Posts by LisaRose

83

What woke you up?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

in march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.

so what woke me up?

an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.

LisaRose

Years of being treated as less than because my husband was disfellowshipped, plus being stuck in that marriage, which had never been good. Struggling to attend the meetings due to health and family issues, seeing the futility of the door to door work. Learning critical thinking skills and starting to see the hypocrisy and nonsense.

I had decided to leave the marriage and didn't care what anyone thought about it, the stress was killing me, I knew I had to get out. By chance I connected with a guy I knew in high school. He had a major crush on me but I wouldn't date him as he was not JW and I was a recent convert. In thinking back over my life and why I made the decisions I did, it just suddenly hit me that it all just wasn't true, couldn't be true, that the Watchtower was just some man's opinion, Armageddon wasn't coming, it was never coming. I had stayed with the JWs because I thought they taught the truth about trinity and hell fire. I couldn't reconcile all that at the time, but I knew I couldn't stay in the religion.

I left and never looked back. I didn't even learn tatt until years later, but I knew in my heart I made the right decision and I was never tempted to go back. Most people have heard my story, but for those who haven't, I married the high school guy and we are still very happy after all these years.

The weird thing was that this is what he wrote in my yearbook:

I've known you for two years, but never really gotten to know you. Maybe in some other time and some other place we will get to know each other.

I went on classmates.com by accident, he wasn't signed up, but I left my email, not really thinking to much about it. Two days later he went there looking for me. Once in a while, life grants you a fairy trail.

29

Paint, Barney, and Jehovah

by John Aquila in

i made a quick run to lowes to buy some paint and ran into a brother.

he is one of those elders that is very, very, petty.

if he drops by your house unexpected and notices that your kids are watching one of the star wars movies, he will counsel you for allowing your kids to watch any movie that has to do with war he will then make sure you are not recommended for any privilege.

LisaRose

Wow, you might have woke up that guy. Well played, very well played.

28

Intro and Thoughts

by ThinkerBelle in

jw
friends

i've been lurking on the board for almost a year now and i think i'm ready to come out of hiding (although, i'm so nervous as i type this).

i'm not ready to share everything about my story, but the basics are that i'm a born-in, elder's kid, baptized as a teenager because i was tired of hearing people ask me "all your friends are baptized, when are you going to get baptized?

", married an unbeliever (was df, but came back shortly after) and we have two kids.

LisaRose

Welcome Tinkerbell, nice first post. I didn't find this site until years after I left, I can't imagine going to a meeting knowing what I know now, I would have to bite my tongue so much there would be nothing left of it, lol. Once you start questioning things it becomes pretty obvious how ridiculous some of the teachings are.

Feeling like lighting might strike you is pretty normal when you first start looking at sites like this, but I can promise you that won't happen. It's just years of Watchtower training and mind control that are still affecting you to a certain extent. It will eventually go away, as logic and reason replace superstition.

29

United Nations Global Peace And Security Announcement September 2015 / Attack On Christians

by Timothex in

jw
friends

the united nations will shortly announce global peace and security.

this will result in the attack on the true religion [ jehovah's witnesses ] lead by pope francis and intern will bring armageddon / paradise.

please brothers and sisters share this information with everyone!

LisaRose

There used to be rumors about that happening back in the early seventies. Any mention of the UN got the rumor mill going, "peace and security, peace and security, Armageddon is a comin', woe to the pregnant woman" and all that. I laugh to think how gullible we all were. Of course back then we didn't know the Watchtower was going to join the UN.

Sad that people still take this nonsense seriously.

15

Give Jehovah Only 6 Months!

by naazira in

jw
friends

main question: what do you think would happen if jehovah's witnesses stayed away from the watchtower organization for 6 months?

instead of "us" staying in their world for 6 months.

personally, i think they would be like the amish youth on rumspringa- many to never return.. i came across a thread here, where the poster said that their parents told them to give jehovah's org 6 months.

LisaRose

Six months is about how long it takes to nicely finish brainwashing someone. they used to study with people for six months, by that end of that time they were expected to have progressed to the point of attending meetings and possibly baptism. If you spent six months only associating with Jehovah's Witnesses, it's likely you would be greatly influenced by them, you would be likely to take on their attitudes and thinking. Not every person would then be a believer, but many would.

