so the question is posed in this week's watchtower study at our former cult's houses of indoctrination.
i should like to answer it, and i should like to hear your answers too.. the question is in two parts, and i shall address each one in turn.. q. is my life more meaningful?.
my life is more meaningful.
That's wonderful to hear, I'm happy for you and your family~
That would be a WT session of trying yet again to convince oneself that they are in the right place. Who are they fooling.
Those that leave know better....as you are saying in your post. The most difficult part of leaving is recovering and starting over. But they are delusional to think staying a JW is to live a more meaningful and happy life.
~Faerie
"everything we did was to be a witness.... people's eternal destinies hinged on a word or tiny event, maybe on no more than an unfriendly look.
even an improperly served high tea on sunday afternoon could send someone to hell {or hades, your pick}.
what if the sandwiches were prepared wrong and they went away with the impression that we were like all those so-called ministries where they didn't even know how to butter thinly sliced bread out to the edges?
"Prayers began "Dear Heavenly Father" and continued with a litany of requests. When we prayed out loud, the prayers were often a not-so-subtle vehicle for sermons....Praying out loud was also a way of advancing one's case, the advantage being that no one dared interrupt you or argue back. Moreover, prayer was a way to tell God to behave, to stick with being the God we said he was, and a way to remind God of his "many promises" so he wouldn't try to do anything odd or theologically inconsistant."
"All the basic precepts were right there in my parent's prayers. Now God knew what he was supposed to be doing- predestining each individual to be saved or lost and doing this from before creation-so we could relax. Prayer was a way to remind God not to let his attention wander or forget that we, and we only, really understood what he was supposed to be doing. So we prayed at him, too. The logic of those prayers, if one was reading between the lines, was something like this:
"Dear Heavenly Father, in Your Word You say that when two or three are gathered together, You will be in the midst of them. Well, we're gathered here, so do what we're telling You to do because we have You over a barrel and can quote Your own book back at you! And in case You're thinking of weaseling out of this deal we claim Your promises, and because You can't break any of those since You wrote it all in the Bible, You'll do what we say, and You'll do it NOW! Amen!
.....
"..I just sat in my room and stared at the wall and couldn't figure out why it was a good idea to tell God stuff he already knew.
~pages 150,151
i am reuniting with past students and return visits.. i met up with a young lad i used to call on.
he is not baptised, but at university in his 20's and living away from home.
his mother is a jw and his father is not.
How about asking the person: "What is your definition of apostate"?
Then, give your definition. If your definition describes you, there is no shame in saying "yes". The difficult part is that the person may only hear lalalalalaYES. And YES may be all he/she needs to hear to put you in their Bad Person/Keep Away category...depending on where they are at in their mindset.
who were your past circuit overseers?
i'm sure a lot of us actually know mutual people, as the co's relocate all over the country.. here's a few from the southeast us: (let me know if you recognize any names and post yours too please...).
ellwood johnson (new york/philadelphia area for several years also).
Paul Sekela~ He is quite a character...kind of like a bull in a china shop; his wife is very sweet.
Harry Fetzig~ He and his wife were like sweet little grandparents. He taught at my pioneer school.
Harley Brenneman~ I only remember him because of his first name
Others whose names have been forgotten/blocked out.
sometimes i have to recheck my motives for doing things.. sometimes i do things for the pure joy of it...dance, yoga, nature walk, listen to music, read something interesting, etc.
but, sometimes when i am engaged in something, like college studies(which i do for the end result and also enrichment), i get flashes of my past that creep in that remind me of a negative message, and it makes me wonder if one of my motives is to also prove something about my self.
at times i recall my ex-husband calling me 'stupid' or 'dumb'.
I really appreciate everyone's support here, thank you for that~
I feel better now after an emotional release yesterday. Letting the tears flow is therapy in itself.
What I've come to realize is that on the sensitivity spectrum...I'm on the high side.
This is a blessing and a curse.
It brings me intense joy and pleasure to take in certain music..look upon some natural wonder, smelling a flower is an experience. But, then I tend to also take the negative/dark things in deeply as well. It is always in the back of my mind that there is immense suffering being experienced on this planet at any given moment. If I dwell too very long on that reality, I become overwhelmed with sadness. What good that does come out of this sadness is that it reminds me to cherish all that is good in my own life, and to be kind to others.
