Posts by LisaRose

579

Won't get fooled again ...Moon Landing.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

so i was fooled by the witnesses.

what can i learn from that?

not to accept things at face value but to seek out opinion and different view points.. hence my question " do you believe man landed on the moon?.

LisaRose

It's not surprising to me that many ex JWs believe in conspiracy theories. You could argue that the Watchtower itself is a conspiracy theory. The Watchtower teaches that Satan and other religions are trying to con you, that only they have "the truth". Studies show that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in another, even when the two contradict each other.

Some who leave the Jehovah's Witnesses simply jump to a different conspiracy theory, others learn critical thinking.

From the scientific American:

Since a number of studies have shown that belief in conspiracy theories is associated with feelings of powerlessness, uncertainty and a general lack of agency and control, a likely purpose of this bias is to help people “make sense of the world” by providing simple explanations for complex societal events — restoring a sense of control and predictability. A good example is that of climate change: while the most recent international scientific assessment report (receiving input from over 2500 independent scientists from more than a 100 countries) concluded with 90 percent certainty that human-induced global warming is occurring, the severe consequences and implications of climate change are often too distressing and overwhelming for people to deal with, both cognitively as well as emotionally. Resorting to easier explanations that simply discount global warming as a hoax is then of course much more comforting and convenient psychologically. Yet, as Al Gore famously pointed out, unfortunately, the truth is not always convenient

This is why conspiracy theorists don't look at or believe information that debunks their theory, they are invested in believing it. It's also why they resort to name calling and anger, your belief that they are wrong is threatening to them. No proof would ever be enough.

Finally, also from Scientific American

In terestingly, belief in conspiracy theories has recently been linked to the rejection of science. In a paper published in Psychological Science, Stephen Lewandowsky and colleagues investigated the relation between acceptance of science and conspiricist thinking patterns.

13

To those of us now FREE....

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

on another thread i commented " the most wonderful thing for me about having left the organisation is giving an education to my child, encouraging him to be dedicated and committed to the person he himself wants to be".

for me that is the best thing about being free from the organisations control.. what has been your best realisation having left the organisation?.

the rebel..

LisaRose

For me, the best thing about leaving was the freedom from guilt. I always had problems doing what you were supposed to, the boring meetings and field service, so I was always either doing something I hated or not doing it and feeling guilty.

It's so great to live my life on my own terms. I have been lucky ( I can say lucky now!) to be able to marry my soul mate, something I couldn't do as a JW, and follow my passions with my own little antiques business. My free time is my own, I can watch whatever movie I feel like, celebrate the holidays, and sleep in on Saturday. Life is good.

30

Hello!

by BeautifulMind in

jw
friends

i've been enjoying all of the discussions here for a good while now.

i found this site as i was researching things about this religion i've been in (finally after nagging curiosity and questions) but i wanted to figure things out more before coming on here and posting.

i'm glad to see that im not alone or crazy!

LisaRose

Welcome Beautiful Mind! I hope you have smooth and easy transition out of the Borg. Freedom is a wonderful thing, especially the freedom to look at the facts and accept what they tell you. I am happy two little ones won't be damaged by the Watchtower but can grow up free and happy.

Lisa Rose

22

How to spot: a single JW sister

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

i remember this time of year when jw's desend en mass on one area.

a fun game to play is "spot the..." whatever jw walking stereotype you choose.. so i thought i would play it with you guys, starting with how to spot a single jw sister.. i say, she will be dressed up to the nines, probably over dressed in fact, have hair immaculately coffied, make up plastered on, towering heels and be smiling at every brother in site.

all they need is a sign saying "pioneer, virgin, available for marriage!".

LisaRose

There were also the good looking young JW men, who strut around full of themselves, knowing they can get any young woman they want, because there are more women than men. But of course they only want hot girls, because they know they can get them. They are being primed to be elders, already they think they are important.

This religion sets up men and women to fail. Young women get desperate and settle, leading to an unhappy marriage, young men are told they will be the "husbandly head" and are better than the "weaker vessel", so they don't learn how to be an equal parter, leading to an unhappy marriage. With sex outside of marriage taboo, the pressure is on to quickly find a marriage mate, leading to rushed decisions and poor choices for them both.

579

Won't get fooled again ...Moon Landing.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

so i was fooled by the witnesses.

what can i learn from that?

not to accept things at face value but to seek out opinion and different view points.. hence my question " do you believe man landed on the moon?.

LisaRose

You can take some people out of the cult, but you can't take the cult out of some people.

I am going to make a guess that runForever doesn't believe in climate change either.

35

We're All Going To Die

by Garrett in

jw
friends

life has been busy, but i am now on 2 weeks vacation which allowed me some thinking room.

and here's what's been on my mind.. we're all going to die.

no matter what we do, our fate is sealed.

