Posts by LHS123

160

"The organisation is imperfect, but it doesn't affect my relationship with Jehovah"

by Alive! in

i've noted active, devoted jw's state the above.. and, it's not a problem for me to remain trusting of god, i just don't trust religions or men.. recently, a member of this forum stated that he remains an active jw, in the family of god's people, wanting to encourage and do good - whilst recognising that the pastoral leaders (the gb) have shipwrecked the faith of many, being unsound scripturally etc, etc.. stop and think about this - the bible says to not follow after those who lie and hurt the faith of "little ones".. the pharisees were accused of traversing over lands and expending much energy to make a single convert - only for that convert to end up worse of than he started off with.. it's one thing to not believe this is the 'truth' and feeling the awful pressure of managing ones life, trying not to lose ones family.. it's quite another thing to declare oneself to be a christian believer of god's jw household, and somehow believe the god of love would use corrupt liars to parade as jesus' brothers in the urgency of last days.

really?

and, to then visibly promote faith in corrupt men, and try to bring converts into a place where the rulership is wrong.. some of us are dying from hurt here.......give me a break..

LHS123

I understand both points of view, on the one hand,

some might stay because they feel despite its imperfections and mistakes, this is the closest to the truth that there is, they learned a lot from this org and 'where else' would they go?

On the other hand,

Some might say, in all good conscience I can no longer accept the GB as gods channel, I can no longer recommend this way of life to others, because I see too many grave mistakes, imperfection etc. This feeling becomes especially powerful when you think: if they've got it wrong on blood then thousands have died needlessly, even children. It's quite likely that their incorrect policies have allowed children to be raped and sodomised whilst their abusers were inadvertently sheltered; and unfortunately there are thousands of broken families out there where parents are told they can't associate with their children and vice versa etc etc.

Either way, if we are conscientiously trying to do the right thing for God, ourselves and our families then will Jehovah and Jesus judge us adversely either way?? I know the GB says yes He will of the second group, but having read the gospel of Christ how can anyone believe that could be true?

55

Mays JW TV Broadcast/Your feedback is appreciated

by ToesUp in

jw
friends

i have a pretty good intuition but i have to admit i am going back and forth on the jw tv may broadcast.

i keep asking myself are they really in financial trouble (wishful thinking) or are they just grabbing for more money?.

i always appreciate reading everyone's thoughts and ideas on here.. let me know what you think.

LHS123

I know a lot less than most of you but it appears to me that there is a foreseen cash-flow problem they're trying to preempt.

I'm a recent doubter and whatever the issue is, what they fail to realize is how much of a turn-off this kind of appeal is for many. One of the things that I liked when I came into the truth was we didn't get asked for money, we didn't know who wrote any publications, I didn't even know any of the names of the GB for the last 20 years, the info was available but only really If you went looking for it, I thought the org. stood out as different from Christendom. Now i know all of their names, they're in our faces, making themselves more and more prominent AND asking for money, Yuk! There must be many more like me who feel less inclined to donate than ever before.

57

"Normal family affections and dealings" continue - If only?!?

by LHS123 in

i am new to this forum - it is only a couple of weeks since i have allowed myself to acknowledge and research my doubts.

i am trying to be fair by reading both sides of the story and considering jw official explanation of confusing matters.

one of the issues i have been looking at is shunning - and i was shocked to see the misleading information about shunning on the jw.org website: .

LHS123

Thanks Faye Dunaway, you are so right!. I realize that every time I've talked to someone in the past I have several thought processes interfering with the act of being genuine and interested and friendly:

1. Should I try to preach to this person, I should really, how am I going to bring it up without sounding like a nutjob....I'll feel guilty later because I didn't , maybe I should try next time....

2. This person is really nice, I like him/her but I shouldn't get too close because they are in the world, if we get on well, they'll invite me somewhere and then I'll have to say no and feel bad about it. If it's their birthday it will be awkward. Better act cold and distant so this friendship doesn't develop.

