Posts by Diogenesister

21

What can a therapist really do?

by Thetruthhurts in

hi all, i've not read the forums for awhile as i've been trying to move on with my life but i'm back and posting for the first time feeling like i cant get a grip.

so i'm wondering for those of you that have seen a therapist and say that it truly helps, what can be accomplished?

i'm just really skeptical, but starting to feel desperate.

Diogenesister

I know it’s hard if many of your issues are circumstantial, especially if we’re talking age or health related. Many times we feel that no amount of talking is going to change an unchangeable situation. I think that’s where mindfulness and creativity come in. If you can’t physically take yourself out of your situation, you need to allow your mind to do the travelling. You need to find your mojo....that something that takes you out of your daily grind. Learn something. Bake something , sing something....or help someone. Get involved. Just break your chain of thinking.

I think that most therapists will be able to diagnose what your primary issue is. Grief? For your faith...for loved ones who passed when we were witnesses( we weren’t allowed to grieve), anxiety? Are you having difficulties with relationships...? Black and white thinking? Trust issues? Sometimes it feels like such a huge mess that needs untangling. Yoga and mindfulness would be my recommendation as a start you can initiate yourself. I think you just need to take a deep breath and start your journey!!!! Don’t hold back...fear is our first hurdle!

8

To Smiddy and all in Oz

by stillin in

.

Diogenesister

Oh wow if you only ever post and share one cat video in your life....it has to be this one!!

52

Ruin those Ruining th Earth

by peacefulpete in

it has been mentioned before but since we have been discussing environmental issues on another thread, i thought it might be timely to discuss rev 11:18 which has recently become a popular text for those christians concerned about environmental threats of pollution and climate change.

is this passage being interpreted correctly?

did the writer somehow anticipate the modern environmental situation, or did he intend something more in keeping with the bible's general concerns of morality and sin?.

Diogenesister

They always point out that they are the only ones going “from house to house”

Luke 10:5 - 7 “Go not from house to house”.

Witnesses should know when you read without context all sorts of ideas can be validated.

16

Bring to ruin those ruining the earth, but what if we change.

by pleaseresearch in

this has come up recently with two family members who are jws.

if they are talking about this you can bet that others are too.

they seem to be all excited that a lot of attention in the news right now is about climate change, greta, extinction rebellion etc... as you can image they are very smug saying see.

Diogenesister

Watchtower and JWs do absolutely nothing toward saving our planet or being more environmentally friendly.

Those who drive around needlessly in the ministry must have a huge carbon footprint. At least in the UK JWs walk in the ministry, usually.

So they are among those “ ruining the earth” if that’s the way they want to interpret it.

20

why do jws hate pagans?

by nowawake14 in

jw
friends

paganism from my view is just a mental fantasy.

it's not real.

so why do jws get mad at it anyway?

Diogenesister

“Pagan” was simply the Israelite term for the rural poor who were left behind in Canaan and Jerusalem during the Babylonian captivity.

since those who were taken were the upper classes, they looked down upon the poor rural Jews they returned to, because their religious ideas had now diverged. The Babylonian captives had absorbed religious ideas of their captors - for example the concept of light and dark, of absolute good and absolute evil - and had lost the anthropomorphised god with human frailties (such as jealousy) that those left behind still retained.

21

Take a Moment and Think About How Awesome You Are

by Simon in

jw
friends

it's easy to get bogged down with life and think you're not getting ahead or progressing.

but regardless of where we think things may be going, pretty much everyone who's come through this site is an achiever who's done an amazing thing in one way or another even if they may not think about it.. so think about it!.

you got past and over your programming and indoctrination.

Diogenesister

RayofLight2014 It’s interesting Sinead begins her song with the quote famously used by that offshoot of a religious cult - Alcoholics Anonymous. I’m 50\50 with how much good versus how much damage that pseudo religion does.🤔

21

Take a Moment and Think About How Awesome You Are

by Simon in

jw
friends

it's easy to get bogged down with life and think you're not getting ahead or progressing.

but regardless of where we think things may be going, pretty much everyone who's come through this site is an achiever who's done an amazing thing in one way or another even if they may not think about it.. so think about it!.

you got past and over your programming and indoctrination.

