Posts by satinka

86

MY You Tube video has been removed

by Lady Lee in

my jaw is on the floor.

after many years my youtube video about jehovah's witnesses and mind control has been taken off the internet.

here is what the page says.

satinka

Overzealous jws fighting for more freedom...?

What about your freedom to speak? Your freedom is just as valid as the freedom of a fanatical religion!

Geez, that sounds twisted.

satinka

61

a couple questions for everyone here

by deservingone26 in

im just curious about a couple things:.

1. most of you seem to be pretty satisfied that you left the the witness world but now that your gone what drives you now?

what makes you excited about life?

satinka

deservingone26 wrote:

the witness world gives you a structure

On the outside of the organization we re-learn to structure our lives. The JWs are not the only ones in the world with structure. Believing that is part of the JW brainwash.

some people look at the world and see nothing but bad so they join in with the bad

Just because we left the JW organization, does not mean that we automatically join in with the bad. That is more JW brainwash. All my new friends are honest, hard-working, and beautiful souls.

they get involved in different acts of crime, sexual acts, harm against there body (drugs,alcohol and many other things)

When I was a jw, I knew people in the congregation who practice what you described in the above sentence. Open your eyes, you will see it, too, if you look past the brainwash. The elders would have everyone believe that when members leave they become degraded and demonized. Open your mind just a crack, okay?

You honestly dont believe that if maybe they had been introduced to god, example to jehovahs witnesses that maybe they would have thought twice,

Being "introduced to god" is not the same as being introduced to Jehovah's Witnesses (humans). The JWs have placed the human elders and the society on a pedestal. The word of the elders is law that surpasses what the Bible states. It seems to me that you are confusing god with humans. If the human elders are reflecting god's qualities, then your god is a cruel and vicious persecutor. Who could love a god like that?

i personally would rather tell them that god is your creator and he does have a purpose for you!

Being a magazine and book peddler is purposeful??? The JWs are being "used" by a book publishing company. Looking back, I was a free marketing system for the jws.

satinka

23

Elder's Manual Question

by satinka in

my youngest brother is the family jw patriarch, and an elder, maybe even the po in a small northern town.

in an email i asked him if he ever hears from my kids.

i happen to know he lives in the same small town as my son, who might very well be an elder, too...by now.

satinka

I received this letter after my mom, who was disfellowshipped at the time, came to visit me when I lived in Saskatchewan. She lived in a small community in Manitoba. The congregation was viciously shunning her and I swore that since she was my mom, I would never do such a beastly thing. A week after her visit, I received this letter, typed, errors and all as received:

---------------------------

Aug 20/85

Dear [XXX]:

I'am writing you in regards to the visit of your Mother and [my youngest brother] in July/85.

I would like to inform you that one who is disfellowshipped should not have fellowship with anyone in Jehovah's organization including relatives who are in the truth, not even eating with such a person. (1Cor. 5:11).

This incident has somewhat confused [my two younger brothers named] (not yet baptised) as the [Surname] family had to be counsilled by the elders for the same reason as we all know Jehovah does not have two sets of standards.

As for information on this matter of disfellowshiped relatives please refer to Sept 15/83 WT pages 26-30.

Naturally this poses a major test on you as well as [my two younger brothers named] and the rest of the family.

However, association with a disfellowshiped person whether a relative or any other member of the Cristian congation is not going to help that one repent of his wrong doing.

One who is disfellowshiped receives disipline from Jehovah through his Theocratic Organization. (Heb 12:5&11).

If a disfellowshiped person shows proof of sincere repentance he then can be helped to have Jehovah's favor.

It may be [my name] you have forgotten about this information in Sept 15/83 page 26-30 Watchtoer. It would be good to look it over, so as to help you reason on this important matter.

I was priviledged to go over this article with the boys to help them understand that it is not an easy thing to take ones stand on this matter but it is a test of our loyalty to Jehovah.

