Posts by onlycurious

4

Interesting article on major religions and fringe cults

by fullofdoubtnow in

i just found this article as i was browsing through religious news items.

the writer makes some very interesting points about religion in general, and, of course, the jws get a mention in the paragraph referring to cults.. http://www.progressiveu.org/130746-major-religions-fringe-cults-time-to-take-a-look-in-the-mirror.

major religions & fringe cults: time to take a look in the mirrori find it amusing that so many people who belong to major religious organisations look upon the horrible practices of the fringe cults without any sense of irony.

onlycurious

While this is definately food for thought, the author blankets too much for my taste. I have belonged to many different Christian denominations over the past 20 years, I have not once been a part of a church that has practiced shunning or any sort of sociological control that would classify them as being a cult.

I have spoken to my children on numerous occasions that they only know what they are being taught. Someday, they will have to own their own faith and decide if they want to hold the same morals and values we have chosen to teach them. We would hope that they would continue to follow the same faith but in the next breath, I tell them that regardless....we will love them all the same.

I have seen alcoholism, sexual misconduct, adultrous relationships, divorce...you name it....I've seen it happen here and there within the church walls. While I will admit not every church handles these situations perfectly, I have never seen anyone shunned or treated poorly. In fact, most people prayerfully consider the situation and try to offer assistance to the family and to the person who caused the grief. Now, if the person is in leadership and did something really big like committ adultry....then they are asked to step down from leadership for a season to receive counselling. I've seen this happen.

The author is misleading based upon a few situations that may have occurred within the masses. I don't know about all the other religions because I am not part of that nor have I studied up on it, but for this faith, I don't believe it is a cult.

Oh....and I haven't been brainwashed.

10

How I sent my letter

by truthsetsonefree in

now that some time has passed i can say how i made my protest to watchtower.

i mailed that letter using the "special blue" envelopes used only for judicial correspondence.

so i know that it did not go through the usual channels for correspondence.

onlycurious

Crafty. Very crafty.

Did you hear how it went?

5

My recent conversation with a JW

by onlycurious in

jw
friends

i had a great conversation with my witness employee last night.

she was baptised 1 yr ago and her mom is studying, too.

so far no other family members are in.

onlycurious

I had a great conversation with my witness employee last night. She was baptised 1 yr ago and her mom is studying, too. So far no other family members are in.

I ask a lot of questions and she doesn't always have all the answers for me. That's okay because most of the time I already know the answers anyway, I am just asking her PERSONALLY what she thinks.

I told her last night I was so surprised she is a witness because of her young age and the culture of our younger generations is one of independence and free thinking. Yet the witnesses are SO structured. She told me she had gone to a Lutheran church and her friend told her to just take communion and act like she knows what she is doing. This greatly offended her and she knew immediately that she should be with the witnesses. Her mom had been studying with them at the time and it was important to her that she find the truth.

Also, I asked her if it was hard for her to look around and see all the people who are going to be 86'd in the Big A. She asked me to clarify so I used myself as an example, asking her if it made her sad to know that someone like myself is going to be wiped out by Jehovah. Her explaination was that she goes around and tells everyone about the truth and it is up to them. She said they are a very social group of people and aren't trying to hide the truth.

The cool thing about this is that she actaully came out and asked me a very pointed questions...."What do you mean when you call yourself born-again?" Wow....that opened the floodgates. Surprisingly enough, John 3:3 in her bible also said 'born-again' so I am wondering what they do with this scripture.

She said she was going to cross-reference it and I suppose she is going to ask her mentor.

14

Quick Birthday Question...

by esw1966 in

so, it was my daughter's birthday on the 2nd of february.. she is being raised jw and i sent her an email birthday card.. i get this note as a response: (mind you, it may be from her mother).

hey dad, .

i'm sorry i havent written you.

onlycurious

I agree with On the Way Out. Call her on what it is that she believes. Make her think for herself and make the sacrifice of what it is that she really wants vs. what she believes if she says she doesn't celebrate. Then she won't be getting a gift. A 12 yr old is old enough to feel the effect of not getting any cash. She already knows what she is going to spend it on if she is anything like my 12 yr old daughter.

Make her verbally tell you....not through email.

57

Unbelievable comment in Jan 1 2007 WT

by penny2 in

page 28, paragraph 11 says in part:.

"it seems that resurrected ones of the 24-elders group may be involved in the communicating of divine truths today.

" (the 24 elders = "anointed christians in their heavenly positions".).

onlycurious

It IS heresy!!! Dead people are COMMUNICATING to the WTS? That is just plain crazy.

Do the 24 elders supercede God Himself?

By the way, please clarify.....I thought once you were dead.....that's it. You're dead....no afterlife until the resurrection. How come these 24 elders seem to have a spiritual presence?

32

Law Enforcement Connections, Im puzzled

by Junction-Guy in

jw
friends

well i have been working in law enforcement for many years now as a sheriff's corrections officer, in the process i have worked in housing, i have been a cto (correctional training officer) i have worked the medical division, i have worked in booking and intake.

i have done facility security, perimeter security.

one thing that kinda bothers me is that nowadays seems like there is no personal connection in law enforcement.

onlycurious

Do you think you just might be depressed? There have been many times in my life that I have felt completely disconnected and that nobody really cared. Then I began to question whether or not I really had any friends. That made me even MORE depressed.

