Posts by LisaRose

20

What is the motivation behind the JW org?

by Half banana in

the gb has recently said that the brothers are generously contributing lots of money (at gunpoint it seems!

) so why with a billion dollar annual income do they demand more cash?

they have staunched the outward flow of money on paid preachers, zone overseers and bethel expenses and stalled the promised worldwide luxury buildings projects..

LisaRose

It's like any organization, once it's been established the goal is to survive, to maintain itself. Of course any organization is a group of individuals, and they are what keeps the organization going. Individuals may start out as true believers, but I think once you become part of an organization hierarchy in a corrupt religion like the Watchtower two things come into play. 1) people have a hard time facing the fact that they made a bad choice and 2) People become invested in maintaining their position.

It's a normal behavior for people to continue to justify bad choices rather than admit they made a mistake. Study after study shows that rather than abandon a course of action when it doesn't work out, people are likely to invest even more time energy or money in is a course of action. The ego is fragile, people simply cannot admit they were wrong. People like Barbara Anderson, who courageously spoke out when she saw things were not right are very rare.

Then, when people become part of the hierarchy in a corrupt religion like the Watchtower they become invested in maintaining their position, they become corrupted themselves. I think that is why people remain, even when they find out disturbing information. You may fool yourself that you are still a believer, but at some point you have sold out and you know it. It doesn't matter than its an unpaid position, you are getting room and board at the least, security, some status and to leave would be difficult, the higher you go the more difficult it is. Can you imsgine someone on the GB leaving and becoming a regular person again? What are they going to do, be a Wal-Mart Greeter? If they had an ounce of integrity they wouldn't be where they are, it's never going to happen.

We had a hospital services district (a government organization) in a nearby town that effectively served no function, there were no hospitals in the town, nor had there been for years. None of the people serving had any motivation to petition to dissolve the organization because they were getting a paycheck for virtually no work. It became a self licking ice cream cone.

That is why you are seeing desperation on the part of the governing body. They see the problems, but at this point it's impossible to be honest and admit the organization was ever wrong, or they were wrong for staying, and they will never change course in any substantial way. They simply double down on the stupidity and hope things get better, they have no choice. And the organization may start to shrink, but there will always be believers, no matter how big the problems get, because they cannot admit they were wrong either.

55

How many of you are health nuts?

by Harvard Illiterate 411 in

jw
friends

there was/is a sister in my old hall who was a pharmaceutical sales rep and she was a huge proponent of anything in the drug industry.

when someone had a headache, she was the first to say "take an asprin.

" now my husband and i are what you might call old hippies.

LisaRose

hink that eating healthy foods, and exercising properly could help a lot of people with fibromyalgia. That is another great example of overmedication. Having had it (severely) since age 4, I've kept up with the pharmaceutical journey, as well as the leaps and bounds in research. Many people with this dis-ease turn to meds ... they are depressed, overweight and wretched. But do they eat white food? Yup. Do they exercise daily? Nope. Their doctors usually have them on "Lyrica" (an anti-seizure med that's been around for decades, and now being used to treat the SYMPTOMS of FM - a drug with dangerous side effects); or they may be taking amitriptylene (sp?) or another addictive anti-depressant.

I totally agree. I have fibromyalgia also, I keep in check with meditation, exercise and positive mental attitude. Never once did any doctor mention this as a possibility, I had to figure it out on my own over many years. I was given Amiyriptilene, which caused me to gain thirty pounds and did nothing for me and then Cymbalta, which was a disaster, it turned me into a lunatic and was horrible to get off of. I still get brain tingles occasionally, a side effect of the Cymbalta withdrawal. I refused to try Lyrica.

Of course not all conditions can be cured with life style changes, pharmaceuticals can be life saving, but doctors should try harder to educate people about the true cost of drugs for things that could be better controlled with diet and exercise. There are risks to any drug, and the benefits aren't always that great. I get it's a touchy subject for doctors, and it takes time, much quicker to write a prescription.

19

Word spreading back home

by BeautifulMind in

you all know how much jws loooove to gossip.

so...i just finished a email conversation with one of my self-righteous, super jw relatives back home.

let me preface this conversation by saying this relative is someone i don't communicate with, at all.

