There were some positive aspects to being a Jehovah's Witness, as there would be with just about any belief system. I learned to make hard decisions, to do things that were not easy and that mental toughness and discipline has served me well. It's too bad that along with that was a heaping helping of guilt and negativity. Overall, any good things were far outweighed by the bad.
LisaRose
JoinedPosts by LisaRose
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45
Being in a cult - what good did it do?
by Garrett inso, here's a bit of a different point of view.
while most of us will agree that our time within the jw cult was rather terrible, however, i'd like to look at another aspect.
did anything good come out of being in a cult and then waking up from it?.
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45
Hold Me, Thrill Me
by Hold Me-Thrill Me ini'm going to be honest and from the heart when i say that for 40 years in the jw religion i was very happy in my ignorance!
man, what a trip it was.
i loved every minute of it but then i was absent the bad in my religion.
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LisaRose
Welcome, glad you found us. I also felt the trinity was a sticking point and the reason I stayed as long as I did. Even after leaving it kept me from looking at other religions.
Eventually I started investigating the religion that had controlled so much of my adult life. I then realized that their history of lies, deceit, false predictions and doctrinal needs flip flops were far worse than any one doctrine could be. Much of the bible is a matter of interpretation anyway, so why condemn fellow Christians for interpreting something in a different way than you do?
Jesus said "by this all will know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another". It wasn't whether they believed in a trinity or not, it was by love. How much love does the Watchtower show to fellow believers in Christ? They show none, claiming they are not even Christians because they differ on doctrine. Even within the Jehovah's Witnesses, how much love do you see in the congregation? You seem to have had a positive experience, but you must have seen those who did not. Many who leave have said they were treated very badly by the elders or fellow JWs, that there was no love.
There are also churches that don't teach trinity and some that have no doctrine whatsoever. Having attended one like that I can tell you I found it a much more spiritual and positive experience than the dry, plodding, rote question and answer JW meetings. They also showed so much love. People were assigned to be greeters, people took care of the sick, they helped the homeless and the hungry.
But it took me many years to get to the point where I saw the trinity as being a minor doctrine issue and my spiritual journey continued on from there. At this point I consider myself a humanist, but I would never condemn anyone for still believing in Christ, as it is your life and your spiritual journey to make. Whereever you end up in the spectrum of belief you have made a great start, to look for truth, real truth, with an honest heart, and to be open to where that takes you.
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Is door to door activity over?
by badcompany injust curious about others experience.
i've been living just a few miles from a kingdom hall for 9 years.
i've been called on 0 times.
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LisaRose
I wish. They keep coming by my house even though I've told them I am an apostate and asked in writing that they not come by. -
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Hi Everyone. Answer to prayer countdown...
by Stumpy ini've been lurking for about 3 months now and thought i'd better finally sign up.
you have all been an immense help to me as i have come to realize that this isn't the truth so i want to say a great big thank you!
what a crazy, emotional ride it is to finally face the truth about the doubts that i have carried for many years.
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LisaRose
It's hard to come to terms with the fact that you've been a victim of manipulation and mind-control for so long. I feel very guilty that I have had a big part in teaching it from the platform too.
We have all been there, the anger, the guilt, feeling like a fool. Don't let the guilt get to you though, it's not your fault you were lied to and manipulated. I think it was Maya Angelou that said "you did the best you knew how to do a the time, when you knew better you did better". Well, now you know better.
It was not easy being a JW, you had to learn self discipline and develop other good qualities that will be useful to you in your new life. You will now have the freedom to make your own choices, free of the burdensome requirements of this religion. Don't feel bad about the wasted years in service to a cult, be grateful that you won't waste any more.
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Translating Animal 'Talk.'
by fulltimestudent inlisten first:.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=30&v=wozgcyoi9l8.
this is an area of particular interest to me.
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LisaRose
I was watching an older male gorilla interact with a younger one at a zoo, he took him by the arm, gave him an inspection then sent him on his way with a loving smack on the buttocks. It was like any human would interact with a young child they had affection for. We are more like animals than not I think.
I have a cat named Lizzie. She is one of those cats that likes to find things. I can tell from her vocalizations when she has found something she wishes to share with me. She once brought me the end of a ball of string, she was so proud of herself. Unfortunately the other end was still upstairs, lol. She also enjoys music and will sit in back of the TV with her head on the speaker when there is something she likes, she adored phantom of the Opera, for example. On warmer days she sometimes very much wants me to go outside with her, she will come to the window as if she wants to come in, but when I open the door she will drop to the ground and do what I call the "flirty roll", one paw outstretched as if to say "please, please come outside". She will do this three or four times until I give in and go outside with her.