Diogenesister

Xanthippe Well said Simon! My husband and I volunteered for a charity called INFORM based at the London School of Economics for a while after we left the JWs. It helped people learn about religious cults of all kinds.

Does it still exist Xanthippe? I studied for a bit at LSE. It was at that period my eyes were opened (Further education really is an enemy of cults) Boy just finding your way around that campus was hard enough, let alone the work! They also had a Confucius centre there, which always interested me.

Thank you Simon. You yourself have contributed greatly to helping people break the shackles and become masters of their own destiny. At any time during human civilisation that is not something many have had the luxury of doing.

13

My appreciation e-mail to Irwin Zalkin Law firm ( Child abuse )

by smiddy3 in

hi friends ,i sent an e-mail to the irwin zalkin law firm in the usa ,i`m in australia ,thanking them for going to bat for all those sexually abused in the jehovah`s witness religion.. just letting them know that what they are achieving is not going unnoticed by ex -jw`s around the world with the success they are having and hopefully will continue to do.. that was yesterday .. today i received a reply ,thanking me for my kind words ,and that they are doing the best they can.. it was nice for such a prompt reply.. i just thought i would share that with you all..

Diogenesister

Vidiot The Org leadership bend over backwards to snuff out any suggestion that they're not actually "God's Earthly Organization", and a pervasive, institutionalized, and endemic problem like CSA - especially in the #MeToo era - calls that claim into question like nothing else.

Exactly. THIS is why they don’t report. They don’t really care about what the wider world thinks of them. If they do it’s only inasmuch as they don’t want Jehovahs witnesses to find out.

Because if the problem gets big enough, information disseminated and the witnesses DO find out, as you say it will definitively prove Watchtower is not Gods chosen organisation.

19

Our Spiritual Heritage of Failed Expectations

by neat blue dog in

last sunday's watchtower tells the story of a man who:.

was baptized in 1908 at the age of 20. he was very confident that he would soon receive his reward.

in fact, when he proposed marriage in 1911, he told his prospective bride, pearl: “you know what is going to happen in 1914. if we are going to get married, we better do it soon!” did this christian couple give up the race for life when they did not receive their heavenly reward in 1914?

Diogenesister

Even when I was a true believer I used to think it was absurd that one could be anointed purely through the accident of birth. So being born between the late 1800s, when Watchtower was created, and around the 40s. ALL of these people, no matter what their nature, should be anointed.

The chance that out of millions of Christians that BOTH this couple were anointed. The hubris of it!! It’s really very arrogant, isn’t it?!!

This is why we had some quite cantankerous old birds claiming to be anointed in the 70s and 80s LoL.

Even as kids we used to wonder why God chose such unpleasant characters to spend eternity with LoL!! Of course we were told it was because god could see “ the secret person of the heart” and that gods ways weren’t mans etc etc

19

Our Spiritual Heritage of Failed Expectations

by neat blue dog in

last sunday's watchtower tells the story of a man who:.

was baptized in 1908 at the age of 20. he was very confident that he would soon receive his reward.

in fact, when he proposed marriage in 1911, he told his prospective bride, pearl: “you know what is going to happen in 1914. if we are going to get married, we better do it soon!” did this christian couple give up the race for life when they did not receive their heavenly reward in 1914?

Diogenesister

Today, I'm perfectly content knowing that one day I will join my ancestors in death.

That’s how I see it iusetobeadub. I’m going home....home to my people....to my grandparents and great grandparents, my great uncles and aunts and, sadly, I will be joining my beloved brother, too.

we would laugh at the Japanese leaving gifts and prayers to their ancestors but really they have done so much for us. We stand on their shoulders. The knowledge they gained through blood sweat and tears, the trees they planted, the drugs and vaccines they trialed so we could be healthy, the books they wrote and the bridges they built.

We would be nothing without them and wherever they are is where I am happy to go too.