Jewel

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Posts by Jewel

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  14

  Jehovah's Witnesses - the religion without a past or a future

  by Mickey mouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is only one timeframe that matters to a jehovah's witness: the present.. "so what if we taught that in 1993?

  this is our present truth!.

  jehovah's witnesses are being conditioned to think that the organization's history is unimportant, "the way jehovah is blessing the work now proves that this is his organization".. here's a question: if you were born into a catholic family in 1922, lived 70 years and died in 1992, what is your current standing before jehovah according to jw doctrine?

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  Jewel

  Yeah, this concept slays me and it amazes me that Witnesses seem to miss this one. Examples:

  My grandmother--sweet old lady, loved her grandkids, went to meetings, went to assemblies, tottered around out in service as an elderly lady, no birthdays, no Christmases, put up with my grandfather's constant disapproval of her religion, basically a faithful Witness. Died faithfully and is now awaiting resurrection in the "New Order" (wink, wink).

  My stepfather--mean SOB, beat my mother, threatened to kill my stepbrother as a baby, sexually abused my prepubescent sister and generally lived as a nasty, selfish, immoral sort of guy. Died an SOB and is now awaiting resurrection in the "New Order" (again with the wink...)

  Anyway, seems to me Grandma should have lived it up a little more since dying completely leveled the karma playing field (if you believe the JW canon..)

  Jewel
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  85

  I'm reading the Bible cover to cover...

  by homeschool in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  ....what the heck have i gotten myself into .

  as a sidenote, in genesis 21....abraham threw isaac a party on the day he was weaned.

  check out the history on that and find out what other religions believe about that (i checked out the jewish & baptist websites).

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  Jewel

  Here's another funny "version" of the Bible...much better than trying to read it cover to cover...

  www.thebricktestament.com
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  22

  So I Finally Got My Invitation...

  by darkl1ght3r in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ...to the district convention.

  hand deliverd by the drama director himself, who also happens to be my uncle.

  i even got my very own copy of the 'how can you survive the end of the world?

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  Jewel

  Yeah...Memorial will be a biggie...I've been out a looonnnggg time and my Mom still invites me (with wistful sadness) to Memorial every year. It's really very sad...she is honestly convinced that my not going means I will die and she'll be in the New System without me and her grandkids. Last time I did go to the mem, the elder made the whole thing into an infomercial...did they always do that or did I just not notice??
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  23

  No One to Carry On!

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i recall the 'core' families that made up our little congregation in the 60's and 70's.

  i had not thought about it, but the very vast majority of those families have left zero members carrying on the 'legacy' of the 'troof'.

  here is the way it breaks down - the names have been changed to protect the innocent [or guilty].. the colsons in 1970 - dad, mom and two sons.

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  Jewel

  My greatgrandparents were Russelites

  My Grandma was a Witness

  My Mom is still going as strong as an 80 yo can. Of her kids, though, I'm out (after a quiet fade), my sister is DF'd, my older brother was never baptised and my youngest brother (a heavy smoker and, I suspect, actually gay) not baptised either but does attend very sporadically. My kids are not the least interested...they were raised seeing what this religion can do to a family...I've always told them that I don't care if they worship rocks as long as they don't become Witnesses.

  My mother's brother, though was/is and elder and all of his kids are still in. Of them all, though, only one had kids. Interesting to see if they stick it out...
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  16

  They are????

  by mouthy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  faithful keep on the watch.

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  Jewel

  Wow...my first response to that picture was suprisingly strong...I mean I haven't been to a meeting for probably 20 years and I don't know how long since I've been to an assembly but I instantly had those old suffocating feelings I used to get. My next reaction was surprise at how many chairs were empty...when I was a good Witness girl those would have been packed. But in those days, the assemblies were five straight days and you were "assigned" a place...it was closer to a one shot deal. My Mom is 80 and she does the "break it up in smaller doses" too...goes on Friday on month, Saturday the next, etc. Also interesting that they could have used that banner at any of the assemblies I attended in the 70's/80's. Same old message...
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  35

  What are your fears?

  by Bumble Bee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember growing up we were told not to voice our fears outloud, lest satan hear them and use it against us during the gt.

  as a result i grew up pretending i wasn't afraid of anything, that i was the strong one, which is sooooo far from the truth!

  lol i have learned that i am stronger than i thought i was, but there is a part of me that just once would love someone else to deal with the fears and tell me it's all going to be ok. .

