ele_lux

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Posts by ele_lux

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  18

  Cognitive dissonance... help!

  by ele_lux in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  something strange (maybe not) is happening to me.

  when i come here, or get online and find proof that jehovah's witnesses are not "the truth", or when i talk to my brother and really think stuff through, i'm absolutely convinced that i'm doing the right thing by leaving before i get older and waste more of my life.. but when i'm tired or scared or in some other way not fully active in thought, i still feel guilty and fearful that armageddon will come and i'll regret this.. i had expected that the moment i consciously and in use of reason convinced my self that this wasn't the truth, i'd be mentally free from it.

  but i still feel its grip on the back of my mind.. what can i do to get rid of that dissonance (or whatever it's called)?.

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  ele_lux

  All of your comments have really eased my mind. Thx everyone :)

  And mmxiv, that is so great. I'm seriously thinking of moving to another country.....
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  129

  2010 CHRISTMAS CARD EXCHANGE

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i will volunteer to coordinate this.. if you would like a card sent to you or send a card, pm me your mailing address and a name the post office will deliver to.. what do you think the cut off date should be for sending the exchange lists out to everyone?.

  do you want it pm'd or e-mailed (if emailed send your email address with your snail mail.. i know that cards going overseas can take longer.. .

  blondie.

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  ele_lux

  Does anybody have a link to a thread about the Christmas Card excange of last year? Curious :)
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  55

  Secret Santa 2010 participation

  by nugget in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have agreed to get the ball rolling so that we can get secret santa up and running this year.. if you wish to participate it is very simple.. if you live in the us please can you pm tec with your name address and site name e.g.

  nugget.. if you live in canada and the rest of the world pm nugget with the same information.. the closing date for applications is 30th november 2010. this will allow the draw to take place on 1st december 2010 and secret santas to be notified.

  if you do not want to send international post please can you also let me know (nugget) so that i can ensure you receive a recipient based in your country or as close as possible.. gifts should not cost more than $15, 10. if you do have an international parcel it can cost almost as much to post heavy items so bear this in mind when shopping.

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  ele_lux

  Excuse my ignorance, what does "bttt" stand for?
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  56

  How many of you atheists, agnostics, deists are celebrating Xmas??

  by SweetBabyCheezits in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we are celebrating xmas this year for the first time.

  it's kinda weird because, even though we're doing a xmas tree, decorations, gifts, we're more or less taking the christ out of christmas.

  so how about the rest of you non-christian heathens?.

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  ele_lux

  Does participatin in the card exchage and Secert Santa count as celebrating? If so, I'm celebrating christmas for the first time this year ^^

  As soon as I move farter away from my parents I'll get myself a Xmas tree.
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  18

  Cognitive dissonance... help!

  by ele_lux in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  something strange (maybe not) is happening to me.

  when i come here, or get online and find proof that jehovah's witnesses are not "the truth", or when i talk to my brother and really think stuff through, i'm absolutely convinced that i'm doing the right thing by leaving before i get older and waste more of my life.. but when i'm tired or scared or in some other way not fully active in thought, i still feel guilty and fearful that armageddon will come and i'll regret this.. i had expected that the moment i consciously and in use of reason convinced my self that this wasn't the truth, i'd be mentally free from it.

  but i still feel its grip on the back of my mind.. what can i do to get rid of that dissonance (or whatever it's called)?.

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  ele_lux

  Most of you probably haven't heard, but Mexico, particularly big cities like the one I live in, have become horribly insecure due to drug traffic in the past 2-3 years. Every single day you hear of dead bodies found all over the place, big gunfights taking place on main avenues at rush hour, granades killing civillians in parks.... And it's the first time in ages that things have gotten this bad. So you can imagine my mom and every other witness going off on how Armageddon in imminent now.

  I tent to believe societies, just as individual humans, are a rollercoaster of great times and horrible times, so I expect things to get better at some point, but everyone else around me (Witnesses) keep saying it won't and all of this will only lead to Armageddon. Of course that would have to be only mexican Armageddon because I don't think the rest of the world is having such a hard time, but regardless, I live here and deal with the psycological pressure every day.

