Posts by milligal

4

Why can't I just move on? (A blog post)

by B_Deserter in

milligal

Well put. I usually have a lot to add but I think these posts express so adequately what ex-JW's (and some current JW's) go through....

83

What really is a Soul Mate? --- Is it possible Yes or No?

by Hope4Others in

jw
friends

soul mate.

n. one of two persons compatible with each other in disposition, point of view, or sensitivity.

there seems to be a variety of defintions on the net so what does "soul mate" mean?.

People change and adjust and relationships vary from year to year. My husband and I have a huge amount in common and we really enjoy being around each other, plus he's attractive, plus everything else is good : ) but before and after deployments (he's active duty) we have a hard time being around each other for 2-4 weeks. I do believe in soul mates with the understanding that you won't always feel the soul and you won't always want to mate....

33

???Do you spank your kids???

by Princess Daisy Boo in

jw
friends

tell me how you feel about spanking your kids - be honest now!!!

have you ever, and under what circumstances?.

what other methods of discipline do you use?

milligal

My older son would cry if I yelled at him or even talked sternly, he didn't need a spank. My younger son.....let's just say I never believed in putting children on leashes before I had him. He's a little wild man and when I do spank it's not whipping or paddling, it's a smack on his pull-up, noisy and abrupt. I have to get his attention sometimes because he acts out many dangerous behaviors, or some days I just can't get through to him that I'm serious.

My opinion of 'spanking' however you want to define it (short of beating of course) is that the end goal is to reach your child, help them understand that you really need them to hear you, and listen to you. If this form of discipline is used as an outlet for anger-THEN I think it's wrong.

3

Talked to a woman about her custody battle tonight

by B_Deserter in

she messaged me on youtube about my video, really wanted to talk to me about jws.

i called her tonight and we talked about the jws and how her husband is trying to keep her kids away from her.

it's basically all the same stuff we've heard from every jw/non-jw custody battle.

milligal

I went through a custody battle with a JW that's part of the reason I am pre-law now. No attorney's are going to know the buttons to push like someone who's been there. Plus most attorney's and Judges are rermiss to make an issue out of religious issues which the government tries not to legislate.

I don't think there are any spirits out there to rescue us from this, we have to rescue ourselves.

34

Sunday's public talk...

by kzjw in

went with the wife this week for the public talk (i simply will not sit through the watchtower study), the subject was about how poorly governments are taking care of thier people in disasters.

the speaker(who had a british accent) started by saying "burma(myanmar) had 2 tsunamis and the government sent flat screen tv's as aid for the refugees..." needless to say this dillweed lost me for the next 30 minutes of his talk about how man can't care for god's people.

i left during the study as always and returned at the end of the meeting, still burning over the glaring lie told by this "brother" which by the way no one even batted an eye in the congregation!

milligal

I don't have one specific quote to offer you, but in my 25 years of going to meetings I repeatedly heard how the witnesses were such great citizens and they had all these examples of how people wanted them as employees, they were great neighbors yada yada yada. All this from the stage -all the time. When I got into a legal battle with my ex (JW) over our son, WOW the comments that people in the community made about witnesses. We're talking police officers, psychologists, attorney's you-name it. People in this community were loathe to deal with JW's. They found them rigid, unreasonable and difficult.

Come to find out my sister had the same experience on the other side of the U.S. during her divorce.

I think a lot of what is said from the platform is accepted as true and never questioned.

6

Witnesses are not and should not be judgmental?

by easyreader1970 in

firstly, forgive me for not being able to quote the article directly.

i noticed it yesterday while sitting in the sunday indoctrination session.

the article for next weeks watchtower study talks about viewing other people as jehovah views them.

milligal

The theory about ending disfellowshipping seems like a stretch to me. It is JW's primary method of control.

1-they brag that they are better people (more moral) than most, fewer divorces, more righteous behavior good citizens etc.etc.

