Posts by LisaRose

21

"mum, i been naughty, i'm disfellowshipped."

by Sabin in

jw
friends

so last night we get a phone call from our girl & she tells me the above.

turns out she has been d'ed for a month.

infact she made me turn off the speaker phone so her dad wouldn't hear & i could tell him quietly later.

LisaRose

It's a cult. They are using fear, obligation and guilt to maintain control over your daughter. Her being disfellowshipped does not help her break free because by engaging in conduct they have convinced her is sinful she has become too filled with guilt to think rationally. This is what they do and how they maintain control. I strongly urge you to read Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs (2012) by Steve Hassan.

I haven't yet read this book, but I have read his first book. He has had success in helping people break free of this thinking. Going on about the many faults of the Watchtower will not work, she has been trained to see this as an attack by Satan, it just causes her to become fearful. Steve first tries to engage with people on a personal level and reach their non cult personality by talking about their life before the cult, or their hopes and dreams before the cult thinking took over. He uses family members to reach out to them and remind them of those important relationships. Maybe you could try asking her what she would do with her life if she wasn't a Jehovah's Witness. You could ask her what she thinks about those who have given their life to the religion because they thought Armageddon was so close and who now have nothing. You know your daughter and what her thoughts might be, what might be potential issues.

4

My parents haven't been to a meeting for a year now....

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

now don't get me wrong, they still consider themselves jw's.

but they seem to be plagued with ill health... especially on meeting days?

they are very depressed about it of course and moan about how much they would like to be at the hall.

LisaRose

I am sure it's mostly subconscious. They don't enjoy the meetings but think they should go, but as it gets closer to time for the meeting they just automatically start focusing more on their aches and pains until they really do feel sick. They aren't faking exactly, just being human.

It doesn't help that when they do go they get talked to like they have done something wrong. Don't the elders realise that they are just making the situation worse? It makes me think of this scripture:

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

It doesn't say anything about giving the sick one a beat down for missing the meetings.

9

The restaurant at the end of the universe

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

i sat outside at a cafe with my cappuccino for the first time today.

the sky was blue, the birds were singing, i could hear a woodpecker in the tall trees.

i closed my eyes and felt the sun on my face for the first time in months and i thought, i could sit here until the end of time.

LisaRose

I was able to get out for a bit of gardening today. It was lovely, 70 degrees and sunny, a perfect spring day. Our recent rains have resulted in incredible growth, Honeysuckle is starting to bloom and roses will be soon.

I finished this sign for my business also. I make reproductions of vintage advertising signs from reclaimed wood, or in this case and old headboard. It's my biggest sign to date, I'm pretty happy with it.

15

JW Vs. Mormon program

by pixel in

i will like people on this forum and lurkers to see the big different between jws and other religion.

following you will see the program from the upcoming distric/regional 2016 convention.

look at the topics that are going to be discussed.

LisaRose

While they may seem less cultish than the JWs, at least by these topics, they still use the same mind control techniques as any cult, controlling your time, controlling your friends, claiming to be the sole source of salvation, etc.. A cult is a cult.

What may be happening is that the Mormon hierarchy attempting to move the religion more towards the mainstream while the Jehovah's Witnesses are moving the other way; more control, more paranoia, more stupidity.

83

Why all the hate...

by Dystopia in

...toward jehovah's witnesses?

LisaRose

I don't think we should delete a thread just because someone says something we don't like. Dystopia asked a legitimate question for someone who is a believing Jehovah's Witness and he got some excellent responses. We should allow believing Jehovah's Witnesses to come here and challenge us as long as they don't break the Forum rules. Otherwise we are no better than the Watchtower, who shuts down anyone who doesn't believe 100% in the Governing Body.

83

Why all the hate...

by Dystopia in

...toward jehovah's witnesses?

LisaRose

I don't hate Jehovah's Witnesses individually, but I do hate the Watchtower as an organization. I think you should hate any organization that lies about its history, uses cult mind control and covers up the sexual abuse of children.

16

How much of the Society's publications just get stored away in the garage?

by donny in

almost a year ago i moved back to the dallas - fort worth area after spending 16 years in the northern california area.

the area i live in has several nearby parks and walkways and these areas have several "share a book" pods mounted on a pole spaced about 1/2 mile from one another.

people are encouraged to add books they no longer use to these pods and to take one if they are interested.. i have been diligent on removing watchtower publications from them and what has surprised me is how many old publications in pristine condition are added almost on a daily basis.

LisaRose

I imagine most of the literature placed at the door never gets read. Either they were just taking it to be nice or because it was free or they were interested until the started reading and realized it was written at a third grade level. And that's the books that actually get placed. How much of the literature never makes it that far?

It's sad the waste of money spend generating books and magazine that just end up getting tossed. Good job on taking it out of the pods.

60

I would rather be in the JW cult than the ex-jw cult

by questioningmyfaith in

jw
friends

i have posted one other time on this website.

just for the mere fact that i wasn't anger and bitter and ready to declare the gb the sociopathic criminals that so many here ascribe to, my initial question digressed to bickering over ad hominem attacks against the gb and not my beliefs that i'm questioning.

some did give me some help on my questions.

LisaRose

There is no ex JW cult. This is just a discussion board of mostly ex and some current JWs. As with any board on the internet there are some great people and some not so great people, honest people and not so honest people. As with any internet group you should not believe everything you read, people can and do lie. There are some people that have posted here for many years that are open and honest and I trust them to a certain extent, but all others I take with a grain of salt. There are people that come here and tell stories that don't ring true, and those people I avoid. Usually they leave when they realise people don't fall for their b.s.

If you like the JWs and want to stay then no one is stopping you, but don't pretend you are choosing between two cults, that is absurd. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself on what a cult is and how they work. As a start you should check out howcultswork.com.

Cults have several methods they use to maintain control, such as claiming to be the sole source of truth. The Governing Body claims that, ex JWs do not. Cults do not allow you to disagree with leadership, if you are a JW you know you are not allowed to disagree with the Governing Body or even the elders. Ex JWs say what they want, here or anywhere else. Cults tell you who you should associate with, they control how you spend your time. As a JW you are discouraged from associating with those "in the world" and forbidden to talk to disfellowship persons, you have to attend meetings and engage in the preaching work. Nobody tells ex JWs who to associate with, and we don't fill out time sheets or have meetings to attend.

After learning about cults and how they manipulate people I could never go back to the Jehovah's Witnesses. It would be too hard to sit through a meeting knowing how they are manipulating people. I am 100% happier now than when I was a JW, I would never go back to a life filled with fear, obligation and guilt.

Lisa 🌹

.

20

If God is all powerful why did it take six days

by James Mixon in

if god is omnipotent (all powerful) why did he take six days (or six thousand years jw.org) to.

crete everything.

why not speak everything into existence all at once?

LisaRose

Yes, once to start to question things there are a lot of bible stories that don't make sense. Like why did God need a flood to destroy mankind? Why couldn't he have just zapped them into oblivion, no need for an ark and to kill off all the dinosaurs, lol.

Or why did he create plants on the creative day before he created the sun? How did the plants survive with no chlorophyll?

59

Sweet 16 - Happy Birthday to Us !

by Simon in

it's the forum's 16th birthday today!.

amazing that not only have we lasted so long but we're still thriving and growing.. thanks to all the people and often colorful characters who've contributed to the site over the years.

some are still here with us, some have since moved on, but all have touched each others lives in some way along our different journeys.. .