the other day i ran into a jw who just happened to be my very friend during my jw days (which were most of my life).
so for about 60 years we were each other’s very best friend.
we grew up together from about 8 years old and are the same age, now in our early 70’s.
It's a cult, they use mind control techniques, it's very hard to fight against. Steve Hassan, who was in a cult himself and writes books on the subject says that being intelligent is not a protection against getting sucked in, it has happened to a lot of very smart peoole.
You have to learn critical thinking skills and about how mind control works to avoid getting sucked in.
what help me wake up, (still pimo) in addition to lingering doubts throughout most of my life, and i'm in my late 50s, was the questioning from my children when they became teenagers.
i could not honestly defend the origins of the jws, prohibition of birthdays and other celebrations; especially when you realise that the whole belief system is/was based on crazy teachings of a businessman.. the real kicker is when you have a religion that has to produce its own bible to support its beliefs, that's when i knew the whole religion is an expensive and cleverly marketed belief system.
like most religions.. glad to say none of my children want anything to do with jws and two of them don't believe in god.
Yes, same. They never bought into it, and looking at it through their eyes helped me break free myself.
the other day i ran into a jw who just happened to be my very friend during my jw days (which were most of my life).
so for about 60 years we were each other’s very best friend.
we grew up together from about 8 years old and are the same age, now in our early 70’s.
It makes me grit my teeth when I hear people say that either someone "left The Truth", or "left Jehovah" when they really just left a organization, but of course that is how they have been trained to think. You actually handled it very well, they seem open to further discussion so that's a great start, you won't ever change anyone's thinking in one conversation.
hi guys.
just wanted to share this with you as it's kind of got me worried.
my brother who was also raised in "the truth™" met me in town today for a coffee.
It's hard enough for anyone to leave the religion, I can't imagine how much more difficult it is for your brother. It's better if he never had to talk to the elders, as they obviously have an agenda and won't consider his disability in evaluating what he says. I would encourage him to just say "I don't want to talk about it" to whatever they say.
i just thought i'd share this story from my past.. back in the 80s i remember the big problem seemed to be about music.
(today, it's tight pants, i guess) the organization, society, whatever they were calling themselves, were always going on about the music we listened to.
disco, heavy metal, the whole "backwards masking" thing...couldn't escape hearing or reading about how satan was corrupting us unless we were listening to kingdom melodies or elevator music.. i was assigned to wtf in the late 80s and remember one of the articles stating that "young people know that the rhythm of rock music is the rhythm of sexual intercourse.
I once heard a talk on music in the nineties that went on and on about how horrible the song "Mac the knife" was. It's a jazz standard from the sixties about a professional killer, but obviously done tounge in cheek and actually a really great song.
My kids were teenagers at the time and had never heard of it, so totally irrelevant and silly to them, we all had a good laugh about it later. It was just one of the many things that convinced them that the religion was not for them, for which I am now very greatful.
the title speaks for itself.
lots of coverage of the pope's personal (!
about a month ago we all could read jochie's post regarding investigation of sexual abuse among jw's in the netherlands.
Well, if only you had suceeded.
today is the four year anniversary of the last time i set foot in a kingdom hall.
it was the day of the kool-aid issue of the wt!
“at that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint.
Happy anniversary! it's been 18 years for me.
Nice to know at least some people recognized how cultish it was to announce they were going to ask people to do really stupid things.
as i intimate in the words below, i like autumn and winter, but there's a downward spiral in my emotions.
i'm in control, yet, .
rain, at long last, has touched both our land and my soul.
Yes, I get seasonal depression, some years worse than others. The last few years have generally been better due to exercising more and eating better. This year is a bit worse, I got the bug that's been going around, three weeks now, just starting to feel better, the time in bed has not been helpful, as well as not being as motivated to eat fruits and veggies.
Knowing it will get better as the days get longer helps get me through.
the title speaks for itself.
lots of coverage of the pope's personal (!
about a month ago we all could read jochie's post regarding investigation of sexual abuse among jw's in the netherlands.
You wouldn't be the first I've seen.
The religion is somewhat like communism, it sounds great in theory.
In actual practice, not so much.
the title speaks for itself.
lots of coverage of the pope's personal (!
about a month ago we all could read jochie's post regarding investigation of sexual abuse among jw's in the netherlands.
When asked, JR Brown cleared that up 15 years ago, stating the rule included other evidence instead of “a second witness”.
Because Elders will do what they read about what the organization says in the media, not what it states in the elders manual, right?😏
I am beginning to think you not only were never an elder, you have never really been associated with the organization as a member either.
Only someone who has no actual experience of the religion would be that clueless about it.
