Posts by sd-7

19

For anyone unsure as to whether JW's are a cult..please read...

by lostinnj83 in

if the informaiton i am posting is redundant or has been posted, please forgive me.. i know we are all at different stages of this journey.

for me i am still "in" but working towards being out and leaving.

any one in this position or who has been here knows how diffucult of a time this can be.

sd-7

When I first started studying Dr. Robert Jay Lifton's research, and really I only heard of it while reading Steve Hassan's book 'Combatting Cult Mind Control', I was just...stunned at how it all fit the JWs. It made me realize, they could have killed us all and we would have gladly gone over the cliff. It's a hurt that never fully heals for me.

Long before I ever began to question my beliefs, I probably watched a TV movie or two about cults and I'd said to myself, if I ever found out I was in a cult, or if the JWs ever asked me to do anything crazy, I'd leave. Little did I know I'd actually be faced with that decision. I'm just glad I made the choice to leave. Once you know for a fact that they're doing this, you know you have to get out for your own safety.

--sd-7

41

New May Awake! Am I being unreasonable or does this sound crazy!?

by toweragent in

my friends usually walked me home after dark.

but one evening i was so tired that i decided to call a taxi.

the driver didnt take me home.

sd-7

Excellent connection, Cadellin. Under Watchtower Law, the 'slave' just determines which parts of the Mosaic Law are still in force and which are not, rather than letting the New Testament handle that. You can't get a tattoo, based on a "principle" of the Law, but you have to shave your beard, going against the very next verse in the Law. When it becomes so arbitrary, you see very clearly that it's subject to personal opinion, to the whims of a few men.

--sd-7

81

More connect-the-dots madness...

by cedars in

jw
friends

that's right, a knife and a baby in close proximity.... .

http://www.jw.org/assets/m/ijw13fr/502013178/ijw13fr_id-502013178_e/502013178_e_cnt_1.pdf.

anything goes, so long as you're proving how "wise" king solomon was.. .

sd-7

"FAMILY ACTIVITY: Without speaking, one family member could
act out the part of one of the characters in 1 Kings 3:16-28.
The rest of the family should try to guess the identity of that character."

Sounds like a JW Vengeance Dad meme in the making...

THEY GUESSED WHICH BIBLE CHARACTER I WAS

AS I CUT THEM IN HALF

Of course, no actual death happens in this story, but the threat of violence and the drawing of a violent image is certainly present. The child draws the knife and the baby. As someone who has small kids, if I see my child connecting the dots on this picture, I'm going to have to throw it in the trash and demand that no further drawings of this sort be used for my children's activities. This really is not a proper way to involve children in worship. I can understand reading the stories to them--and that, I think, from the Christian perspective would be perfectly fine--but these pictures are going to stay with them.

I can still remember one of my earliest childhood memories from 'My Book of Bible Stories', with Abel lying in a pool of his own blood. I can remember staring at that picture for a long time, and feeling an emotion I couldn't fully quantify until I was much older--I felt disturbed.

But this is...hmm. I think I'd like to share this with my old therapist, just to see what she would say. There are worse things that will happen to the kids who grow up as JWs than drawing on this picture. But this is peculiar, at least.

--sd-7

41

New May Awake! Am I being unreasonable or does this sound crazy!?

by toweragent in

my friends usually walked me home after dark.

but one evening i was so tired that i decided to call a taxi.

the driver didnt take me home.

sd-7

"Therefore, a victim who was unable to scream but otherwise did all she could under the circumstances can leave matters in Jehovah’s hands."

I think we should bear in mind the exact wording of this most recent ('03) quote. It doesn't say that the woman is not guilty; it says she can leave matters in Jehovah's hands. So this actually doesn't say the woman is not guilty for being raped. If anything, it's a code for saying she will get a judicial committee where "Jehovah" (ie. three elders) will determine whether or not she was actually raped.

If she didn't scream, there is nothing in this sentence that really says she's in the clear (just as there is nothing in the sentence that really says she isn't in the clear, either). Two factors are put before what will surely be a committee: (1) did she scream? (2) If she did not scream, did she otherwise do all she could under the circumstances? If the answers to both are 'no', then it is theoretically possible and maybe even likely that some elders would DF her. I'd like to think that most wouldn't, but I do believe some most certainly would.

Either way, would there really be a point in her screaming in an abandoned field? It's abandoned. Who's going to hear you scream? Will they call the rapist in to testify that he heard her scream? What's the point in this quote? Just to tell them they should scream, which implies to me, at least, that the same rule is in effect, but they just can't (or don't) overtly spell it out as they used to.

