The very problem with the JW is the constant avoiding of direct conflicts - wearther they are with others or with themselves. Right now, the siter of FW needs to face these conflicts and sending an email to say lets stop communication is avoiding these conflicts. She needs to face them head on and in her sisters very face.
Jesus didn`t tell the pharases his thoughts by letters.. he told them right in their face in front of every one. She needs to stand up and take that pressure.
StephaneLaliberte
JoinedPosts by StephaneLaliberte
-
42
I want to send a follow-up question to my sister who has recently cut me off
by Faithful Witness inrecently, i received this email from my jw sister: .
while i appreciate the thought, please do not send us gifts.. our kids are not missing out on anything other than things we try to protect them from.. at this time, based on prior encounters and their affect on me emotionally, i think it would be best if we didn't communicate.. i hope you can understand my decision and the fact that it is not meant to offend anyone.. .
i sent her a loving and forgiving message, and know she has no intention of answering me.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
-
42
I want to send a follow-up question to my sister who has recently cut me off
by Faithful Witness inrecently, i received this email from my jw sister: .
while i appreciate the thought, please do not send us gifts.. our kids are not missing out on anything other than things we try to protect them from.. at this time, based on prior encounters and their affect on me emotionally, i think it would be best if we didn't communicate.. i hope you can understand my decision and the fact that it is not meant to offend anyone.. .
i sent her a loving and forgiving message, and know she has no intention of answering me.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
If my sister sent me a message like this, I would drop whatever I am doing and go see her and make sure we have a final face to face talk about all this.
In short, what are the two most important commandments? Love God and your neighbors. How can you honestly say you fully live in love and give it properly if you don’t even show love to your brother. Actually, shunning is going the other way, it is taking actions NOT to demonstrate any love. It is working against love, the very thing that Jesus held as the most import thing of all.
What she is proposing is to kill the love between you two. If she truly wants to go to such extreme, she should be convinced, beyond any reasonable doubts that this is the right action to take as in the end, God will Judge people by their actions, not by their belonging to a group. And of course, all of our actions should be motivated by love. Is she convinced that such action is proper display of love?
Personally, I would not let her go easy, I would request that she explains it all to me in a very clear matter. As a last resource, I would make her reflect on the very real possibility that her kids will not stay in the truth and will end up taking contact with me. Where will she stand then?
-
9
Ironic: g73 2/8 p. 4 The Wisdom of Admitting a Mistake
by 4thgen inwhat ya all think about this?
of course, admitting we made a mistake is the right, honest and decent thing to do.
it is also the course of wisdom.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
I love your quote 4thgen!
-
40
Did You Ever Hear An Elder or Bethelite's Comments That Made You Question ??
by minimus inyears ago, the society's speakers used to give many off the cuff statements.
a lot of personal opinions and questionable remarks.. anything ever stand out for you in this area?.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
NVR2L8 I don't remember the name of that brother. besides, being in a fade out mode, I must remain a little vague. :)
-
40
Did You Ever Hear An Elder or Bethelite's Comments That Made You Question ??
by minimus inyears ago, the society's speakers used to give many off the cuff statements.
a lot of personal opinions and questionable remarks.. anything ever stand out for you in this area?.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
There was a disaster in Lac Megantic (Canada, Québec) where a train exploded downtown after midnight and killed 50 people. One of the worst desasters in Quebec`s history. Now, many of the victims were at a local pub that night known as "La boite à Chanson".
In the introduction talk to a circuit assembly, the brother told the story of a JW father and his son who stopped and paused right in front of that pub around 11:30 after their working hours (cleaning) and thought about going there. However, they deemed it would be wiser to go to bed at a regular hour and be fresh for service the following day. Well, Jehovah obviously blessed them.
I wanted to walk out right there with my family. However, due to my ongoing fading-out effort, I had to take it all in like a woose.
-
5
I feel nostalgic and for a second, even felt like I wanted to go back.
by StephaneLaliberte intoday, i feel nostalgic about the good time i had in the truth.
i was thinking about the district convention coming up this summer and i have to honestly say that i miss being there and hearing about some really good bible advices.
you know, about how to be a better husband and father, how to be balance with entertainment or money, how to priorities love and despise wickedness.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
Thanks Punkofnice, I'll add that book to my library: Combatting Cult Mind Control. by Steven Hassan.
and yes Theredeemer , I think that being surrounded by people who nod their heads has a lot to do with it. Its a feeling a belonging, a feeling of being in the right place. And in the end, its all feelings, its not doing the right thing.
