xjwsrock

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Posts by xjwsrock

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  10

  If You Refuse to Question, How Can You Be Sure of the Answer?

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ..... let's pose a forbidden question....is the jw faith actually the one true religion?

  if you refuse to ask this question with a true open mind and heart, how can it be said you know the answer is yes?

  put another way..... if you refuse to ask this question today, how can you really say you know today that the answer is yes?.

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  xjwsrock

  I think it is incredible that JW's think it is a sin to question something that they most likely decided when they were 12 years old. Even that was based mainly on a bible story book and what their parents told them to think.

  Sad...
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  10

  If You Refuse to Question, How Can You Be Sure of the Answer?

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ..... let's pose a forbidden question....is the jw faith actually the one true religion?

  if you refuse to ask this question with a true open mind and heart, how can it be said you know the answer is yes?

  put another way..... if you refuse to ask this question today, how can you really say you know today that the answer is yes?.

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  xjwsrock

  ....

  Let's pose a forbidden question....Is the JW faith actually the one true religion?

  If you refuse to ask this question with a true open mind and heart, how can it be said you know the answer is YES? Put another way..... If you refuse to ask this question TODAY, how can you really say you know TODAY that the answer is YES?
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  13

  Has anyone been shunned by a REAL sinner?

  by ToesUp in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just curious..... has anyone been shunned (just decided to leave the cult)?

  let me explain my situation:.

  a family member seems to be shunning me.

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  xjwsrock

  This organization gives people all the excuse they need to act superior and smug. It is proof positive of it fostering a works-based "salvation".

  If you do X then you are better than the person that doesn't. If you have X "privilege" than you are better than the person who doesn't have that privilege.

  The mid-week service crowd at my hall ... you would think they perform miracles with how they act.

  Self-righteousness is common and rarely acknowledged much less counseled. It goes all the way up to the totem pole.
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  27

  My Lawyers Letter To The Elders

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for those of you that asked, below is a copy of my solicitors letter to the elders in my old congregation.

  he sent a similar one directly to bethel and a medical directive to my daughters gp to go on her medical records that i have already given permission for her to have a blood transfusion should she need one:.

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  xjwsrock

  That pic is unbelievable. How did i ever think this kind of thing was ok? Scary.
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  22

  Jehovah's Witnesses: the Brotherhood of Delusion

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am a curious person.

  i am challenged by the unknown.

  i can be driven, out of sheer frustration, to penetrate a closed veil of conspiracy.

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  xjwsrock

  I really like this premise. It explains certain emotions that are in play better than other analogies I have come across.

  I often think of the org in terms of con-artists and the deluded. I have tried to expand on this by saying some are both at the same time, but it still isn't quite enough. There are other variables in play that are hard to describe.

  Con / Victim, while true, doesn't completely explain the titillation seen and felt in the audience at times nor does it explain fully the motivation of those on the stage IMO. There is a desire to "put on the show" when involved in the meetings or conventions. It can't be explained away as just being up in front of people.

  The "Magic Show" parallel nails it.

  It also helps illustrate why JW's often don't want to wake up. They don't want to leave the audience. They don't want to know. It would completely spoil the magic show and all the fuzzy feelings that come with it.

  It also explains some of the emotions I feel even now at moments. I will hear a certain phrase or reference in a talk or paragraph and feel those old good feelings again and wonder for a split second, if I'm making a mistake pulling back from all this. Of course it is short lived, but still weird. I guess I am just missing the show for a second. It would be a similar feeling a person would have, I suppose, that missed when the magic trick still fooled them.

  Reality can be cold. We all need an escape. Some escapes are healthy, some are dangerous. JW's escape into the audience of a grand century-long magic show that unfortunately results in their exploitation because the magicians are self-serving sociopaths.

  Thanks Terry.
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  27

  My Lawyers Letter To The Elders

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for those of you that asked, below is a copy of my solicitors letter to the elders in my old congregation.

  he sent a similar one directly to bethel and a medical directive to my daughters gp to go on her medical records that i have already given permission for her to have a blood transfusion should she need one:.

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  xjwsrock

  Nice! Love it. Good for you.

  These idiots only have power in their imagination and in their stupid bubble. This was demonstrated profoundly during the Australian Royal Commission. I loved watching legal reality slap Jackson on the ass.
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  18

  So This is What They are Studying This Week at the Mid-Week Meeting -"Don't Give Way to Doubt"

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this week they finish up a chapter in the "imitate their faith" book about peter.

  they cover the account of jesus walking on water.

  in the story peter also walks on the water out to jesus.

