Posts by LisaRose

104

The Secret is out....but nobody cares

by MrTheocratic in

i've been looking on this site for some time but never posted.

i'll give a little about myself, but not too much.

i'm a ex-bethelite ( brooklyn )and currently serving as an elder (10 years) (thinking about stepping down) on the service committee.

LisaRose

Welcome to the forum. I have been out a long time, fifteen years, so I don't have any idea what is going on with individuals in the organization, but it wouldn't surprise me if many are having doubts like what you are seeing. I also think it could be a regional thing, as I live in California and in my experience JWs were different than JWs in more conservative states.

I think many JWs are in a state of cognitive dissonance. On one level they still believe, but they also see and believe things that contradict those beliefs. One indication that a person has a faith that is weakening is their zeal in the field ministry. Supposedly this is life saving work, a core belief and a requirement to be approved by God and live through Armageddon. If a JW does a token hour or two on Saturday, and most of that spent knocking at the doors of empty houses, driving around or on coffee breaks, then that is a indicator that they actually don't believe everything taught by the Watchtower. I think most JWs fall into this category.

I think they stay because they still believe it's a good way of life, they don't want to loose family, they don't like change or some combination of those things. A person could go on for quite a while in a state of cognitive dissonance, coasting along as a JW. It's only when they reach a crisis point for some reason that they may be motivated to leave. Either the cognitive dissonance becomes to much, or they are mistreated by the elders or other witnesses, or some other life crisis.

32

Trying to live the rest of my life without being bitter.

by Bigdummy in

i'm new to this forum.. i was raised in " the truth" from age six and now i am in my mid 60's.

my wife was born in " the truth" and is very strong in the religion.

i have had many experiences during my lifetime with the other members of several congregations.

LisaRose

Welcome. Your bitterness is understandable, I think we have all been there at one point. What helps me is to remember that no matter what I had done in my life I would have some regrets. I also try to appreciate the things about being a Jehovah's Witness that made me a better person. Perseverance, working toward goals, self discipline, these are all things that I developed because of the religion that are still helpful to me.

It's not that I am glad I was a JW, I consider joining the worst decision of my life, it's just that I choose, every day, to let it go, to look to my future, not my past, to think about my life in a positive way. Holding on to bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for someone else to die, and nobody has time for that.

I find meditation to be very helpful.

145

Why attack?

by newqatarjob in

as someone brought up as a jw and been an elder and been disfellowshipped (twice!!!

) i find it difficult to understand why ex jws have to attack the religion, yes religion, not cult or sect.

i am no longer disfellowshipped just do not want to practice anymore.

LisaRose

Why do Jehovah's Witnesses attack other religions? Is it not because they believe them to be false? To have lied? Do they not claim to be do life saving work to warn people of the danger?

Well, we have found that the Watchtower is more dangerous than any other religion, that they lied about their history and practices, that they do harm to families by their disfellowshipping policies. We have seen the suicides, the child abuse cover ups, the rank hypocrisy. Yes we speak out and will continue to speak out, why shouldn't we?

Why don't you investigate this before you condemn us?

31

All Gays Are Perverts

by Coded Logic in

"scientists may never resolve exactly how much of a role nature and nurturing play in same-sex attraction.

but one thing is clear: all humans are born with the tendency to succumb to wrong thinking and inclinations.

--romans 3:23. a youth who desires to please god must therefore conform to his moral standards and shun immoral behavior, though doing so may be agonizingly difficult.

LisaRose

There has been a shift in how society as a whole views gay people in the last twenty years, people are much more tolerant and accepting of homosexuality, especially younger people. I am sure this does affect young JWs especially young gay JWS.

The Watchtower can try to keep insisting that gays are perverted, immoral, deranged or bad, but most people know by that gay people aren't really all that different than everyone else, so the religion will be more and more out of touch with society in general and that will not help then retain membership.

102

A couple questions for atheists on Suffering

by little_Socrates in

who told you that the world should be free from suffering?.

do you find any value in suffering?.

do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?

LisaRose

You are coming with a preconceived notion that suffering is evil. I don't accept that. I want you to prove it.

