LisaRose

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Posts by LisaRose

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  12

  Cognitive dissonance and mental gymnastics in social media!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so over the last few years, the witnesses i know (who were close friends in the past) who follow me on instagram social media have been steadily dropping off and blocking me..... but there are a small number who are still friends.. i have noticed one sad situation for one friend who is clearly battling cognitive dissonance.

  if she posts a picture and i leave a nice comment on it, my comment quickly disappears.

  (she must delete it i guess) but then soon after she sends a nice private message asking how we are, or commenting on the post or activity.

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  LisaRose

  It's called hypocrisy.
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  12

  so confused!!

  by whatisthis12 in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  is it possible to keep a somewhat relationship with your family if they are witnesses and have a "worldly" girlfriend?

  i just posted a post, and found this site to be very helpful.

  sorry to repost but my other thread brought up some other questions.

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  LisaRose

  Is it possible to keep a somewhat relationship with your family if they are witnesses and have a "worldly" girlfriend?

  It's depends on the parents, but it's very unlikely. Most parents do not want to loose a relationship with their adult children, but the religion teaches the shunning is for their own good. They believe that everyone who isn't a JW is going to die at Armageddon, which is any day now (and has been for more that a hundred years ). This is what you are up against, it is a cult and they don't play fair.

  That he is going to the convention is not a good sign that he has not actually broken free of the mind control. If you try to talk to your love about these things I can pretty much guarantee his conditioned fear will come up and his mind will shut down to you. I left this religion, knew it wasn't "the truth" but didn't seek out any information about it on the internet for eight years. It took that long for the fear of "apostates" to go away. It was only then I realized how I had been deceived. If what the Watchtower taught was "The Truth" why were they so afraid of outside information? Real truth stands up to scrutiny, it's only lies that do not.

  Please inform yourself about cults and how they work, it will give you an idea of what you are up against. We get people on this discussion board all the time who are in this exact same situation, they usually end up with a broken heart, sad to say.

  I would recommend reading Steve Hassan's book, Combatting Cult Mind Control. If you don't want to invest in a book, a brief explanation of cults is at howcultswork.com.
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  28

  My Boyfriend is a recent Ex Jehovah Witness

  by whatisthis12 in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i have been dating my boyfriend for almost a year now.

  when i met him i had no idea that he was a jehovah witness.

  we took a vacation and he lied to his parents about who he was with, and they ended up finding out not only that he way lying, but who i was.

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  LisaRose

  It's a very difficult situation, both for you and him. You need to determine if he still believes, deep in his heart, that the Jehovah's Witnesses are the only true religion. If he does, then the outcome may not be what you want. Either he will stay with you and feel guilty, or he will go back to the religion. If he goes back and you two are married, he will not have to leave you, but being a non JW married to an active Jehovah's Witness is not conducive to a great marriage. How would you raise your children? He would feel obligated to try and teach them about his religion. How would you handle holidays and birthdays? It's a lot for you to take on. If he goes back before you get married, he will be pressured to leave you, they discourage marriage to unbelievers (non JW).

  If he isn't sure or doesn't believe this is the only true religion then you might have hope. Encourage him to learn about the organization, there is a lot about their history and practices that they don't tell their members. They also tell them not to trust any information not put out by the Watchtower, so it's sometimes hard for JW's that leave, they are conditioned to fear information from former members, they call them apostates. If he is open to outside information, have him look at JWfacts.com.

  Good luck
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  51

  I was impressed by part of today's symposium entitled ' Safeguard your children from what is evil'

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  well i have to give credit where credit is due.

  it was the part of today's symposium - build a house that will endure.

  the part i was most impressed with was 'safeguard your children from "what is evil".

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  LisaRose

  This would mean something if they actually admitted how much child abuse takes place within the organization. Are they going to publish statistics? Admit how many have been accused or admitted to this? Admitted how many are elders? Admitted the secret existence of a database of the accused that they maintain? Admitted that for years they swept things under the rug and went easy on abusers? Admitted that they have settled many lawsuits? Have they even acknowledged the findings of the Australian Royal Commission?