Or you could be at the threshold of a new benchmark in your personal growth. That can be a painful time.

26

The Blasphemy Challenge

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

according to the bible, if your sins are not forgiven by jesus you will experience an eternity of fiery torment in hell.

the only sin you won't be forgiven for is blaphemy of the holy spirit.

(mark 3:29).

onlycurious

Here's a short little story for you.

My husband and I were married 15 yrs ago. While on our honeymoon, some jw girls (no adult with them) approached the home we were vacationing in. Silly as it seems, my husband answered the door in a towel, fully covered, but still in a towel. I bet the girls NEVER forgot that as he was quite a hot guy back then.

Anyway, he thanked them for coming to tell us about their faith but he wanted to share something with them.

He said, "I don't ever want you to forget this. You may be very sincere about what you are doing, but you are sincerely wrong."

I wonder whatever came of those 2 girls. They must be in their mid 20's now.

Regardless of what one believes, it really doesn't change the reality of the matter.

36

My reinstatment letter

by nonamegiven in

for those that don't know, here's the cliffs notes version.. i've been df'd for 5 months now for giving in to an addiction i have.

i want to be reinstated so i can gian my family and a few close friends back in my life then i will fade like a bad dye job.

here's the reinstatment letter i have thus far i am open to any input at all.. dear holier-than-thou brothers,.

onlycurious

I hope you are able to accomplish what you need to accomplish with your family and successfully fade.

Living a life that is a 'lie' and is not your own is not freedom.

I understand why you are doing what you are doing and I hope you find the strength you need to get through this time.

6

Trouble on the homefront...working for inlaws

by onlycurious in

jw
friends

i don't mean to whine but i am certainly venting.

i am so angry i can spit right now but i want to cry at the same time.

ever felt like that?.

onlycurious

We were actually at his parents house over the weekend and playing in the snow with the kids. He didn't realize the little hill he went down had a bump in it and he ended up catching air. Not good. So, it wasn't a work related injury.

His dad was just here. We had a good talk and I tried really hard to be respectful but also get my point across regarding the med stuff. He did mention that he is going to review the stability of the company in July and he may go back to paying like he did before. I realize companies don't normally do this, it is just the agreement we had based on the type of ins. we had and the income base we left to come up here and run this place. It's always tight this time of year with money but this yr it is really tight. We have had terrible storms this winter and it really put a crunch on the whole state.

Things will be okay. I just worry a lot. I have another business I do on the side and while it will take 3-5 yrs to really do well financially, I hold on to that dream and keep my eyes focused on that goal of financial freedom. It's a patience game but I have seen a lot of progress with this business already and I know this dream will be lived out......unless......the big A happens right? JK

6

Trouble on the homefront...working for inlaws

by onlycurious in

jw
friends

i don't mean to whine but i am certainly venting.

i am so angry i can spit right now but i want to cry at the same time.

ever felt like that?.

onlycurious

I don't mean to whine but I am certainly venting. I am so angry I can spit right now but I want to cry at the same time. Ever felt like that?

My husband and I both left great jobs in CA 11 yrs ago to manage a resort for his parents. My husband had a back injury and we really weren't certain that he could do carpentry anymore so his dad said he had his eye on a resort, would we like to manage it. We were really excited about it because this would enable me to stay at home and raise the kids while working behind the scenes as manager. Overall, it's been good but very taxing on our family.

Well, my new motto is that you don't get rich working for family. We took a BIG cut in pay to come up here because we live on the property and don't have to pay rent or any utilities. Also, several things get run through the business. One of the biggies is medical. The agreement was that we would receive medical in full because my husband's union job paid full benefits. So all this time my in-laws have been forking over med ins and paying the deductable.

Sound good, huh? While min wage in our state has increased by 34% in the last 11 yrs, our wage has increased about 2%. Last yr I couldn't even save ANY money towards retirement because the cost of living has increased so much. Oh, and did I mention that our FAMILY SIZE has also increased by 33% in the past 11 yrs?

To get to my point, his dad gave us a token raise in January. I was excited about this because then we would be able to save money for our IRA. Well, business isn't going well here and he is stressing out. It's real seasonal and this time of yr he gets a bit stressed. He told my husband that he is no longer going to pay out money towards med bills. He will pay the insurance but nothing else.

I am sooooo angry because he just took away the raise he gave us. My husband just injured his back BAD and had to go to emergency on Saturday. He is on Vicodin and Robaxin and the x-rays and CT scan showed 2 broken vertebrae. We want to see a specialist for an MRI to see if there is any disc material that is herniated.

Everything just seems so uncertain right now. We are in the middle of making plans to build our home here and my husbands attitude is like a swinging pendulum. He is worried about his back and whether or not it will be okay again. He is a HARD worker and a driven man.

I just want to cry and I am soooo ticked. I've never really done well with uncertainty and feeling like I have been jipped in some way. The rug just got pulled.