  Do you guys feel like things are getting worse at a global scale, or is it just our ant view of things?
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  18

  Cognitive dissonance... help!

  by ele_lux in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  something strange (maybe not) is happening to me.

  when i come here, or get online and find proof that jehovah's witnesses are not "the truth", or when i talk to my brother and really think stuff through, i'm absolutely convinced that i'm doing the right thing by leaving before i get older and waste more of my life.. but when i'm tired or scared or in some other way not fully active in thought, i still feel guilty and fearful that armageddon will come and i'll regret this.. i had expected that the moment i consciously and in use of reason convinced my self that this wasn't the truth, i'd be mentally free from it.

  but i still feel its grip on the back of my mind.. what can i do to get rid of that dissonance (or whatever it's called)?.

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  ele_lux

  OTWO - I've known about those wrong predictions for a long time now. My brother (who is now married and an active MS) and I used to be really into old WTS history. But even now, I get thinking "although unlikely, what if the 'gradual light' explanation IS true? then those changes are natural and even expected...."
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  18

  Cognitive dissonance... help!

  by ele_lux in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  something strange (maybe not) is happening to me.

  when i come here, or get online and find proof that jehovah's witnesses are not "the truth", or when i talk to my brother and really think stuff through, i'm absolutely convinced that i'm doing the right thing by leaving before i get older and waste more of my life.. but when i'm tired or scared or in some other way not fully active in thought, i still feel guilty and fearful that armageddon will come and i'll regret this.. i had expected that the moment i consciously and in use of reason convinced my self that this wasn't the truth, i'd be mentally free from it.

  but i still feel its grip on the back of my mind.. what can i do to get rid of that dissonance (or whatever it's called)?.

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  ele_lux

  I'll definitely get that book BabaYaga, thx.

  So I can be confident that my problem has everything to do with mind control and nothing to do with the Witnesses being right?
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  18

  Cognitive dissonance... help!

  by ele_lux in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  something strange (maybe not) is happening to me.

  when i come here, or get online and find proof that jehovah's witnesses are not "the truth", or when i talk to my brother and really think stuff through, i'm absolutely convinced that i'm doing the right thing by leaving before i get older and waste more of my life.. but when i'm tired or scared or in some other way not fully active in thought, i still feel guilty and fearful that armageddon will come and i'll regret this.. i had expected that the moment i consciously and in use of reason convinced my self that this wasn't the truth, i'd be mentally free from it.

  but i still feel its grip on the back of my mind.. what can i do to get rid of that dissonance (or whatever it's called)?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ele_lux

  Something strange (maybe not) is happening to me. When I come here, or get online and find proof that Jehovah's Witnesses are not "the Truth", or when I talk to my brother and REALLY think stuff through, I'm absolutely convinced that I'm doing the right thing by leaving before I get older and waste more of my life.

  But when I'm tired or scared or in some other way not fully active in thought, I still feel guilty and fearful that Armageddon will come and I'll regret this.

  I had expected that the moment I consciously and in use of reason convinced my self that this wasn't the Truth, I'd be mentally free from it. But I still feel its grip on the back of my mind.

  What can I do to get rid of that dissonance (or whatever it's called)?
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  12

  What is the distinction between dogmatism and sincere conviction ?

  by caliber in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i do sincerely want you opinions .

  is there a difference in sharing your hope as opposed with pushing your religion ?.

  is it in attempting to set some sort of standard for other peoples lives or what makes the difference in your view ?.

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  ele_lux

  I think those are two different questions. Dogmatism vs. sincere conviction is super tricky. As a Witness I never thought I was dogmatic!

  As for sharing your hope vs pushing your religion, to me it has to do with whether the other person is interested in what you have to say or not. If they are clearly not interested and you keep "sharing" then they could easily feel like you're trying to push your religion on them. Just my opinion.
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  49

  beards are from satan!

  by Adrianoblue in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is illegal to wear a beard.

  (matthew 24:45-47).

  but it is legal to wear a mustache.

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  ele_lux

  Does anybody have an actual quote from the WT saying beards are bad?