In conclution, I would like to commend you [my name] for the spirtual progress you and your family have made since you moved from [location]. Please accept our Theocratic love for you and your family, hope to drop in and see you all sometime if circumstances permit.

Yours with Christian Love,

[Elder Signature]

------------------------------------------------------------

Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I can tell, I think this elder meant 1981, not 1983.

While he did not say the words, "stop associating with your mom or you will get disfellowshipped," I felt that the implication was there. Everyone in the congregation "knew" that the standard for treating disfellowshipped ones was to shun them, even if it was my mother. Apparently, it was a big sin for me to invite my mother for a visit because I wasn't even supposed to eat with her.

Your comments are welcome...

satinka

7

Counseling and Therapy

by Voices in

jw
friends

does anyone know how to get funding for counseling?

sliding scale therapist don't do it for me.

i don't feel like they know what they're talking about.

satinka

Sorry, I don't know your circumstances. But, depending where you work, some employers have Employee Assistance Plans where counsellors can be obtained as part of employee benefits.

Some communities provide free services for victims of abuse. Some communities might consider coverage if you are married to an abusive partner.

satinka

18

A werid experiance i had aged 13 with an Elder?

by highdose in

i had a sudden memory of somthing that i had totaly forgotten about the other day.

when i was 13 i can remember a elder in my cong cornering me in the hall and asking me in specfic detail where i got undressed?

not content with being fobbed off with "in my home" he wanted to know what room, did i ever use the bathroom?

satinka

Yup...Sounds weird

to me, too.

satinka

25

Great reply to "Apostates only tear down, they never build up!"

by SweetBabyCheezits in

jw
friends

i'm sure many of you are familiar with that line.

it continues to be a card played frequently by the wt society.. is there any truth to it?

"apostates" do tend to tear down.

satinka

The young lady in the video stated it very well...she gets to choose a life that is right for her. Since leaving the JWs, she has her free will again. Bravo!

satinka

13

Will Religion Become Extinct?

by satinka in

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197.

religion may become extinct in nine nations, study saysby jason palmer, science and technology reporter, bbc news, dallas.

a study using census data from nine countries shows that religion there is set for extinction, say researchers.. the study found a steady rise in those claiming no religious affiliation.. the team's mathematical model attempts to account for the interplay between the number of religious respondents and the social motives behind being one.. the result, reported at the american physical society meeting in dallas, us, indicates that religion will all but die out altogether in those countries.. the team took census data stretching back as far as a century from countries in which the census queried religious affiliation: australia, austria, canada, the czech republic, finland, ireland, the netherlands, new zealand and switzerland.. nonlinear dynamics is invoked to explain a wide range of physical phenomena in which a number of factors play a part.. one of the team, daniel abrams of northwestern university, put forth a similar model in 2003 to put a numerical basis behind the decline of lesser-spoken world languages.. at its heart is the competition between speakers of different languages, and the "utility" of speaking one instead of another.. "the idea is pretty simple," said richard wiener of the research corporation for science advancement, and the university of arizona.. "it posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility.. "for example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking spanish instead of [the dying language] quechuan in peru, and similarly there's some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not.".

satinka

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197

Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says

By Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Dallas

A study using census data from nine countries shows that religion there is set for extinction, say researchers.

The study found a steady rise in those claiming no religious affiliation.

The team's mathematical model attempts to account for the interplay between the number of religious respondents and the social motives behind being one.

The result, reported at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, US, indicates that religion will all but die out altogether in those countries.

The team took census data stretching back as far as a century from countries in which the census queried religious affiliation: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Nonlinear dynamics is invoked to explain a wide range of physical phenomena in which a number of factors play a part.

One of the team, Daniel Abrams of Northwestern University, put forth a similar model in 2003 to put a numerical basis behind the decline of lesser-spoken world languages.

At its heart is the competition between speakers of different languages, and the "utility" of speaking one instead of another.

