StephaneLaliberte
JoinedPosts by StephaneLaliberte
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StephaneLaliberte
9 In South America, Olga proved loyal to God by showing respect for her husband even under trying circumstances. For years, he expressed annoyance at her for being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He abused her emotionally, insulted her, refused to speak to her, and threatened to take the children and leave her. But Olga did not return evil for evil. - WT Study, February 2016, page 23
Isn't this exactly what is going on when a brother or sister leaves the JWs?
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Being Positive around family that are still in.
by freddo inif you are a fader or you have reduced activity markedly - say resigned as a pioneer or an elder or ms or gone inactive and still have some relationship with your immediate family or spouse - how do you stay positive around them when you feel like shaking them out of their stupor but believe deep down it would be counter productive?.
thoughts from all most welcome..
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StephaneLaliberte
I have to admit that sometimes, I find it hard not to share things that I see. For instance, I couldn't help to show my dad how the Watchtower was bragging and lying in regards to the "Telly Awards". He took it hard, but he had to concede that I was right.
Than, not long after, I see the ADD card for the no blood transfusion. 1) It no longer has references to the fractions, 2) it now gives the elders the right to access my dad's medical record and 3) It comes with the directive to make photocopies! I was shocked. I wanted to talk to my dad. I even started writing an email on the subject. And then ... I deleted the draft. Its was just too soon. Too soon after the "negative shock" I sent with the "telly awards".So, I'll have to wait until it just comes up normally in some future conversation.
In the meantime, I need to accept that my dad loves something that increases the risks to his health. At least, he doesn't smoke, do drugs, or drink too much. He doesn't do any life threatening activities either, such as driving too fast, bungee jumping or unprotected sex. So, overall, he has better odds than some others. Still, it would suck to die for a lack of blood when a loving God would obviously not ask for that.
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Being Positive around family that are still in.
by freddo inif you are a fader or you have reduced activity markedly - say resigned as a pioneer or an elder or ms or gone inactive and still have some relationship with your immediate family or spouse - how do you stay positive around them when you feel like shaking them out of their stupor but believe deep down it would be counter productive?.
thoughts from all most welcome..
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StephaneLaliberte
It depends on the family member. For instance, my mother in law is an active witness, however, she’s not focused on the “deep things”. For instance, she doesn’t try to understand the prophecies or to remember the names of various bible characters. She simply trust that the brothers are doing their best. She believes it is the truth and even fears that we may not survive Armageddon. However, as she sees our live style and the good actions we do here and there, she loves and respect us. To me, that is all that matters. So, we never talk about religion. Quite the contrary, I will even help her with her tablet and other things when needed.
My dad on the other hand loves to have a profound understanding of the bible. In his case, I knew he did not respect my choice and spent much of his time judging me. In that situation, I could not let it go. I did not see the point of holding onto a relationship where respect was not to be found. I believe that my father felt the same way as we talked and debated things for at least 100s of hours over several months. In the end, we now still talk and have mutual respect for each other. He does activities with my family and we still talk about religion from time to time. However, I do not try to take him out of his religion as I believe he is happy there. On the other hand, he doesn’t try to bring me back in as he also understand that I am very much happy where I am.
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Jehovah's Witness Church Release Statement
by truthseekeriam in"we are saddened to hear about the death of prince rogers nelson, who was baptized as one of jehovah’s witnesses in 2003," the church said in a statement obtained by people.
the church said that prince "found fulfillment as a witness and in sharing his faith with others.
http://www.people.com/article/prince-dead-jehovah-witness-release-statement.
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StephaneLaliberte
First of, I loved prince. I believe he tried to be good and do good. But I also find it hard to believe that he didn't smoke, had sex or use any type of non prescribed drugs in the last 13 years. Especially the "no sex" for a sex symbol. I find that very hard to believe. -
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Hubby got asked the loyalty questions
by atacrossroads inafter hubby skipped out on the memorial his parents and close friends started getting more assertive with him.
before they took on the role of the concerned let me rescue you from your apostate wife's clutches.
it's 100% my fault he stopped being a witness according to the inlaws.
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StephaneLaliberte
Oh, the loyalty questions. I would answer in an correct, yet shocking way:
Me: Oh yeah. I do believe in the Faithful, slave. I much prefer to be wrong with the watchtower than then to think for myself.
Them: Wait, what?
Me: Well, for instance, when Jesus chose brother Rutherford and his helpers back in 1919, they did things and believed things that, by now, are so wrong that they are worthy of disfellowshipping, they would be worthy of being thrown into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Heck, possible eternal destruction, right? But Jesus has shown that he can over look these things as long as we are in the right group, the JWs. So, clearly, what's the point of thinking by myself... I prefer to let the 7 brothers in New York do the thinking for me.
Them: Are you sarcastic?
Me: Did I say something wrong? Sure I'm supposed to convince myself of the truth... the problem is, I was baptized 20 years ago. In 20 years, the brothers in New York changed their minds on a lot of things. They are allowed to do that. But me, I am not allowed to change my mind on even a comma if it is not exactly in line with the 7 brothers. Come to think of it, does their votes on changes have to be unanimous? Anyway. If I change my mind, Jehovah will kill me. If I change my mind with the brothers in New York and am still wrong, well, at least, I'm safe. So, my personal conscience is in their hands as they are the ones chosen by God.
Them: Uhhhhhh....
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Of course, that is in my fantasy. They never actually asked me the loyalty question.... yet.
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Where is the Rebel.
by The Rebel inwho cares?.
the first time i was in distress with the watchtower, i was fortunate to find this place.
my ego thought ,i was somehow special, that my posts were reaching a worldwide audience, and most of all i felt at ease, maybe home is a better word.