Anyway, I always end up snapping back out of the darkness...after I stare at it for a while first. There is a conscious choice I have to make to turn toward the light. It can feel cold, sometimes I want to be numb..like hypothermia in a deep, dark ocean. I almost don't even want to get warm again, because it means having to feel so much. But, life and the beauty that does exist here call me back...and so I return, maybe with a new perspective, and a renewed sense of wonder. I don't believe I'll ever really 'get there'. I don't have a destination. I had to give up the dream/idea that there will be total peace, equality, and abundance in a paradise(at least the picture of it I once had). I have to be content somehow with creating my beauty in my own little world..and maybe somehow bringing a smile to someone else...in hopes to spread love. If I'm going to exist, I'd like to somehow add to what's good in this world.
Thanks for hearing me out, whoever you are~
sometimes i have to recheck my motives for doing things.. sometimes i do things for the pure joy of it...dance, yoga, nature walk, listen to music, read something interesting, etc.
but, sometimes when i am engaged in something, like college studies(which i do for the end result and also enrichment), i get flashes of my past that creep in that remind me of a negative message, and it makes me wonder if one of my motives is to also prove something about my self.
at times i recall my ex-husband calling me 'stupid' or 'dumb'.
Thank you, flipper~
sometimes i have to recheck my motives for doing things.. sometimes i do things for the pure joy of it...dance, yoga, nature walk, listen to music, read something interesting, etc.
but, sometimes when i am engaged in something, like college studies(which i do for the end result and also enrichment), i get flashes of my past that creep in that remind me of a negative message, and it makes me wonder if one of my motives is to also prove something about my self.
at times i recall my ex-husband calling me 'stupid' or 'dumb'.
Thanks all~
I am feeling a bit blue at the moment and thought I'd get some of it out to complete strangers that also used to be my instant 'friends'.. international 'brothers and sisters'.
...this too shall pass
sometimes i have to recheck my motives for doing things.. sometimes i do things for the pure joy of it...dance, yoga, nature walk, listen to music, read something interesting, etc.
but, sometimes when i am engaged in something, like college studies(which i do for the end result and also enrichment), i get flashes of my past that creep in that remind me of a negative message, and it makes me wonder if one of my motives is to also prove something about my self.
at times i recall my ex-husband calling me 'stupid' or 'dumb'.
Sometimes I have to recheck my motives for doing things.
Sometimes I do things for the pure joy of it...dance, yoga, nature walk, listen to music, read something interesting, etc
But, sometimes when I am engaged in something, like college studies(which I do for the end result and also enrichment), I get flashes of my past that creep in that remind me of a negative message, and it makes me wonder if one of my motives is to also prove something about my self. At times I recall my ex-husband calling me 'stupid' or 'dumb'. And I search my mind for evidence to counter this, and say to my self: 'of course that's not true, I'm doing very well in school, always have' or 'I realize that those words were tools to tear me down and were untrue'. But, I still feel sometimes that I have to 'prove' that I'm intelligent, for example. Damn, words can hurt.
Another example~ sometimes I don't tell the complete truth when my family calls and asks how I'm doing. Over the past five yrs, since I left the religion, I have had some really good times and feel liberated and never look back. But, it has also been extremely difficult at times to create a social life and to heal from the losses. I've expressed a bit about my hurt to my family, but mostly I say that I'm good. Why? Well, much of the time it's true, but really it's because i don't want them to imagine that leaving the religion is a bad thing and only leads to misery. They cannot grasp that the religion itself is what sets people up for having a difficult time of it once they leave. The religion cripples people mentally, emotionally, socially.
So, whatever abuses I have received have left me with some heaviness. I realize that the only person that I have anything to prove to is my self. There are those times, though, when justice and then also acceptance and validation from others would feel good. Sometimes I don't want to have to be so strong. I long for kindness.
~Faerie
can anyone spot the basic problem with the question asked on the cover of la weekly, for an article on alien encounters?.
.
adam.
I like what you're saying, Gentledawn. It is much like one who believes in a god asking a nonbeliever to prove that there isn't one....isn't the burden of proof on the believer? Yes
can anyone spot the basic problem with the question asked on the cover of la weekly, for an article on alien encounters?.
.
adam.
? If the aliens didn't come to earth (or there is no proof of it), how were they 'encountered'?
Or~ How can you encounter an alien if it didn't come to earth (and wouldn't the encounter itself constitute proof for the believer)? The ALIEN ENCOUNTERS line is misleading?
Is that what you're getting at?
If that's not it, I'm stumped