"The idea is pretty simple," said Richard Wiener of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, and the University of Arizona.

"It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility.

"For example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking Spanish instead of [the dying language] Quechuan in Peru, and similarly there's some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not."

Some of the census data the team used date from the 19th century Dr Wiener continued: "In a large number of modern secular democracies, there's been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion; in the Netherlands the number was 40%, and the highest we saw was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60%."

The team then applied their nonlinear dynamics model, adjusting parameters for the relative social and utilitarian merits of membership of the "non-religious" category.

They found, in a study published online, that those parameters were similar across all the countries studied, suggesting that similar behaviour drives the mathematics in all of them.

And in all the countries, the indications were that religion was headed toward extinction.

However, Dr Wiener told the conference that the team was working to update the model with a "network structure" more representative of the one at work in the world.

"Obviously we don't really believe this is the network structure of a modern society, where each person is influenced equally by all the other people in society," he said.

However, he told BBC News that he thought it was "a suggestive result".

"It's interesting that a fairly simple model captures the data, and if those simple ideas are correct, it suggests where this might be going.

"Obviously much more complicated things are going on with any one individual, but maybe a lot of that averages out."

------------

On a happy note, the bible says a time will come when people would not adhere to religion. Rather, each person would be a law to themselves. (Romans 2:14) By that, I mean their conscience would be their guide; not some priest, pastor, elder, imam, bishop, etc. No more religion running the show, asking for money, lobbying for more power, and demanding more freedom to frighten and enslave. Sounds healthy to me. I embrace this idealist concept.

satinka

47

A lightning fast POLL: Two questions about CONVERSION

by Terry in

1. were you yourself converted from a religion other than jw to becoming a jw by door to door work?.

2.did you succeed in converting somebody in your own door to door work causing them to change religions to the point of baptism?.

quick answers, please.. .

satinka

1. Were you yourself converted from a religion OTHER than JW to becoming a JW by door to door work?

Answer: No, I was born in.

2. Did you succeed in converting somebody in your own door to door work causing them to change religions to the point of baptism?

Answer: No. Thankfully, I never brainwashed anyone by going door-to-door. Most unfortunately, I succeeded in brainwashing my two kids.

satinka

55

shunning is love - Feb 15 2011 Watchtower

by jj123jj123 in

18 if you face a similar situation, please remember that jehovah sympathizes with you.

by cutting off contact with the disfellowshipped or disassociated one, you are showing that you hate the attitudes and actions that led to that outcome.

however, you are also showing that you love the wrongdoer enough to do what is best for him or her.

satinka

Thanks, DanaBug!

satinka

61

a couple questions for everyone here

by deservingone26 in

im just curious about a couple things:.

1. most of you seem to be pretty satisfied that you left the the witness world but now that your gone what drives you now?

what makes you excited about life?

satinka

Counselling is a good idea. You will likely not survive leaving the JWs without much counselling. Many ex-members do not survive the shunning without support.

My experience is that when a person leaves the JWs, the religion insists its members shun ex-members. Shunning is a cruel form of punishment that is meant to demoralize, punish and force the ex-member to come back to something they no longer wish to be a part of. Sometimes ex-members go back just because they cannot bear to lose their family. The cruel practice of shunning is a hurtful and hateful form of punishment.

This forum is a place to heal from the shunning practice and find new friends. This forum is a life-saver. Many shunned members have committed suicide because of the alienation. Shunning is an inhumane practice completely unnatural for social humans. Yet, the way JW elders explain it to mean "love" will never help members in good standing to understand the other side of the coin---what it is really like for ex-members.

Jehovah's Witnesses don't want their members to know how cruel their shunning practice feels. They don't want us to recover from leaving the organization. The elders do not understand that we don't wish to be "forced" back to a philosophy that does not serve our interests. Publicly, the WT society denies that shunning is an on-going practice. This forum proves otherwise.

So, thanks for asking.

satinka