--sd-7

25

Addressing The False Claim That Jehovah's Witnesses Do Not Think "Independently"

by Bangalore in

jw
friends

addressing the false claim that jehovah's witnesses do not think "independently.. .

http://defendingjehovahswitnesses.blogspot.com/2013/02/addressing-false-claim-that-jehovahs.html#.

from a wt apologist.. .

sd-7

If it looks like a Duck,Walks like a Duck and .. It must be an..

Quacks like a Duck .. Ice Cream Truck..

"Evidently, some ice cream trucks may indeed 'quack like a duck' in modern times, thanks to custom-made horns and music devices. They may 'look like a duck' in terms of the way paint was used in a sophisticated art design. They may 'walk like a duck' perhaps due to neglect of auto maintenance, which may cause the vehicle to wobble as a duck might while walking. Can we assume, then, that these are in fact, not ducks, despite looking like, walking like, and quacking like ducks? By no means!"

--sd-7

16

What happened immediately after your Judicial Committee was over?

by civicsi00 in

whenever i went to my judicial committee (over 3 years ago), the elders opened with a prayer for jehbooboo's guidance.

then they followed up with their loyalty question, "do you believe in the faithful and discreet slave?".

of course i answered "no", and shortly thereafter i handed over my disassociation letter.

sd-7

From my Borg court thread here on JWN nearly 3 years ago:

It was maybe 10-15 minutes before they called me back in to tell me I was to be disfellowshipped. Announcement will be made on the 10th, right after the special assembly day. The thing that seemed particularly hypocritical was that they just ended the committee right there--no prayer, nothing. Just, that's it. Bye. If you really hope that I get "restored" spiritually, why not have the decency to offer one last prayer in my behalf? Instead, just cold silence.

It was as though a chill wind passed through, the utter silence. I was grieved at how unyielding they were, how they couldn't see that I wasn't a bad person because I disagreed. I glanced at each of them, said, "Take care," and went home to give my wife the news. I can still remember the look on her face, and...the hurt never really goes away, knowing that maybe that wasn't what she expected or what she hoped for, maybe she hoped I would rethink my beliefs. Everything had already gone to hell weeks before. The rest was just ceremony.

--sd-7

88

At JW.Org, for kids, a connect the dots coloring page of Lot's wife turning into salt.

by Theocratic Sedition in

jw
friends

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/picture-activities/lots-wife-becomes-salt/.

is it me or is this kinda sick?

i mean i can understand learning from the account, but this is kinda deviant.

sd-7

I wouldn't advise showin' very young children Jesus bloodied on the cross

in a coloring book or even a print out

I think that's what underscores my point--not even the source of salvation (something positive, in the long run) should be presented that way, so why do it for anything else?

--sd-7

61

2013 District Convention Program: Gods Word is Truth!

by bats in the belfry in

.

unlike god's word, that jws believe to be absolute truth, any one of their directives given at the 2013 district convention could be subject to misinterpretation.. .

.

sd-7

Canine Apostates (Revelation 22:15)

--LOL!

--sd-7

61

2013 District Convention Program: Gods Word is Truth!

by bats in the belfry in

.

unlike god's word, that jws believe to be absolute truth, any one of their directives given at the 2013 district convention could be subject to misinterpretation.. .

.

sd-7

“The False Stylus” (Jeremiah 8:8, 9)

--Why do I get the feeling this is going to be an anti-technology talk?

And here's the maaaain event!!! In this corner, invisibly present, weighing in at an indeterminate weight,

11:10 Symposium: Beware of Apostates!

Satan (John 8:44)

Human Apostates (1 John 2:19)

--Wow, there are HUMAN apostates?? I thought they were all devil-wolf-alien creatures!!

So, there's another drama on Sunday as well, about Esther! Plus a sound drama on Saturday, so we've got like 3 dramas. They're really spicing it up this year! I think I'm going to be snorting milk through my nose in laughter at some point, I guarantee it. Either that, or vomiting in the bathroom that always smells of one big fart. We'll see.

Wow, can't believe it's only...what, less than five months away...I can't tell you how excited I am.

--sd-7

61

2013 District Convention Program: Gods Word is Truth!

by bats in the belfry in

.

unlike god's word, that jws believe to be absolute truth, any one of their directives given at the 2013 district convention could be subject to misinterpretation.. .

.

sd-7

3:30 Drama: “ShowYourselfAttentive to theWonderful

Works of God” (Job 37:14)

--So the drama is on Friday this year. I need to find a way for our family to miss Friday. Hmm...then again, that'll be the only fun part of the program, so...never mind...

4:00 “Buy Truth Itself and Do Not Sell It” (Proverbs 23:23)

--Oh, and we do accept debit and credit cards now, don't forget!

4:20 Believe Inspired Truth, Not Inspired Error

(1 Timothy 4:1; 1 John 4:1, 6)

--Hmm, maybe this one will be a review of the organization's "inspired errors"? One can only hope.

--sd-7