LisaRose

You don't owe them any explanations, so you are right to refuse to respond. How presumptuous to think they know why or how you chose to leave. The JWs seem to have no boundaries, they think they have the right to know everything about you, when it is really none of their business.

No matter what you say you are wasting your time, as it won't convince them of anything, and will just invitee more intrusive questions.

Perhaps you can block their emails.

34

Fade Fail: Not as Easy as I'd Like

by Hadriel in

this has been tough.

very tough actually.

because i'm so integrated into things including certain tasks which i can't say as it would be a dead giveaway i find myself constantly bombarded by things.. i'm literally a lying every day.

LisaRose

I have a hard time being dishonest, so I feel your pain. But honestly does not compel us to say all truths, only to not say things that are untrue. Your thoughts are your own, you are not compelled to admit them. Can you think of some ambiguous statements that you could respond with that would maybe give a hint of your true feelings (but obviously nothing that would be considered apostate or that you would be called on ).

Like if someone says "The governing body is really looking out for us" you could say "Yes, they make sure we always know what we are supposed to think about things". It's true, but is a fraction more honest than they usually admit to.

Or answer a question with a question "Hmm...., Do you really think so?" .

Or just a non committal "hmmm, I suppose so".

Sometimes lack of confirmation could do more good to help people along in waking up than open confrontation. These people have been conditioned to think a certain way, contradicting them would not only out you, it would cause their fears of apostasy to kick in and become fearful, so not help them out at all. You would be doing something much more insidious.

You could think of yourself as a double agent, working to subtly undermine the organization, but without getting caught. It's not easy to do, it's a very fine line you would be crossing here, but it might make you feel better about yourself, that instead of letting people continue on with their delusions you are helping them wake up, even if ever so slowly.

25

umbertoecho re the ARC

by umbertoecho in

hello to everyone.. i hope you are all well and sorting things out between yourselves.

i have temporary internet access which is probably a good thing for now.

i have been contacted by the arc in a respectful and loving manner today.

LisaRose

Well done!

We have had a number of new posters here lately, many of them report waking up because they watched the ARC and realized there was something drastically wrong with the organization, especially Jackson's lies that they don't think they represent God. So good has been all ready been done, you should be proud of your role in this, very proud.

55

How many of you are health nuts?

by Harvard Illiterate 411 in

jw
friends

there was/is a sister in my old hall who was a pharmaceutical sales rep and she was a huge proponent of anything in the drug industry.

when someone had a headache, she was the first to say "take an asprin.

" now my husband and i are what you might call old hippies.

LisaRose

Where I live Trader Joe's or Costco has good prices on organic vegetables and chicken, some things are no more than non organic. Organic beef is usually too expensive, except for ground beef at Costco. Mostly I just don't eat beef much anymore anyway. There is a local meat market that grows their own beef, grass fed, but it's super expensive. Sometimes we splurge on some cooked meatballs their with French fries cooked in lard, both are super yummy. We gaze longingly at the $28 a pound steaks and say no. Organic chicken actually tastes better and is worth the extra. I will admit to buying the roasted non organic chicken at Costco, at $5.00 it's a loss leader and so convenient. I can usually get three, if not four meals out of a $5.00 chicken, it's a great budget stretcher and pretty good chicken.

I believe if you can afford it organic is worth the extra cost, but if you can't, well, you do what you have to.

40

Closer/death/Funerals

by Leela1 in

hello all i am fairly new to this site even though i have been da since i was 16 years old i am now 35 years old.

i have had very little contact with my family since i left maybe a handful of times over the years.

i thought i put the past behind me and moved on i have 4 amazing kids of my own really supportive partner and great friends who have become my family.

LisaRose

I saw my mom a few months before she died, but then she said she wanted to die with a clean conscience and couldn't see me anymore. I did go to the funeral, I was even "allowed" to go to the reception afterword, although no one spoke to me. The usual JW hate you, but we are really just kind Christians thing.

It can be freeing to tell someone that has hurt you that they did, in fact, hurt you, and just for your own healing to forgive is good. But he may not agree to see you, so be aware. It's very unlikely he will give you anything positive. Personally I feel he was very abusive and I wouldn't volunteer for any more of it, but only you can know if it's the right thing for you.

