just been given this watchtower and found the 2nd study article very interesting..... is this the societies damage control to panorama and dateline?.
para 8 onwards says...... 8 satan tries to break our integrity through the sowing of doubts about what we have been taught.
today, as in the first century, apostates and others seek to destroy the faith of the guideless ones.
Bleeuuggghhh!
The most stomach turning thing about these sort of articles for me is not the way that the GB/Writing dept uses clever rhetoric and emotive language - it is how smoothly the rank and file JW swallows it all down. ; I can picture my ma and pa taking it all in, and I know I would have too a few years ago.
Sad sad sad
driving up the m5 the other day.
i got caught in a traffic jam, so i pulled into the outside lane which seemed to be the one that was moving most rapidly.
in the middle lane, just ahead of me, was the most beautiful car i had seen in ages.
I am sure that any decent person would rather see their parents living life to the full and having things that they want, that their parents saving to leave a capital sum that you have to pay inheritance tax on any way. Also, don't forget that Tony Blair will take it all off you any way if you need long term care when you are old.
Buy a Morgan! Have fun!! Blow the lot!!!
i want to get an idea of how many people have left the org in the past five years.
which of the following years did you leave?.
1998 i left.
April 1994
Interestingly, I left shortly after the Memorial too.....
i live in northwest england, i have been out of th borg for 8 years.
give me a wave, let me know i am not the only xjw in britain!
cheers!
Hi there! I am near Warrington, not too far away. Have you looked at the map??
i live in northwest england, i have been out of th borg for 8 years.
give me a wave, let me know i am not the only xjw in britain!
cheers!
Hi, yeah, you sussed me! I am a chemist by training. I am a technical sales rep now. You don't have to get filthy in a lab which is always too hot or too cold and it is decent pay.
ive noticed some discussion on the question of whether we should be concerned about moderating our behaviour because of what lurking jws will think.
should we be concerned about scaring off jws who may be starting to question the wt, or should anything go because if they can't deal with the real world it's not our problem and we should be ourselves?.
the following are some of my thoughts.
My 0.02 worth........
I view this form of communication as part of real life. To me, it feels like wandering into a big room where we are all gathered, having lots of conversations....oh look - there's Sirona, I always say hello to her....so I view that thread, and might respond. Then there is someone I have not seen before, I will listen to their introduction. Over there is YouKnow, I never listen to his conversations. Here are a group talking about sex, lets see what they have to say........someone in the corner is talking about the NWT, I am so over that I can't be bothered listening to it.
The title of a thread usually gives a good indication of its content, I choose what to view and reply to.
I believe that there are real people with real feelings behind all the text on this site. So, I treat people as I do in face to face communication. After I first left the bOrg, I used to swear like a trooper, with no thought to context or company. I grew out of it. It is just not my style to be aggressive with people, so I would not be aggressive and abusive to fellow posters.
Sometimes I get the impression that sitting alone in front of a screen makes people behave in a manner which they never would in "real" life. But this is real.
Reminds me of all the big clever put downs that people reckon they have said to Dubs at their door when they are talking to their mates. Strange in 22 yrs I never heard anything more inspired than "I am not interested" or "I am a Catholic". People are a lot braver and clever down the pub than they are on their own doorsteps.......
i've been looking for something like this for the last 7 years.
i am not a jw or an ex-jw but my wife is and so is her father and her sister.
brief history.
Hi there. There are lots of posters in the UK. I expect there is someone in your area. I live in the northwest.
I left 8 years ago without realising the level of deceit in the WTBTS teachings, I only found out later. I don't think there is anything that can be done to dissuade a JW who WANTS to believe in it all, you have to remember how good the WT is at programming. It is hard to overcome 5hrs of programming a week, plus all the study for meetings and other association.
I hope that you have a good relationship with your wife apart from the WT stuff. I can imagine how a wedge could be driven between you if you are trying to show her the reality of the WT and she does not want to see it.
Any way, all the best!!
sometimes i really get sad over my situation.. even though i have never really been active in the cong.
i still grew up in a "spirituall strong" family, my sisters all pioneering, my dad is also an elder-still.
i miss my parents, they way they were.
Hi JWBot
I know what you mean, in many ways I had a very happy childhood, and I do feel nostalgic about it. Not nostalgic about the mortifying efforts at a family bible study, or being dragged from door to door, but family holidays, walking in the hills, friends coming over for dinner, just chatting. I was an only child, so of course I was automatically the favorite.
Now my parents don't shun me either, and all things considered we still have an amazing relationship, but it is never quite the same. I would not read too much into your dad telling you he is disappointed in you. I am sure it is the JW programming coming out. It hurts though, my parents have had me in tears many times over the years.
I am just glad that I don't look back on a childhood of constant beatings, fear and recrimination, or sexual abuse. And I am very glad that my parents don't shun me. Things could have been much worse, and could be much worse now.
BTW, IMO, giving a child lots of love and affection, and nice things if the parents can afford it is NOT spoiling a child.
her ladyship and i are musing on the idea of having a weeks break in late october, so we now have to decide where we will spend it.. it will probably be madeira again.
it's clean, warm, the people are pro-british and the island is stunningly beautiful.
we love the levada walks, the food is delish and cheap, a 3 course meal for 2 with wine is less than 20 pounds.
I sat behind Richard and Judy on a shuttle from Manchester to London. It was terrifying.
we read of recent events, 5 jw children killed in a car accident, jw's caught and beheaded and be-tongued (and not necessarily in that order) in the phillipines, a busload of witnesses burnt to death in spain on the way to the district convention (some years back).
and so on and so on..... yet the wt and bible too tell us "have no fear because jehovah and his myriads of angels are watching over us and will protect us.".
well, they do a pretty crappy job at it!
It works like this:
When bad things happen to JW's, it proves that we are living in the last days, and that Satan is persecuting God's true followers.
When good things happen to JW's, it proves that we are living in the last days, and Jehovah is blessing his true followers.
When good or bad things happen to non-JW's, it is "time and unforeseen occurence".