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  xjwsrock

  This week they finish up a chapter in the "Imitate Their Faith" book about Peter. They cover the account of Jesus walking on water. In the story Peter also walks on the water out to Jesus. Well Peter gets scared as he is walking on the water in the middle of a storm and Jesus has to save him - notice how it is described in the publication:

  He cried out: “Lord, save me!” Jesus caught him by the hand and pulled him up. Then, while still on the water’s surface, he drove home this important lesson to Peter: “You with little faith, why did you give way to doubt?”— Matt. 14:30, 31
  21 “Give way to doubt”—what an apt phrase! Doubt can be a powerful, destructive force. If we yield to it, it can eat away at our faith and cause us to sink spiritually. We need to fight back vigorously! How? By keeping the right focus. If we dwell on what scares us, what discourages us, what distracts us from Jehovah and his Son, we will find our doubts growing. If we focus on Jehovah and his Son, on what they have done, are doing, and will do for those who love them, we will keep corrosive doubts at bay.

  So, Jesus wasn't just teaching Peter to trust in him. No. He was teaching people down to our day to never doubt the Faithful and Discreet Slave. HAHAHA........
  

  The solution to doubt? Think about something else! Think about God and Jesus. Ignore those pesky doubts!

  
  
  
  
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  1

  The Orwellian Doomsday Cult and its use of HOPE.

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you are the financial managers of a doomsday cult what you have to do is keep the punters permanently in expectation of the end.. failures of prophecy are par for the course in the snake oil world of selling armageddon and paradise.

  all humans when in trouble can activate an escape from their troubles through possession of the emotion, manufactured in the brain which we call hope.. people who have cried “wolf!” ten times already can no longer be trusted.......”those who saw 1914 will also see the end of the system of things”.............how many lives were thoroughly wasted on this tripe?

  how does a doomsday cult survive after its inevitable and repeated prophetic failures?

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  xjwsrock

  Some good points here. I will add, like I said on Gorby's thread about the regional convention, unsubstantiated Hope is really just an emotional version of positive thinking.

  I can imagine "Hopes" for myself that don't come with a Cult connected to them.
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  23

  "Belief" and "Faith" are Simply Emotional Terms for Ideas and Opinions (long post)

  by xjwsrock in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is my current bottom-line conclusion after starting to see through the jw game 3 to 4 years ago and going through my own process of waking up.

  it helps to write it down and put it "out there".

  i hope it helps or resonates with you in your own personal process.. basically if i were given 10 seconds to say something to an active jehovah's witness that i cared about it would be the headline above.

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  xjwsrock

  Well said Cofty..
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  26

  Convention

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  gorby is as you know a long time fader.. visited the convention this weekend.. and concluded that samuel herds talk about hope was not so bad at all, it was well balanced.

  made some good points.. knowing both sides of the medallion, have to admit he was humble with a focus on hope.. the saturday drama impressed me.

  of course, there is a lot to say about the organization, this professional produced movie in a "true story" scenario, gave me the insight that hope is important for suffering people.

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  xjwsrock

  I understand your point, Gorby. I thought similar things when attending the convention, that is, that people sometimes need a hope to cling to when facing terrible obstacles. The convention did a good job presenting multiple scenarios where a person would rather have the JW hope than to be left with no hope at all.

  Think about this though.... Why did they spend so much time and money creating fictional tales of doom and gloom to present life at its worst? ... answer - to bring up emotional needs in the attendees. It was basically done to scare the attendees into staying in the organization. I mean who wants to face these possible scary life circumstances without the security blanket of JW hope?

  Unfortunately, the JW "hope" is not just a sweet little "hope" that can make us feel better when life gets rough. It is bait that lures people into a CULT - into a life of sacrificed time, talent, opportunity, relationships, and medical care. All of which is demanded in order to earn this "hope".

  Here is a post I wrote on the subject if interested (just substitute Hope for Belief ):

  Belief and Faith Are Just Emotional Words for Ideas and Opinions

  ........

  I realized while sitting there in the convention, that this precious hope that is so important is simply the use of positive thinking to avoid overwhelming negative emotions.

  I can come up with some positive thinking on my own that doesn't come with a cult attached to it.