With witnesses:

1. He/She's probably wondering why I wasn't out in service / at the meeting last week, there not really interested in me just trying to find out what's going on.

2 I better hadn't mention (what I did, who I've seen, how I feel, what my family members did etc............) That might not go down too well, they might think bad about me or they might tell some elder etc.

what have these people done to my brain!!!!!!

57

"Normal family affections and dealings" continue - If only?!?

by LHS123 in

i am new to this forum - it is only a couple of weeks since i have allowed myself to acknowledge and research my doubts.

i am trying to be fair by reading both sides of the story and considering jw official explanation of confusing matters.

one of the issues i have been looking at is shunning - and i was shocked to see the misleading information about shunning on the jw.org website: .

LHS123

Thanks for the replies, every day brings new Revelations.

Just reading ,' misquotes, deceptions and lies' on jw facts , no wonder they don't want us to read this stuff!

it is painful, but in other ways good, not lying to myself feels good and I find I'm looking at the world and the people in it in a much more positive light , had some lovely conversations with 'worldly' neighbors today, without thinking in the back of my mind, 'don't get too friendly' or acting closed off. 😊

57

"Normal family affections and dealings" continue - If only?!?

by LHS123 in

i am new to this forum - it is only a couple of weeks since i have allowed myself to acknowledge and research my doubts.

i am trying to be fair by reading both sides of the story and considering jw official explanation of confusing matters.

one of the issues i have been looking at is shunning - and i was shocked to see the misleading information about shunning on the jw.org website: .

LHS123

I am new to this forum - it is only a couple of weeks since I have allowed myself to acknowledge and research my doubts. I am trying to be ‘fair’ by reading both sides of the story and considering JW official explanation of confusing matters.

One of the issues I have been looking at is shunning - and I was shocked to see the misleading information about shunning on the Jw.org website:

What of a man who is disfellowshipped but whose wife and children are still Jehovah’s Witnesses? The religious ties he had with his family change, but blood ties remain. The marriage relationship and normal family affections and dealings continue.

Since this is the only example given of the affects on a family of disfellowshipping, this clearly implies that ‘normal family affections and dealings’ continue in all families affected by disfellowshipping but we know that is far from the case - in fact a recent WT even told parents not to use EMAIL as an excuse to communicate with disfellowshipped family members. (wt 1/15/2013)

Really upset to see that any member of the public might read this thinking, "oh that’s reasonable, it doesn’t affect family ties" when we know for sure that is just not true. Shocking.

I am sure this has been mentioned before by seasoned members - but thought it might help someone else like me.

48

The shift: from follower to wanting to leave

by paradisebeauty in

this week has been the week when my whole way of thinking shifted.

i still cannot believe how this can happen so fast.

over a period of seven days i went from not even imagining that i could ever not be a witness to wanting to get out of this organisation.. .

LHS123

Hi paradise beauty, just to say I am in a very similar position to you, this week has been like an awakening and is a very painful process. On the other hand it feels great to finally allow myself to acknowledge my doubts and research them instead of saying to myself something like "that each teaching doesn't seem quite right to me....but,.I must be weak and need more faith, I'll just go along with it and hope it falls into place". For me the big things are shunning esp. family, blood, 1919 (don't think it has any scriptural backing now), birthdays and all none jws will die! Now I'm researching it's amazing how quickly long held beliefs seem so false, it just takes a scratch beneath the surface, shocking - now we know why we were told not to read anything else other than WT stuff on any important matter! Having said that the guilt is ever-present for me. It's helped me to write down how I'm feeling on each subject today, and maybe I'll look back and see my progress of awakening. Its really helping me to know I'm not lone, hope it helps you too.

15

Stress on young ones

by LHS123 in

jw
friends

i had a horrible conversation with my 14 year old last night which i regret.

im still in but doubting more and more every day.. she is recently baptized.

she is outgoing and gorgeous and make friends easily, although not so much with the sisters in our hall, who pick her up and drop her again regularly , leaving her out of parties etc but then bringing her back into the circle, dropping her again...and so on.

