LisaRose

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Posts by LisaRose

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  15

  "Brother"? Larry Graham of Sly And The Family Stone and Graham Central Station

  by HappyDad in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i heard a sly and the family stone song a little while ago and out of curiosity, looked up larry graham....the innovator of the slappin and plunkin bass.

  he became a jw about 1975 and was the influence for prince becoming a jw.

  on his official web page is the list of his tour dates this year.

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  LisaRose

  I heard "Brother Graham" give a talk once, back in the day, some time in the eighties. I don't remember much other than he was a fairly good speaker and he talked about how he studied with people he knew in the music business.
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  105

  Another School Shooting: The Gun Violence/Mental Illness Debate Continues

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in the aftermath of the valentine's day school shooting in florida, i have read quite a number of articles, blogs and posts about the event.

  it is disturbing--and i think inexcusable--that many people take the opportunity to use horrible tragedies such as this to push their own particular agenda.. in particularly insensitive and tone-deaf tweet, conservative political commentator tomi lahren wrote: "can the left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda?

  my goodness.

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  LisaRose

  Good points JP.

  But this brings up another failure of our system is this: even when law enforcement and other authorities have been informed about potentially dangerous individuals, they often do nothing. Sadly the case of Nikolas Cruz gives ample proof of that

  I have to say I am sorry to see the demonization of the FBI on this. Obviously they dropped the ball, and there needs to be an investigation, but I think some in the right have jumped on this because of the current political climate. Somehow the bureau is being portrayed as a left wing organization, which is ludicrous if you know anyone who actually works there, they tend to be quite conservative, like most law enforcement organizations everywhere.

  The bureau gets hundreds of thousands of tips every year. With limited resources, they do a very good job of prioritizing and acting on the most urgent. Obviously there are going to be cases where they would have acted differently, had they known, Hindsight is 20\20 vision, as they say. If it's a case of ineptitude, let the chips fall where they may, but I personally know a few people in the bureau, they are all hard-working, patriotic and dedicated to fighting crime as best they can, nobody would knowingly ignore an obvious threat.

  Like almost all governmental organizations, it's not as dynamic and quick to change as it could be and that needs to be fixed. It is very case oriented, attempts to be more intelligence driven (i.e. anticipating issues rather than reacting to them) do not go far enough, the culture is too entreched. I'd like to see this issue drive that, but I don't see that happening, instead of looks like they will probably replace the current director, which will do nothing but demoralize those who work there.

  
  
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  53

  Is Satan Real ?

  by jdash in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been pondering on this question for awhile now, and i'm starting to think this malevolent spirit creature isn't real.

  .

  do you guys believe satan is real?

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  LisaRose

  If you have never actually seen something, have seen zero evidence that it exists, and not been personally affected by it in any way, would you believe in it? Does the fact that millions of people believe in it, and someone wrote about it in ancient manuscripts change things? Millions of people believe in Krishna too, should we all believe in Krishna, just in case?

  Every JW has heard the supposed demon stories, but they all seemed to be the result of an overactive imagination by the more gullible people, all could be easily explained by known phenomena such as sleep parslysis.

  So, no, I don't believe in Satan.
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  12

  Other Religious Denominations

  by Plato in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it’s me again, your favorite greek philosopher xdd.. i was wondering if any ex-jws around here have since indetified with other christian denominations.

  if that is the case for you, how has it been?

  do you feel more welcome?

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  LisaRose

  I still somewhat identify with Christian ideology, I guess it's a case of feeling comfortable with the familiar more than feeling Christianity is inherently better. I attended the United Church of Christ (Congregational) church briefly, as my husband was raised in it and I found them to be welcoming and the services interesting. I liked the fact that they have no official doctrine, are active in charitable works, had nice music and are accepting of different belief systems and gays. Ultimately it just seemed pointless to attend church as an unbeliever, although I still miss the feeling of being part of a community and have not ruled out going again, even if just for the Christmas services, which are stellar. I freely admit it makes no sense, but it is what it is.
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  24

  Find Family Happiness ... NOT!

