Posts by LisaRose

59

New David Splane Video: No 1900 Year Faithful Slave

by FusionTheism in

governing body member david splane has a new video on tv.jw.org where he talks about all the horrible things committed by martin luther and the protestant reformers.. his conclusion is that there has been no faithful and discreet slave on the earth during the past 1900 years (before 1919 i guess.).

he also says that maybe there were a few anointed on earth, maybe not.. he did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the bible because the society has done that.. another odd point, was that he actually mentioned catholic missionary work in a somewhat positive light, while totally condemning the reformation views on predestination..

LisaRose

That's interesting and strange. When I was studying I was told that Martin Luther may have been of the anointed, as he tried to bring Christianity back more in line with the bible and away from the false teachings of the Catholic church.

They also condemned the Catholic church much more than the protestant churches because of the use of idols, the teachings of purgatory, paid for masses for the dead, the pope being infallible, infant baptism, and of course pedophile priests.

It now looks like they are flip flopping on that entire line of reasoning. Of course the Jehovah's Witnesses were an off shoot of the Millerites, maybe they are trying to get away from their protestant background and position themselves more in the middle so as to appeal to more Catholics, since a lot of their growth seems to be in Spanish speaking, Catholic countries, or immigrants from them. Pure speculation on my part of course.

They are certainly looking more like the Catholic church when it comes to child baptisms and pedophiles.

150

Disfellowshipping Image

by naazira in

jw
friends

this photo can be found in the april 15 , study edition article titled:.

why disfellowshipping is a loving provision.

just by looking at this image we can see how quickly the barrier between the congregation and former member is put up, after the announcement that this sister is no longer one of jehovah's witneses.

LisaRose

It reminds me of the movie Pleasantville, where two teens are transported to a black and white conformist 1950's world. As one tries to blend in, another rebels, and the more rules are broken the more colorful it becomes.

I would caption it as:

Shunned and humiliated by the Jehovah's Witnesses for being raped, a courageous young woman sadly realizes she has been part of a destructive cult and lied to and deceived her entire life. As she attends the Kingdom Hall for the last time, she looks back and feels sad for the still deluded cult members. She will miss her former friends, but looks forward to being able to get an education and attain her dream of becoming a doctor, something she couldn't do as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

75

What was your eye opening moment?

by WasOnceBlind in

if you had to pinpoint the time or experience that finally made you open your eyes, what would it be?.

i think for me it was the time i saw my dad shun his brother who he had not seen in decades just because he was a da'ed jw.

i thought to my self "no way jesus would do that.

LisaRose

It was a series of epiphanies. Sitting at a convention while the speaker heaped on the guilt. Are you regular is service? If not, why not? If you are, can you auxiliary pioneer? If not, why not? If you are an auxiliary pioneer, can you regular pioneer? If not, why not? I thought, I wonder what they say to the special pioneers to make them feel guilty? It was the first time I realized the goal was not to make you a better person, it was to make you feel guilty.

I saw something in the Kingdom ministry about the UN, and the explanation made no sense. They joined the UN? The Scarlett colored beast? For a library card? People in Malawi died because they were made to think they couldn't buy a 25 cent political card, but the WTBTS could join the UN? Right.....

Lack of love, or any connection at all to anyone in the congregation. Going to field service and realizing no one wanted to talk to us, and the JWs weren't prepared to talk to anybody anyway, they were just getting their time in. Driving aimlessly around town, for what? I thought it was a colossal waste of time.

The clincher was the realization the Watchtower was wrong when they said it was always better to preserve the marriage. I realized that was just plain lousy advice, it had not actually been better for anyone, me, my kids, my ex husband. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and made me realize that they were just people who thought they were more special than they were, they had no more idea of God's purpose than any random person on the street.

141

Schoolyard bully mentality

by FusionTheism in

i'm not naming names, but i just want to encourage people on here or on reddit or twitter, and tell you that you do not have to tolerate people who act like schoolyard bullies in the way they speak to you online.

i think anonymity is a big part of it.

they feel like there is zero accountability so they can be a bully all they want.. i recommend just ignoring or blocking anyone who is verbally abusive or treats you like schoolyard bullies treated you.. life is way too short to spend any time dealing with those kinds of people..

LisaRose

I am an atheist myself, and I feel there is some offensive behavior in the theist/atheists threads. I think most of the posters are well intentioned, but I do think they say things that they wouldn't say if they were face to face with you, and they can be belittling and argumentative. There are some abusive Theists also, but I see it more often with the Atheists

I finally just mostly stopped going to those threads because it was just tiresome. If you want a discussion where your ideas are considered and tactfully discussed, this is not the place. If you want to learn something, I suggest you read older atheist/theist discussions. Probably the point you are trying to make has already been discussed, many, many times (which may indeed be part of the problem ). Maybe if you are just reading, it won't feel so personal and insulting. Who knows, you might learn something.

Don't feel like all posters here are like that. This is just a subject that people feel very strongly about and that does get very heated, it's just not for everybody, especially because we are ex JWs, the open debate and heated discussions can feel very intimidating. Just remember that if you wanted to be with people who all believed the same as you did, you could have stayed in the Borg.

