At 62 years old I still struggle with much of my Jehovah's Witness indoctrinated upbringing.
do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
"That's the problem, without these fairy tales, I believe life is meaningless." - unsure
By believing this thought and holding on to it tightly, you are limiting yourself in your search for your life's meaning. Is there an ultimate meaning to life? No one really knows. Is there a road to follow that will lead us to permanent salvation? Many make religious and supernatural claims that by 'following this or that formula or religion' you will finally attain the ultimate end goal which will add meaning to your life. By following such a philosophy, you are putting the 'cart before the horse' . The real question for each of us is, 'How can I find meaning in my life from moment to moment and from day to day'? Is there not meaning in seeing the smile of a child? In the beautiful fragrance from a flower? The embrace from a loved one? Helping someone that you care for? Showing loving concern for others less fortunate than you? Giving a gift freely and without expectation of anything in return? The list of potential meanings in our lives is endless and personal because only we find and fulfill them. Stop worrying and projecting your one and only life into the future. Live life daily and find your meaning where it presents itself. Life is not 'a dress rehearsal'. This is it. Is there something more than this life? It would be nice if there was but I'm not going to waste precious life now worrying about it and I don't think you should either. You are a unique human being because there is no one else like you. Go out into the world and share your uniqueness with others. They will be glad that you did and so will you.
do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
unsure, I apologize profusely! I missed the part where Paul and Silas gave the jailer different options when he inquired: "What must I do to get saved".
do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.
i was raised as a jehovah's witness.
i was born in.
No disrespect to you, unsure, but you seem to show a marginal understanding of the Bible like most Jehovah's Witnesses. If you knew your Bible, you would never have asked the question contained in your opening post. Your question and answer is found in Acts 16:30 and 31: "He brought them outside and said: 'Sirs, what must I do to get saved?'. They said: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will get saved, you and your household.' " You can't have the Bible without Jesus Christ and you can't have Jesus Christ without the Bible. That's just the way it is. By the way, it's all just a fairytale anyway.
the edinburgh city observatory sits atop calton hill at the east end of the city centre adjacent to burn's monument, scotland's national monument modelled on the parthenon, and nelson's monument with the time ball that falls at 1pm every day except sundays.. .
the second astronomer royal of edinburgh was charles piazzi smyth (jan. 1819 - feb. 1900).
smyth was a man of many and varied interests including meteorology, producing weather observations that still form an important part of uk climate records to this day.. building on the work of james taylor, smyth became fascinated by the great pyramid of egypt at giza.
"As far as I am aware Smyth didn't apply his measurements to bible prophecy but he gave his approval to Russell to do so." - cofty
I believe that this is correct. However, there was another 'player' in the Great Pyramid/religious prophecy speculation game. He was also a Scotsman by the name of Robert Menzies. Russell credits him as the first one to attach a prophetic/spiritual meaning to the Great Pyramid. No doubt, Russell was influenced by this young mans writings and he mentions them in the chapter entitled The Great Pyramid contained in the book THY KINGDOM COME .:
"A few years after Prof. Smyth's return, came the suggestion that the Great Pyramid is Jehovah's "Witness", and that it is as important a witness to divine truth as to natural science. This was a new thought to Prof. Smyth, as well as to others. The suggestion came from a young Scotsman, Robert Menzies, who, when studying the scientific teachings of the Great Pyramid, discovered that prophetic and chronological teachings co-exist in it." - pg. 320 edition 1891
"In a letter to Prof.Smyth, Mr. Robert Menzies, the young Scotsman who first suggested the religious or Messianic feature of the Great Pyramid's teaching,..." - pg.337 edition 1891
Yes sparrowdown, Russell stole ideas from everyone as some sort of religious amalgamation project. Thanks to cofty for keeping this foolishness in the forefront so that new posters here can see the REAL roots and foundation of the Jehovah's Witness religion.