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the other day my wife and i were in sonoma.

  we were just walking around enjoying the pleasant afternoon in the quaint, old downtown area when i saw two jw women standing by their “witnessing cart.” .

  normally, i just ignore them whenever i see jws standing by a cart, but i gotta admit it: this time it really bugged me because of the title on the cart: find family happiness.

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  LisaRose

  I wouldn't feel bad about that at all. It may not have been what you would have planned to say, but it was your truth, given from your heart, and that can be far more powerful than any prepared speech. I imagine those women will be thinking about this for a long time.

  I love Sonoma, one of my favorite wine country towns, we visit frequently.
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  27

  Fear of Dying

  by SplaneThisToMe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did anyone else develop a weird fear of dying and death after leaving jw?

  i recently left and have realized for the first time in my life that i’m not going to live forever.

  anyone else have these same feelings toward discovering your own mortality?

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  LisaRose

  No, not really. I was never confident of my being "good enough" to think I would make it through Armageddon. I never really had much of a fear of dying, since I had no fear of hellfire. Once I realized it was all just a bunch of nonsense I totally lost all fear of dying at armageddon.
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  11

  They still manage to find me.

  by blisterfeet in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i grew up a jw, left at about 17 years old..(i'm 33 now) a little over a year ago i moved 1000 miles away from where i grew up.

  today i "ran" into someone in the same congregation as my dad... like how is that even possible?!?!?

  he was very kind, mentioned the borg but only in ways that related to his life.. his daughter is a pioneer, my dad gives "the best" comments at the meetings, my sister is awesome.. blah blah blah... .

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  LisaRose

  Coincidences do happen. I remember a story someone once told me. He was in a crowded bar in New Orleans. He looks down and sees a wallet on the floor. He picks it up and is surprised to see it belongs to someone he knows....years ago, in New York City. He remembers that this person was quite tall, looks around and sees the person is still in the bar, happy reunion ensues.

  Another funny co-wink-a-dink. It's western dress day at work. Someone compliments another on their nice cowboy hat. She says she was getting on the freeway after a Garth Brooks concert when someone in the limousine in front of them stands up in the open roof. His hat blows off, the limo moves on, the person pulls over and retrieves the hat.

  The person who originally gave the compliment says "no way. I was in (nearby city) that night in a bar. One of the very drunk people next to me says "Yeah, dumba$$ here stood up in the limo and his hat blew off".

  Wierd stuff happens. Don't read too much into it.
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  8

  My 13 YO opened up to me about her memories of attending a memorial service

  by nonjwspouse in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  she was only around five when she last attended.

  it was just when i began the "for real" investigation about the jw and watchtower, previously believing the public face.

  i would agree to go with my husband so his mother could show off her grandchild.

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  LisaRose

  Good for you for making this a learning experience for your daughter. You could have been very negative, but instead you let her express herself and think through her experience and let her come to terms with it. It could have been something toxic in her life, as things which are sensitive subjects are sometimes not talked about and become more damaging as a result.

  My daughter was raised in it and she still knew that something wasn't right.
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  40

  What would you say?

  by Freedom rocks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you had 2 minutes with an old witness friend or with a family member to convince them the 'truth' is a lie and the gb isnt being directed by god what would you say to get their attention that might make them question their beliefs?.

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  LisaRose

  I would ask them why they still follow a religion that has a 100% failure rate on predicting the end of this system of things. If any other religion had done the same they would call them a false phrophet, why does the WTBTS get a pass?
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  63

  Sister may have had a slight heart attack, do I text her?

  by Xanthippe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my cousin phoned and told me my jw sister was taken to hospital with chest pains and it may have been a slight heart attack or possibly she's starting with angina.

  now as some of you know my sisters and brother have had little to do with me for 29 years.

  we've met at funerals, or arranged them, but i just thought today what if she did die?

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  LisaRose

  I am glad your sister responded to your text. I hate to see any family torn apart by this hateful cult, anything we can do to combat that is good.

  I think there are a few reasons a health trauma hits JWs harder than others. For one, it reminds them that they may very well die in this system, something they didn't think would happen. It also sidelines them, at least for a while, from theocratic activities. They may then find themselves being judged by others for slacking off, or at the least realize that they are quickly forgotten by the congregation. This is a religion that shoots their wounded, which can be a painful realization.