ok, so we all know that the basis the org uses for its power, authority, and supposed ability to speak on behalf of god is matt 24:45.
"who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics to give them their food at the proper time?".
but how can it possibly define the wt org?.
Is it a prophesy or a parable? When Mt 24:45 is read in context with Mt 24:36-51, it seems to be more of a rhetorical question for followers of Jesus Christ to treat people as Jesus Christ taught instead of abusing people.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i'm cleaning up my home of unnecessary magazines/newsletters that i have accumulated over the years.
while i was working as an employee i did not feel like i had the time to read them.
now that i'm not working as an employee but work as a volunteer to network and maintain workplace skills, i seem to have more time to read.. after reading many threads by former jws, i thought that the following article might help some to heal.
cofty - I'm wondering what we mean by "forgive".
Perhaps that's another thread.
Hi cofty, Please post your thoughts to this thread if you like, or start another thread and post a link to it in this thread.
I enjoy respectful and interesting conversations that make me examine my values and beliefs.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i'm cleaning up my home of unnecessary magazines/newsletters that i have accumulated over the years.
while i was working as an employee i did not feel like i had the time to read them.
now that i'm not working as an employee but work as a volunteer to network and maintain workplace skills, i seem to have more time to read.. after reading many threads by former jws, i thought that the following article might help some to heal.
I started this thread to hopefully help people to see how anger and hatred can affect their health and lives. By forgiving injuries that one feels were inflicted on them in the past (or moving on from them, if you prefer), it may help someone heal and live a happier and healthier life. If this thread has done nothing more than increased awareness of someone's feelings and how it may affect their health and happiness, then this thread IMHO has had a positive effect on people. It is up to individuals to choose what they do with that knowledge.
As others have already written, organizations are not individuals and therefore cannot be forgiven. Although I might forgive leaders of dangerous cults like the WTBTS, I would never trust those leaders to behave any differently than as a dangerous cult.
OUTLAW has stated his opinion and I disagree with him. He has not hurt nor injured me, therefore there is no reason to forgive him for anything.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
my name was false prophet.
my address was october 1968 awake is it later than you think.
my town was this generation will by no means pass away may 15, 1984. to be honest i am going to request again but this time with my real name and address.
Hi trujw, Best of wishes helping JWs to critically think for themselves.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i'm cleaning up my home of unnecessary magazines/newsletters that i have accumulated over the years.
while i was working as an employee i did not feel like i had the time to read them.
now that i'm not working as an employee but work as a volunteer to network and maintain workplace skills, i seem to have more time to read.. after reading many threads by former jws, i thought that the following article might help some to heal.
OUTLAW - Wrong
The major difference between You and almost Everyone here is..
You`ve Never been a JW.
Your constantly Giving Advice about Something you have Absolutely No Grasp Of..
You Pretend to Know things,You Don`t..About us..
After a while,it gets pretty Friggin Annoying..
Hi OUTLAW, You are right that I was never a JW and I cannot fully comprehend what the WTBTS's BITE control has done to JWs. However that does not mean that I was not adversely affected by the WTBTS. In 2010 I felt intense emotional pain because of the WTBTS's undue influence over someone who I loved and I believe that she loved me at that time. I have since moved on from my feelings of hurt and anger to hopefully help others to critically think for themselves and not be victimized by the WTBTS and other dangerous cults like the WTBTS.
How does having different experiences from a JW make my opinions less helpful than yours? Is it wrong to offer a different perspective than yours? You wrote "Your constantly Giving Advice about Something you have Absolutely No Grasp Of..", can you be more specific what you feel is wrong with advice that I give? Is it wrong to welcome new members with advice to make their own plans about fading from the WTBTS, independently researching the WTBTS by visiting reputable websites, to offer suggestions that other members do not make that may be helpful to someone, and to recommend that people read information from exit-cult counselors like Steve Hassan? Steve Hassan wasn't a JW either, but I do feel that he has very valid advice for helping exJWs/JWs to heal and to communicate better with JWs.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love (or Regards, if wishing you peace sounds too offensive to you),
Robert
can & do j.ws receive welfare payments?.
i would especially appreciate watchtower publications, articles etc if available, no matter how old?.
thank you.
My former friend, who is a "Spiriutally Strong" (non-thinking) JW and occassionally qualifies as an aux pioneer, was living in subsidized housing with another JW sister. Sometimes I wonder if my former friend spent more time building up her personal training business, whether she would qualify for subsidized housing. I do feel that she is capable of earning more money as a personal trainer because she is knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
When I encounter people, who accept government assistance and are able to work 40-wk, but choose to work less, I feel that something needs to be changed in how people qualify for entitlement programs.
I wonder if time records reported to the WTBTS are admissible in court or whether government agencies would investigate individual JWs.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i'm cleaning up my home of unnecessary magazines/newsletters that i have accumulated over the years.
while i was working as an employee i did not feel like i had the time to read them.
now that i'm not working as an employee but work as a volunteer to network and maintain workplace skills, i seem to have more time to read.. after reading many threads by former jws, i thought that the following article might help some to heal.
Magnum - I really do wish you the best and am not mad at you. I just have stong feelings in this area. You and I probably agree on some other subjects - just not this one. Why don't we just leave it at that?
Hi Magnum, You have strongly held opinions and emotions. Instead of debating your opinions versus my opinions point-by-point, I will agree with you to disagree with you about how important forgiveness is in helping someone heal. I wish you the best in healing from your WTBTS's experiences and enjoying a fun and fullfilling life.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i'm cleaning up my home of unnecessary magazines/newsletters that i have accumulated over the years.
while i was working as an employee i did not feel like i had the time to read them.
now that i'm not working as an employee but work as a volunteer to network and maintain workplace skills, i seem to have more time to read.. after reading many threads by former jws, i thought that the following article might help some to heal.
