Posts by LisaRose

20

Paul did not belittle women

by Doug Mason in

i note the recent post that quoted 1 timothy 2:11-12 and colossians 1:23 which place women at a level that is lower to men.

the poster accused paul of this mysoginy, but that is not correct.. 1 timothy, 2 timothy, titus, colossians, ephesians and hebrews were written after paul's death.. paul was not a mysoginist; he made full use of women in leadership roles.

he wrote that in god's sight there is neither male nor female, for all are one in god's sight.. doug.

LisaRose

Bearing children is such a tremendous, fulfilling task, that it should satisfy any aspirations. imho, bsw

Hogwash. I am 62, my youngest child is 38. What was I supposed to do for the last twenty years? Sit at home and knit? Having children is wonderful, it doesn't mean that is all we can or should do. I am as domestic as the next woman, but I would be bored silly staying home all day keeping house. I had a successful career and then started my own business, and my husband is 100% supportive.

I do not feel that women are not equal to men, to the contrary, they have the superior position in life, more important to our arrival, survival, the beauty charm and warmth. why any lady would feel like a failed man, is not understandable to me.

Superior position, lol, I remember the Watchtower spouting such nonsense, which is a just silly excuse to justify treating women as less than.

I do not feel like a failed man, whatever the heck that means.

20

Paul did not belittle women

by Doug Mason in

i note the recent post that quoted 1 timothy 2:11-12 and colossians 1:23 which place women at a level that is lower to men.

the poster accused paul of this mysoginy, but that is not correct.. 1 timothy, 2 timothy, titus, colossians, ephesians and hebrews were written after paul's death.. paul was not a mysoginist; he made full use of women in leadership roles.

he wrote that in god's sight there is neither male nor female, for all are one in god's sight.. doug.

LisaRose

What difference does it make who wrote those passages? It's still in the bible, allowed to be in the bible by God, if you believe the bible is inspired. Those words have been used for centuries to dominate and subjugate women, all in the name of God, and are still being used to this day by backwards religions like the JWs.

58

baptised nearly 51 years

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

been reading this site for awhile now.

i have had a long and often tragic life as a jw.

my story is so long because i'm pretty old :) i feel sad i've been locked in fear and guilt for my entire life.

LisaRose

Welcome. I was in for 28 years, you don't have to explain to me why people stay, even when it is a very unsatisfactory way of life. I have been out now for seventeen years, so I can truthfully say there can be life, healing and hope, no matter what.

Lisa 🌹

42

Cooking With Cast Iron

by Simon in

i can't even remember what got me interested in pans, probably wanting to try cooking more and watching some cooking videos on youtube, but i kind of started wanting to get a cast-iron skillet specifically so started reading up on them.

hey, if you're going to spend $50 on something you need to study them and create a comparison spreadsheet ... right?.

not only did cast-iron look great for cooking but there are some studies that show risks to aluminium / teflon cookware ... not that the wts was "right" about aluminium, but teflon can give off carcinogenic chemicals if overheated (so what if it chips off into your food?).

LisaRose

I love my cast iron, it's much more durable than anything else and cooks evenly with no sticking as long as you maintain the seasoning. They are not indestructable though, I dropped and broke one recently, but will last a good long time if cared for properly. Its best not to scour them, soak and gentlyvwash if dirty. If the coating gets uneven or funky you can always renew them by putting in your barbeque or firepit and burning off the old finish and starting over with the seasoning.

63

Life is changing for me: no pioneering, got a job!

by Skepsis in

jw
friends

a month ago i decided to register in this board.

i had decided to step down pioneering but was frightened about the consequences.

i had finished my university degree some months before (despite disaproval from brothers in my congregation) and i had to choose: continue pioneering and working in jobs with no future or starting a career, working full-time.. i was thinking to postpone the decisiton but... i was fed up with preaching.

LisaRose

Now that you are not pioneering you can use the time to think about what you want in your life. Don't let anyone pressure you. They are slaves to an organization who wasted their life, now they want you to waste your life slaving for an organization, because that will validate their choices. It's your life after all, you will have to live with the choices you make.

I was told all these things as well, I would never have time for a career in this system, the end is so close, etc. I am old now, so they were wrong, just like the brothers are wrong to tell you to keep pioneering.

When you really are sure what you want, then just walk away, they only have the power you give them. In the meantime, start making new friends.

49

How do you categorise the Society - Cult or High control religion

by UnshackleTheChains in

i have often seen many categorise the organisation in different ways.

some say cult, some say high control religion.

cult or high control religion?.

LisaRose

If it walks like a duck.......

