LisaRose

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Posts by LisaRose

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  16

  Try Being Kind...It Actually Feels Good!

  by EyesOpenHeartBroken in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  let me start by saying that this forum has been helpful to me in many ways.

  i haven't gotten involved in much commenting and i am not very assertive by nature so i've steered away from participating in debates.

  but i have read threads often and had a sense of community.

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  LisaRose

  
  
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  91

  My brother died last night

  by LisaRose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found out this morning that my brother died last night, he was also an ex jw, 73 years old and died of heart disease and kidney failure.

  it was not totally unexpected, as he had been in poor health, but it's a blow, especially as i just lost another brother two years ago.

  there were six of us, now only four.

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  LisaRose

  I am truly touched by the outpouring of support from everyone, what a great group you all are. I talked to my sister today, it all just seems unreal to her as it is with me. We knew he was ill, but we did not know how bad, so it's going to take some time to come to terms with it.

  But your support has been so helpful, so thank you.
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  150

  I'm getting baptized

  by BlackWolf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know i've started similar topics before but this time i'm serious.

  my parents have been constantly pressuring me and after yesterday's watchtower study they asked me if i was going to be baptized this summer... and i said yes.

  i probably should have thought about it more before making a final decision, but they're pretty much forcing me to do it anyway.

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  LisaRose

  It's very hard not to give in to the pressure, I get that. But it's very hard for parents to force you to get baptized if you are firm in the face of that pressure. The trick is to be polite, yet adamant. Do not let them provoke you, but do not give in. Keep repeating that it is wrong to dedicate yourself when you do not yet feel you can be "whole souled in your devotion to Jehovah". Tell them that it would be hypocritical to dedicate yourself simply due to pressure from others. Tell them that it is such an important decision, that you take it very seriously and and that you must be sure and that you will pray to Jehovah for strength and wisdom to make that important decision, but that you will not do it until you feel convinced that he has responded to you with that wisdom and strength. Remind them that Jesus was thirty years old when he was baptized.

  Repeat the above as needed.
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  24

  Helping my family see the truth about 'the truth'

  by Stella3 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is my first time joining a forum like this.

  i grew up in the jw religion.

  i was baptized when i was 13 and started to fade out at 16 at least mentally.

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  LisaRose

  It's extremely difficult to get someone to wake up.  It's a cult, your sister has been systematically programmed over a period of years to think a certain way and to be afraid of anything critical of the organization. I recommend Steve Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control. 

  Steve has helped many people who were in the Moonies cult (he is a former Moonie). Basically he tries to connect with the non cult aspect of people, then ask them questions designed to get them to think. Confrontation and telling people bad things about the Watchtower never (ever, ever, ever)  works. Direct confrontation just causes people to become fearful that they are being misled by Satan. 
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  91

  My brother died last night

  by LisaRose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found out this morning that my brother died last night, he was also an ex jw, 73 years old and died of heart disease and kidney failure.

  it was not totally unexpected, as he had been in poor health, but it's a blow, especially as i just lost another brother two years ago.

  there were six of us, now only four.

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  LisaRose

  Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts, it really means a lot to me. I am the youngest on my family, so I knew that it was likely that others might pass away before me, but nothing really prepares you for the reality.
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  91

  My brother died last night

  by LisaRose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found out this morning that my brother died last night, he was also an ex jw, 73 years old and died of heart disease and kidney failure.

  it was not totally unexpected, as he had been in poor health, but it's a blow, especially as i just lost another brother two years ago.

  there were six of us, now only four.

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  LisaRose

  I found out this morning that my brother died last night, he was also an ex JW, 73 years old and died of heart disease and kidney failure. It was not totally unexpected, as he had been in poor health, but it's a blow, especially as I just lost another brother two years ago. There were six of us, now only four.
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  174

  Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

  "does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

  ‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

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  LisaRose

  It's a slight change from years ago when they basically taught that homosexuality was a choice. I remember an Awake or Watchtower article by a former homosexual who claimed he used to enjoy promiscuous sex and that it was the thrill of the forbidden, meaningless sex that was the attraction, it wasn't that he was born gay. He became a JW and was supposedly happily married to a woman at the time the article was written.

  This idea has pretty much been debunked in society, most people even within the organization, know that it is not a choice, so now they are saying that a person might have an inclination to homosexuality, but they can still choose to be celibate. Of course they have a right to believe and teach that, but when you are telling people they must live without sex, intimacy or love with another, then that is not really an acceptable choice to most people.
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  29

  Where did Jehovah go ?

  by Deleteandrestart in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for the many years i was mentally " in " the congregation, i equated the organisation as interchangeable with the persona of jehovah, in effect whatever the organisation said or thought, that was what jehovah thought and that was what jehovah said.... it was that simple.

  so when i found out the ttatt and the cynical moves of the organisation over the years,including 1975 , the donation arrangements, the united nations, etc i was devastated and thought " where's jehovah in all of this?".

  the god who i'd poured my heart out to on many occasions and who i thought was silently listening and hearing my pleas ..... was not there , .

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  LisaRose

  Of course when you realize it's all just horse pucky it's very hard at first. You go from having all the answers to having none, it's like being hit in the face with a gallon of cold water. Reality bites! But it gets easier as time goes on. You realize that you don't need to have all the answers, that it's better to deal with reality, however uncomfortable, than have a false certainty. You realize you have been avoiding uncomfortable subjects, burying your head in the sand because you needed to protect your fragile belief system. You now have intellectual freedom, you can live your life however you think is best, no need to follow a strict set of rules or have others judge you.
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  13

  Contradictions of the "no blood" policy....

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so according to witnesses, the bible states that all blood is sacred, and once it leaves the body's circulatory system it must be "poured out on the ground" to show respect to jehovah.. it mustn't be eaten or transfused.. so how do they justify it being ok to take in fractions of blood components when these have been produced from donated whole blood?.

  the whole blood was not "poured out".

  it was taken to a laboratory, stored, manipulated, put through processes to separate parts of it, broken down etc.... it certainly was not "dealt with in a sacred way".. and yet these blood fractions are deemed "ok" by the society?.

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  LisaRose

  The blood policy is a remnant of the past, a leftover of a time when they also didn't trust vaccinations, based on primitive fear and superstition. They would love to get rid of it, but it's difficult for them since they have celebrated individuals for throwing their life away by refusing this life saving treatment, so they can't now say it was all for nothing.

  As a weasely compromise they give people an out by allowing factions. They know it makes no sense, that if blood transfusions were wrong (which is really not true and not supported by the bible) then fractions are wrong too, but they don't care, they will continue to let people die rather than admit they were wrong, just like they have always done, because this is an organization with zero integrity.
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  32

  Suffering and existence of God

  by elbib in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many people find it difficult to reconcile suffering and existence of god.

  it seems they feel that it is god’s obligation to shield humans from ill-effects of their short-sighted acts..

  people’s hobby has something to do with this kind of reasoning!

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  LisaRose

  You are acting as if each person's problems were brought upon only by themselves, which is absurd. A child born into poverty or abuse did nothing to deserve his life of pain and misery. Their pain is real and serves no purpose. 

  If you had children and stood idly by while your children beat each other up, or died from something you could easily treat you would be considered a poor father, yet we are to believe our "loving, heavenly father" leaves us to suffer the effects of disease, famine and war? That makes no sense. Either he doesn't exist or he isn't a loving, heavenly father. I vote he doesn't exist.