Maybe just write him a letter and call it good.

Congratulations on moving on in your life a being a good parent, you have really risen above.

Lisa🌹

55

How many of you are health nuts?

by Harvard Illiterate 411 in

jw
friends

there was/is a sister in my old hall who was a pharmaceutical sales rep and she was a huge proponent of anything in the drug industry.

when someone had a headache, she was the first to say "take an asprin.

" now my husband and i are what you might call old hippies.

LisaRose

I eat organic when practical, depending on the cost difference and whether I am going to eat the peel of fruits and vegetables. Organic tastes better and has less pesticide residue, it's hard for me to feel pesticides are a good thing in the diet. I also feel it's better for the environment.

There is a case in the news where A USDA inspector is out of a job because he started raising concerning about pesticides being the cause of the decrease in bee populations. They say it's because he didn't get prior approval for travel, although it's not uncommon for that to happen with others due to time constraints. It's obvious that big business doesn't want people to know the price of pesticides use.

8

Haemaphilliac Doctor talks of JW neighbours cruelty

by Diogenesister in

i got my fingers burnt last time i copied a post from reddit, but this one made me so mad i had to show you guys.

i think its possible that the witnesses antagonism was exaggerated in his child's mind, never-the-less any nastiness to a sick child is beyond the pale.

the hospital i trained in lost nearly every last one of its 500 haemaphilliacs to aids - i think around 30 survived from this era.http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/when-doctors-need-doctors-after-dodging-death-sentence-looking-cure.

LisaRose

Most adult Witnesses would probably know not to say such things, but I can imagine children saying this, they don't know to hide what they really believe from non JW's. Obviously they didn't say he would go to hell, but they probably did say he would be destroyed by God at Armageddon, to a child not familiar with Watchtower theology, it probably sounded like the same thing.

I doubt he imagined the whole thing because how would he know how JWs feel about transfusions otherwise?

108

Heil Trump. Sieg Heil.

by oppostate in

crowd looking like they're doing the heil hitler salute to trump when he asks for a pledge and swear their support while calling for broadening torture laws.

trump asks backers to swear their support, vows to broaden torture laws.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/05/politics/donald-trump-florida-pledge-torture/.

LisaRose

et's get real...not all of Trump's supporters are racist. In fact, all the ones on my FB friends list I know support Trump are good people. That SNL video is just one big SJW Ad Hominem attack. "We don't like Trump and we don't like that he's being taken seriously, so we're going to call all of his supporters Nazis and KKK racists."

I agree, not all who support Trump are overt racists, it's a little more complex than that, but you cannot deny that that is at least part of his appeal. There is a reason people like David Duke are giving him support. People at least have to be comfortable with Trumps many racially intolerant statements to support him, it doesn't make them exactly racially sensitive.

As far as SNL, it's a comedy show, they do parody, it's by its nature going to be exaggerated. I personally didn't find it that funny, as Hitler and the KKK are not things to joke about, in my opinion.

The supporters I've actually spoken to, face to face, are just people that are mad at establishment politicians. They view voting for Trump as a way to send a message to Washington that they're tired of the status quo.

Yeah, I get that and agree, but are they so willing to send a message they are willing to put an idiot in the White House? This man is not presidential material. The man is thinned skinned, he can't take criticism, and you know he is lying when his lips are moving. I don't find that presidential. One journalist called him a "sausage fingered vulgarian". For years afterwords Trump sent him photos of himself with his hands circled in gold felt tip, trying to prove there was nothing wrong with his hands. Jamie Oliver has been critical of him, so Trump was irked and bragged that they asked him to be on his show four times. The fact is they have never asked him to be on the show, yet Trump can sit there and lie about it with a straight face. Why lie about something so trivial and petty? How is he going to handle being President when people will be criticising him day and night? Supposedly he had a fax sent from the BBB during the debates proving his Trump university had a A rating. The only problem is the BBB denies sending such a fax. They have no file now, because it's closed, but when it was open the rating varied from A- To D. These are serious credibility issues.