The realisation that the Watchtower was not the truth caused me to reexamine everything I once believed, that examination proved to me beyond doubt that God didn't exist. It was hard at first, I felt a loss, a belief system that made me belief the bad in the world would be fixed. But as time went by it got better and I could never go back to believing something just because it makes me feel better, or because the real truth is unpalatable. I would rather have reality.
LisaRose
JoinedPosts by LisaRose
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Hope and Reality
by Alive! infor a long time, i've been moving into a place of utmost hope and faith.
universal reconciliation.
as a converted jw - i began my conversion with the joy that there is a hope for something we all would love - a world where each of us sees our fellow kind as a true brother.. i don't think that's an unhealthy way to live.. but - i'm living with the effects of corruptive thinking from a 'sect' - a divisive sect and judgemental sect that has hurt my sense of self.. it's terribly painful to have completely believed one thing, and then completely believe something else.... well that's how it feels to me.. i've read of some here who were jws for years, then became devout born agains for years and now are confirmed atheists.. wow.. how do you cope with the frivolous nature of your 'beliefs' - beliefs that were 'truths' for you in their own time.. i'm struggling - anyone else?.
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Another Trey Bundy Article on Reveal: "Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders say they don’t protect sexual abusers"
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.revealnews.org/blog/24232/.
jehovahs witnesses leaders say they dont protect sexual abusers.
by trey bundy / december 21, 2015 .
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LisaRose
It's the right thing to report child abuse to the authorities, whether it's the law or not. A group that claims to be the only true religion, Gods sole channel of communication with mankind, shouldn't need a law to force them to do the right thing.
Elders are actually not as capable as anyone else in deciding if an offender is likely to abuse again, they have no absolutely no training in counseling, psychology or child abuse. The many pedophiles who abused children for years, even after being reported to the elders, is proof of that.
The excuse that most child abuse is not prosecuted anyway is ridiculous. Many crimes cannot be prosecuted for whatever reason, does that means you throw up your hands and give up? You do whatever you can to protect children, unless of course protecting children is not actually your first consideration.
The idea that two witness rule cannot be changed is laughable, the Watchtower changes rules all the time, they interpret the scriptures however they want and change that interpretation when it suits them. It clearly doesn't suit them to protect children.
The idea that they punish child molesters is beyond ridiculous. The two witness rule pretty much insures child abusers will rarely be punished. Even then they can opt for private reproof, which is a slap on the wrist and does nothing to protect children. The idea they can monitor the person is silly, they see the person a few hours a week. The Candace Conti case shows that even when a pedophile is known to the elders they will do nothing to prevent contact with children. I personally know of a case where a known pedophile married a woman with children, less than a year after offending, and the elders did nothing, not even warn her, my friend got in trouble for telling her about it. This was a case where he actually admitted the abuse and was prosecuted.
Repentance goes a long way? Since when? This is actually quite disturbing, as it proves their complete lack of awareness of the risks. It's fairly well known that sexual preference for children is hard wired in child abusers and the possibility they will reoffend is quite high. Of course a child abuser will act sorry, but that's only after they have been caught, I doubt the elders could tell the difference between true repentance and "sorry I got caught". Even if they are repentant they are still a risk, you don't put children at risk.
Yes, it's possible an abuser will not reoffend, but you don't risk innocent children on a possibility. Their justifications and excuses are disgusting.
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Does Jehovah Intervene - JW Teaching
by thedepressedsoul ini have been a jw my whole life and i have never been able to get a clear answer on this question.
jw's do not believe that jehovah will intervene if someone is sick, dying or stopping a car crash.
they feel that jehovah is letting "this world" play out before he solves all of these problems.
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LisaRose
It's called confirmation bias, the tendency to look for and accept information that confirms our belief. From Wikipedia:
Confirmation bias, also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities
These people who think Jehovah gave them that extra five dollars for gas money to go out in service also no doubt had times when money didn't magically appear as needed, but they only remember the time it did, because it confirmed their belief.
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Thanks GOD JW's don't have Beauty Pageants
by James Mixon ini can see it now, we are the most beautiful and smartest people in the world.. steve harvey will never be the host of another beauty pageant.
lol.
i was thinking, don't you think it's time for our society to move on from beauty pageants?.
