Posts by LisaRose

194

For the Supporters of Those Who Love Jehovah

by lovesjehovah in

jw
friends

i am jehovah's witness, despite some of the questionable teachings, crimes, and other outlandish behaviors of specific people affiliated with the religion.

i know that my relationship with jehovah is not influenced by any outside factors.

i do not condone any crime.

LisaRose

I don't believe in God anymore, but I don't see why everyone has to be so harsh. For a while after leaving I left open the possibility of God, I still occasionally prayed, I wasn't yet ready to embrace atheism, I had already lost faith in the Watchtower, thinking that there might still be a God l gave a certain amount of comfort. Losing your faith is a hard thing, it doesn't happen overnight, at least it didn't for me.The people criticising you went through their spiritual journey and embraced atheism in their own time, now they are putting you down following your own spiritual path.

Loves Jehovah, if it makes you happy to still believe in God, then do. I am all for what works . You may change your mind later, or you may not, but either way don't let what others say take away your joy. I would suggest you consider other religions, I think you would be happier in a religion that accepted you for who you are. I like the United Church of Christ, sometimes called Congregational (not the regular Church of Christ, they are no better than the JWs). They have no doctrine, and welcome all, plus they tend to have great music. Once you went to one of their services you would never sit through a dry, boring meeting again.

Take care

Lisa🌹

9

The Ages Of The Biblical Patriarchs

by JW_Rogue in

so i've been reading the imitate their faith book (because my wife wants to) and keep coming upon these ridiculous ages for the bible patriarchs.

now i know wt takes everything literally but there has got to be some explanation that makes more sense.

why would the bible writers create these obviously false ages?

LisaRose

Have you ever played the game "Telephone"? One person says something to another, it gets repeated from one person to the next until by the end it wasn't anything like what was originally said. These were stories that were told and retold over centuries, it wasn't until much later that they started writing it down, by that point things were exaggerated. There might have been a man called Methuselah, and he may have lived a long life, but it wasn't 900 years, it's just that the stories got exaggerated.

By the time people started writing things down, people were somehow living normal life spans, what does that tell you? Otherwise, why did people go from living 900 years to 90 in a few centuries? The Watchtower teaches that it was because they were closer to perfection, but that never made sense to me, imperfect is imperfect, there is no "sort of" perfect. But then the genesis account is full of things that make no sense and couldn't have happened the way the bible says. They are fables, tall tales, no different than the stories of Zeus.

77

In The Name of Love, Need Your Opinion

by thankyou in

i'm non-jw.. been following this forum.

most of you folks have been through hell, but are still loving souls.

i'm reeeally impressed and glad to be here.. my question is at the end of this.

LisaRose

Go find a nice girl who isn't a Jehovah's Witness, there are lots of them. This girl doesn't even sound like she is all that interested in you, and even if she was it would not be a good thing, she would always feel guilty about it and/or try to convert you. It's a cult, they control people by fear, obligation and guilt, trust me, you don't need that in your life. We get people in your situation here a lot, it never really ends well, so save yourself the pain and move on.

Love does not conquer all.

68

So ... Russia and Nato at war? Should we be worried?

by Simon in

it seems unbelievable but turkey (a nato member state) shooting down a russian jet fighter on their syrian border seems to be "meh" news and no one is too bothered about it too much.. the world seems a bit upside down right now.

i don't think a lot of countries really know who the hell they are fighting and who is and isn't on their side in it all and really what is going on.. smaller incidents than this have led to major conflicts in the past but hopefully calm heads will prevail.

china shot down a us spy plane years ago and the world survived and forgot about it so things will move on i'm sure.. i'm guessing the price turkey pays for their gas supply from russia will be going up soon though.. man, that republican primary is sucking all the news attention from the room.

LisaRose

Yes, we should be worried about Russia and NATO but pursuing diplomacy first is not weakness. I voted for Obama because I didn't want a president that would start a war for no reason like Bush did in Iraq, a war that has cost us billions, the lives of many Americans and did nothing to make us safer, in fact it did just the opposite. Obama didn't create ISIS, Bush did.

Its incredible to me that people are so ready to repeat these same mistakes. As tragic as the Paris attacks were, it's 130 people. How many will die if we jump into another stupid war before pursuing every other option? Any response to the threat of ISIS needs to be carefully thought out, and done with the agreement of a coalition of countries, otherwise we will just have another Afghanistan or Iraq. If war is the only solution, then so be it, but not before every other option is pursued. The issue with Turkey and Russia illustrates how volatile this situation is, we need to tread carefully or we will end up in WW3.

70

"Most women would prefer to be stay at home housewives. Women's lib did alot of damage to women!"

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

the above is a quote from a jw female relative.

this was in response to a discussion about the suffragette movement ( and the movie about it that's currently in cinemas).

she seemed to think that it would be so much better if women were just daughters/ wives/ mothers and didn't go out to work and have career's?

LisaRose

It's not just the JWs, a lot of people seem to believe this. Of course some women do want to stay home, especially when their children are small, but not all women do. I wanted to do that myself but wasn't given a choice, as my first husband couldn't keep a job and I wasn't willing to live on welfare. In the end I think I was better off working, I enjoyed my work and it felt good to be able to support myself and I ended up doing things I would never have thought possible. Despite having no degree, I was a systems analyst for a large corporation.

People knock feminism, but a lot of those people benefited from the work of feminists. if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have equal pay and sexual harassment laws. I have seen help wanted ads from the thirties and forties, jobs were classified by race and sex, if you were a woman you could only apply for certain jobs, I don't think anybody wants to go back to that, nor should we have to put up with sexual harassment. Like any cause there are extremists, but that doesn't negate the progress that has been made.

