ReallyTrulyAthena

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Posts by ReallyTrulyAthena

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  56

  If You Had To Have A Religion Which Would You Not Mind Belonging To?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you were even born into a religion, would you feel that you had to get out?

  ( the only religion that i know of where people get out and often never go to any other religion is the jw religion)..

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  I'd become a Pastafarian (a la the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster).

  Seriously though, of any "religion"/belief system I mostly align with - it's probably Philisophical Taoism.

  RTA
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  Hi Everyone! My introduction.

  by cherrypye in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am a former dub, born and raised and left at the age of 18. i was baptised at nine, aux pioneer, regular pioneer and around 16 started to see the light.

  my parents give me the heave-ho the day i hit 18 (at midnight, to be precise.

  ) i was marked at 17 for dating a "worldly".

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  cherrypye - welcome! Thanks for sharing your story with us, and congrats on your successes "on the outside". Kicked out at 18? Wow. Harsh. Frakkin' cult. I don't know if I could've survived as well as you did and admire your strength and courage. Big kudos to you on getting your Bachelor's degree. How EMPOWERING! That's truly wonderful that your parents were there at the graduation.

  In therapy, I learned to grieve the relationship I wanted but could never have with my mother.

  Oh yeah, I identify with that a lot. I also went to therapy (for a very long time). A big part of it was dedicated to grieving the loss of my family. My father primarily (Mom passed on in '95). It took a while for me to finally understand & accept that I may never have the kind of relationship I wanted with him. I had to learn to let go of all feelings of guilt and the gnawing "I'm never good enough" mentality I was lugging around from being raised as a JW. It's rotten what negative emotions are heaped up on young JWs and the burdens placed on their shoulders.

  I lurked for a very long time before finally signing up and posting....but do find myself in my "old habit" and fall-back pattern of mostly lurking. I still read/learn every day. I have trouble sleeping, so I find myself reading "the best of" topics in the middle of the night. It's all good. It's a great welcoming community of people here. Like OTWO said re: participating/posting, unless it's something you need...well, you most likely already know it, I'm sure -- this board is a great place to "Just BE".

  Cheers!

  RTA
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  30

  How many have you gotten out of the Borg?

  by TweetieBird in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'll start -.

  i have officially gotten 2 out so far, which is more than i ever got into it, with the exception of my son that i begged not to get baptized.

  he, however, is disfellowshipped now and wants nothing to do with the organization.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  While I haven't actually gotten anyone out, a few years back a friend of mine back home relayed to me that "out of curiosity" she started reading WT some literature provided by a JW co-worker and that they had a few "intruiguing conversations". My friend is open to different ideas, looks outside of her worldview and investigates many different belief systems, which I can respect and appreciate. She asked me what I thought of this. I told her, "I'm not here to tell you what to do and you are free to explore this further if you want to. But honestly? RUN." She and I are close, so we shared a good laugh about me telling her that last part. Truly though, I only wanted her to use her critical thinking to come her own conclusions, regardless of what I might directly tell her. ('Course, if she said she was actually getting baptized, I may have changed my approach, flew back home and locked her in her house.)

  About 2-3 weeks after that - between her conclusions of what she read/heard (her comments were many things "did not make sense") and remembering some of my stories of being raised as a JW (and her personal observation of the subsequent DF/shunning I experienced) - she told him "Thanks, but no thanks!" They remain acquaintance friends and still shoot the breeze about religion, but she set her boundary and from what I know, the JW has honored her position. She's a tough cookie, so I have no doubt her mind is made up even if he tried to push it.

  I was/am truly relieved.
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  14

  CULT BUSTERS

  by sacolton in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jehovah witnesses in your neighborhood ... who ya gonna call?

  cult busters!

  cult busters!who you gonna call?cult busters!

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  sacolton - this made my day!