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StephaneLaliberte
I have been on this forum for 9 years. Most of these years, I was still in and not fully awake. Strangely, I knew the TTATT, felt compelled to read about it and even share some topics. However, somehow, I still believed that the JW were doing greater good than harm at the time. Still, as I was unable to talk about the negative things, I was coming here to let off steam.
Now that I am out, I am still on this forum as I do believe many JWs read our posts. I like to consider my post generally moderate and as such, I am sure many JWs read them without being overly shocked. I also hope that through this forum, many people, especially the young ones, will understand that leaving the JW does not equate to throwing your life away.
Objectively, the JW religion is a topic of which I, and many on this forum, are experts at and this compels me to take some form of action. As I am also presently forced to remain anonymous, I believe participating on this forum is a good way to take actions.
I also hope that one day, I will go through my comments and topic and create some type of blog or write a few articles on the matters. So, one way or another, this work isn’t lost.
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what sort of reactions have you gotten when talking to other jw when telling them the "truth about the truth"?
by AmIright inits funny ive read some stories on here about how they have become so infuriated by what logic dictates as being true and their own denying of it because it completely screws up their belief and shows how hypocritical it is xd some look like a nuclear reactor about to blow xd.
share you experiences here :) .
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StephaneLaliberte
First, to understand the reactions of the people to who I have shared TTATT, you have to understand that I did not leave due to any sin or any other reasons then an actual disagreement with the teachings.<ép>
My Dad: He was shocked and tried to reason with me over many, many hours of conversations on the matter. In the end, he could not explain away anything or reason out any of the serious issues that I had raised. Still, to my disbelief, he was so “indoctrinated” that, for the following two years, he was condescending towards me for not raising my kids in the truth and not attending meetings. However, as time went by, he could see that I took care of my kids, wife, mom, friends and others in various ways. I than had a serious exchange of emails with him where he finally conceded that actions were louder than words. Hence, it is better to do good deeds and not attend any KH than to attend the KH and barely have anytime left to do any good. We keep seeing each other and do things with the kids. We still talk about the JWs, however, I try to limit what I say as I believe that at this time in his life, the JWs are actually the best thing for him, so why burst his bubble? The only thing I could not accept from him was a lack of respect and a judgemental attitude toward my life choices. Now that I have his respect, I respect him as well for his choices and we are both happy with that.
My in-law: It was not easy at all for them. I could feel some serious tension between us for many months. But as time went by, they got to see that we were not going crazy as the WT’s teachings imply. We did not divorce, we didn’t become smokers, pot heads or an alcoholics. We haven’t become degenerates, swear and talking trash. In fact, they have seen the opposite. We are actually better people. We help more, listen more, we’re more productive, and do more activities with the kids and family. So, essentially, we gained their respect. In addition, though they believe that JWs have the truth, they never believed in the disfellowshipping teaching. So, we respect each other. They don’t teach our kids about the JWs and we help them download their magazines.
My uncle: For two years, he never asked me why, so I never told him either. Until, one day, we had a long conversation. He asked me why I left. I first told him that I was talking to the uncle, not the elder, and told him everything. I was surprised by the amount of understanding that I got from him. In short, he appears to already respect me and my stand and that it’s a shame that the society could not keep me in as they need capable brothers to help others. Since then, to my surprise, nothing changed about our relationship.
Friend #1: I simply told him that I did not agree with the teachings and could not see myself passing these on to my kids. I did not tell him which teachings though as he never asked. I also made it clear to him that I did not think any less of him for staying in the JWs and that I would not stop considering him a friend. We still keep contact through Skype from time to time and never talk about the JWs. However, honestly, that relationship is far from what it used to be. I believe I did lose that friend.
Friend #2: When I told him I did not want to stay in, he came to see me and we had a two hour conversation concerning TTATT. To be honest, I think he underestimated how serious I was about this at the time. I basically told him that I believed that the JW spent more energy talking about doing good rather than actually doing it. However, it seems that I haven’t convinced him and it looks like he believed that I would probably come back to my senses within a few months since I wasn’t doing anything wrong. When he learned that I didn’t go to the memorial however, it sort of sunk in a little more. Now, we talk from time to time, but mostly about business related matters.
Other friends: They never called and never asked why I stopped going to the meetings. They were supposed to be real friends, 15+ years. Turns out they weren’t.
Local elders: I never told them why. They asked. I told them I needed time. I never wanted to risk it with them, so I kept my mouth shut.
In short, I have told only people that asked to be told and that I felt were close enough to deserve the truth. The reality is that being inactive rather than DA is a really good thing for me as it allows us to keep a normal relationship with our family.
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$13.5M award vacated in Jehovah’s Witness abuse case
by StephaneLaliberte inruling gives church chance to turn over disputed documents.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/14/jehovahs-witness-lopez-sex-abuse-appeal/.
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StephaneLaliberte
I have seen brothers (Including myself), act as big brothers when studying with young boys. Invite them to social activities, small work, spiritual activities. This is actually a really good thing as it can provide a sort of responsible "father figure" to otherwise, lost kids. But it is totally disastrous if the big brother is a pedophile. -
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$13.5M award vacated in Jehovah’s Witness abuse case
by StephaneLaliberte inruling gives church chance to turn over disputed documents.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/14/jehovahs-witness-lopez-sex-abuse-appeal/.
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StephaneLaliberte
Ruling gives church chance to turn over disputed documents
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/14/jehovahs-witness-lopez-sex-abuse-appeal/