Posts by LisaRose

70

If They Stopped Shunning Tomorrow?

by cofty in

imagine that the cult decided to stop shunning family members on the proviso that the dfd person was not actively trying to attack the cult.. (please don't debate whether or not this is likely - it's hypothetical).

how would you respond to your family?.

personally i think i would be less than cooperative.

LisaRose

I cannot condemn my family for shunning me because I shunned some of my family at one time. If I couldn't forgive them for doing this then I couldn't forgive myself for having done it either. I don't know if I would feel close to them if they were still JWs, but I would never turn them away from my door. They are only doing what they think is best, no matter how hurtful it is to me.

49

Tsarnaev guilty - should he get death or not?

by Simon in

i think he probably will (it is the us after all) but i hope he doesn't.

he caused incredible pain and suffering to men, women and children who had never done anything to him.

many died in unimaginable agony, others are disabled for life.

LisaRose

I am against the death penalty in most cases. If you are talking about cost, it costs more to put someone to death than to imprison them for life due to the expense of the appeals process. I feel it is justified when the evidence of guilt is overwhelming and the crime is extremely cruel and their are no mitigating factors.

In this case the evidence was overwhelming, and the crime was extremely cruel, but I feel there were a few mitigating factors. He was fairly young and current scientific studies show that the brain of a young adult of 18 is not fully developed, particularly when it come to judgement and impulse control.

I also think he was greatly influenced by his brother and would not have done this on his own. He was also influenced by his religion and everyone here knows how religious beliefs can warp your thinking. I also think putting him to death would make him a matyr and possibly influence others to follow his example.

I would have chosen life in prison without the possibility of parole. That's a lot of years for him to think about what he has done and what he lost by taking this course.

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

LisaRose

In my case, I also know I am not alone, and that there are a great many others of my brothers and sisters -- a good number of them on here -- who also choose to remain and exist in the tension in spite of doubts, misgivings, struggles, and pains.

I get what you are saying, I felt like that at one time too. As someone who has been away from the organization for many years I would like to offer my viewpoint.

Are there things to love about Jehovah's Witnesses? Yes, if you are talking about the people. I have many family members still in this organization and I know they are good people. There are some bad elders to be sure, but not all.

I know it might seem a good thing to stay and ignore the bad things, but by doing that you are giving tacit approval to the wrongs of the organization. There is a saying that goes: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. I get that it is hard to leave the security of a group that you belong to, I was in for thirty years. I get that it's hard to condemn an organization that has many positive things for you. But is that enough to stay?

While there may be good people in the organization there are no good people at the top, a fact that you acknowledge. With all the secrecy of this religion you don't even know what evils are being perpetrated in your own congregation. You could have pedophiles who are known to the elders but not to the parents. By staying you are contributing to the mind set that all this is acceptable, that the good outweighs the bad. I would submit to you that if you left and stopped going to the meetings you would start to see this organization for what it is, a failed religion that is hurting the people that belong to it.

It's time to face the fact that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.

18

my intro to the JW world

by rebelfighter in

someone suggested that i should introduce myself and how i got here.

this has been a crash course in the jw world.

i got an email that said "good bye, have a nice life".

LisaRose

I believe most JWs have two personas, the natural personality that is who they really are and the cult persona; the person they think they should be. It's common for some to have relationships outside of what is acceptable to the organization, then feel guilty and go back to the cult persona. He is rewriting history and justifying his behavior as an attempt to convert you. It wouldn't surprise me if he later contacts you and attempts to have some kind of relationship again. Don't buy into it, he will inevitably feel guilty and reject you again, you don't need that roller coaster.

62

Hello, just introducing myself

by Miss Behaving in

jw
friends

i've just signed up two days ago, but i've been lurking for about a year and a half.

here's my story if you're interested:.

my parents converted when they were in their first semester of college.

LisaRose

I expected a nice welcome, but I didn't expect so much love. Thank you. I kind of thought a few people would look down on me for my circumstances, but I guess that's the old 'if you're suffering it's your fault' programming.

The transition from brainwashed dub to a fully functioning adult, not influenced by cult programming sometimes takes years. It took me eight years before I went on the internet to look for other ex JWs, I guess I still bought into the "bitter, evil apostae" lie, lol. Give yourself a pat on the back for seeing through the lies and getting out, and don't be frustrated when you have thoughts of returning, it's normal to struggle with that big of a change in your life.

There are a lot of good people here, don't be afraid to ask for help or moral support, we are here to help

17

Possibly a great question to ask JW's since this last week's WT.

by Crazyguy in

so since the type anti-type doctrine has been dropped 'does this mean peter was right when at luke 12 :41 he said the faithful and discreet slave was just a parable?

'

LisaRose

I am guessing you mean parable, not parabole

17

Possibly a great question to ask JW's since this last week's WT.

by Crazyguy in

so since the type anti-type doctrine has been dropped 'does this mean peter was right when at luke 12 :41 he said the faithful and discreet slave was just a parable?

'

LisaRose

I think this is a bad move on the part of the GB. I think the majority of JWs don't give a rat's behind about types/anti-types. If they just stopped talking about it most people wouldn't know the difference. By reversing the previous teaching they are making people wonder why they ever taught something else in the first place. I wonder if it's just ego on the part of the GB, they can put something in the Watchtower and millions of people will immediately believe it, how important that must make them feel them feel.

I hope they keep this up, they are making it so much easier for people to see that they are being led by idiots.

29

JW Records Request - United States

by cappytan in

jw
friends

has anyone in the united states ever successfully gotten their publisher records from the society?

LisaRose

I think it's understandable that you would be interested in your file, but I doubt it would accomplish much for you in the long run. They probably don't write down everything that happened in the JC, so there is probably nothing there you don't already know. And even if there was something controversial in there it would be fixed before they released it to you and justified in their minds as "theocratic warfare" I.e. lying and cheating in the name of God.

It's been said by many that a person can be disfellowshipped for anything three elders agree upon and it's true. Justice, fairness and mercy are not highly valued in this religion and many people have been unjustly disfellowshipped. The good thing is that nobody other than Jehovah's Witness care that you were disfellowshipped or why, so it will start to seem less and less important to you as you move on in your life.

21

Paint Nite - fun evening and a new hobby

by Simon in

we (and by 'we', i mean my wife) decided that we should try something new and she, erm, i mean 'we', liked the idea of painting.

so i enthusiastically (i.e.

begrudgingly) went along for the night to the "pain nite" event she'd booked us for a couple of weeks ago.. the premise is pretty simple: it's held in a pub or restaurant, all the art supplies are provided, the instructor then walks you through how to reproduce a painting they have chosen for the night and you have a glass of wine or beer, do some painting, have something to eat, have some more wine, more painting, more wine, realize you are drinking the dirty paint water and so on.. here's the site: https://www.paintnite.com/.

LisaRose

I think art is very theraputic. I saw a report on CBS last night on the popularity of coloring books for adults. People even get together at parties for it. Any hobby that is engrossing offers some of the benefits of meditation. I can't draw to save my life but I do collage and I love it.

15

Prince of 'P-I-E-C-E"

by freemindfade in

now i have always kept to myself discussing and speculating about this with any witness.

i am speaking of the very talented musician prince.

i remember watching the naacp awards one year ages ago and hearing him thank the one true god jehovah and falling off my couch.

LisaRose

Obviously being rich and famous buys you certain liberties that are not afforded ordinary JWs. I am not a big fan but he is obviously very talented. It would be great to get through to someone like that with ttatt but he doesn't strike me as someone who is likely to go there.

He is in his own little paradise.