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  Jewel

  My brother always said that eternal life in a world peopled by just Witnesses would be the the worst level of Hell...
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  35

  What are your fears?

  by Bumble Bee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember growing up we were told not to voice our fears outloud, lest satan hear them and use it against us during the gt.

  as a result i grew up pretending i wasn't afraid of anything, that i was the strong one, which is sooooo far from the truth!

  lol i have learned that i am stronger than i thought i was, but there is a part of me that just once would love someone else to deal with the fears and tell me it's all going to be ok. .

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  Jewel

  My brother always said that eternal life in a world peopled by just Witnesses would be the the worst level of Hell...
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  53

  Without God - Questions?

  by Blueblades in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  without god, what is left of morality?.

  without god, what purpose is there in man's life?.

  if we do not believe in god, how can we be certain of anything?

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  Jewel

  Who would have thought that many floods, food shortages, earthquakes, pestilence just to name a few would have taken place like it said it would in a book?

  UHHH...anybody could predict this because there have been floods, food shortages, earthquakes and pestilences since before humans were human.

  One of my epiphanies (from another thread...) was that Tolkien's fictional account of creation, etc. made just as much sense as the bible. There have been "prophets" since humans started testing the upright stance. The Jewish/Christian Bible is not particularly profound as sacred writings go...
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  53

  Without God - Questions?

  by Blueblades in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  without god, what is left of morality?.

  without god, what purpose is there in man's life?.

  if we do not believe in god, how can we be certain of anything?

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  Jewel

  Without God, what is left of morality?

  If you can only be moral-figure out right and wrong actions-if under the instruction of an authority figure, you are a philosophical child. People with mature consciences have no trouble with questions of morality in the absence of an authority figure.

  Without God, what purpose is there in man's life?

  Well, biologically, we have the same purpose as all other life on this planet--to reproduce to carry on the species. Now it is arguable that humankind has been a bit too successful in this purpose...

  If we do not believe in God, how can we be certain of anything?

  I can't figure out how anyone can feel certain of "god". Lot's of other things I AM certain about-the sun will come up in the morning, I would give my life for my children, the first Friday of the month is going to be busy at the bank where I work...

  If God does not exist, whom can we turn to in a time of crises?

  I've never known a god to step in and help out in any crisis. When I was a Witness his inability/disinclination to help out was always because he was "testing your faith"...

  If there is no afterlife, who will reward virtue and punish injustice?

  Uhhh...Virtue is its own reward. And injustice is not always punished. Geez...do you really believe that life, the cosmos and everything is FAIR??? Too bad you can't ask Job's first wife...

  If God does not exist, what becomes of the worth and dignity of each person?

  (See above) It never seemed that the god of the Bible gave much evidence of seeing the worth or dignity of each person...ya know like the first born of Egypt, or Job's first batch of children, or the people of Jericho, those NOT on the ark....

  Without God , how can man achieve happiness?

  That happiness thing was a much bigger struggle when I worried about Yahweh being in the mix...
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  58

  Overcoming deep depression....success stories??

  by oompa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  guys, for those who know me here, i apologize in advance for being such troublesome pain in the ass.

  i have had some scary low spots these past two years, and was imo on way too many meds.

  i really had a death wish for awhile, and do not want to revist that feeling.

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  Jewel

  A few years ago, I actually felt despair because I knew that the children of suicides have a MUCH higher rate of suicide themselves. That meant, for me, that I had to keep plugging along to protect my children. I mean I was horrified with the fact that I had to go on...I was in so much emotional pain.

  I tried Zoloft really briefly, but have been on Paxil for years now. I self-adjust the dosage now and then, but really had to give it a good, consistent try before I started to notice that I was actually starting to feel like myself again.

  Some other stuff that helped: (1) walking: every day, briskly. Since I couldn't stand to listen to my own thoughts, I decided to work at memorizing stuff while walking and started with the songs and poetry in The Lord of the Rings. That kept my brain busy while my body was walking. (2) I started keeping a list of 10 things I was happy about/grateful for every day. Lots of the entries were very small: "the beauty of the sun sparkling on the water at the creek", "combing Katie's hair while we watched a movie" (Katie's my daughter). I know it sounds corny, but it made me start to notice good things. (3) getting up in the morning and getting sun in my eyes. I would get up and go out and fill the bird feeders. I didn't get this at the time, but have since read that sunshine on your photoreceptors stimulates the production of serotonin in the brain. (4) Xanax. It knocks me out. When I was depressed, I would spend all day exhausted wishing I could curl up and sleep and then lie awake all night in a panic--panic about the fact that I was feeling panic. With Xanax, just knowing I had an option that would let me relax and sleep made it possible to relax and sleep. After the most acute part of the depression/anxiety, I hardly ever had to take it because I knew it was there if I needed it. If that makes any sense...

  And hopefully it helps to know that you're not alone in your feelings...

  Jewel