Posts by choosing life

21

IT IS EASIER TO LEAVE JWS IF NONE OF YOUR FAMILY ARE JWS

by steve2 in

jw
friends

one of the biggest - if not the biggest barriers - to leaving the organization is family ties - particularly immediate family (i.e., those living in your household: sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, mother-in-laws, father-in-laws).

i know of no bigger barrier.

therefore, it's relatively easy to predict who will face the most adversity in trying to leave.

choosing life

I have pretty much faded from the jws. The one thing I still can't do is talk straight with close jw family members. I have to hold my tongue about some things and I just hate playing those games. If I don't, I risk not seeing children and grandchildren. If I give them the impression that I am a "spiritual danger" to their young children, I'm sure the shunning would begin.

I am curious if the new koolaid edition of the Watchtower will start introducing more rigid behavior towards family who are inactive. I am sure that fading is something the borg would like to get some kind of control over. I can't imagine they can tolerate people just walking away in large numbers, as we see on here.

Yep, without close family still in their clutches, I would DA in a nanosecond. You still have to go through all the deprogramming and readjust your life, so it's still not a cake walk. The programming runs much deeper than many realize at first.

57

What is your most favorite hobby?

by R.F. in

jw
friends

just wanting to find out some of you all's hobbies.. my favorite is video gaming.

i love it and i love visiting video gaming stores.

.

choosing life

Music, hands down. Saw "The Frey" last night. Awesome talent there. After that , it's reading, gardening, tennis. Just being outside is nice. The concert was outside.

30

My 17 year old daughter has so many problems

by Jez in

jw
friends

well, my 17 year old has left home in a horribly negative way.

she has had many problems for many years.

she ran away a year ago, we dragged her home, took her to the hospital for bulimia and suicidal tendencies.

choosing life

I have a son who ran away at 17. It was because he hated the jw religion and all the restrictions on his life. Don't think you caused her problem by taking her away from jws. It is her problem, not yours. I blamed myself for his problems for much too long. He has been diagnosed with various mental conditions. It depends on which psychiatrist he goes to.

I don't know where you live. Here in the states, a minor may choose to leave at 17 and the police will not do anything about it. And you can't commit them against their will. But the first person the authorities will call when they get into trouble is you. You cannot make them come home, but you are responsible for them until they are 18. At least, that's what the cops told me.

She knows you are there for her . Time will probably help her some. Things will get better. However you decide to handle the situation, let her know that you have never given up hope for her to get better.

And take care of the little one cause she/he needs you right now. That translates to take care of yourself.

24

Sister/Brother *** is disfellowshipped for.....

by Bonnie_Clyde in

in the 1950's i remember they used to say what they were disfellowshipped for, whether it be fornication, stealing, etc.

then it was disfellowshipped for "loose conduct", then "conduct not becoming a christian.

" then it was simply "disfellowshipped" or "disassociated.

choosing life

Bonnie_ Clyde,

I have set through a few local needs talks where I knew the details of the JC and the sin involved. They made me incredibly upset and uncomfortable. I wish someone would have told me that my children could not grow up and make the common mistakes that all teenagers make without public ridicule. I would heve run the other direction.

To publicize the mistakes of teenagers is cruel and unusual punishment. They have a hard enough time just growing up and finding their place in life.

27

The Eden Story

by choosing life in

in the garden of eden, god supposedly didn't want adam and eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

he preferred they remain innocent and incapable of deciding for themselves what is right or wrong.. along comes satan who wants them to eat of this tree and says they will become like god, knowing good and bad for themselves.

he says they will be like god.. as we all know, they chose to eat and find out what they were missing.

choosing life

James,

So as we continue to struggle in our many efforts to figure out the answers to life's questions and how we fit in, we continue to eat of the tree of good and evil. When we give up the struggle, and see ourselves for what we really are, we choose to eat of the tree of life.

But there is a relinquishing of all the many concepts of what we see self to be. This is a conscience choice to strip self down to the very essence of being, as you compare it to a type of death. All the superfluous ideas of self must be discarded, not an easy thing to do. Interesting how many of the sacred scriptures of different religions have kernals of truth to be extracted.

By the way, I received my copy of The Power of Now in the mail today. Looking forward to reading it. Purps has been quoting from the book and I already find it quite inspiring.

Sincerely, Choosing life

27

The Eden Story

by choosing life in

in the garden of eden, god supposedly didn't want adam and eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

he preferred they remain innocent and incapable of deciding for themselves what is right or wrong.. along comes satan who wants them to eat of this tree and says they will become like god, knowing good and bad for themselves.

he says they will be like god.. as we all know, they chose to eat and find out what they were missing.

choosing life

Dagney,

In this story of Eden Adam and Eve were adults, but they were created (born) as adults and would have the innocence of newborn creatures. That is what makes them so vulnerable. And that is why I asked about God's failure to protect them fron Satan who had been around for eons. The same applies to teaching these new creatures progressively.

Just a thought. Choosing Life

7

what would you do...

by Hortensia in

jw
friends

with all the wt society's money?

how about setting up an education fund for the children any anyone who was ever a jw?

(i didn't want to hijack the thread about "would you ever return")

choosing life

If they are in the league of the Catholics and the Scientologists they are doing very well financially. Both of these are quite wealthy.

27

The Eden Story

by choosing life in

in the garden of eden, god supposedly didn't want adam and eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

he preferred they remain innocent and incapable of deciding for themselves what is right or wrong.. along comes satan who wants them to eat of this tree and says they will become like god, knowing good and bad for themselves.

he says they will be like god.. as we all know, they chose to eat and find out what they were missing.

choosing life

Sheepish,

So if God wanted to decide when Adam and Eve were to gradually be allowed to decide things, then why allow Satan to fool Eve and cause her to sin? From the information in the Bible, you would have to admit that Satan was much more experienced and Eve was no match for his many years of experience.

I would not allow someone who I knew was a terrible influence to spend time alone with my innocent child, which was what Eve was in all respects. Granted she started her life as an innocent adult rather than a child, but she was way too new to be allowed to associate with Satan and be able to match his experience. Sort of like letting your 5 year old run with a 20 year old drug dealer. where's the gradual training that she so very much needed?

23

"There's nothing else out there"

by yaddayadda in

jw
friends

a friend of mine is returning to the meetings.

his reason is "there's nothing else out there" (meaning out in the world).

if i had a dollar for every time i've heard a jw say this.

choosing life

There are many psychological cruthes, so to speak, in the organization. You have your life mapped out for you. Some people don't want to make their own decisions, but rather would leave that up to others. They feel safer that way. There is also instant "friends" and activities to fill your time and stop you from thinking too hard.

Maybe your friend can't hack leaving the Witness nest. It takes a pretty strong person to break free from their shackles. And then it is a pretty rough ride sometimes. Shunning and trying to start over at a late date in life is not for the squeamish. For everyone who actually breaks free and stays out, I wonder how many try and end up back again?

Maybe you can slowly help your friend.

27

The Eden Story

by choosing life in

in the garden of eden, god supposedly didn't want adam and eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

he preferred they remain innocent and incapable of deciding for themselves what is right or wrong.. along comes satan who wants them to eat of this tree and says they will become like god, knowing good and bad for themselves.

he says they will be like god.. as we all know, they chose to eat and find out what they were missing.

choosing life

I realize it is a story, but it is interesting to dissect it and find the contradictions in it. There are a lot of people who never really think about the nonsensibleness of the entire story.