i haven't posted anything for a bit, but wanted to express how i am losing this battle.
it has been over 3 years now since i woke up about watchtower.
the battle that i am talking about is the tug of war with my wife (i adore her immensely), watchtower is winning, she simply will not give in to my so-called negative thoughts about the religion that we are in.
I recommend reading Steve Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control, if you have not done so. It is very difficult to wake up someone in a cult, the problem is they got there first, they are just trained to think everything against the Watchtower is a plot by Satan to take them away from God.
I am sorry, I know it must be very hard.
protesters shut down a trump rally.
massive numbers of people are out in chicago and have shut his event down.
there were scuffles inside the event.. despite his lame attempt to pretend the violence he instigates is nothing to do with him it's clear that it is as the cnn quotes during the last event showed only too well.. this doesn't happen at anyone else's events - candidates have even given up the stage to protesters, not called for them to be beaten and punched.. trump is an ugly person and this is just a small taste of what a future under his rule would be like.. shame on the gop for not kicking his ass out.
isarose, you are saying the republicans pick on Obama because of his color. They pick up on him because they disagree with him.nyou are fanning racial flames and I'm calling you out on it.
Obama's policies were no different than many other moderate democrats, yet there was a special level of hatred towards Obama that seems out of proportion to his politics. I don't think all republicans are racist, but it is my opinion that there is that element in the party. I honestly feel that they were opposed to anything Obama said or did no matter what it was.
we both are 21 years old.
we both are 21 years old.
i am almost done with my study and working on to become one of an unbaptized publisher.
If she is determined to stay in the religion, then I think it's best if you break it off until you are baptized. It doesn't sound like you are committed to the religion and you are doing her a disservice to continue with the relationship until you are sure that is what you want. Although I no longer believe in the religion, and think their rules are silly, she does believe in it, she has made a commitment to live by those rules. You don't want her to get into trouble or hurt her relationship with her parents or make her feel bad about her relationship with God, and that is what will happen if you continue in like this. And you should not go forward with baptism just because you want this girl, that's a terrible reason to make a life changing decision.
I was in a similar situation back in the day, I totally get it. I knew a non JW guy, we were so right for each other. But I broke it off because I wanted to live the JW life. Amazingly we got together many years later, but I had to go through a lot and learn some things before I realized that this religion wasn't "the truth". I don't think it would have worked if I had gone ahead with the relationship, I wasn't ready, I would have felt guilty and been miserable. I had to deal with the religion first before I could be a good wife to a non JW guy
Just my 2cents
protesters shut down a trump rally.
massive numbers of people are out in chicago and have shut his event down.
there were scuffles inside the event.. despite his lame attempt to pretend the violence he instigates is nothing to do with him it's clear that it is as the cnn quotes during the last event showed only too well.. this doesn't happen at anyone else's events - candidates have even given up the stage to protesters, not called for them to be beaten and punched.. trump is an ugly person and this is just a small taste of what a future under his rule would be like.. shame on the gop for not kicking his ass out.
The republican party has no one to blame but themselves for what is happening with Trump. They loved the fact that people hated a black man in the white house, they used it, they encouraged it. They refused to work with Obama, creating gridlock in Washinton, they attacked him, not the issues. They thought they would ride a groundswell of hatred of Obama and everything he stood for right into the white house.
But they didn't count on an openly bigoted candidate like Trump tapping into that to get the nomination. There are simply not enough white guys to get Trump elected and they know that. Trump is playing to the lowest common denominator and it works within the party, but it won't work in a general election. He is a dog turd that they will attempt to polish up and pass off as a viable candidate, but it's a long time between now and Novemer, plenty of time to see Trumps weaknesses, his lack of knowledge of the issues, his petty vanity. Every time he opens his mouth he offends another segment of the electorate. The Trump faithful don't care, they love him and will support him no matter what he does, but I doubt there are enough of them to get him elected.
I very much look forward to the first debate between Trump and Hilary or Bernie, it should be good.
we both are 21 years old.
we both are 21 years old.
i am almost done with my study and working on to become one of an unbaptized publisher.
Do you really want to live the rest of your life in a religion where everything you do is so micromanaged? Do you want to live you life constantly worried that everything you do will be judged? Gossiped about? Reported to the elders? You are both adults, not doing anything wrong, it's silly to have to skulk around like you are in the seventh grade.
Do not think this will be the only time in your life this will happen. Take a hard look at the religion you are planning to join, they are not what they pretend to be. Frankly I am much happier now that I have left. If I want to do something I don't have to worry about what the busybodies down at the Kingdom Hall are going to say about it.
crowd looking like they're doing the heil hitler salute to trump when he asks for a pledge and swear their support while calling for broadening torture laws.
trump asks backers to swear their support, vows to broaden torture laws.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/05/politics/donald-trump-florida-pledge-torture/.