  RTA starts singing along...
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  41

  New Watchtower Quotes : Feel the Love and Anger and Deception

  by brotherdan in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from the january 2011 kool aid edition wt:.

  paragraph 8: "still, as a people,the chosen ones and their loyal companions will physically survive the end of apostate christendom by taking refuge in jehovah and his mountainlike organization.".

  paragraph 9: "christendom deserves the coming destruction for contributing to the spiritual illiteracy common among churchgoers and for its manifest hatred of gods name.".

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  "Christendom deserves the coming destruction for contributing to the spiritual illiteracy common among churchgoers and for its manifest hatred of God’s name."

  "Soon the figurative hailstorm of Jehovah’s day will strike the earth. Human schemes will not be able to provide protection; neither will nuclear shelters nor wealth."

  Doesn't the WTBTS ever tire of using these old lines? They are like a scratched-up, broken record.
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  9

  WT Leaders Slander Former Members

  by compound complex in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  perhaps nothing better illustrates the lack of a chrisitian spirit within the leadership of the watch tower society, than their slander and vilification of former members.

  a christian spirit would mandate prayer for and wishing such ones well, even if their sin were authentic and well documented, encouraging such ones to repent and accept the teachings of jesus christ.

  where is the verse in scripture that encourages hatred for a person who merely resigns his membership in an organization?

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  Hi CoCo - thanks for this post. I'm also copying it down as well, for handy reference.

  RTA
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  41

  Weezer's new album cover - a WT picture?!?

  by weezer1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm a long-time lurker (and hopefully successful fader) who finally took the jump and registered on jwd.

  thank you all for the great information over the years!.

  as you can tell by my username, i'm a big weezer fan.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  donuthole - I nearly choked on my coffee reading your comment. HAHAHA

  Oh man, that cover just gave me the heebie-jeebies Reminds me of the paintings my elder Dad had strewn around our house. Seriously, we had one IN THE KITCHEN hung on the wall behind the stove that was this psychedelic interpretation of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. I was "greatly encouraged and spiritually upbuilt" whilst flipping pancakes for family breakfast.

  You know times are tough when the JW head illustrator has to take side jobs doing album cover art. That's so brazen. LOLZ

  Looks like Death to False Metal is some of their "B-side" songs that were previously recorded but never released...cool!

  Edited to add: Hi and welcome, weezer1!
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  23

  untitled

  by catherinedrew in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  Hi and welcome, Catherine My Dad and sis are still in, too. I can identify with a bit of your story - my father and I have spoken/seen each other only a handful of times in the past two decades since my DF'ing.

  I'm glad I joined this community in order to share, learn and further the healing process; I hope you find the same.

  Looking forward to hearing more of your story...

  RTA
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  11

  my blueprint for saving my family

  by Evidently Apostate in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for over a year i have felt the borg is a cruel hurtfull religion that would swallow up empathy for forced unity.

  my wife has said to me that telling her how i believe the org is not gods channel and the many doctrines put in place are nothing but a shroud covering up control tactics is like telling her i have a terminal illness.

  this has not swayed my research nor has her pressure to continue going to meetings.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  EA - thanks for the update. It's encouring to hear that your approach with your wife is starting to take hold by her 'independent thinking' in response to your questions (tactfully, lovingly asked by you and not "I'm telling you XYZ", from which she might turn & run the other way.) I wish you all the best on your slow fade. Oh - how are the nieces? I'm sorry if I missed an update in another post. I hope they are both well.

  Honesty - I'm sorry to hear that approach did not work with your spouse. Perhaps one day the seeds you previously sowed may take root.

  Hi GrandmaJones - nice to meet you. Sounds like you are having a measure of success with "helping out" other family members. I wish I had a grandma like you so that I wouldn't have made the life-altering decision of getting baptized in my teens. I had my doubts about the WTBTS, but bent to the mind control/peer pressure....
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  75

  I'm coming out

  by MsDucky in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just found out that i have breast cancer on thursday (see topic http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/medical/190249/1/i-was-in-the-hospital ).

  my sister has breast cancer too.

  she has had it longer than me.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  Wishing you peace, strength, courage and a quick path to recovery and healing, MsDucky and Podobear.