i mean, you could've been made to be an islamic fundamentalist or something, right?
what kind of religion rips families apart
Agree.
Was it that bad to have worldly people think you are nuts, NO as long as you thought you were not.
Was it that bad to be isolated from non-JW loved ones, then realize that you may lose JW loved ones
unless you continue to pretend you believe the stuff that really is nuts, YES.
i left jws 10 yrs ago and have just considered myself drifted.
never df'd.
could never go back as i personally found it too hard to live up to.
If They were happy with me being "ex Jw fallen away.... committed fornication and will die at armageddon taking her children and partner with her" label! then leave it alone.
Unless you have to tell them what you currently believe, or are prepared to discuss how "you don't know," allow them to continue believing that you are the same, fallen away.
If you want to help some to wake up and leave the JW's, as soon as you come on too heavy, they will tune you out. If you continue as they thought you were, you can slip in things that you are learning.
Ultimately, you will have to work out your beliefs. I imagine I will have the same problems you have eventually. To non-JW friends and family, I have no problem saying "I don't know." To JW's, to avoid disfellowshipping, I will continue to say "I have doubts, but I am dealing with them." This will give them the impression that I accept most of the doctrine. If I get DF'ed, there is no way I will even continue to try to pretend I still have doubts. Choose your path, the best one for you.
since the days of rutherford the dubs have entered into a kind of collective denial of reality through the morbidly neurotic personality and spirit of that very convincing liar which were engrafted on their collective psyche and since then they are unable to see and acknowledge the benefits they receive from non jws eg doctors, lawyers, judges, law makers and from ordinary folk.
deep down they believe there can be no good people outside the org.
they live in denial day after day and living beneath reality is not a healthy thing.
JW thinking still in my brain, the point with Mary M. or any sinner Jesus approached was that they were sinners, Jesus did good things for them anyway, and some of them did good things for Jesus. We cannot really use those examples, because anybody can say that Jesus was trying to convert them, by acts of kindness.
Pick acts of kindness from a non-witness or non-believer where there was no thought of converting, there are tons of them.
i left jws 10 yrs ago and have just considered myself drifted.
never df'd.
could never go back as i personally found it too hard to live up to.
awol, I think I know what you are saying,
JW's are just another cult, so what is the answer. I am early on in withdrawing and fading from the Borg,
and I have no idea where I will go eventually. I feel like I cannot trust ANY religion, and it's possible that
the entire Bible was written by Hebrew Priests and con-men, not the truth at all. Or it's possible that
Fundamental Christians have it all right (or all wrong). I carry my JW thinking when examining "Worldly"
things, but I think that will eventually wear off. (Maybe I am wrong, do you still carry it?)
If God exists then- If God is love and ready to forgive, then lead a good life, live by the Golden Rule.
He cannot blame us for not recognizing the "Truth" and spending our whole life wrapped up in it.
If a person serves God thru the WTS, I think they will be forgiven, and if a person serves God thru any
"basically good" religion (Fundamentalism, Buddism, Catholicism, any-izem), or just thru his heart, then
God will understand.
I hope that's what you are asking about. Otherwise, don't over-think about it unless you enjoy that.
i mean, you could've been made to be an islamic fundamentalist or something, right?
If you mean, did I enjoy life as long as I thought that this was the proper way to serve God,
have a happy future in mind, and not miss many things that everyday people do-
No it wasn't all that bad.
If instead, do you mean, did you mind being misled, wasting your life, having your thinking,
behaviour, and sex life controlled, YES, I DID MIND. IT WAS AWFUL.
I get your point. Right up until I started to doubt, many years ago, being a Witness was
okay- I had morals (still do), I had an honest, loving wife (still do), I enjoyed life (still do).
That doesn't make it okay. An innocent person can look back on the years he spent in
prison because of a corrupt prosecutor, and say "I enjoyed the basketball games, working
out, they had a good library, etc. But if it were up to me, I would have skipped it and found
another place to play basketball, work out, read books."
i was reading a little coc last night where ray f. disusses the witch hunt at bethel that resulted in all the oustings.
as i read the doctrines that he questioned, (not judging him right or wrong), i noticed that he was questioning some of the fundamental beliefs of the wt.
ie: gov.
I have to agree with Spider. We are looking back to the (more or less) beginnings
of a different attitude at Bethel among the GB. Sure, in the past, there were the
hostile take-over from Rutherford, and those days during prohibition that he
smuggled booze in, but after that things settled down. Incredible growth was the
focus up thru 1975. Then 1975 became the main issue to discuss up until Ray left.
So he was right at the beginning of blaming those with doubts for their own lack of
faith. He probably expected the GB to really listen to him. It seems that his exit
was fairly easy from the Body, itself (although there was already a witch-hunt), so
he was surprised that they could not let it go at that.
I was typing the above statement without slowing down
to think. Looking back, IMO, he was naive. He should
have seen it coming from the 1975 cover-up or from
the disfellowshippings taking place during his leave of
absence.
my friend has been a jw study for 9 yrs., not baptized yet.
but believes it all, as far as i know.
we rarely get to spend any one-on-one time, but we are going on an over-night trip this weekend.
You could also ask about all those Bethel layoffs at Headquarters, NY.
Why do they put people out who gave so many years of faithful service?
What will they do about retirement, healthcare?
hello again.. i just thought i'd say "thanks" to all of the contributors to this board (and other boards/ websites, but mostly to this board).. i only started looking on the internet for info on the wtbts about 2 months ago.
for years i had huge doubts about the org, but no facts to rationalise these doubts.
some individuals have obviously spent many hours going through the societies literature and researching the history of the org and made this research widely available on line.. i can only imagine what it must have been like 10 or 20 years ago if a "witness" had doubts - where would you go to find out the facts?
Thank you, Jerohobobonadad
You have put in your thoughts also. I have been on the board for only a month (posted a bunch, though, as an outlet) and find the help here wonderful.
In full agreement, thanks,
OnTheWayOut
change "politician" to "watchtower leadership" and "voter" to "jehover's witness".
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20061004/2006-10-04t005304z_01_l03419567_rtridst_0_news-google-politicians-dc.html.
google boss warns politicians about internet power.
I am just glad I found you guys before the whole downfall of the WTS.
Once you expose the man behind the curtain totally, there really isn't anymore
reason to keep talking about it.
If someone finds this outlet after they dissolve the WTS, you guys will be be saying
"See, we were right." but everyone would not have great debates, because
the borg is gone. The best topic will be, "So where were you when they resigned?"
THAT'S MY DREAM.
change "politician" to "watchtower leadership" and "voter" to "jehover's witness".
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20061004/2006-10-04t005304z_01_l03419567_rtridst_0_news-google-politicians-dc.html.
google boss warns politicians about internet power.
Cute reminder slimboyfat. Here's the first post on that thread as an answer to the Internet being the enemy of apostates:
Your comment shows how completely you are out of touch with reality!!! Get your head out of the sand...what planet do you live on???
Otherwise, there is very little to be said of that thought, but a little, nonetheless.
Most doubters get nowhere with the majority of JW they speak to.
The internet will allow JW to access information that nobody knows they are accessing
(just like pornography).
I have no doubt that JW will look at internet anti-JW sites. Many won't look, but will
be frustrated by the society dealing with the problem of lack of growth. When the
numbers really go down, questions will really be asked.