My daughter in law blogs about her life as a working mom, she does feel conflicted at times, but she has a great job in education where she feels she is making a difference, and her daughter is thriving. As hard as it is sometimes, she knows she made the right choice. That's what it comes down to, women have a choice now, it's a good thing. In many European countries people can stay home longer with their children, I would like to see better parental leave here in the US, that way parents can have those first few months home with their children while not losing everything they worked for. Some companies have that now, but it's not common.

4

kid's, the things they say

by Sabin in

we had this plan of action with our kid's, if they asked us a question that we deemed they were to young to know about we would divert their attention, oh, could you fetch mummy her cardi, i'm feeling abit cold, there's some sweets in my pocket, would you like one etc, you get the idea.

usually this would be enough & they would forget about what they had asked.

when they wern't diverted & asked again we would provide an honest explanation suitable for their age.

LisaRose

Yeah, my daughter wanted to know the facts of life at five. It was after a wedding we went to.

She says, "so what are John and Cindy going to do after the wedding?"

Me: "I think they are going to Hawaii"

Her: "No, I mean, where are the going to do. You know, after. "

Me: "Oh" Blink, blink "like sex, you want to know about sex?"

Her: "yes."

At that point I wasn't quite prepared to have "the talk" yet, she's five, how do you explain sex to a five year old? I said it was complicated, but I would get a book to explain it to her. So, every day she would ask me if I had gotten the book yet, so I finally did. It's called "Where did I come frome". I don't know if it's still in print, but it helped immensely, they explain sex it in a ways that kids can understand, graphic but not too graphic.

13

An intellectual feast - A Conference in honour of Prof Samuel N.C.Lieu on his Retirement-Don't read if you don't like ideas

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i've been invited to attend this conference (limited attendance) and consider it an exciting privilege.

maybe for many it would be too boring, as a poster said on one of my threads, (my paraphrase) " who cares about the past?".

but, if i started my adult life as a brainwashed slave to yhwh/jesus (and, don't give me any shit about jw's ignoring jesus), i am finishing it as a (somewhat-grin) enlightened man who just may have some understanding of the development of world thought.

LisaRose

It sounds very interesting. One of the best things about leaving the Borg is the opportunity for intellectual freedom, to think for yourself and pursue what interests you. It's only by finding out what you are passionate about that you become your best self, so good for you.

7

Seems like the perfect holiday for j-dubs

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

if this article is correct, (american) thanksgiving's origins have several things j-dubs love.

the xian god.

genocide of nonbelievers that included men, women and children alike.

LisaRose

Yes, giving thanks, spending time with family, eating turkey, it's just so evil, isn't it? They reject for no reason other than that's what everyone else does. But eating turkey with family is fine on any other day of the year, go figure.

50

An Atheist Visits A Kingdom Hall

by Bangalore in

jw
friends

http://nerdinthebrain.com/2015/01/25/why-i-spent-my-morning-in-a-kingdom-hall-partying-with-jehovahs-witnesses/.

he seems to have quite a positive view of jw's.. bangalore.

LisaRose

Nerd in the brain,

I am sorry you feel people have been unfair to you. I think the problem is that most of us belonged to this religion for a while, in my case thirty years. During this time we believed that this was God's chosen organization, that it was the only thing that would allow us to live through Armageddon, which was supposed to be any day. We all tried very hard to be good Jehovah's Witnesses, it's not an easy religion, you are expected to give up a lot of things most people consider normal. It was only after many years and many experiences that we found that, underneath the facade, this religion had problems, problems so severe we couldn't believe in it any more. It was a life changing thing, to lose our faith, family and friends, some are still struggling with this even years later.

So when people read your blog, talking about what a great group of people this is, it was like chalk on a chalkboard. For so many here this is still very painful. I know most here do not hate individual Jehovah's Witnesses, as we understand that they are simply decieved, as we were once deceived. Most people here do talk badly about the organization, because we feel we were lied to and manipulated and because we know they lie about their history, beliefs and practices. For many that come here, this is the first time they have been able to even talk about these things, it's not something that you can even speak of as a JW, to say you don't believe the Governing Body is being directed by God is to risk being disfellowshipped and shunned

The organization calls us mentally diseased apostates, people are warned not to talk to us, simply because we no longer believe the Watchtower is chosen by God and the only path to salvation. I am sorry if some here offended you, I am sure that was not the intent. I am sure you will investigate more before you consider getting more involved with this group. They will tell you not to talk to us apostates, but doesn't that just make you wonder what they are so afraid of? They are struggling with getting new converts these days, despite millions of hours spent in proselytizing, the internet has not been good for them; failed predictions, doctrine flip flops, pedophiles, it's all out there for anyone to see. So don't take anything at face value, verify everything, whether from them or us.

Lisa 🌹

49

Dont Give Them More Power Than They Deserve

by Tech49 in

jw
friends

a new montra that was recently adopted by the wife and i is this:.

dont give them more power than they deserve.. here's why i say that, and i point this to those of you still in the congregation, still trying to decide what you want to do.. recently, our family had a little family reunion gathering of sorts, and we were in the company of some extended family that were either df or da, to varying degrees.

we made it very clear, to any and all in attendance, that we wanted to be respectful and kind, despite any previous perceptions about our "status".... and that our feelings on a lot of things had "softened", and "changed" over the last 2 years.. i am being purposefully slightly vague, but i think you get the point.

LisaRose

I started to wonder why you still go to the meetings, then it occurred to me that people like you actually do more to destabilize the organization from the inside. If enough people do what you do it, it may cause others to take note are realize that the elders only have the authority you give them, they are paper tigers. Of course they may eventually disfellowship you because you won't meet with them, but that may take a while.

So carry on my friend.