Posts by BabaYaga

13

Not on JW.org; TIME MAGAZINE: 2/3rds Jehovah's Witnesses children leave church, per Pew Research. Highest turnover of any US church.

by Balaamsass in

time magazineamerica's unfaithful faithfulby david van biema monday, feb. 25, 2008/.post-meta .

template id = 4881 template name = html blank ad adid: 216237921 share/.share-fb/.share-tw place this tag where you want the +1 button to render place this render call where appropriate /.share-gpinshare0/.share-in/.share-buttonsaladdin color, inc. / corbis .

/.entry-thumbrelateda lead on the ark of the covenant/.related-contentemailprintsharefacebooktwittertumblrlinkedinstumbleuponredditdiggmixxdel.i.ciousgoogle+reprintsfollow @time.

BabaYaga

Excellent. Thank you... and bookmarked.

23

5 stages of dealing with TTATT?

by El_Guapo in

jw
friends

thanks to this website and jwfacts, i have come to learn the "infamous" ttatt.. i've had soooo many emotions the last couple months.. (fyi: i've been baptized since '95 third gen jw, elder father and every other member of my family is a regular pioneer).

i was wondering, like dealing with greif : are there 5 stages for dealing with ttatt?.

BabaYaga

Hello, El Guapo!

Oh, yes, you'd better believe it... all the stages of loss and grief apply to losing all that we sacrificed by walking away from what we knew.

I'll tell you a little secret... my "denial" stage went on far, far too long. Mine was a "pre-Google" exit, you see... so there wasn't any support group to be found or research to be done. When I stumbled upon this site so many years later, I still balked at the idea that I had been raised in a cult.

With this support group and information, all the stages go by like a picnic.

Welcome.

Love,
Baba.

21

You guys rock!!!

by SophieG in

jw
friends

usually around the end of the year i look back at what i have experienced over the 12 months.

one of the things that i must say 2012 has been a year of change and freedom and learning for me.

i could not have gotten where i am mentally if it was not for you guys here are jwn.. .

BabaYaga

31

What shape is the WTBTS in????

by lonestar63 in

jw
friends

been many years since i've been inside a hideous kh.

i posted my story on here a few years ago, and thought i would drop back in and say hi.

i'm just curious, are people leaving in droves???

BabaYaga

Bookmarked... thank you for that scan, Bats in the Belfry... Carl Sagan on Jehovah's Witnesses in: Broca's Brain (1983), pages 332,333

92

Your earliest doubt?

by Apognophos in

this might be an unfair question for those who have been out of the organization for decades, but i'm wondering if any of you remember your earliest doubt -- maybe something odd that occurred to you as a kid (if you were a jw then).

please try to limit to two doubts at the most :-).

i think my first "doubt" was simply realizing that at the time of the flood, every animal that wasn't in the ark died (well, besides the fish, supposedly).

BabaYaga

This is a great thread.

I loved "bible stories" as a kid and often asked my Mom to tell them. Unfortunately for her, I asked her questions... lots of them... expecting her to make everything make sense. She couldn't.

One that baffled me the most was Abraham bargaining with Jah for Lot's life. Wait, Jehovah is all-knowing, right? Why didn't he know about Lot and his family in Sodom and Gomorrah? Well, he did know, right? Well then why did Abraham have to convince him? Was Jehovah just messin' with him? Any way you slice that one, it's pretty disconcerting (and that's before you even get to the crazed ugliness in the Lot story.)

Genesis 18:16-33

New International Version (NIV)

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord . [b] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare [c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also had several things about the creation story that bugged me endlessly, but that one can get pretty long-winded.

10

Small Victories!

by emperorslaundrist in

jw
friends

my husband's cult personality has relaxed since he's been seeing me go out in service and underline my watchtower, so yesterday it felt right to nudge him just a little more.

"you know, i normally love the watchtower articles but the one i'm studying for tomorrow is just crazy.

i'm beginning to think that there's a narcissist somewhere in the writing department.

BabaYaga

Beautiful.

39

Hi I am new. Thanks for the food at the proper time.

by 2+2=5 in

jw
friends

i have been lurking on this forum for a few months and thought it was time i joined in.

a big thankyou goes to all who post here, i have enjoyed immensely all the thought provoking discussion and not so thought provoking (thanks recovery/ethos).

i have had heaps to get my head around recently learning the truth about the truth and as i remember reading here before its like digesting a brick.

BabaYaga

Hello and welcome

Love,
Baba.

56

Call Me Smiler

by Terry in

jw
friends

call me smiler.

they none of 'em seem to figure out how bad it's gonna be when they play it.

a pastor, hurt hands and a smile...that's all you really need.. the doc knows what he's talkin' about, as usual.. like he says, "people only look at you once and then never see you again.