It sounds very interesting. One of the best things about leaving the Borg is the opportunity for intellectual freedom, to think for yourself and pursue what interests you. It's only by finding out what you are passionate about that you become your best self, so good for you.
LisaRose
JoinedPosts by LisaRose
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An intellectual feast - A Conference in honour of Prof Samuel N.C.Lieu on his Retirement-Don't read if you don't like ideas
by fulltimestudent ini've been invited to attend this conference (limited attendance) and consider it an exciting privilege.
maybe for many it would be too boring, as a poster said on one of my threads, (my paraphrase) " who cares about the past?".
but, if i started my adult life as a brainwashed slave to yhwh/jesus (and, don't give me any shit about jw's ignoring jesus), i am finishing it as a (somewhat-grin) enlightened man who just may have some understanding of the development of world thought.
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Seems like the perfect holiday for j-dubs
by rebel8 inif this article is correct, (american) thanksgiving's origins have several things j-dubs love.
the xian god.
genocide of nonbelievers that included men, women and children alike.
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LisaRose
Yes, giving thanks, spending time with family, eating turkey, it's just so evil, isn't it? They reject for no reason other than that's what everyone else does. But eating turkey with family is fine on any other day of the year, go figure. -
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An Atheist Visits A Kingdom Hall
by Bangalore inhttp://nerdinthebrain.com/2015/01/25/why-i-spent-my-morning-in-a-kingdom-hall-partying-with-jehovahs-witnesses/.
he seems to have quite a positive view of jw's.. bangalore.
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LisaRose
Nerd in the brain,
I am sorry you feel people have been unfair to you. I think the problem is that most of us belonged to this religion for a while, in my case thirty years. During this time we believed that this was God's chosen organization, that it was the only thing that would allow us to live through Armageddon, which was supposed to be any day. We all tried very hard to be good Jehovah's Witnesses, it's not an easy religion, you are expected to give up a lot of things most people consider normal. It was only after many years and many experiences that we found that, underneath the facade, this religion had problems, problems so severe we couldn't believe in it any more. It was a life changing thing, to lose our faith, family and friends, some are still struggling with this even years later.
So when people read your blog, talking about what a great group of people this is, it was like chalk on a chalkboard. For so many here this is still very painful. I know most here do not hate individual Jehovah's Witnesses, as we understand that they are simply decieved, as we were once deceived. Most people here do talk badly about the organization, because we feel we were lied to and manipulated and because we know they lie about their history, beliefs and practices. For many that come here, this is the first time they have been able to even talk about these things, it's not something that you can even speak of as a JW, to say you don't believe the Governing Body is being directed by God is to risk being disfellowshipped and shunned
The organization calls us mentally diseased apostates, people are warned not to talk to us, simply because we no longer believe the Watchtower is chosen by God and the only path to salvation. I am sorry if some here offended you, I am sure that was not the intent. I am sure you will investigate more before you consider getting more involved with this group. They will tell you not to talk to us apostates, but doesn't that just make you wonder what they are so afraid of? They are struggling with getting new converts these days, despite millions of hours spent in proselytizing, the internet has not been good for them; failed predictions, doctrine flip flops, pedophiles, it's all out there for anyone to see. So don't take anything at face value, verify everything, whether from them or us.
Lisa 🌹
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Dont Give Them More Power Than They Deserve
by Tech49 ina new montra that was recently adopted by the wife and i is this:.
dont give them more power than they deserve.. here's why i say that, and i point this to those of you still in the congregation, still trying to decide what you want to do.. recently, our family had a little family reunion gathering of sorts, and we were in the company of some extended family that were either df or da, to varying degrees.
we made it very clear, to any and all in attendance, that we wanted to be respectful and kind, despite any previous perceptions about our "status".... and that our feelings on a lot of things had "softened", and "changed" over the last 2 years.. i am being purposefully slightly vague, but i think you get the point.
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LisaRose
I started to wonder why you still go to the meetings, then it occurred to me that people like you actually do more to destabilize the organization from the inside. If enough people do what you do it, it may cause others to take note are realize that the elders only have the authority you give them, they are paper tigers. Of course they may eventually disfellowship you because you won't meet with them, but that may take a while.
