i would like to introduce myself belatedly please.
i am a middle aged married female.
i am an inactive jehovah's witness.
@ N.drew "When I did, I left the pastor a song book, because I believed "Jehovah" was a mystery to most people. Come to find out later, my mom's Bible was an old one which had God's Name spelled out, not in one or two places, but everywhere it was"
Don't they make you believe that they are the ONLY ONES using God's name? What a deceptive practice!
any one seen it?.
i just watched it, laughed all the way through it.. still not sure if ashton kutcher is the right actor for the part, but, time will tell.. .
kevin.
I am a fan of this show too. I have not been able to watch the new season yet. I have been watching Comedy Central Roasting of CSheen thou.
i know of a 15 year old boy who is sliding deeper into substance abuse and everyone around him seems powerless to stop him from his self destructive behavior.
his parents are divorced, his father barely sees his son, his mother supports her 2 kids in the best way that she can but cannot control her son at all.
he smokes weed every day, been in trouble regularly with the law, is now selling prescription meds that he steals from family members---basically, he's either going to be dead or in jail if he doesn't get serious help.. any suggestions??
Is the boy in USA? State? and still in need? I ask because I know of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program www.pdaphouston.org
Can you be his friend, his bridge into something different? Can you offer him a word, just say, hey kid, life is tough, if you ever need a friend to talk to, I am here? Perhaps you could show hospitality to her mom or be a mentor to the other kid? Take the other kid to sports game, or bring him something to eat, etc.
it has become very apparent to me very quickly that this forum is dominated by ex-jws.
i have many questions and topics to present but i first want to know who i am presenting these questions and topics to so i have 2 questions that i would like as many of yall to answer as possible.. .
question 1: did you leave the organization out of the blue or were you first disfellowshipped?.
I was mentally in on and off, mostly off, throughout 40 years, I was perhaps half-awake - LOL!
Things never add up for me ... final blow was visiting the Watchtower Corporation in NYC ... NOTHING during the tour indicated to me that they were in the business of SAVING LIVES ... that was around 2002-2003 ... I saw projections charts going on for years in the future and all kinds of stuff that pointed only to the amount of books, magazines distributed but nothing about impact to lives like you seen in other Christian ministries: like amount of meals given to the hungry; hospital, health clinics, orphanages, shelters, half-way houses, rehab centers opened or funded; water wells constructed, just to mention a few. Funny note that one of my sister left the org after visiting Bethel and spending a few days with some bethelites in NYC.
one of the things that most bothered me about the bible, is the narcasist, lunatic jehovah who orders killings of women, children, starts wars, etc....and the advent of peaceful jesus.
some people say that jehovah was a killer to protect "his" people, but couldn't a perfect, all-knowing god have found a way better then to walk on the earth and tell abraham to kill his first born son?.
on my spiritual journey, i now see how the earlier gods (roman, greek, pagan) are intertwined into the old testament.
If you want to know Jesus' whereabouts ... you need to study the Prophets ... Was it prophecied that Jesus was going to be in India or another country studying their ideas? If you find that in the Prophets then it should be true, but if you don't find that in the Prophets, Moses or The Law, then it is not true. Yeap ... I am that narrow minded - the truth is very narrow indeed ... 2+2 = 4 and all the rest is wrong.
....shouldn't christian religions of all persuasions be accountable as well?.
if this is insulting, it isn't meant to be.
former jw's all the time come here on this forum and others to hold the governing body accountable for teaching lies and holding on to a history, a tradition if you will, that embraces leaders like c t russell and j f rutherford, both of whom taught things that are almost entirely rejected by jw's today.
The difference I see ... most major religions' history is open to the public I have known about it since kindergarten through WT teachings and secular school, TV, books, movies, etc etc etc .. the Watchtower Corporation was hiding lots of things which now have become known to the world - they are "NAKED" like the rest of the religions ... so I respect the Catholic church for even allowing the Catholic Encyclopedia to be printed with all their past history ... I donot respect the WTCrookporation "nakedness" because in their case is LYING, DECEIVING, HYPOCRISY ... they keep denying and lying about everything ... Yes, major religions are considered "big business" but that's not the reason they were created for, the Watchtower Crookporation WAS FORMED to sell literature and make profit ...