  Unless they are going to be completely honest, these warnings means nothing. Most Jehovah's Witnesses are naive and think that things are different in their little "spiritual paradise" and the danger is from worldly people, as the Watchtower continues to maintain the fiction that this is rare within the organization.
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  53

  JW renaming things: "It's Not this, it's ....."

  by Muddy Waters in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this was brought up in another thread, but i thought it should have its own thread.

  feel free to add your own observations and experience.

  the jws are so duplicit, and they rename things to somehow justify their own irrationalities.

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  LisaRose

  Using special terms for things is a kind a exclusivism, it binds a group together and sets them apart from non members. They also like to change the special terms for things, I have been out so long I doubt I could even speak the language anymore.

  They used to call return visits back calls.

  Conventions used to be called assemblies
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  29

  Do You Ever Think Of ALL The Wasted Time Because You Were a JW?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the longer you are out the more you see how a cult steals all your time, resources and energy.

  we wasted so much because we were witnesses!

  👎.

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  LisaRose

  What The Girl Next Door said.

  You can't change the past, best to make the most of the time you have remaining. Watch those sunsets folks.
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  5

  Spiritual headship question

  by charity7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  non jw here married to a jw.

  i was told by two witnesses that if a woman jw were to marry a non jw that she would have no say whatsoever in what their children would believe or go to church if he was of a different religious belief and he enforced it.

  from what i've read in different threads this is actually not the case.

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  LisaRose

  Technically I believe that is the case, in actual practice that's not how it works. Most JW women are determined to raise their children as JWs, so they will generally override the wishes of their non believing husbands. It's not like he is going to go to the elders and complain, I doubt the elders would do anything if he did.
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  15

  2 witnesses told me the literature they were handing out were not religious

  by charity7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  two witnesses came to my door the other day and i politely told them that i was not interested.

  they told me that it was ok and that what they were handing out was not anything religious.

  i told them sorry and that i was still not interested.

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  LisaRose

  We are not religious

  Of course we are not a cult!

  We aren't trying to convert you

  We are just bible students

  We have good news to share!

  we are not lying, it's called theocratic warfare
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  149

  why jw's commit suicide?

  by notalone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we all know the rate of suicide is high among jw's.

  my question is this- was there some subliminal messages that encourage this.

  i was a born in and my entire life i would have these thoughts that could come out of nowhere,"kill yourself.

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  LisaRose

  I am sorry you feel that way NJ501. I was once in that situation, stuck in the religion, I saw no way out. There is life after leaving the JWs. You can make new friends, I have. I highly recommend meditation for depression, check out the guided meditations by The Honest Guys on YouTube.

  Whether or not the JWs have a higher rate of suicide, it's a fact that many Jehovah's Witnesses do not find it to be a healthy or happy experience and suffer from depression, and many have taken their lives. It was my experience that as a whole the religion is not kind to those going through mental health issues. My own child attempted suicide twice, I had to think about whether or not I could or should disclose this to the elders. In what other religion could you be shunned for attempting suicide?

  I have investigated other religions and found them to be much more welcoming and supportive
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  39

  I need some help

  by Akid48 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  well let me start with my age is 13 and i have been thinking about this jw thing and i need help i just dont know if i want to be one any more.. the help i need is some one to send me some links to places i can research i just dont know if i want to study with a jw any more..

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  LisaRose

  You may have to keep things to yourself for now, it depends on your aunt and how hardcore she is. Just keep asking the questions you are asking, get all the knowledge you can. The religion can sometimes suck you in, they have a way of playing on emotions and playing the guilt card. Knowledge is power, learn about cult mind control and gain logical thinking skills, that will help you see through the nonsense.

  Keep in mind that when I was your age the Awake magazine said that I had to face the fact that I would never have time for a career in this system of things. I am now 62, the system did not end in 1975 like everyone expected. They still say the same things to young people, don't believe them, go to college.

  Howcultswork.com