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205
Hi Everyone. Answer to prayer countdown...
by Stumpy ini've been lurking for about 3 months now and thought i'd better finally sign up.
you have all been an immense help to me as i have come to realize that this isn't the truth so i want to say a great big thank you!
what a crazy, emotional ride it is to finally face the truth about the doubts that i have carried for many years.
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LisaRose
Welcome. It sounds like your wife is making good progress. Be patient, it takes some people longer than others. You wouldn't want her to do it for you, only because she knows beyond a doubt this religion isn't what it claims to be.
You might ask her what she would think of any religion that wrongly predicted the end of the world multiple times, obviously being wrong every single time. The Watchtower predicted the end in 1897, 1914, 1925, 1975, a 100% failure rate, how could that be from God? Why would God use organization that presumed to know what the end time was when the bible plainly said NO man knows the day or the hour. Food for thought.
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Questions that were never answered for me
by WasOnceBlind ini have always been a very rational and thoughtful person.
there where always questions i had growing up regarding things i was taught.
of course asking questions while being a jw is a big no no!
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LisaRose
Keep asking those questions. The Watchtower belief system relies on the idea that the Watchtower speaks for God and anyone who questions that will be bird food at Armageddon. Once you question this self proclaimed appointment, which doesn't even make logical sense, it it all falls down like a house of cards.
The Watchtower has predicted Armageddon numerous times, and been wrong every single time. Why would anyone trust them for anything?
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Kendrick " Letter of Introduction " from Elders regarding Candace Conti Case
by flipper inas many of us saw in the pbs news hour program and the abc news nightline program the elders from one congregation failed to communicate properly to the elders in another congregation concerning the child molester jonathan kendrick when he moved to a new congregation.
i have parts of this " introduction letter " from the fremont congregation to the oakley congregation elders so you can read it for yourself and decide how irresponsible these wt appointed elders were.
dated 1/16/98 it opens : .
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LisaRose
Hairtrigger17 minutes agoI can't help wonder why the step daughter was past his step fatherly control when a treenager. Did he violate her when she was younger?His step daughter complained to her mother that Kendrick came in to her room and groped her breasts. The mother reported it to the elders and he was called into a JC. He admitted he was in the room but claimed he went into it by mistake in the dark, and the breast touching was accidental. An elder at the time said he didn't believe him, but couldn't do much since he denied any wrongdoing. They did remove his priveledges. The mother also called the police but they declined to prosecute.
Maybe by then the mother didn't really believe Kendrick was good father material, so he didn't get any say in her daughter's life.
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201
These guys crash a Kingdom Hall on Memorial, video included
by Crazyguy inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7mars2mtaui.
to funny nice job....
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LisaRose
I don't see any purpose in going to a meeting to confront any still believing Jehovah's Witness. At one time we were just as they are: convinced we had "the truth" and brainwashed to believe any so called apostate was mentally deranged and bitter. Showing up to disrupt a meeting would simply convince me that the Watchtower was right about apostates, and so must be right about everything else. You will not jar anyone's faith, you will just simply confirm it
So, what is the point? To hurt current believing JWs? Do you not remember when you were a believer? Do you think hurting them will prove anything or make you feel better? It won't. Direct your anger to the Watchtower, not individual congregations or individuals. Or better yet, get over your anger, it's better for you anyway to not be bitter and angry.
There are many ways to protest what the Watchtower is doing. Contact local media, start up a petition, post on media reports about Jws, post on Facebook, write your congressman, write to the editor of your local newspaper. But don't walk into the kingdom hall and act like a jerk and expect me to praise you for it.
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The Watchtower are Right About Blood...
by cofty in... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.
it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.
they take pride in obedience.
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LisaRose
Why does this fear of bloodguilt not affect their decision to allow a child to die?
Beccause dying by refusing a blood transfusion is rewarded with praise by Watchtower, while using blood to save a life is still disparaged. They have tried to give an out by allowing fractions, but people have been taught to fear and loath transfusions for years, they will not always adopt more lenient guidelines out of irrational fear. They have also effectively taught people to fear making indecent decisions based on their own conscience, instead looking to the Watchtower for decide for them.
I believe they really don't have a problem with using blood but are afraid to admit they were wrong, they would rather see people continue to die. Talk about blood guilt!