Posts by LisaRose

34

Caleb and Sofia used to brainwash children

by shattered_origins in

okay, i need to vent.

as a newly awoken individual, i have yet to "come out" to my hard core jdub parents.

my plan was to lay low and use my unbelieving husband and baby as an excuse for my "inactivity", it has worked for the last few months.

LisaRose

Supervised visits only. There was a court case where some JW grandparents used their granddaughter's mom (who was never a JW) to be allowed unsupervised visits. The mom was fine with visits until they started the cult indoctrination, but they wouldn't stop so she only allowed supervised visits. Of course this went no where, the courts uphold parental rights in religious instruction unless there is something wrong with the parents.

You have your husband for an excuse so just make it clear she cannot do this and if she doesn't listen she will loose unsupervised contact. Children are impressionable, and this stuff is toxic.

44

We talk a lot about conditional friends on here

by cappytan in

jw
friends

so, when people post about being shunned by their friends, i've heard several posters say things like, "their friendship is conditional.

real friendships aren't conditional.".

i'm sorry, but that just isn't really true.. if you and i were friends, there are conditions.

LisaRose

I agree, all friendships are conditional, its just that most friendships don't disolve just because you change your religion. And when you have friends you feel especially close to it hurts, no matter how much you know they only did it because of the cult. In my mind it doesnt mean they were conditional friends, it just means your frindship wasn't as important to them as their loyalty to the organization.

15

How long till the hounders come back ?

by Clambake in

after having a baby ?

.

we just had an elder drop by and invite my wife to the kh with a 21 day old baby.. i thought it was kind of classless.

LisaRose

We have all been hounded by elders I'm sure.

Here is what I would have said ( well, in a dream world where I actually could come up with it immediately, not thirty minutes after he left.).

"Thank you so much brother clueless, your concern for my wife and I and how we are handling the demands of a newborn is deeply touching. It was so kind of you to offer to babysit while my wife and I get some much needed sleep, and I am sure we will enjoy that casserole you brought. I know you totally understand that meetings and field service are not possible right now since we are so sleep deprived and exhausted that showers have become optional. And we will take up your kind offer to come over and help clean the house next Saturday. It's so nice to be part of Jehovah's loving organization and feel the loving concern of the elders! I am sure you won't mind showing yourself out. Don't let the doorknob hit ya where the good lord split ya!"

22

"Friends" are gone

by BeautifulMind in

i have (well had) an extremely small circle of jw friends.

lots of acquaintances and associates but 2 or 3 i would consider my true friends.

that list is now 0. yup, once i told them i no longer believe in the org and haven't for a long time, and their attempts to encourage me thru jw lingo and terminologies to "rely on jehovah" and not to "stray away" failed that was pretty much it.

LisaRose

Thankfully, I have my hubby, my babies and my entire side of the family for love & support. More importantly I have my freedom to live my life. Anyway, I'm feeling a bit more comfortable on here, so thanks for taking the time to read my experience. Enjoy your Saturday!😉

You really have quite a lot, it's good that you can focus on that. I miss my old friends too, but I know that page has turned, and that even if I hadn't left the religion. those friendships would have changed and possibly ended anyway, life is full of twists and turns and people do change, friendships wax and wane. Loss is a part of life after all, the ability to focus on what you have, to accept the losses and move on, is a skill we all need to cultivate no matter what our circumstances. Good for you for choosing to focus on the silver lining, not the cloud.

49

Forgiving Loans the Watchtower Way

by cofty in

bank - thank you for maintaining your loan repayments for the past 3 years.

to show our appreciation we are forgiving the balance of your loan.

borrower - yeah!.

LisaRose

New 'Adjustment' - as revealed in our letter of October 29th 2015: "Kingdom Halls will continue to be built or renovated in proportion to whatever the brothers are able to contribute for this purpose."