LisaRose

As Ghandi said, you must be the change you wish to see in the world.

That is enough for me.

53

Funny Names with Double Meaning

by dig692 in

jw
friends

just saw the episode of the simpsons where bart calls moe's tavern and asks for "amanda huggenkiss" and it made me laugh again .

amanda huggenkiss.

hugh jazz.

LisaRose

Have you read "under the bleachers" by Seymour Butts?

20

Movies/Books for Cult Survivors

by Brighid in

for me, there have always been special movies or scenes in movies that trigger my old jw experience (fiddler on the roof and little mermaid touched me deeply when i watched them as a young jw).

later as a survivor, it was more donnie darko, thx 1138 themes that struck me in particular.. anyway, looking for suggestions on great movies, books (art of any kind, really) that especially speak to or move you as a jw survivor?

there are reasons beyond purely entertainment that i ask..

LisaRose

The Truman Show

Bride Flight

The Stoning of Soraya M

33

Ever wondered

by NoIdeaWhatToBelieve in

i was very hooked on the rc videos, really interesting to watch.

i started questioning stuff a couple of months ago.. however there is still a scenario that makes me wonder.

considering the israelites as god's chosen people and the kings as anointed, the bible shows many bad decisions the people made, including the rulers that were anointed.

LisaRose

That particular line of thought, that God does use imperfect humans to accomplish his will, is one that is often used by the Watchtower, or at least by those defending the Watchtower. The problem is that the Watchtower is very vocal about emphasizing the faults of other religions, but when it comes to their own.......*crickets*. They have never actually admitted they have made any mistakes.

For example, the 1975 fiasco. They led their followers to believe Armageddon would come in 1975 or very shortly thereafter. For example, the Awake said that young people had to face the fact that they would never have time for a career in this system of things, so don't bother with college. When 1975 came and went with no end, the Watchtower said that SOME "went ahead", as if some nebulous third party made those statements, when it was directly coming from Watchtower leadership. That is not a mistake, it's a shameless and blatant lie.

Of course they were careful to make their predictions of doom verbally in most cases, they count on the fact that people forget who said what. But I was around then, every JW believed Armageddon would come in 1975 or very shortly therafter. Of course they still say it's "very soon", "just around the corner", etc.

And this is was their not the first time they made a failed date prediction, even though the bible says no one knows the day or the hour. They predicted Armageddon would come in 1914. When that didn't happen they invented the invisible presence nonsense and pretended they predicted the last days would instead start in 1914. All of that based on an incorrect date for the fall of Jerusalem and using chronology taken from another religion.

So yes, organizations can make mistakes, but if they are so blatantly dishonest and wrong about everything, why would God be using them? And if the Watchtower is God's sole channel of communication with mankind, why doesn't he give them a little better direction? Some of these mistakes were downright embarrassing. For example, Beth Sarin, a house built for the soon to be ressurected bible prophets and leaders. They never got to use it, but Rutherford found it handy to stash his mistress and have his drinking parties.

God will overlook protecting pedophiles, failed date predictions, people driven to suicide because of shunning, broken families, intellectual dishonesty, lack of love or shepherding in the congregations, lies, deceptions, etc., all because they got a few doctrines right? I don't know about you, but that is not a God worthy of my worship.

51

Leaving the org and marriage possibly ending

by atacrossroads in

jw
friends

i was raised a witness, baptized at 16, vacation pioneered, got married, etc.

i was very much your typical witness and believed it was the truth until last summer.

a very close relative of mine left the witnesses.

LisaRose

Welcome, I am sorry you are having a rough time right now. I think your husband is handling it reasonably well, it is a big change and not what he expected, but many have lived with this situation and made it work. You can too if that is what you want.

Is he willing to discuss your concerns? I know it's probably a touchy subject, but it might help if you both can discuss things in a neutral way. Say that you don't expect him to believe you, but you just want him to understand what your concerns are.

A few possibilities for discussion:

If what the Watchtower teaches is the truth it should stand up scrutiny, so why are they afraid to even consider other points of view

You are expected to go door to door to preach, what if these issues were raised by a householder?

Shouldn't he be able to know truth from lies? The Watchtower expects people in other religions to question their own faith, why are Jehovah's Witnesses not allowed to do the same?

The bible even says that we should keep testing as to whether these things are so, so why doesn't the Watchtower allow it?

The Watchtower makes people afraid to question things, and with good reason, they know a little research will prove they are lying, that's why they teach people to fear apostates, fear questioning things, fear getting disfellowshipped. If they had answers for these issues they could teach people how to refute these so called "apostate lies", yet they don't? Why not? Maybe because they can't?

It's great that you are going back to school, that is a good way to move on in your life. Congratulations on getting out of the organization while still young enough to do that.