Posts by Domina

13

Mommie, when is Santa supposed to be here?

by mrsjones5 in

my five year old son joshua, who happens to have autism and is apparently becoming more conversational, just said that to me.

.

josie.

Domina

I just got back on here after a big move. My husband was not a witness, I was. I am very leery of lying to the kids, because I felt that is what happened to me in the organization. But I do believe in Magic, and I believe that Santa is in all of us- when we give the perfect present and watch someone light up, Santa lives on. When we buy a toy for the 'Toys for Tots' drive, Santa lives on. He is the spirit of giving, of love, of sharing, of holiday cheer.

13

'Paradise Earth' makes absolutely no sense!

by navytownroger in

the jw idea of 'paradise earth' seems to be full of holes.

will babies of baptized jws also be in the new system?

if not, how could the child's parents consider it 'paradise' without their children?

Domina

I always had issue with the Lion eating straw teaching. Because the animals were not to live forever, who would do the clean up? I mean, if vultures are not meat eaters anymore, what were we supposed to be doing with the animals that died? Burn em? It seemed like such a small issue, but when small issues pile up on small issues, even a small thing can become insurmountable.

4

Whats the latest on the blood doctrine?

by greenhornet in

one quick question?

can jws store there blood for an operation?

and if they need a blood transfusion can they have there own stored blood?

Domina

Someone gave this illustration, and it meant alot to me. Please someone tell me how to fix my formatting, so I do not end up with a big paragraph grrr
Anyway...She said this:

"Remember when I couldn’t eat birthday-cake...because that was participating in the birthday celebration??"

-yes

"What if I took the birthday candles off? Could I then eat it?"

-No, it would still be b-day cake.....

"OK....what if I scrapped all the frosting off, especially the parts that had the birthday lettering on it? Then could I eat it???"

-No...it would still be a cake made specifically for that birthday and you would be celebrating it regardless of how you changed the cake, it’s still a birthday cake....

"So why then, couldn’t I eat the cake, no matter how much I altered it to make it not a "birthday cake" and you can pick apart the building blocks of blood, and somehow that’s not the same as a blood transfusion when you accept it into your body...isn’t that NOT abstaining from blood, as you’re still taking parts of it to justify using it, but not admitting you really are?"

29

Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Cult?

by digderidoo in

i have found these 14 characteristics of a typical cult and below are some questions regarding the behaviour of a cult.

my personal opinion is that the watchtower society fits into most of these characteristics, with the exception of 1& 14. possibly part of number 10 fits, but not all.

i feel that all of the questions posed should be asked of jw's and all of the further symptoms apply too.

Domina

I am breaking my response into two parts. The 14 points and then the questions. I am fairly new here, and apologize if it all smooshes together. I do not know how you get the breaks in your sentances and paragraphs, and there is not a spot where I can edit. Sorry.

I actually think they fit all 14, and I will pull out my reasoning book for this..

Marcia Rudin's 14 Common Characteristics of a Cult

1. Members swear total allegiance to an all-powerful leader who they believe to be the Messiah.

While it is not a leader... it is Jehovah through the Governing body.. that witnesses swear allegiance to. Messiah means anointed one.

2. Rational thought is discouraged or forbidden.
everyone probably agrees with this one. If not, look at how many times stances were changed, and the 'faithful' followed the new rules.

3. The cult's recruitment techniques are often deceptive.

The happy people? Do we need to say more?

4. The cult weakens the follower psychologically by making him or her depend upon the group to solve his or her problems.

The mantra I remember is that if I was faithful, I would not have to undergo tribulation. I knew of nothing really outside of the witnesses... and since there was pretty much every type of service through witnesses, I did not feel that I should go outside the faith- even for a doctor, as we had one

5. The cults manipulate guilt to their advantage.

many of us are still fighting that.

6. The cult leader makes all the career and life decision of the members.

no need for higher education. I was called in the back room when I mentioned I wanted to be a nurse, and was warned of a possible private reproof for that desire. Needless to say, the good witness girl did not go to get the extra schooling

7. Cults exist only for their own material survival and make false promises to work to improve society.

They take in about 1 billion a year, not bad for a 'non-profit' organization. Not to mention the buildings that went up/being refurbished into luxury condos in 2005. Wonder if the buy low sell high worked there?

8. Cult members often work fulltime for the group for little or no pay.

Hi, My name is domina... and I worked for a cult full time for 2 years. (crowd responds: hi domina)

9. Cult members are isolated from the outside world and any reality testing it could provide.

This ties into point 10. But most of us are aware of how sheltered we were when we came out, naive even.

10. Cults are anti-woman, anti-child, and anti-family.

This is a very apt point to me. Think of the meeting- children, very small even, are supposed to sit still for 1-2 hours(not including assemblies and conventions.) Women hold a place of subservience, especially with her mate. Families are supposedly close, but if one of them fall from the religion- the whole family is to cut them off like they have died. How is that for unconditional love? I have more examples, but this is getting to be a long reply, sorry lol.

11. Cults are apocalyptic and believe themselves to be the remnant who will survive the soon-approaching end of the world.

What we went door to door to tell everyone about. Sigh... I envied those people I woke up, they got to sleep in

12. Many cults follow an "ends justify the means" philosophy.

Shunning is a very good example of this. I even agreed that I should have been shunned until just recently. Now it pisses me off.

13. Cults, particularly in regard to their finances, are shrouded in secrecy.

I had to dig to see how much they brought home in 2007. Near as I could tell, it was about 1 billion. That is just what I found, and most likely not correct. It is probable that that figure is low.

14. There is frequently an aura of or potential for violence around cults.

There is a lot of violence around the witnesses and in the witnesses. Think about all the stories we used to hear about persecution of 'the faithful brothers and sisters in(insert place)'. Also, sexual abuse, spousal abuse, while not talked about is very prevalent. They even coach the congregations what to expect when violence erupts with Armageddon, almost desensitizing them to it.

edited for easier reading -- Lee

11

Let's help the friends give the #3 talk

by CombattingTheCult in

i thought it might be considerate to help the friends who have the #3 talk this week.

the subject is "true prophets did not always understand how and when things foretold would happen".

any modern day applications would be especially beneficial for the audience.

Domina

Maybe we can go on a field trip to Beth Sarim? That would be good at least for an illustration of what happens when one makes a prophecy that falls flat.

42

Where was the joy they kept taling about

by heybaby in

ok, so i have been thinking about my time as a jw (i'm fading out - read my other posts for background info).

you know how you always hear how the ministry will bring so much joy and contentment, yadda yadda yadda?

i always hated service...always!!

Domina

Define slow torture... I was a auxiliary/ regular pioneer in South Dakota for 2 years. Some friends of mine have made apology videos for the part they played in that :) I am considering it when I get a camera/mic setup :)

45

Lurker for a long time, finally decided to take the plunge!

by Momma-Tossed-Me in

i say this because i have been helped so much by the many posts that represent the way i feel about the wtbts.

it is good to know that there are so many people that feel this way.

i am currently inactive and dont comment but do attend meetings for the sake of the family.. my wife is still in and i have a daughter and one on the way.

Domina

Welcome too... i am also a nooblet to this forum :)

27

I am new

by Domina in

jw
friends

i am new to this group, but am in a few others for exjw's.

my parents were not the best people, and when my witness sister offered me a 'safe haven' i thought it was a blessing.

little did i know how much that choice would hurt me over the years.

Domina

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I think I still have a bit of that fear of being judged that I had as a witness. I will be trolling the posts, getting to know all of you... muwahahaha! Seriously, thank you so much, and I look forward to reading, just have to get the format of this site down :)

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