33

This is a topic I am going to kill with my opening post.Why haven`t the Major religions of Christendom exposed J.W.`s as the true Apostates

by smiddy in

i am initially thinking of the major religious institutions of christianity , catholic ,many branches , church of england , and the major protestant religions , too numerous to mention here.. after all their is 40,000 plus christian religions in the world today ?so obviously j.w.`s are not the only false religion .. so my real question is really , to do with the mainstream christian religions , why are`nt they more aggressive in their condemnation of the jehovah witness religion for their obvious failings ,flip backs ,contradictions ,prophecy`s that never eventuated , end of the world predictions ,re-inventing their past history , even distancing themselves from their past history , and their founding members , such as c.t.russell and j.f.rutherford whose policies they now reject... they need to get on board and bleed it for all it`s worth .. smiddy .

LisaRose

Why would any church waste time debunking an insignificant religion like the Jehovah's Witnesses? It's not like they are losing significant numbers of people to them. The only people that need to be warned about Jehovah's Witnesses are the Jehovah's Witnesses themselves, and they won't listen to anybody.

Reminds me of the Emo Phillips joke:

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

6

Influence of Death in the Mind

by ivanatahan in

most meetings and congregations stress the idea that jehovah's witnesses will live forever on a paradise earth.

most jws are always "comforting" others about how death is only temporary.

then you get those jws who are scared of death.

LisaRose

I have never feared death either, I don't know why. It just seems like it's an end, you will be dead and not aware of it, so what's to fear? Maybe some people are more afraid of change, so it's the thought of change that scares them, idk. I was always interested in what's around the corner, not what's behind me.

32

The Religion Of Rejection - And Now That Includes Me

by dubstepped in

due to some recent developments i find myself in a new place, and at this point i've lost all of my family and fri....oh that's right, i never really had any friends in the organization anyway.

just people that wanted something from me and a few people that i would invite to do things that occasionally said yes.

the recent rejections of me got me thinking, so let's take a rejection inventory.. i had to reject all of the holidays when my parents started studying.. i had to reject any worldly friends that i already had.. even family became rejected, and the new religion had some place in that.. i was rejected in school and bullied all of the time, not just because we were poor and i made good grades, but for jw reasons too.

LisaRose

Wow, very well put, a perfect summation of the life of a JW, one rejection after another. It may not seem like it, but it does get better. You can't change the past, nor wipe away the hurt, your parents will probably never love you unconditionally, but you can love yourself and stop the negative thoughts. I highly recommend meditation for dealing with negative self talk and replacing it with positive. You are already doing it to a certain extent, or you wouldn't have been able to write what you did, so just keep at it, it takes time to undo years of indoctrination.

21

i'm stupid, right?

by embarrassed in

i am on here as another member, but even with a username and not revealing my identity, i am still too embarrassed to use it.

had to make up a new one.

that being said.... my boyfriend is watching pornography, and it seriously hurts my feelings.

LisaRose

I don't think you are stupid, not at all. The problem is your low self esteem. Until you believe, deep in your soul, that you are worthy of being loved by a decent guy, you will continue to get what you are getting.

I know this because I was you. Because of that and the Watchtowers draconian divorce rules, it took me 28 years to learn this lesson. I got the promises, the temporary reform followed by business as usual. Trust me, he won't change. I am happily married now to a guy that respects me, treats me well and doesn't need his ego gratified by dominating a woman. It should only have taken me 27 years and eleven months to learn this lesson, but it is what it is. Don't be like me.

Once you get yourself straightened out (I suggest counseling), your loser guy will disappear, as he will see that you won't put up with his $hit. He is very insecure, he will not want to be with a strong woman who knows what she's worth.

55

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses losing the War on Apostates

by Watchtower-Free in

found this.

http://jwalumni.org/2015/06/08/who-are-jehovahs-witnesses-september-watchtower/.

by misha anouk on 8. june 2015 in news

LisaRose

“I read a lot about Jehovah’s Witnesses on the Internet,” says Cecilie, quoted earlier. “I heard some rumors, and I listened to a great deal of prejudiced talk. As a result, I formed a very negative view of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

I guess they are trying to prevent people from doing onto the internet and checking out things that are critical to them, but if I was not familiar with Jehovah's Witnesses it would just make me curious as to what they are trying to hide. They can't scare the public by calling us "mentally diseased apostates", that would just make them sound as looney at are. The narative that all former Jehovah's Witnesses are angry, bitter people who just want to tear down the faith of others only worlks with their own indoctrinated members. They are fighting a losing battle here.

65

Now Even JW Men Are Going To Die At The Big A

by OneFingerSalute in

so this weekend there was a part about not following jesus at a distance.

the speaker made a big point of stating that any baptized jw male who was not either appointed ms/elder, or at the very least "reaching out" actively, was in fact following jesus at a distance.

he said that the only way to live through the big a was to follow jesus closely.

LisaRose

This is the kind of thing that drive me out of the religion, you were never, ever, good enough. I used to think that it was just me, but I think they want everyone to feel guilty, because guilty people are easier to manipulate.

Of course the bible says that it is belief in Christ that brings salvation, but they can't teach that because then you wouldn't need them to tell you what to think, do and say and to set impossible to reach requirements.