I don't believe suffering is evil. What I do believe is that if God existed and was omnipotent, he has knowingly allowed human beings, supposedly his creation, continue to rape, torture, enslave and kill each other for thousands of years. I don't know if that makes him evil, but it doesn't make him someone I would worship. Since I see no evidence that he exists, it doesn't much matter

If you had children, would you stand idly by while one of them tortured the other? Would you say that the suffering of that one was good because it made him stronger or served your purposes in some way? Would it be OK if you then took the injured child to the doctor? No, you would be considered a monster and rightly so. The ends in this case do not justify the means, nothing would alter the fact that you knowingly allowed that suffering to continue when you could have stopped it. Why would a heavenly father get a pass for the same thing?

7

Filling the parenting role - I need help

by Garrett in

hey guys, .

so, as you may know, i'm 21 and an older brother to an 12 year old boy.

our father was a severe drug addict that tried to kill my family.

LisaRose

I think it's good you are stepping up to being a father figure for your brother, obviously he needs that. It's probably better to have your mom deal with him though, as she is the parent. He is probably still suffering from the turmoil of the last few years. Have your mom discuss with the teacher to make sure there aren't issues there.

Then She should tell him that if he is sick he should stay in bed with the lights dimmed, no tv, no computer, no reading. I think he will have a quick recovery under those circumstances.

9

The Gayby Project

by fulltimestudent in

this is about a situation likely affecting thousands.. posted without comment (for a change - but mainly because i'm not quite sure what to say).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spo0mkq3vhc.

LisaRose

I agree withwasanelder.

17

How To Witness to Jehovah's Witnesses Video

by Perry in

jw
friends

i recently shared my views on how to witness to jehovah's witnesses to a local congregation.

the video link is also below:.

maybe this will help some reach out to loved ones that are still members.. .

LisaRose

^^^ what OTWO said.

13

Could you help me with a little Witness history ?

by ukgirl in

as part of a student film project that i am completing i will be conducting a telephone interview with an exjw tomorrow.. the person i am interviewing was a witness between the years of the 50's (born in) - late 80's so obviously would have been in their late teens for the prophecies and events of 1975.. as this person is older than i, i am plan to tailor my questions around being a witness in that time period.

i just wonder if you could point me in the direction of any more date specific events surrounding this time period that i could touch upon in my interview ?.

much appreciated .

LisaRose

I was baptized in 1968 when I was 13. As a new convert I studied out of the blue "truth" book. This book was designed to be studied in six months, because they taught that the time left in this system was so reduced they needed to convert people quickly. There was a sense of urgency, we had to warn people they must become Jehovah's Witnesses or die a horrible death in only a few years. It seems incredible to me now, but I really thought the world was going to end in a few years and I would soon be petting lions in paradise. Life decisions were made based on this belief. Of course college was out, who needs that, the Awake firmly stated in 1969 that young people such as myself would not have time for a career in this system of things . People were commended for selling their house and living on the proceeds in order to preach more. Of course this was the end, things were so bad they couldn't get much worse, right?

It astounds me now that the Watchtower pretends that they never predicted the end would come in 1975, only acknowledging that some "ran ahead", nothing to do with THEM, THEY never said such a thing. Technically, maybe they didn't, but they very much manipulated things to the point that every Jehovah's Witness believed the world would end in 1975. From the belief that 1975 marked six thousand years of man's existence, a perfect time to start the so called thousand year reign of Christ, to the widely stated belief that the generation alive in 1914 would not pass away before the end of this system, it was preached from the platform, discussed at conventions and taught at home bible studies. Of course they put most everything that was in writing in such a way they could not be held accountable, this was not their first failed prediction.

I bought it hook, line and sinker, and it took me thirty years to figure out how completely I had been lied to and manipulated. Sadly most current JWs were not around then, or have since forgotten what really happened, substituting the Watchtower's doctored retelling of events for their own true memories. Such is the power of a cult that the lie becomes the truth and there are a whole new group of people to lie to. The Watchtower has been using the fiction that the end is close for well over a hundred years, it's useful to keep people afraid, because frightened people are easily manipulated.

10

Yet Another JW Child Molester in the news and again its South Wales

by jimtheman699 in

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3007905/south-wales-jehovah-s-witness-36-sex-15-year-old-schoolboy-avoids-jail-sentence.html.

married jehovah's witness, 36, who had sex with boy, 15, after inviting him to sleepovers with her children avoids jail sentence .

she was spared jail by a judge at merthyr tydfil crown court today.

LisaRose

I don't know why she wasn't given jail time, is it more common there to let pedophiles off for a first offence or is it because she's a woman?