Am I understanding this right? They took all available money that was being saved towards new kingdom halls or remodeling, saying they will use those funds wherever it was needed, but now they aren't going to do that, if you need a remodel you have to start saving again? Are they really being that blatant? Why would anyone contribute towards a fund for remodel when it's obvious the Watchtower will just steal the money again?

Obviously people won't contribute towards the world wide work (fancy new headquarter and governing body retirement fund) but will pony up for a nicer kingdom hall, and they think they are entitled to that money. How can anyone not see they have gone off the rails?

27

The Many Faces of Lett

by Watchtower-Free in

.

LisaRose

Thanks for posting that. I sometimes wonder if Rubber Face is personally responsible for waking up more people than JWN. I cannot imagine watching him as a JW for more than five minutes without asking myself some hard questions.

Somewhere a circus is missing a clown.

16

Interesting Factoid - Religious Decline

by WireRider in

jw
friends

on the news today - pew research center study on religion.

(sampling size about 40,000. us samples.

margin of error +/- 0.6 %)americans who say that are "absolutely certain" that god exists2007 = 71% 2014 = 63%americans who say they are "religiously affiliated"2007 = 83% 2014 = 77%americans who consider religion is "very important"2007 = 56% 2014 = 53%i just thought it was interesting to see.

LisaRose

Yes, it's crazy, it's like watching a train wreck. Idiots like Carson and Trump are getting all the attention, when they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected (well, I HOPE not, I guess anything is possible) forcing more moderate candidates to pander to the same demographic. Not only is it not working and they look stupid, they are painting themselves into a corner, they will have an uphill battle when it come to the general election. Jeb! (Registered trademark) was considered a virtual lock for the nomination, but he can't seem to get his act together. Cruz totally shut him down in the debate, it was almost painful to watch him stand there getting schooled by his younger rival and former protege. The Republican party seems to be on self destruct.

16

Interesting Factoid - Religious Decline

by WireRider in

jw
friends

on the news today - pew research center study on religion.

(sampling size about 40,000. us samples.

margin of error +/- 0.6 %)americans who say that are "absolutely certain" that god exists2007 = 71% 2014 = 63%americans who say they are "religiously affiliated"2007 = 83% 2014 = 77%americans who consider religion is "very important"2007 = 56% 2014 = 53%i just thought it was interesting to see.

LisaRose

The south is well known for having more church going people, it's called the bible belt for a reason. The North east and west coast people tend to be more liberal and less inclined to religious belief, the mid west tends to lean more conservative politically, but they are not as religiously inclined as the south.

Ten most religious states per Gallup pole:

Mississippi

Utah

Alabama

Louisiana

South Carolina

Tennessee

Georgia

Arkansas

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Kentucky

32

Being interviewed by police tomorrow

by moley in

well tomorrow is a big day for me.

i'm finally going to be interviewed by the police about what happened to me as a kid.. im running the whole gamut of emotions at the moment.

sad, anxious, angry, guilt, fear and many more that cannot be quantified.. i feel physically sick, cannot sleep, have lost my appetite and i am desperately trying not to self harm.. i've got my sister to thank for getting this far.

LisaRose

I hope everything goes well and good for you for having the courage to come forward and tell your story.

If every JW child abuse victims did this it would a serious blow to the a Watchtower.

41

Special Pioneer Sister-in-Law and Husband just got their letter.

by cappytan in

jw
friends

well, my sister-in-law and her husband, special pioneers for only a couple of years, just got their letter.. her comment was along the lines of, "they're having to do this because they forgave all those kingdom hall loans a few years ago and the brothers aren't donating anymore.".

when my wife told me, i laughed so hard i farted.

;).

LisaRose

That hilarious. The local brothers didn't make the decision to forgive the loan, they were not even given a choice, the fact that it didn't work out is entirely the fault of the Watchtower. They have been playing a shell game, fleecing the bank accounts of the congregations to cover their financial mess and pretending they are doing them a favor to forgive the loans. You can't blame people for thinking the Watchtower had plenty of money and that they could contribute less, since they didn't have a mortgage anymore.