I also see lots of religions put the Catholic chuch in center stage while they do all kind of crimes behind the scenes knowing the public is busy critizicing the Catholics - LOL! I couldn't believe all the cases of sexual abuse among JWs, gosh I used to go door to door "denouncing" the catholics priests scandals little I know that while I was pushing the Catholic on stage - thousands of JWs were suffering the same at the hands of JWs behind the stage.
armageddon is a military exercise where the nations will be judged in the "valley of decision" for how they treated israel in regard to dividing that land.
it is not to destroy the wicked as the wt teaches.
the wicked are destroyed from the effects of adam in that all die.. i will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
@ Perry ...
we knock a lot of things about the witnesses.
i wonder if we're really all that much different in our personalities as exjws.. .
@ Minimus ... love it ..."late bloomers" ... in the words of George Elliott .."It is never too late to be what you might have been". I have this plaque on my wall (yes another one ... I have a few dozens around ...LOL!) ... when thoughts of "crying over ashes" come around ... I stand in front of this plaque and it renews my spirit.
@scenicviever ... I can only say WOW! at this: " W 7-15-61 p420 ..... Christian must hate the person with whom the badness is inseparably linked.” (Emphasis added)"
we knock a lot of things about the witnesses.
i wonder if we're really all that much different in our personalities as exjws.. .
@ LowKey ...
I was like that ... I actually now feel ashamed of myself, I have asked God to forgive me for that.
we knock a lot of things about the witnesses.
i wonder if we're really all that much different in our personalities as exjws.. .
NOT really ... BIG MISTAKE ... but I didn't know that my personality had been altered, masked, by my upbringing in that organization (actually my natural, normal healthy personality was never developed and had a unnatural combo personality*). These days I am very intentional with they way I see things and live my life. Taking personality tests and reading lots of self-help, self-growth, motivational stuff from Tony Robbins, FranklinCovey, Jack Canfield to Oprah ;) and dozens more even Donald Trump has helped me to live a very rich, spiritual, happy, life in addition to studying the bible on my own. I am always reading books on how to improve as a human being, personal relations, finance, work, friendships, etc.
The following are factors for developing personality masks: this was a BIG eye OPENER for me ... from the test "WIRED THAT WAY":
Personality masks are typically the result of outside forces working in a person's life to make him or her CONFORM to someone else's concept of who he or she should be, or they could be something the individual put on in childhood to survive in a difficult or dysfunctional family living situation.
Causes of Masking:
A domineering parent or one with unrealistic expectations can cause masking when he or she constantly requires the child to conform to Personality traits that are not natural to the child.
Living in a home with alcoholism, severe illness, or extreme dysfunction may cause unnatural pressures on a minor, dependend child to perform or contribute to the household, often assuming a parental role.
Strong feelings of rejection from childhood might result in masking when a child does not feel the love of one parentor both parents. The child will often try to become whatever it takes to win attention and approval.
Some forms of emotional or physical abuse may lead to the child conforming to the demands of the abusing parent in hopes of stopping the harsh treatment.
Childhood sexual interference or violation particularly when perpetrated by a parent or person in a parental role, may cause the child to adopt behaviors not natural to her/his personality.
Growing up in a single parent home might result in some form of personality masking, especially if the child is firtsborn, in which case the child may fulfill some of the roles of the absent parent.
Legalistic religious homes or those with intense regulatory standards can stifle a child's natural personality.
A domineering or overly controlling spouse/partner or someone in a position of authority in adult life can also result in personality masking as a form of coping or survival.
Adult abuse or rejection in marriage (or significant relationships) will often have some effect in distorting the natural Personality as the lonely or hurting person simply gives up.
Tests results are not set in stone, but for me was a huge help ... and I am on my way to recovery and discover my true self, I don't feel confused anymore and I know what I am good at and what I want to do with the rest of my life ...
