Posts by LisaRose

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

LisaRose

I lost faith in the God of Jehovah's Witnesses when I left them, but still thought there was a possibility that some kind of God did exist. I was content to leave it like that for about eight years at which point I found JWN. After reading many posts by atheists and others I stopped believing in him or her altogether.

For a while it seemed a bit of a loss, I envied those who still believed, as it seemed to help them get through life somehow, even if God was only in their imagination. I missed spirituality and even attended a liberal church for a few months in hopes of finding it there. Gradually I came to prefer the uncomfortable truth rather than the comfortable lie. Now I feel I have gained back my spirituality, but a better spirituality based on truth not fantasy. I have hope for the future and am enjoying my life very much. For me spirituality is in every moment of connection between two souls, in every beautiful sunset, in every thing I create, in every great meal I cook. I don't need anything more than that.

9

Offended by JW letter targeting obituaries

by betterdaze in

local father offended by jehovah's witness letter, claims its writer is targeting obituariesjacksonville, fla. a local father who wishes to remain anonymous sent action news jax a copy of a letter sent to his family's church.. the letter read in part: "sorry about your loss.

i read about it from the obituary.

jehovahs witness literature was attached to the letter.. in a time when a family is grieving they need to be surrounded by family and friends.

LisaRose

It's the same as chasing ambulances, using someones personal tragety to advance their own agenda. Of course they think they are doing them a favor, but they fail to realize that other people have their own faith and deeply held beliefs and may be comforted by the thought that their loved one is in heaven. The JWs are in effect telling them that they are not really in heaven, just dead, and if you want to see them again you just have to become a JW. It's offensive to say the least.

27

Calm Down Everybody, We Will Know Soon Enough

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

seriously, they will change the midweek meeting ever so slightly.

it is just repackaging of the same old stuff.seriously, we don't know if construction is halted for days, weeks, months, forever, or what.. we don't know if new kingdom halls will still go up, old kingdom halls will be closed and sold.

they have laid off bethelites before and they will lay them off some more.

LisaRose

This seems like a chink in the armour of an organization that has never seemed to show any weakness before, speculating is irresistible.

26

I just called Brooklyn Bethel about construction shut down

by Watchtower-Free in

i just called brooklyn bethel service dept.

they said they had not heard anything about a worldwide shut down of construction.

i asked if he had heard about london bethel shutting down construction.. he said no that it was a surprise to him.

LisaRose

They know it's true but are not allowed to confirm to the peons yet.

180

What is the most bizarre counsel you received as a JW, from a JW?

by Funchback in

there were many addressed to me.

for example, i once had a sister tell me i was gambling because i liked playing skill crane (the machine where you have to try to pick up prizes like stuffed animals) at the arcade.

i then fired back a her: "you saw the r-rated movie 'backdraft.

LisaRose

I had a dimwit who told me you should be careful what you wear in the living room because the government spies on people via their televisions.

22

Another ruse?

by Pistoff in

could the stopping of construction be just another ruse to squeeze money from the rank and file?.

it will certainly generate buzz like nothing else..

LisaRose

Yes, it's shocking they would abandon a project like that. We had a situation in our little town where the city was going to use redevelopment funds to build an apartment building with retail on the ground floor. The recession hit, the state withdrew all redevelopment money and the city did not have enough to finish the project. Halfway built, it sat unfinished for five years. The city was finally able to sell the land for one million, but they had put five million into the project, so it was a huge loss.

If they sell the land they may or may not get back what they put into it, depending on if the potential buyer can adapt the finished parts to their needs, but unfinished work is not really a selling feature.

27

Help Me Undertand...

by DarioKehl in

according to the 2014 annual report:.

"worldwide, there are 115,416 congregations of jehovahs witnesses and 8,201,545 publishers.".

i don't understand how the borg is facing financial difficulty.

LisaRose

I would be tempted to think they are hiding money if they hadn't abruptly stopped building projects that they started only a year ago. Unless it's some big charade to shake people down for more money, it's just not cost effective to abandon half built projects and it makes them look like they don't know what they are doing. It makes you wonder if their is some scandal that is going to come out shortly that might cause people to leave and/or stop contributing and they are conserving cash to ride it out.

Maybe they sent all their cash to a Nigerian Prince.

33

A simple explanation for the financial changes

by JeffT in

jw
friends

as i've mentioned from time to time, i'm a retired accountant.

i have tried many times to come up with some logical, sound business reason why the wtbs has made the big changes in its financial arrangements: taking the congregations savings, the monthly donations per congregation etc.

i finally came up with the answer.. the leadership of the watchtower society is batshit crazy.

LisaRose

They should have cleared a wack of cash from the sale of the Brooklyn properties, but they are not acting like they are sitting on wack of cash, they are acting more and more like they are tettering on bankruptcy. Congregation cash grab, begging for money, now this. Even when you factor in child abuse lawsuits and dwindling contributions, it doesn't account for this level of desperation. You don't halt projects right in the middle, it leaves you with an unsellable, half finished property, plus you lose the cost all the materials you purchased. What changed that much in a year?

Maybe it's just a temporary cash flow issue, or maybe they have some hits on their investments, or maybe there are lawsuits we don't know about, it's hard to say. Not everything go through the courts, the Conti case cost them plenty, not just in money, but bad publicity, maybe they are being forced to settle some large claims because they are afraid more publicity will get back to the rank and file.

17

My thoughts re Pope Francis

by ctrwtf in

jw
friends

so today i'm watching cbs news coverage of the popes visit to america.

first, let me say i'm not religious at all at this point in my life.

still a few things stood out to me about the news coverage of his visit.. first thing i wondered was if a gb member happened to garnish this much press (unlikely) what would his message be?

LisaRose

Pope: Peace, love, forgiveness

Governing Body: Dont wear tight pants.

Pope: We need to do something about climate change

Governing Body: Dont wear tight pants

The pope has made some good moves lately, he has spoken out on the need to address climate change for example, but he gets a C-when it comes to child sex abuse. He has at leased discussed it, but then he expressed sympathy to the bishops for having to deal with it. What about sympathy for the actual victims? This was a problem that was made worse by the hierarchy, they shouldn't get sympathy for dealing with their own mess.

579

Won't get fooled again ...Moon Landing.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

so i was fooled by the witnesses.

what can i learn from that?

not to accept things at face value but to seek out opinion and different view points.. hence my question " do you believe man landed on the moon?.

LisaRose

Research on motivated reasoningsuggests that people tend to believe what they want to believe. Muslims in particular have reason not to want to believe that mass murder on 9/11 was carried out by co-religionists in the name of their faith. This may lead some to embrace a defensive narrative where they are victims of a larger conspiracy by the U.S. or Israel to launch a self-serving war on Islam

People believe what they want to believe

Interesting links DJS. I think this comment says it all, people believe what they want to believe.

You could provide a mountain of proof from climate scientists that global climate change is real, caused by man and a problem, but people will believe Rush Limbaugh, because Rush makes them feel smart that they haven't been taken by the crazy scientists and they would rather not have to give up their 15mpg Ford F-350 That they don't even use to haul anything.

It explains why a narcissistic airbag like Trump leads in the polls right now. He tells people like this what they want to hear. He was hopelessly lost in the debate as he had no knowledge of foreign policy, but it doesn't matter to his fans.

The same thing with the moon landings, 9/11 conspiracy theories, etc. People believe what they want to believe.