Does that mean, with all due respect, that only those who don't view things your way are not viewing things "properly?"
Do you know anyone who holds views they themselves would deem IM-proper?
i have lost a couple of fb friends.
i have had conversations with many of my friends regarding politics and since we generally view politics in the same way, there is little dissension.
however i do have some friends that don’t see things properly, my way, and i still like them.🤗lol....i know of some families that have stopped talking to each other because of something as stupid as political differences..
Does that mean, with all due respect, that only those who don't view things your way are not viewing things "properly?"
Do you know anyone who holds views they themselves would deem IM-proper?
i loath this cult!!!!!!!!!!
why won't she leave?.
she knows about the australian royal commision, the united nations, failed prediction dates etc...., i have crisis of consciene and she know, it is visiable that she could see the book everyday.
Because she's in it for emotional reasons, not intellectual ones. Often fear is what keeps people stuck. It's not like your wife is some unique case. It happens all the time. People lived through 1975 and stayed.
This is the brutal truth of the situation. I heard a great quote once...to paraphrase:
'You can't REASON people out of beliefs that they didn't REASON
themselves into in the first place!'
This is exactly why when you enter battle with a JW – full frontal assault,
armed with relevant facts and sound logic…it doesn’t budge them. The weapons of reason and evidence are only
meaningful on a different battlefield – and it’s not where the minds of true JW
believers reside.
The only response you can have, is to disconnect yourself (as much as possible), from the outcome. If we have expectations that other people see, and feel, and do as we would prefer, we set ourselves up for frustration and disappointment. We can't control others. They don't meet our expectations. They let us down.
It is a terrible irony that when dealing with JW family, we must emotionally segregate ourselves (partially) from those we care for. But this is the truth of the matter. It is only within that narrow slice of emotional segregation that we (on the outside) are able to sustainably exist and deal with them. Any lack of precise balance will compel you into delusion beside her (unlikely!), until you find it insufferable, and then forcibly rejected for your lack of participation in such delusion.
It is within that narrow slice that we can live. It is burdensome – but less so than living as
a true-believer in an abusive cult. So,
you’ve got THAT going for you. Within
that narrow slice you can strike a balance, catch your breath, and still be in
a relationship with your wife.
I wish you the best going forward. Let
us know how things go for you.
lately that’s all i’ve been hearing about!
i’m sick and tired of listening to white people begging for forgiveness simply because they are white.
in a nearby town, a six year old girl asked her mom, “ why don’t we have a black lives matter march here?
It can't be clearly defined, but you do know it when you see it.
Is this not a 'God-of-the-gaps' argument? Poor logic.
In fact, isn't the lack of clear definition for such an important concept...the whole darn point?
It's an UN-falsifiable assertion. There's never enough evidence to rule it out. So when an accusation is leveled...the accused is automatically guilty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
i am pimo, but now have 40+ years of being a jw as i was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as i can.. for the vast majority of my time as a jw, the meetings were the central focus for all jws to get teaching, association, information and so on.
nothing was more important than being at the meetings!
over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the weekly book study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized.
It's quite interesting to see the conflicting interests within the JW Organization work against each other; seeking some resolution (however impermanent).
Regular meetings and the lateral enforcement of JW rules that regular association allows....vs....
'We need the damn $$ from the sale of Kingdom Halls!'
It can't go all one way and still maintain the illusion of religion. It'll settle somewhere, for a new JW reality, (which, truth-be-told, is always sliding around anyhow).
i posted what follows elsewhere but thought it might be of interest here as well.
my forst posting here so i apologize in advance if this is not in the correct place.. a tribute to ray franz (on what would have been his 98th birthday) and to ed dunlap, his collaborator.
last week would have marked the 98th birthday of a man for whom most of us here have high regard.
Nobody seems to be able to fill his shoes, and it shows.
The brutal irony is anyone presenting the vision and charisma that the Organization desperately needs, will invariably pose a threat to the current power structure within. There’s no way anyone of any real talent and consequence could be tolerated in there. Anyone like Franz would have to be immediately subjugated upon discovery, lest these powers end up in the ‘wrong’ hands. If these talents can’t be made to serve the current rulers then this person would be promptly expelled. The talents that the Organization needs for its health and future have been rendered anathema to it.
hopefully the wording makes its point here, this was for a class assignment.
i think i owe it to myself to start speaking up about things now that i've woken up and this may be a start to it.
underground we brought our sins to the elders, groveling at their feet and professing repentance.
I was 'born-in', I like your term of being born 'into darkness'. I am continuing to linger on the notion that those of us born 'into darkness' and yet somehow find our way out...we are made of remarkable stuff.
You mention 'losing no form of home'. This caught my attention, because even though I've been out for many years, I've maintained relationships with JW relatives up until now. Lately, the fatigue of dealing with crazy people has been getting to me, and for the first time, I've really considered cutting them off and calling them 'dead' to me.
And I consider what has been familiar to me: my old house, dealing with mother/grandmother, old beliefs that wounded MANY with lasting damage and NO benefit. And though these people and places have been familiar to be, they contain for me NO COMFORT OF HOME. And I find that I am bereft of such a thing, entirely. And I have little to lose, but perhaps much, much to gain, by walking forward out of the reach of such...
as sgt pepper sang, "it was 20 years ago today" ... that i made my first post on my first forum.. i obviously didn't put too much thought into what it should say although i must have burned 45 posts testing things and was too lazy to reset the counter before going live (?):.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/46/welcome.
but somehow, it worked and grew and here we all are, 20 years on.
Happy 20th! And thanks for everything!
The amount of good this site has done is...
absolutely...
INCALCULABLE
And we're not done, yet...
over at jw talk they're saying because they're having to hold the upcoming memorial at home, they dont need to actually have the emblems.
apparently, listening to or watching the talk is the thing that counts.. "do this in rememberence of me" apparently means watching tony morris on your phone give a talk.. this begs the question... "what's the point?
".
Doesn't even matter if the emblems ARE present.
The 'Great Crowd' is not part of the New Covenant.
Jesus Christ is not their mediator.
Christianity is useless to them.
do you think any higher ups know that much of the doctrine they teach is bunk?
thinking back to the time of raymond franz, how he pointed out specifically numerous teachings that the churches really did have right all along, and really any of the hidden mic apostacy trials you listen to on youtube, you see that even when inconvenient bible teachings are proven, the elders just try to sweep it under the rug and move on.
i think i remember franz saying how one of the gb approached him somewhat sympathetically, but there was nothing he could do.. whether you believe in the bible or not, there are some basic beliefs common among most denominations because they're just so plainly stated, such things as heavenly life for all christians, no central authority structure, minimal use of god's name, etc.
Do you think any of the GB have different beliefs?
Of course.
How is their official doctrine established? Don't they have a voting system?
If all these guys had identical thoughts/ideas, there'd be nothing to vote on.
Have they not already laid the groundwork for warming those seats with non-anointed company men?
Helpers?
I think they have their 'continuation of religious government' plan already worked out.
Anyways, if these guys are not really calling the shots and are just figureheads (as has been asserted), then I don't know anything would change upon their demise. The same sinister forces would likely be in play behind scenes.
Best we can hope for is a strong personality to rise up and try to take control. I think we are due for a schism.