Posts by Retrovirus

75

Got Accosted by 2 JW Women While Pumping Gas Yesterday - Weird

by flipper in

jw
friends

absolutely weird.

minding my own business while pumping gas - this 60 year old short jw lady with fluffed bun styled 60's hair and her 30 year old attractive 5 ' 10 inch jw lady partner came straight up to me as i'm pumping.

they picked the wrong hombre .

Retrovirus

KiddingMe wrote

A lot of times when leaving these types of encounters, JWs find a way to resolve in their mind the person's intent so as to discredit them

That was my experience too. Any disturbing information got a reply like "who told you that?" or "where did you find that?". The idea of checking the information against other sources was foreign to the jws I "studied" with; all information was "good" - if from an accepted source;( ie theirs) or "wrong - from Satan".

Easy to see why education is such a threat to the wt.

Retro

62

I'am in the Penalty Box! I asked the Circuit Overseer "Who Donates Blood For Jehovah's Witnesses Blood Fragments".

by AuntConnie in

told my husband to put a muzzle on my mouth over the blood dogma.

we all were driving around in field service when the topic of "which fragments would you take if you were in a car accident or cut yourself badly".

said his choice is a personal one, another sister with chronic health problems said she had no problem with the governing body's new light on taking various fragments.

Retrovirus

Following on from fractions of fornication and idolatry. . .

I guess "Theocratic Warfare" could be aligned by calling it "allowing fractions of untruths"

Retro

39

Why are the moms so attached to religion?

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

please don't take this the wrong way, i would love it for women to comment on this thread because i just can't understand something!!.

here's the pattern i see:.

mostly guys in here.. if the guys are married, their wives usually stay a jw, or it takes 3 times as much time to convince a woman to leave than a man.. if the guys have a jw father, the father is open-minded and can be more easily persuaded to leave.

Retrovirus

ILove TTaTT,

Just a thought from a non-jw - due to the patriarchal mindset relatively jw women work outside the home and those that do often have grunge jobs. Therefore they are denied a social outlet and a reality check, a different perspective that more men have. Additionally, they do the lion's share of caring for children, family and sick cong members, as well as housework and "service". So the friendships and belonging are immensly important.

And yes, I know this is both speculation and generalisation.

What to do about it - pretty much as Steve Hassan suggests. Introduce alternatives. And it may be difficult because the poor jw has been conditioned to believe that any activities outside the "Truth" ( ) are the lures of Satan.

21

Christmas

by Mahtaw in

jw
friends

was raised a jw, started fading out about 3 and a half years ago.

i recently had a child, and my in laws are baptist.

they love christmas.

Retrovirus

Welcome, Mahtaw!

I'm a never-jw with some family in. For me Christmas is fun, but I've seen that some ex-jws feel as you do. Why do you single out Christmas as particularly bad? Like everything else, it's what you make of it. There's no actual obligation to wreck your finances on extravagent gifts or get rotten drunk at office parties, despite the regular articles in Awake

It's a good time to catch up with family, friends, colleagues and ex-colleagues, and take stock of the year that was. And if you're so inclined, some of the church services are beautiful!

Retro

124

Does your Theology Align with Reality?

by cofty in

thesits are fond of reminding us that science cannot prove there is no god, and in this they are correct.

however, science should not be dismissed so lightly by anybody who values a faith that is more than a mere fantasy.. theologians like john shelby spong have shown the intellectual honesty to embrace the truths that science has discovered and adapted their religious beliefs to take account of reality.

sadly many theists lack the courage to do likewise.

Retrovirus

Cofty,

And yet millions of evangelical christians go on believing in creationism and a literal Adam & Eve and a fall from perfection when the facts prove this is impossible

True. Perhaps a lack of education helps. Personally I find it sad when people need to insist on religious dogma as an apparantly vital component of their faith. It does make their God seem limited. . .