Magnum - ABibleStudent - I swear I'm not trying to be mean. I really am a nice, forgiving person, but you sound a little too goody-goody, passive, peace-and-love for me.
Hi Magnum, If you took the time to get to know me by reading some of the following threads that I started, you might change your opinion of me as "a little too goody-goody, passive, peace-and-love for me":
Don't assume that respect and compassion equals weakness and passive.
The major differences between you and me, is that I chose to control my actions, to listen to others before reacting, and to search for "Win-Win" scenerios. Negative emotions like anger, fear, and distrust can make nice people do mean things, why do you think that cult personas of JWs can do the things that "Spiritually Strong" (non-thinking) JWs do?
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i'm cleaning up my home of unnecessary magazines/newsletters that i have accumulated over the years.
while i was working as an employee i did not feel like i had the time to read them.
now that i'm not working as an employee but work as a volunteer to network and maintain workplace skills, i seem to have more time to read.. after reading many threads by former jws, i thought that the following article might help some to heal.
Thank you for everyone who has read this thread and especially to those who have written about their positive experiences after overcoming negative emotions (i.e., fear, anger, hate). Based on what I have read in this thread and my personal experiences, the sooner that a person can let go of their anger the sooner that the grieving/healing/living phases can start.
Although anger is a powerful emotion that has produced positive results historically and for individuals, I do feel that anger is an unstable emotion with the potential to influence people unpredictably. I would compare anger to nitroglycerin and love to C4. Both are powerful explosives capable of being used for good, but nitroglycerin is more unstable. I believe that great people such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King would caution people when using anger to promote positive social change.
I look forward to reading more personal experiences by JWN members. Hopefully, this thread will provide comfort and viable options to those healing from the WTBTS's BITE control.
For those who are having difficult overcoming their anger, have you thought about reading inspirational stories of volunteers to inspire oneself to get involved in something that one is passionate about. Volunteering is a great way to meet non-JWs with similiar interests and values and to overcome many of the WTBTS's phobias about non-JWs and "this System".
Here is an inspiring story about a man who has lived through tumultuous times. He helps at risk children learn how to fly. He is creating a positive verse in the life of someone that will hopefully last a life-time.
Flying with history - Tuskegee Airman mentors a young pilot
BY PHIL SCOTTpg 30, AOPA PILOT, November 2013
IF 15-YEAR-OLD KIMBERLY ANYADIKE had run into any trouble flying the Cessna 172from Los Angeles to Newport News, Virginia, and back - the youngest African-American pilot to make the trip - she carried along the perfect instructor pilot in the seat behind her. That would be veteran Air Force pilot Levi Thornhill, with about 3,000 hours in his logbook, plus innumerable hours prior to that as an Air Force mechanic. Anyadike got her training at Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum (TAM), an organization at South L.A.'s Compton-Woodley Airport that teaches local, at-risk kids how to fly.
On the other hand, Thornhill, 91, learned all of his courtesy of the U.S.military several decades ago. "I'd gone out [to TAM] because I'm interested in flying, and whatever," he says. "This girl was training there as one of the young pilots, and so Petgrave [Robin Petgrave, founder and chief pilot of Celebrity Helicopters, who started and runs TAM] came up with the idea to make this cross-country to promote her and the program." Petgrave supplied a Cessna 172and Thornhill went along in back, while another instructor pilot flew in the right seat. "She had the job of flying and navigating the airplane," he says, "and we talked a lot before and after each leg."
Thornhill's advice is worth paying full attention to. He joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and was shipped to Tuskegee, Alabama, for basic training; to Nebraska for aircraft mechanics school; and then to Italy as a P-47 crew chief for the 337th Fighter Group-aka the Red Tails, aka the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war, Thornhill stayed in the service, getting his private certificate in light taildraggers courtesy of the GI Bill. The Air Force accepted
him for pilot training, and after graduating as a second lieutenant at Nellis Air Force Base in 1950, he received deployment orders for Munich-where he flew P-47s. He transitioned to jet fighters: F-86s, F-84s-all told about seven or eight different types-ending his career in T-33s and retiring as a major.Of flying with Anyadike cross-country, he says, "It was quite a thrill. That young lady was unbelievable. I know she'll go far in anything she decides to do. It was just a real, real joy for me, being around somebody like that." Anyadike's now in college studying medicine, while former Tuskegee Airman Thornhill keeps working with the South L.A. kids, talking about flying, and whatever.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
i was a little too honest with a super close friend who is one of the most important people in my life.
my mistake.
she talked to an elder about my doubts...i know she had my best interests in mind and i hold nothing against her.
Hi noonehome, I understand that you feel that your viable options are limited and very undesirable. Since you are attending a university/college go to the campus health care services and inquiry about counseling services that may help you to more clearly assess your options. If the campus services' counselors are not familiar with the WTBTS and other dangerous cults, give them links to www.freedomofmind.com so that they can provide you with better service.
The elders have no power of you unless you give them that power. Just thank them for expressing their concerns to you, tell them that you are very busy and will contact them when you need their help.
Make your plans to enjoy the rest of your life. Your plan should include making more non-JW friends and doing more non-WTBTS activities that give you opportunities to make more none JW friends, so that when your JW friends start to shun and avoid you, you will have a good support network of unconditional, non-JW friends.
As far as your friend is concerned, why give conditional friends power over your life? Unhealthy relationships will remain unhealthy for you as long as you allow them to continue. Please watch Steve Hassan's video How Big is the Phenomenon of Undue Influence? (2:01) about what consitutes unhealthy influence in relationships.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