CULT

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

LisaRose

Finding out that everything I believed as a Jehovah's Witness was a lie started a process of questioning that inevitability led to my becoming an atheist. I had accepted so many things that turned out not to be true that it made me question everything. It was not immediate, it was probably five years from when I left the religion that I realized I no longer believed in God. I did not come to this realization lightly, I actually wanted to still believe in God. But things arent true just because you want them to be, and I couldn't fool myself. I had worked to hard to rid myself of one flawed belief system to blindly still believe in another. I realized that I had believed in God because from a very early age I had been told he existed, that is all. Just as people born in Muslim countries believe in Allah, I believed in Jehovah because I was born in a Christian country. I found, when I looked at it objectively, that I could no longer see any evidence of God's existence. It's like you have seen the man behind the curtain and you cannot just unsee him and pretend everything is normal, it just doesn't work like that.

It's like if someone came up to you and told you about the wonders of Pink Unicorn, how happy it makes them, how they have such a great relationship with Pink Unicorn.But.....they have never actually seen Pink Uniicorn, they feel him in their heart and Oh My! if you just believe, you will feel him too. I had seen the error of accepting something simply because others were convinced, I just couldn't go there again.

I've heard many times from believers that Atheists just do not believe in God because they want to do bad, or they want to be selfish. I can tell you that is is a common misconception. I am more moral now than when I was a JW, because I don't make the mistake of substituting someone else's idea of morality for my own.

65

Short stay

by midnight in

after much research and prayer i am returning to being a jehovah's witness i can find nothing that eliminates them from being god's directed people , in the end they will reach the end of there journey despite mistakes and errors just like the israelites entered the promised land , thanks for your input and all the best on your personal journey ☺.

midnight..

LisaRose

Well thanks for your kind replies and advice , the little voice has started already 😟 I just find it odd how it's wrong to ask certain questions at the kingdom hall and certain topics are taboo this raises my suspicion once again .

Yes, it's a huge red flag when you are not allowed to ask questions. Think about it, if what Jehovah's Witnesses believe is "The Truth", what are they so afraid of?Truth, real truth, stands up to challenge, it is only lies that are exposed by scrutiny.

I was shocked when I left the religion and found out how much I had been told was exaggerations, half truths and outright lies. In particular the chronology, the 607 date for the fall of Jerusalem. No reputable bible scholar believes Jerusalem fell in 607, yet it's the basis for much of their teachings, that the last days started in 1914, and that the end must be close because of that. I had also been led to believe that because of this chronology Charles Taze Russel predicted the last days would start in 1914, that this proved he was being directed by God. The truth is that he thought he already was in the last days, and the end would be in 1914, that Jesus would return then. It was only later, when the world didn't end that they came up with the notion of an "invisible return" by Christ.

Don't stop asking questions.

130

Not a sympathizer

by Richard Oliver in

i think everyone here is under the impression that i am a watchtower sympathizer, i am not.

i just like facts and when people say things, which are their opinions but that facts point out as not being true, than that is when i get so motivated to make a comment.

i have read posts here, listened to six screens and read jwsurvey and seen things that people say, which are opinion, but pass them off as fact.. there are legitimate things that people on here and former jws have concerns over without manipulating what is said or trying to pass off opinion as a fact.

LisaRose

I agree that some in the ex JW community are too ready to believe negative things about the Watchtower. Is that so surprising? We are a group of people who have been hurt by an organization, it's very easy to fall into the trap of confirmation bias. Of course Jehovah's Witnesses are generally guiltly of believing negative but untrue things about people of other religions. It's common human behavior.

Should we be more careful about believing every crazy thing we read about the Watchtower? Sure. But I have seen many times where people came here and posted negative things about the organization where people did question it and rightly so. It's a tough crowd, they do challenge things.

As far as the organization being high control, I have to say I believe that to be true, in fact I believe they are the other "C" word, cult. I was a JW for thirty years, and of course during that time I didn't think I was in a cult, but then who in a cult believes they are in a cult? No one, it's the nature of the beast. I have now been out for seventeen years. I have learned so much in that time, read some of the books by Steve Hassan, read a lot of stories here. One of my favorite sources is howcultswork.com. Though not a definitive source, it presents the information in a succinct format. So many things they talk about apply to the religion, time control, relationship control, reporting structure, exclusivism, etc. I know many JWs and even ex JWs don't want to think they are or were in a cult, it's a hard things to admit, because it make us feel stupid, that we were so bamboozled. It was hard for me, but I had to admit it was true. But a thing isn't untrue because it's hard to accept, anymore than every bad thing about the Watchtower are true just because we don't like them.

Your might want to stick around and tell us when we are believing rubbish, maybe you can help us be better. Then again, maybe you can learn something yourself.

Lisa 🌹

23

Marking Talks are back!?!?! - New Name!

by thedepressedsoul in

when i was younger i used to hear about "marking talks" given in the past.

i believe they stopped in the 80's or 90's.

basically, if someone wasn't baptized or doing something unrepentant, they would get a "marking talk" and be treated the same as a df person.

LisaRose

Where in the bible does is say the elders should publicly humiliate someone who is doing something they don't like?