As for someone to tell me stuff I can gather, well, I like discussing things, and very often, some of the most enlightning research I have done in finding the TTATT was triggered by comments I heard at the front. To me, its entertainment. Some people like football, I like religion. Its just like you told someone: Why don't you go play hockey instead of just seeing people play it. Religion, I research and like people talking about it.
So you may be right, perhaps I should look into other source like prechers on tv and radio who tend to be much more mainstream.
-
5
I feel nostalgic and for a second, even felt like I wanted to go back.
by StephaneLaliberte intoday, i feel nostalgic about the good time i had in the truth.
i was thinking about the district convention coming up this summer and i have to honestly say that i miss being there and hearing about some really good bible advices.
you know, about how to be a better husband and father, how to be balance with entertainment or money, how to priorities love and despise wickedness.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
Today, I feel nostalgic about the good time I had in the “truth”. I was thinking about the district convention coming up this summer and I have to honestly say that I miss being there and hearing about some really good bible advices. You know, about how to be a better husband and father, how to be balance with entertainment or money, how to priorities love and despise wickedness. I miss that. I really do.
But then, I think of all the times they say that they are God’s sole channel and how everyone else is wicked. That those who question them in fact question Jehovah himself. That anyone not researching information within the boundaries of their controlled media are “after their own selfish desires”. And above all, that you should, without blinking, ignore and treat as dirt anyone they tell you from the podium “Person so and so is no longer a witness”. Don’t question anything, be humble and accept Jehovah’s arrangement in which you now must hate this person.
I just must say that I find it, for the least, weird, that I have to keep reminding me the bad things to overcome this nostalgic feeling.
-
12
Status quo? Or tell ttatt?
by ILoveTTATT insupposing i can pull off moving to the other city without the elders successfully finding me and forcing me to go to a jc or something.... should i ever tell my mom ttatt?
or should i let sleeping dogs lie?
it is extremely unlikely that dad will tell her ttatt... he prefers, 99% of the time, to not say anything rather than fight.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
A timeshare, depending on what you do with it, can be a good deal. It all depends on how they use it.
Oh, and for TTATT, I'd tell her because she is my mom. How can you be close with your mom if she doesn't know something that holds a very large part of what makes you, YOU?
-
18
Do you have school aged children still going to meetings?
by KateWild ini have stopped going but my son goes with his dad once a week.
my son got asked by his dad............... "do you want to be a publisher again?".
my son replies.
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
Once we realized that our kids understood what was said at the meetings, Me and my wife took the choice to stop attending. It just didn't make sense to raise our kids to see themselves as complete outcasts from the world (including school) believing that they have the ultimate truth while all others will perish.
Even though we stoped young, they had enough time at the meetings to tell me stuff like:
"I want to go to the meetings cause I want to be good, I don;t want to be evil".
In the ears of a JW, this is sweetness. In my ears, it sounded like:
"The whole world, 7+ Billions are evil cause they don't go to our meetings. I don't want to be evil with them."
It sent chills down my spine I swear.
On the otherhand, a whole lot of what is teached at the meeting is also good. So, if your kid is forced to go there, try to spend the equal amount of time sorting through the good and the bad and try to teach him how to think for himself and uphold his own convictions. In the end, nothing is black and white.
-
26
Do you feel guilty?
by Justmenthedogs inso while i was out hiking with the dogs today i got to thinking about this forum and was wondering how many of you still feel guilty from time to time for leaving?
i do, i miss my family at times but then i think about the life that i have created and i have a good one, i have good friends and i am happy, happier then i ever was as a jw.
i was just wondering if others feel the same way sometimes..
-
-
StephaneLaliberte
Yeah, I do feel guilty for the simple reason that I was raised in this religion and that most of the people I know on a social level are in there. But like others said above, I would feel much more guilty if I was IN as I can't imagine brining my kids to believe things that don't hold up against the test of time and truth.