2-this is how they identify themselves, they are always right and any views outside of their own are always wrong

3-there is no way for them to enforce the behaviors they want to brag about without forcing out the people who won't agree and disallowing the notion that disobedience might lead to happiness to take root in the minds of the congregation

For example; you have a sister who is having marital troubles (husband hits her, watches porn and is emotionally absent) the elders are going to counsel this woman to remain married to her husband, God hates a divorcing etc. But what if this sister knows of another sister who divorced her husband and although not a witness anymore, she has found happiness and stability? The witnesses regularly block this awareness from taking place by booting out the person who has disobeyed and demonizing them (have you ever heard of a disfellowshipped person who was not a 'drunk' 'whore' 'barfly' ?)

The witnesses have to separate the disobedient ones from the flock in order to maintain control over those that remain. I don't think disfellowshipping will ever be done away with.

Why bad things happen to good people...part II

by milligal in

on a further note from the last thread i posted, i was wondering: in reference to the jw teaching that god was challenged by satan in the garden of eden (and i don't know how many other religions teach this) does it make sense to anyone that an all-powerful god would care?

if satan really was a lesser creature, and the only individuals who would know he challeneged god were the angels looking on -god's creations, then it does not seem logical to me that god would feel threaterned/offended or in any way slighted enough to allow all the misery that has taken place simply for the purpose of rectifying this challenge.

simply put: why would god care?

milligal

On a further note from the last thread I posted, I was wondering: in reference to the JW teaching that God was challenged by Satan in the garden of eden (and I don't know how many other religions teach this) does it make sense to anyone that an all-powerful god would care? If Satan really was a lesser creature, and the only individuals who would know he challeneged God were the angels looking on -God's creations, then it does not seem logical to me that God would feel threaterned/offended or in any way slighted enough to allow all the misery that has taken place simply for the purpose of rectifying this challenge.

Simply put: why would God care? (If God is as the JW's describe him in personality) It does not make sense to me that a being that is supposed to be higher than me, perfect and bearing untold powers would act like a child when insulted or challenged.

16

Why bad things happen to good people...

by milligal in

one thing that jw's teach that i can't abide by is that god allows bad things to happen so that he can vindicate his name after satan challenged him in the garden of eden.

if you tell me that god is loving, than you cannot also state that he would allow an earthful of people to suffer starvation, cancer, war and countless other atrocities simply so that he feels better about being challenged.

he's god -right?

milligal

Candlelight,

With all due respect (and thank you for posting a response) quoting scripture may not answer the question raised on this thread. I think most people are looking for some logic, or reason that makes sense. If that cannot be provided, than I have to think maybe it doesn't exist.

16

Why bad things happen to good people...

by milligal in

one thing that jw's teach that i can't abide by is that god allows bad things to happen so that he can vindicate his name after satan challenged him in the garden of eden.

if you tell me that god is loving, than you cannot also state that he would allow an earthful of people to suffer starvation, cancer, war and countless other atrocities simply so that he feels better about being challenged.

he's god -right?

milligal

One thing that JW's teach that I can't abide by is that God allows bad things to happen so that he can vindicate his name after Satan challenged him in the garden of eden. If you tell me that God is loving, than you cannot also state that he would allow an earthful of people to suffer starvation, cancer, war and countless other atrocities simply so that he feels better about being challenged. He's God -right? It's logical to me, that if challenged he would have destroyed Satan and protected his creation. I simply could not ever watch my children suffer -even if they did something to hurt me. So these two teachings coming from the same organization are contradictory.

This teaching alone, is part of why I became agnostic.

3

Good news on the family front...or is it?

by Ima Apostate in

this morning i called my parents to let them know my father-in-law made it through the night (he's got some blood clot problems).

my dad answers.

some of you probably have read how we have had issues in the past.

milligal

My dad sounds similar to your dad. I struggle because it seems my parents want to give just enough (barely enough) for a relationship with me and my kids. Recently I've gotten really down about it though because it's been going on for 8 years and I'm frustrated.

I wish you better luck with your folks.