LHS123

Thanks all of you, I know I'm a bit of a mess, not knowing which way is up to be honest and I need to get it together for my kids more than anything. I'm just starting to acknowledge my doubts but then I do still value some of the teachings . I Recognise that being a jw might have kept my daughter from experiencing too much too soon, although on the other hand I think it sent my son off the rails!! I apologized to my girl and she is fine, she said "well if anybody has a problem with that photo they can come and ask me about it can't they?", well said! I need to trust that she's intelligent enough to see the reality of how things really are and who her true friends are in her own time. I just want to protect her from the hurt I've experienced.

15

Stress on young ones

by LHS123 in

jw
friends

i had a horrible conversation with my 14 year old last night which i regret.

im still in but doubting more and more every day.. she is recently baptized.

she is outgoing and gorgeous and make friends easily, although not so much with the sisters in our hall, who pick her up and drop her again regularly , leaving her out of parties etc but then bringing her back into the circle, dropping her again...and so on.

LHS123

I had a horrible conversation with my 14 year old last night which I regret

im still in but doubting more and more every day.. She is recently baptized. She is outgoing and gorgeous and make friends easily, although not so much with the sisters in our hall, who pick her up and drop her again regularly , leaving her out of parties etc but then bringing her back into the circle, dropping her again...and so on. She has no reliable true friend in 'the truth' except me, her brother stopped going last year and they were really close, now they go their separate ways.

she has friends at school who she gets on with really well. I have recently 'relaxed' my strict husbands rule of no worldly kids in the house, (on occasion) and a school pal dropped into see her for an hour last night. She put a photo of them both on a social network and I panicked. I thought, all the jws will see that and be like, why is she with a worldly girl? Judge her and gossip about her and maybe she'll be less likely to get asked to the next get together! So I told her my fears and made her paranoid too, she went to bed in tears. She is pioneering this month and trying her best, she just likes some girls who aren't jws - how dare she?!

This is just what happened with my son, he had great friends at school and wanted to see them (only human right?), we said no so he started sneaking out and told his 'best' jw friend,....witness friends started distancing themselves and uninviting him, he of course starved for companionship turned even more to his school friends. The rest is history.

this is one of the aspects that has turned me off so much, the eagerness to judge and exclude young ones who are just under pressure and need friends. They push them out of the org when what they really need is true friends who won't judge them but will support them. So sad and I really worry about the consequences for mental health and future relationships.

32

Seeking support during confusing and stressful 'cognitive dissonance'

by LHS123 in

jw
friends

sorry for the long post but i need help.

ive been a jw for 20 years - still active and attending meetings, baptised at 18, i have recently become very dissillusioned.

a few reasons: ill treatment of my kids by a prominent 'assembly speaker' elder, then my son left the truth at 15 (not baptised) and was 'dropped' instantly, despite this community having been his whole life for 15 years.

LHS123

hi everyone, feeling quite elated today, was totally depressed a few days ago but things are getting clearer and clearer. I really feel great by acknowledging and 'owning' my true opinions on various issues, instead of squashing doubts and going along with the party line. I don't feel guilty, I feel good and I am still praying and don't feel bad about my new honest opinions on some issues which are out of line with what the GB say I should believe - the arrogance! Thanks again for your support.

41

"Jehovah's people as a whole can never be corrupted..."

by cappytan in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zgds4z-h2i.

transcript below (with key points of interest bolded):.

please open your bibles to phil.

LHS123

This talk is just one of many which encourages us to forgive and put up with people who are downright mean and unchristian! The emphasis is always on forgive and cover over, move on, don't make a fuss. Nasty, power hungry people in the org. use this as an excuse to hurt others because they know they can with impunity. Why don't we get more talks telling people not to hurt others in the truth, not to misuse their position of authority, not to be judgemental and unpleasant - and how about the organisation actually deal with people who do hurt lowly ones instead of telling the meek ones to put up with mistreatment and shut up.