I remember when we had a 'remodel' people would comment how Jehovah blessed us with this 'beautiful new hall'. I kept thinking, beautiful? Tacky and boring is what it was.
Robert7
JoinedPosts by Robert7
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53
The KINGDOM HALL topic.
by nicolaou ini'm an atheist but i've recently been curious enough to sit quietly on the hard wooden pews of a local and very simple english village church - it was sweet, humble and surprisingly calming.. now, how exactly is this monstrosity supposed to motivate anyone?!.
what does it tell us about the mentality of the religions leaders?
does this look like a place of worship?
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Just How Self-Centered Are JWs?
by Room 215 ini just received a brochure from a midwestern travel agency operated by jws that specialized in bethel tours.
i found this excerpt, relating to one item on the itinerary, as visit toe the holoccaust museum in washington quite interesting: "the museum is dedicated to presenting the story of how more than 30,000 jehovah's witnesses were persecuted by the nazis.
apparently the tour operators consider the slaugther of more than 6 million jews unworthy of mention!
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Robert7
This was one of my final straws that completely broke the dissonance buildup in my head. Like many I had doubts and many issues bubbling to the point of breaking. My final meeting I remember a brother commenting on the brothers in WWII. I could not justify in my head how we can focus on the ~20K people who died vs the 6+ million Jews who died. Combine that with excessive Governing Body worship during the last prayer, and my mind broke free. I joined JWN that night!
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My observation, the "threefold cord" actually weakens a marriage
by Robert7 inso my wife and i survived leaving the jw faith together over the course of the last 4 years.
it was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever.
so looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the jw version of it.. i believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature.
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Robert7
BB, they state the WT is the third cord, only because naturally the first two are the couple, and I think they just mean that literally. It doesn't at all imply priority. I think this is another one of those things where they will say one thing and not write it for plausable deniability. Although we all know that JWs are taught to put Jehovah over their mate, if anyone, like us, calls them on it, we cannot point to any magazine that says it. They just say it in their talks.
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Was The Internet The Clincher For You To Mentally Leave The Organization?
by minimus ini think it was for me.. i knew a lot of the history of the bible students, russell, rutherford and the "old light".
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once i could see all of the overwhelming evidence right in front of my eyes, there was no ignoring the reality..
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Robert7
I didn't need the internet. The WTS's own dissonance, rules and regulations, anti-education stance, governing body worship, etc was enough to have me mentally leave hte organization. I didn't go to the internet until after I mentally left. The internet just confirmed what I felt.
It reminds me of a recent John Stewart commentary on Michelle Bachman's horrible picture on the cover of Newsweek magazine. I paraphrase... Michelle Bachman of all things is photogenic... she looks great in any picture... if you want to make her look bad, use HER WORDS. He then showed some of her many ignorant and intolerant quotes...
Same with the WT. You don't NEED any true 'apostate' literature. You can show the WT is false with THEIR OWN PRINTED WORDS.
Pretty amazing for a group called "The Truth"
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My observation, the "threefold cord" actually weakens a marriage
by Robert7 inso my wife and i survived leaving the jw faith together over the course of the last 4 years.
it was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever.
so looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the jw version of it.. i believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature.
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Robert7
It's another source of control, and in fact may be their strongest. A marital relationship is the core of your life, and if the WT has control over that, they have control over you! Disgusting.
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My observation, the "threefold cord" actually weakens a marriage
by Robert7 inso my wife and i survived leaving the jw faith together over the course of the last 4 years.
it was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever.
so looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the jw version of it.. i believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature.
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Robert7
This thread seems to be bouncing all over the place... any other thoughts of the JW faith being a weaking point of a marriage vs a strengthening point?
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My observation, the "threefold cord" actually weakens a marriage
by Robert7 inso my wife and i survived leaving the jw faith together over the course of the last 4 years.
it was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever.
so looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the jw version of it.. i believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature.
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Robert7
Thanks FS... you have a PM.
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My observation, the "threefold cord" actually weakens a marriage
by Robert7 inso my wife and i survived leaving the jw faith together over the course of the last 4 years.
it was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever.
so looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the jw version of it.. i believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature.
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Robert7
You all make some great points. Maybe the title should be "Being a JW weakens a marriage, especially if your husband is an elder" :)
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My observation, the "threefold cord" actually weakens a marriage
by Robert7 inso my wife and i survived leaving the jw faith together over the course of the last 4 years.
it was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever.
so looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the jw version of it.. i believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature.
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Robert7
So my wife and I survived leaving the JW faith together over the course of the last 4 years. It was a wild ride for our relationship, but thankfully we are stronger than ever. So looking back, here is my observation about the "threefold cord", at least the JW version of it.
I believe the idea of the threefold cord actually weakens a marriage, keeping it less mature. The theory is that with Jehovah in your marriage, it will strengthen your marriage and keep it stronger. However, having Jehovah in your marriage can very much be a crutch, and I've seen more unhealthy marriages within the JW faith than out. Couples that are just miserably together. Given you cannot (or should not) divorce, and with the promise of a perfect paradise around the corner, pressures to keep a positive looking front, etc, it is very easy to ignore marital issues and sweep them under the rug.
Jehovah (i.e. the organization) comes first in the marriage, and there's where your loyalty is supposed to be first. I've heard people say (not sure if I've seen it in writing) that you cannot love your spouse unless they love Jehovah first. Now talk about introducing a serious flaw in to the marriage! Without that third fold, the other two folds, the couple, are weaker than they would be if they were standing up on their own.
When we left the faith, we lost that crutch. It was just us two, all of a sudden with no one to moderate, or force us to stay married. Our relationship and marriage had to mature to stand on its own, and we had to deal with issues that have been swept under the rug. Divorce was an option, and no longer could we just ignore things while enduring for the new system. That's hard work, and takes dedication. I can see how leaving the JW faith can cause divorce, because when your relationsip rests on the crutch of Jehovah (the organization), you lose that crutch, and risk falling apart.
I'm not saying having spirituality within the marriage is necessarily a crutch (I'm Atheist however), but the JW brand of the threefold cord is NOT healthy, it keeps marriages immature, and only forces the couple to lean on the organization to survive. Maybe that's by design.
Any thoughts? Observations? Experiences?
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What was the last meeting you ever went to?
by lilbluekitty ini figured out it's been 4 months and 5 days since my last meeting ever.
july 10th, it was a sunday.
i hadn't been there in 2 months or so and decided to see if anyone noticed i'd been gone.
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Robert7
Mine was the one Sunday where they announced the cancellation of book studies. I had already stopped going to meetings for a month or two at the time. I had heard the rumor for a while on this site and I so wanted to hear the announcement from my own ears. Needless to say the apostates were right! It also helped confirm that apostates are not full of lies. Never been back since.