would it be fair to say many of the posts on jwn are in essence about this?.
if we could better understand what worked for us, would we be better able to help others?.
where do basic human needs ("met" by the cult) end, and where does addiction start?.
Personally I believe the cult has a covert and corrupt agenda of creating ADDICTION when it draws us in by meeting some of our basic human needs (community, belonging, a belief system, an identity, and so on).
Our loved ones it seems are therefore ADDICTS and characteristically also in denial.
And possibly that is why it is so hard to help and reach them, despite clear evidence of Watchtower lies and corruption.
it looks as if the gb are blundering around and really showing themselves up for the buffoons they are.
all the stupidity about tight trousers is laughable and if the general public were to see these selfmportant cult leaders blabbing this stuff then the last shred of their credibility would be destroyed.........perhaps.. the wbt$ seem to have dug themselves into a deep pit of no escape with their lies, new light(tm), paedophile protection and all the other nauseating peripherals they have.. we also suspect that the wbt$ have their spies here because they are either predictable or get ideas form forums like this.. so!
are you listening watchtower(r)?
(Matthew 19:21) . . .Jesus said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.”
so, i watched this recorded broadcast by one of the bigs,i heard this rediculous but yet humourous statement.
something like ''spritually sluggish is the same as wickedness or evel.
lol, get a load of that lol.
What Mr BIG meant was being sluggish toward the Watchtower religion - a snare and a racket.
How lazy, careless and ignorant of Mr BIG not to distinguish...
it's been 12 years since i first read ray franz's books and the scales came off my eyes.
by that time i was in my forties.. since 2002 i went back to school and have worked with 3 very professional organizations.
but my biological clock is ticking away and while my peers are looking forward to retirement, i am only beginning.
Personally I draw some encouragement from the late Nelson Mandela who was deeply passionate about change and social justice.
He took a few wrong turns and wasted a lot of time pursuing violence as change agent.
Then, after having a significant change of heart, his real career, as a highly respected and successful non-violent change agent began at the age of 75 and lasted around 20 years.
would it be fair to say many of the posts on jwn are in essence about this?.
if we could better understand what worked for us, would we be better able to help others?.
where do basic human needs ("met" by the cult) end, and where does addiction start?.
Would it be fair to say many of the posts on JWN are in essence about this?
If we could better understand what worked for us, would we be better able to help others?
Where do basic human needs ("met" by the cult) end, and where does ADDICTION start?
Could our (former) idolatrous worship of the VISIBLE golden calf (GB/FDS/clergy class/JW.org) be understood as an ADDICTION that was/is hard to overcome?
If so, did you experience your ADDICTION to the cult as a disease of the spirit?
If so, was the CURE spiritual?
If not, what was the nature of the CURE for you?
for one thing, i cant get past genesis, but no matter.. when god told adam and eve if you eat from the tree youll die.
so why did he not simple let them die and not allow the offspring to?.
you see, if i was a god, and i told two people that, id let them die , .
I've benefitted from contemplating the backstory and symbolism.
Both as a summary, and in detail.
The book "Two Trees" by Robert Ingleson presents a compelling and detailed backstory that resonates with my own challenging experience, journey and insights.
im new here, and dont know much about jw, other than what im reading.
i have my best friend who is having bible study in her home with 2 witnesses, and she is soaking it in.
she is very defensive and is getting more and more closed off.
Hi and welcome tiredroadie!
Our family stopped following the Watchtower after 4 generations and 4 decades.
We were asked a simple question by a believer:
"What is the gospel in one word?"
Of course we soon discovered for ourselves that the liberating gospel message (according to Paul, Moses, Isaiah and Psalms) could be found in the Watchtower library, albeit fragmented and not focussed on.
However we also soon discovered for ourselves that it is glaringly obvious that Watchtower followers do not have the liberating gospel message in their hearts or on their lips.
We also soon discovered for ourselves that there is nothing Watchtower leaders hate and fear more than the liberating gospel message according to Paul.
Maybe you could get your friend to "teach" you the liberating gospel message (or "Good News") according to Paul?
Maybe you could ask her to "help" you work out what percentage of the Bible's references to "Good News" are by Paul, using the Watchtower's own online library ( http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=%22good+news%22&fc%5B%5D=bi ).
Maybe at a later stage you could ask her to once again "help" you figure out how many times Paul mentions the word "Kingdom" in the same sentence as the phrase "Good News", and why (zero out of 85 times, http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=%22good+news%22+Kingdom&fc%5B%5D=bi&p=sen ).
a friend of mine is getting disfellowshipped.
someone with a kind heart, and good rep. he knows how i feel, remains my firend, and we have respectful conversation.
without revealing too much, lets just say the reason he is being disfellowshipped is for family problems.
Yup, dare to question or disagree, and the apostate Pharisees will move swiftly to discredit, marginalise and kill (aka d/f) their detractor, to preserve apostate clericalism and apostate magisterium.
2,000 years and nothing has changed.
thankfully my parents are converts so they aren't wierd.
seemed pretty popular by all accounts.
they are "popular" jws even now.
@kneehighmiah
I too believe that the young people today are smarter than we were and are not as easily duped by religion/ists.
Would this explain why PEW found that two-thirds of those raised as Watchtower followers, are no longer members of the apostate doomsday cult?
Greetings
Fernando
does a female kingdom publisher need to wear a head covering if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher?.
in a questions from readers item published in the watchtower of july 15, 2002, it was stated that a sister should cover her head if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher, whether he is baptized or not.
further consideration of the matter suggests that a modification to this direction is appropriate.. if the male publisher who accompanies the sister while she conducts an established bible study is baptized, the sister would certainly want to wear a head covering.
As Ray Franz explained, apostate "legalism leads to a morass of inconsistencies", requiring perpetual "adjustments", and flip-flops.
Jesus was possibly a little pithier:
The blind leading the blind.