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LisaRose
No, there is no large audience for child beauty pageants, the audience is comprised of the parents of the contestants, the whole thing is paid for by the entry fees. It's really pathetic. And practically everyone gets a trophy and a tiara, and a title, nobody wants to pay that much money and not have something to show for it, so it becomes kind of meaningless unless you are the super super ultimate grand supreme champion princess of the world.
And yes, it's time we did away with them. They are silly, like some sexist left over of the fifties. Little girls should not be taught that they are only valued for their looks and ability to entertain others.
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Why do animals suffer?
by nicolaou inbonnie is fourteen years old now and she's still fit and active, but she sleeps (and farts) a lot more and is definitely slowing down.. she loves us in her own dumb way and always comes to the door to greet me when i get home from work.
she doesn't 'sin' but yeah, she'll steal biscuits and feel shame afterwards.
she's loyal and intelligent and i dread the day when .
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LisaRose
My cat usually prefers women also, although she is gradually becoming more comfortable with my husband. She now sometimes prefers his lap. She was a shelter kitty, I think her previous owner beat her with the newspaper, three years later she still flinches when you turn the page, even though we have never done that, it's like a form of PTSD. She also has a problem with being shut up in a room, or if we go outside in the yard and leave her in the house. In either case she will go ballistic, climbing the curtains and knocking things over, she has ripped the fabric and broken the rods. She has very strong opinions on things. -
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Thanks GOD JW's don't have Beauty Pageants
by James Mixon ini can see it now, we are the most beautiful and smartest people in the world.. steve harvey will never be the host of another beauty pageant.
lol.
i was thinking, don't you think it's time for our society to move on from beauty pageants?.
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LisaRose
If you watch an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras you will learn everything you need to about child beauty pageants, and yes, they are horrid. These parents will spend huge sums of money on costumes and entry fees so that their little darlings can compete in pageants. The parents are obviously living vicariously through the accomplishments of their children and are overly dependent on their child winning.The mothers will do anything so that their child can win, they give the girls spray tans, fake teeth, fake hair, fake eyelashes and costumes costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Many of the girls act like spoiled brats, they know their mother will let them do anything as long as they perform. Pretty jealousies and fueds are common among the mothers, and some of them have a melt down if their child doesn't do as well as they hoped. Some of these parents are barely making ends meet, but will spend enough money to have put their child through college, in the end all they have to show for it is a room full of trophies and Tiaras.
I would love to see a follow-up in ten years to see how these girls end up.
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Why do animals suffer?
by nicolaou inbonnie is fourteen years old now and she's still fit and active, but she sleeps (and farts) a lot more and is definitely slowing down.. she loves us in her own dumb way and always comes to the door to greet me when i get home from work.
she doesn't 'sin' but yeah, she'll steal biscuits and feel shame afterwards.
she's loyal and intelligent and i dread the day when .
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LisaRose
I just found this great collection of funny and heartwarming animal videos
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People keep sending me messages saying "what happened?"
by slimboyfat ini am sorry i haven't replied and if it seems rude.
but people keep asking me what happened and i am not sure what to say.
thanks for writing anyway.
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LisaRose
Well I am glad you are back, no matter the reason. We all say things we wish we hadn't from time to time, so don't worry about it. One of the reasons for this board is help and support, so sometimes part of that is being willing to overlook the occasional mistake, or at least that the way I think it should be, we are all only human after all.
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Waking up with unsung songs...
by Tempest in a Teacup in...trying hard not to forget them .
...not knowing how to write them down because i don't know musical notes .... ...postponing recording them .
...ending up forgetting them.
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LisaRose
Have you considered learning how to read musical notes? It's a shame to not take advantage of such a gift. -
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What was your ''the last straw that broke the camels back'' moment
by RULES & REGULATIONS inthere is a limit to how much straw (long yellow grass) a camel can carry on its back.
if you keep putting more straw on top, it will finally break the camel's back.
when you are at the last straw you are finally angry and will not take any more.. my moment (to stop attending all watchtower meetings) was after the harsh treatment from the elders and fellow congregation members of my second cousin who was disfellowhipped as a teenager.
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LisaRose
I remember thinking the same thing about that illustration, there they are, the holy governing body, just slightly lower than God, while Jesus is no where to be seen. How dare they elevate themselves to such an exalted status? There are just men who put their pants on one leg at a time, just like anyone else. They defend their failed date predictions and doctrine flip flops by saying they are just imperfect humans, but turn around and present themselves as God like beings who must be obeyed no matter what. They make me sick.