Although I don't see illegal immigration as being the huge problem that Trump does, I do think it's something that should be addressed. This is a problem that has gone on for years with with collusion of both parties. The democrats don't want to lose the Hispanic vote and the republicans are controlled by big business, who wants cheap labor and a growing economy. There is just not the political will to fix the problem, Trump will not change that, even if elected.
People want to blame the people coming here illegally and punish them, but as long as there are jobs people will come, you can't blame people for wanting to improve their situation in life. We have done them a disservice by letting them come, but not giving them a path to make their situation legal, which creates all kinds of problems for them as well as us. Mass deportations are not the solution, it's not going to happen, it would be a logistical, legal, fiscal and human rights nightmare. Politicians who say they for mass deportations are pandering to people who want to hear this, they know it won't happen, don't fall for it. Decide how much immigration needs to happen, give law abiding immigrants a path to legality, deport the rest.
Although immigrants actually have a lower than average crime rate, it does create a problem for law enforcement. Some cities cooperate with ICE, some don't, it's a mess, inconsistent and unfair. If we gave these people a path to legalization we would have more control over who is here and why and make law enforcement easier. And as long as there are so many people coming here for jobs we will never secure our borders, which gives terrorists an easy path to follow. If we didn't have a flow of illegal immigration, ICE could focus on keeping out terrorists, border control would have an easier time securing the borders and keeping out the drug trade b
Building a wall will not work. As long as there are jobs people will come, so you would just be wasting your money. You don't need a wall to stop illegal immigration, you could stop it by preventing employers from hiring them. A national ID card (with biometric functionality that employers could use to verify), stiffer penalties for hiring illegals and a robust enforcement agency would stop 90% of illegal employment. With no jobs, most illegal immigrants would not come. During the recession immigration stopped, many even went back to their country's of origin.
If there is any good in Trumps bigotry and pandering to people who fear immigrants it's that it has forced the issue out for discussion. If people want this issue fixed they need to start making it a priority, not just in the presidential election, but in every election. If enough people demand a solution this issue could be fixed.
well it finally happened!
we have been waiting about a year for this, my dfd husbands family asked us for money.
even though his own father hasn't met our 8 month old son.
Would they give you money if you were in need?
so my mum who is in and really is finding it hard that i have left and faded.
shes asked me if i want to the the circuit overseer next week.. i have never met him and this is more my mum wanting me to get my problems i have with the organisation out.
but should i share everything i've learnt or what?.
this is a legitimate question.
did any of us ever find real joy in being at the meetings?
did any of us ever finish a meeting and think "i feel so enriched"?
the gb has recently said that the brothers are generously contributing lots of money (at gunpoint it seems!
) so why with a billion dollar annual income do they demand more cash?
they have staunched the outward flow of money on paid preachers, zone overseers and bethel expenses and stalled the promised worldwide luxury buildings projects..
It's like any organization, once it's been established the goal is to survive, to maintain itself. Of course any organization is a group of individuals, and they are what keeps the organization going. Individuals may start out as true believers, but I think once you become part of an organization hierarchy in a corrupt religion like the Watchtower two things come into play. 1) people have a hard time facing the fact that they made a bad choice and 2) People become invested in maintaining their position.
It's a normal behavior for people to continue to justify bad choices rather than admit they made a mistake. Study after study shows that rather than abandon a course of action when it doesn't work out, people are likely to invest even more time energy or money in is a course of action. The ego is fragile, people simply cannot admit they were wrong. People like Barbara Anderson, who courageously spoke out when she saw things were not right are very rare.
Then, when people become part of the hierarchy in a corrupt religion like the Watchtower they become invested in maintaining their position, they become corrupted themselves. I think that is why people remain, even when they find out disturbing information. You may fool yourself that you are still a believer, but at some point you have sold out and you know it. It doesn't matter than its an unpaid position, you are getting room and board at the least, security, some status and to leave would be difficult, the higher you go the more difficult it is. Can you imsgine someone on the GB leaving and becoming a regular person again? What are they going to do, be a Wal-Mart Greeter? If they had an ounce of integrity they wouldn't be where they are, it's never going to happen.
We had a hospital services district (a government organization) in a nearby town that effectively served no function, there were no hospitals in the town, nor had there been for years. None of the people serving had any motivation to petition to dissolve the organization because they were getting a paycheck for virtually no work. It became a self licking ice cream cone.
That is why you are seeing desperation on the part of the governing body. They see the problems, but at this point it's impossible to be honest and admit the organization was ever wrong, or they were wrong for staying, and they will never change course in any substantial way. They simply double down on the stupidity and hope things get better, they have no choice. And the organization may start to shrink, but there will always be believers, no matter how big the problems get, because they cannot admit they were wrong either.