So carry on my friend.
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Something nice, non-jw
by FadeToBlack ini was out with my 4 dogs last night around 10:30 under a bright moon.
it was frosty (-4 c).
i heard some noise in the field behind my house (my backyard is a national forest).
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LisaRose
We have wild turkeys here, I often see them on my morning walk. This time of year they are mating, the toms strut around with their feathers fanned out trying to impress the ladies, but they don't seem too impressed. Every so often there is a little kerfuffle, then everything calms down again. Next spring you will see the babies start to come out. -
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Minimum wages..raising the minimum question
by James Mixon inacross the u.s the minimum wages are $5.15 in wyoming to $9.50 in dc,.
average $8.00.
eve montes in california pick grapes for $9.50 an hour and she.
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LisaRose
What people sometimes don't acknowledge is that low wage workers sometimes earn so little they end up getting government benefits, so the tax payers end up partially funding these low wage jobs. The businesses that pay these wages are basically getting government funding to keep their prices low, that is not a good use of taxpayer money in my opinion.
Of course simply raising the minimum wage is not a cure all, and raising it too much would be counter productive, which is why no one is really suggesting $50 an hour, but I do think the wage we are paying now is too low. If a person is able and willing to work a full time job then they should be afforded the dignity of enough money to keep them off government benefits.
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LisaRose
I think Jesus has been demoted to a bit part these days. For a supposedly Christian religion don't talk about Christ very much, it's like they don't want to share the glory. -
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Of Minions and Smurfs
by oppostate indidn't take too long for the minions to join the smurfs as being satanic in the minds of some jw's.
whadda-bunch-of-bull-hukey-puckiesi!.
this showed up on jw facebook timelines today.. .
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Decrease of numbers in Jehovah's Witnesses via Deaths, DFings, or Turning Inactive
by flipper inso i'm sure a good number of us saw the chart that i believe the poster splash put on another thread of figures since 1990 regarding how many baptized and % of increase each year .
i started analyzing it ( and i know some referred to it briefly on the other thread ) and guessing of reasons the % of increase didn't match the number of newly baptized.
and of course common sense tells us that either jw's leave the cult each year through death, fading into inactivity, or getting dfed.
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LisaRose
There are some great graphs at JW facts that looks at this information, although they don't have the last few years.
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.pho
They basically used the method as you did. They note that there is a time difference between when a person starts publishing and when they get baptized, but they feel the numbers average out over time. While it's not exact, I do think looking at this numbers in this way does tell you that a lot of people leave or at least stop publishing each year. The increase in publishers is only about half the number baptised, and this is quite a change from prior to 1990.
This is one of the most telling graphs, showing that the number of people leaving has tripled from the rate in the early 1990's. For the 10 years from 1986 to 1995 the rate was an average of 12%; for the 10 years from 1996 to 2005 it had risen to 41%.
So there have been clear indications that a lot people were leaving as far back as 1995. Twenty years of slower growth and a lot of churn, but it seems that it is only recently that the governing body realized they have a serious problem. They are trying to change now , but I think it's too little, too late
JW facts also look at the conversion rate, or how many get baptised compared to the number of bible studies. It's very telling, the number of studies increased, while baptisms plummeted.
Whilst there is roughly one Bible study conducted every month for each publisher, only a minute amount of these ever progress to baptism. Although the number of studies doubled in the 20 years from 1995 to 2014 to 9 million, the number of baptisms plummeted from over 350,000 per year, flatlining around 275,000.
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I just found out that my youngest brother committed suicide
by SnakesInTheTower inmy middle brother called me a couple of hours ago.
our youngest brother, josh, who was 38, was found by his friends in his apartment.
he hung himself.
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LisaRose
I am so sorry, that is just so sad. There is no "should" when it comes to grief, different people process these things in different ways, I am sure at this point you are just still in the denial stage. It may hit you all at once in a day, or a week or a year, or just gradually over several months. I think that when suicide is involved it's more complicated, your sadness may be mixed with anger, so don't be surprised if your emotions are over the place .
We are always here if you need to vent.
Lisa 🌹