27

Integrity over living a lie....

by Happier in

jw
friends

hey to everyone here... so i have never been one for writing much of my feelings down for other people to see.

this however has become so important to me and i may be able to help someone who dares go looking for answers some place other than the jw.org website.

first of all i would like to thank anybody and everybody who had the courage enough to write their experience in the organisation.

Retrovirus

Welcome, Happier! What terrible experiences you have endured!

His version of arranging things was trying to find a way to keep this quiet

Sadly, this is a common theme on experiences here. I'm glad you are away from this environment and enjoying a better life.

Retro

124

Does your Theology Align with Reality?

by cofty in

thesits are fond of reminding us that science cannot prove there is no god, and in this they are correct.

however, science should not be dismissed so lightly by anybody who values a faith that is more than a mere fantasy.. theologians like john shelby spong have shown the intellectual honesty to embrace the truths that science has discovered and adapted their religious beliefs to take account of reality.

sadly many theists lack the courage to do likewise.

Retrovirus

Bohm, sure, I'm a bit grammar-sensitive. I guess grammar is a reality to me.

Well no, but it come with the caveat that it can be uninformed, not well thought through, based on bad information, based on bad methology, etc...

As can any opinion on things testable or not. Maybe we can agree that holding stubbornly to a belief that can be demonstratedto be based on incorrect facts or logic won't help a person in any way.

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124

Does your Theology Align with Reality?

by cofty in

thesits are fond of reminding us that science cannot prove there is no god, and in this they are correct.

however, science should not be dismissed so lightly by anybody who values a faith that is more than a mere fantasy.. theologians like john shelby spong have shown the intellectual honesty to embrace the truths that science has discovered and adapted their religious beliefs to take account of reality.

sadly many theists lack the courage to do likewise.

Retrovirus

@Cofty,

Thanks, I did re-read your OP and agre with most of it.

But, right at the end but" it is necessary to allow reality to set the boundaries of your beliefs"

we part ways here. The present picture of the world that science shows us is certainly wonderful and exciting. Why cannot our beliefs be even more so?

Retro

124

Does your Theology Align with Reality?

by cofty in

thesits are fond of reminding us that science cannot prove there is no god, and in this they are correct.

however, science should not be dismissed so lightly by anybody who values a faith that is more than a mere fantasy.. theologians like john shelby spong have shown the intellectual honesty to embrace the truths that science has discovered and adapted their religious beliefs to take account of reality.

sadly many theists lack the courage to do likewise.

Retrovirus

@Bohm

Reality is reality. Science try to describe reality

Perhaps you were trying to say "The scientific method formulates theories and tests them against reality."

You can try to ask if you ought to want to be right if you want to describe reality, but thats a personal question. I can pretend all that is virteous to believe is that the scientific method is bunk and I am a giant talking twinkie; I wont hear the booming voice of Einsten from the sky telling me that I ought not believe that. Honesty is a choice.

Once again, a bit hard to follow. To state my position: if a person has a faith that demonstrably supports them in their life, it is unlikely to contradict our observed reality, because that would cause cognitive dissonance and lead to stress.

A belief in things unseen that does not contradict what we see around us doesn't have to be less than honest.

Retro

124

Does your Theology Align with Reality?

by cofty in

thesits are fond of reminding us that science cannot prove there is no god, and in this they are correct.

however, science should not be dismissed so lightly by anybody who values a faith that is more than a mere fantasy.. theologians like john shelby spong have shown the intellectual honesty to embrace the truths that science has discovered and adapted their religious beliefs to take account of reality.

sadly many theists lack the courage to do likewise.

Retrovirus

Hi Cofty

Theology that contradicts reality is doomed to disappoint you in the long term and requires you to live in willful ignorance. That is no way to live

Does a belief system that contributes to happiness need to contradict "reality"? Must we dogmatically call the current scientific understanding "reality"?

I spoke with an old lady of my religion in the nursing home a couple of years ago. Her life had included much suffering, losing a child and other relatives in the war. She also had a painful congential illness over most of her adult life. When I asked how she kept so serene she just said "He is always with me".

Sure, it's not "scientific". But the peace she felt was"real".

Retro