They don't care about the people who question everything, already have a strong belief system and have critical thinking skills, they know they will never convert them, they are looking for the naive, the easily manipulated, the gullible. If those people spend six months with the JWs they will very likely become believers.

Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? It's when someone who has been kidnapped begins to identify with their captors.

Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychologicalphenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.[1][2] The FBI's Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 8 percent of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.[3]

12

Can God touch those with Alzheimers?

by StopTheTears in

jw
friends

my father was diagnosed with alzheimers disease.. .

before his dementia grew worse he requested to be baptized in jesus name.. .

when i see him and hear him talk now it is nothing less than a miracle from god.

LisaRose

Being kind is more important than being right.

Well, unless it's my heart surgeon or my mechanic, then I'd rather they be right.

96

Ray Franz was an Idiot

by vinman in

ray franz who gave us insight into the gb due to a crisis of conscience was an absolute moron, with absolutely no critical thinking skills whatsoever like all of us have.

i mean, to have a conscience based on some magic man in the sky.. how stupid can you be?

in search of christian freedom?

LisaRose

I guess I don't see this on this forum. I see name calling, calling God names, and much arrogance and disrespect.

What you see here is usually beliefs being ridiculed, not people. I rarely see people being attacked unless they persist in repeating things that have been proven, over and over, to be arguments entirely without merit and patently untrue. Even then, most posters will talk about the false belief, not the person. This is a discussion forum on religion, in what universe would there not be disagreements when any group of people discuss religion?

I am an Atheist, but I still respect Ray for standing up for what he believed in and not taking the easy route. Thanks to him many have gotten out of this religion, I respect that, even if I don't share his belief in Christ. From all accounts he was also a heck of a nice guy. His being a Christian doesn't change that fact.

Frankly, the worst name calling I have seen in a while was this op from you. I don't read every post, so if you have seen worse name calling recently, copy it here and we can discuss the name calling problem on the forum.

324

VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

LisaRose

What we can't do is have this circular-type religious reasoning by the gun lobby where every time there is a shooting they claim the real issue is mental health and the proof they give for it being mental health is that the person shot someone.

I don't think they believe it's a mental health issue only because he shot someone, but because of the reason he shot someone. If he shot his wife's lover, or someone who harmed his child, that would be somewhat understandable but it just seems crazy to shoot someone because of being disrespected at work. This guy probably did have mental issues of some sort, but I agree that doesn't make him insane, either legally or otherwise. By what we know about him at this point it seems he was just a miserable human being, narcissistic, petty and self absorbed, possibly he was a sociopath.

16

The social institution of the Kingdom Hall.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

it is a warm sunny day, blue skies and i am excited by the prospect this sunday holds.

will i dismantle a motorbike?

paint a picture?

LisaRose

I went to the movies with my husband, we saw a foreign movie called Phoenix, it was quite good. Now we are barbecuing a tri tip, which is the triangular end of the sirloin. We are having mocktails, non alcoholic drinks which tastes kind of like a cocktail. We have been saving alcohol for Saturday and Sunday night, we want to be a bit healthier. The mocktail today is sparkling lime water, a splash of tonic water and a few drops of orange bitters.

40

Crazyguy is going batshit crazy a Rant

by Crazyguy in

yesterday some jw's came over to my house and were even being nice to me, most of the time if they do come by an elder or ms may say something but the others will not, its even hard for them to say just hello (how pathetic).

( they also do this behind my back as if i don't know).

i now realize by not being their i've handed my kids right over to them!.

LisaRose

I don't know why you think you cannot talk about the truth not being the truth, but It's usually more effective to ask questions designed to get them to think rather than telling them things. For example, point out the dew claws on a dog or cat and ask them why they think God put them there, since they are functionalluly useless.That way you are not criticising the religion, just pointing out things that creationism doesn't explain. There are lots of things like that. Redundant DNA, the fact that we share so much DNA with chimpanzees, etc. Get a subscription to National Geograpic if they are older, it will expose them to science.

It might be good to also expose them to the beliefs of other religions. Most JWs know nothing if the beliefs of others, it adds to the illusion that they are special. Go to a United Church of Christ (UCC) service, it's way more interesting and fun than the dry boring meetings. The idea is not to get them interested in another religion, but to expose them to the idea that there is more than one way to be spiritual, the JWs are not the only way, or even the best way.