I havent read the book but did see part of an interview with her. I like that she circumvented the bad things they were going to say about her by saying them about herself first.
That was smart and funny.
just finished leah remini's book, "troublemaker.
" very good book that easily resonates, i'm sure, with anyone who has exited a cult.
her life in scientology and eventual exit was a nightmare.
I havent read the book but did see part of an interview with her. I like that she circumvented the bad things they were going to say about her by saying them about herself first.
That was smart and funny.
does anyone know if jwtalk is a real jehovah witness forum?.
are the owner bob & an admin jerry in good standing in their congregations?
or just apostates posing as jw's?.
Bob used to have an Instagram account and he showed pics of himself with friends after service and going to assemblies and so on. I didnt realize he was the owner though..I thought he was one of the Mods.
The impression I got was that he was one of that "new breed" that are very social about their JWism but still smoozy enough that they never set off the powers that be.
i wonder how many of us here hold on to this meeting place out of "loneliness.
could it be that we harbor feelings of "abandonment" and "loneliness" from being left cold and dry by the wt people and our families?
perhaps we do have a need to reach out to people with similar experiences.
I dont feel lonely but I did feel for awhile like my sanity and I were parting ways!
I mean, this wonderful religion I spent my whole life in couldnt be wrong could it?
Could it???
Well turns out - yes it could!
Finding everyone here and realizing that I was NOT the problem, gave me my steady world view back.
You guys are my friends/therapists/sounding boards/partners in exile.
Sanity has taken off its coat and hat and decided to stick around....
what exactly is religion?
why all of the pain?
you either love religion (usually the one you call home), you hate it.. or you're somewhere in between, and you say "let bygones be bygones".
Village Idiot
Ideology is religion's sibling. Like ideology religion is an attempt to explain the world. By and of itself the human impulse for religion is not innately evil - Buddhists and Jains are pretty harmless
I find it fascinating that religion persists in every culture and throughout time. There have to be good reasons for any behavior to continue. If a behavior no longer serves a purpose it dies out eventually.
This article postulates that one reason for the endurance of religious rituals is economic in origin.
Ironically, it also explains why the more more forceful and blunt posters among us are ineffective in their attempts to persuade their religious counterparts when the presumption is that the religious person is somehow lacking or deficient.
How do non-believers understand religion? Simply saying that the believers are crazy or living in a different world will not suffice. The believers are also normal human beings. They are no crazier than anyone else. There is another way to look at religion, through science. Science has provided human culture with an excellent understanding of the natural world and human behavior.
-------------------
Is religious behavior rational? Is it the mobilization of available means to achieve certain ends?
The sociologists Stark and Fink (2000) argue that religious behavior is actually rational in an economic
sense in spite of the fact that the believers work with unobservable actors and magical processes.
.
source article: http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/november/evangelicals-mormons-jehovahs-witnesses-church-involvement.html.
Definition of highly involved...as we all know...forced baptism of born in children, going at least to the Sunday meeting and out in service once a month would meet the below criteria set out by Pew. It would however, mean you are a "weak" witness by JW standards if that was all you did.
Pew defines as
officially joining the church,
attending services at least weekly,
and attending a prayer group or Bible study at least monthly.
i always enjoyed being kind.
when someone genuinely needed a hand or what not, it felt good to help family or friends.. i don't really miss them anymore.
i faded over two years ago, so they long ago shunned me.i think about them less and less and have even forgotten some names.i did enjoy some of the friendships and the association.
Kairos, the fact that you even think the way you do shows what a quality person you are.
Oh and by the way, I enjoyed seeing your post on the music/art thread too!
so last night i went to the meeting with my family.
had not gone in 2 weeks.
as usual i sat down reading the bible.
LOL Outlaw
So good to have you back!!!!!!
the theme of the jw calendar 2016 is building, building, building.
all the calendar pictures are about building wts property with cheap labor witnesses.. and then, just before the year approaches the building has halted.. it seems a short term decision.
a strange correlation again.. gorby.
Its really not hard to swap out some pictures, so what gives here?
DId they already have millions of these printed up and are too cheap to swap them out?
Because it seems like a PR disaster to keep reminding people.
got this very interesting email last night and i thought i'd share it.. this is from the local rbc.. "in harmony with our new ldc form we have been asked by the branch to liquidate all current assets of used tools and materials once owned by the rbc.
you are invited to visit the equipment trailers to acquire items being liquidated by the rbc asset team, these items will be offered on a first come bases with voluntary donation.
if you see any item you like please be in position to take it with you at that time, after you return to your congregation then you will make a donation of cash or check in the congregation contribution box designated for the support of the worldwide work.
This is a really poor way to liquidate tools if your using any financial reasoning at all.
It smacks of "we dont care, really."
Were these tools donated? Is that the why behind the blase attitude?
is this a beautiful story, or what?.
act one________.
now in an ordinary romance of the golden hollywood era, the boy goes off to war while the young lady waits nervously for his safe return.in a cary grant, debra kerr movie, the two vow to meet after a certain period of time and tragic circumstances intervene.. in my story, the young man is a conscientious objector who goes to prison instead of off to the vietnam war.
sparky1
Broken hearts can mend.
Relationships can be rekindled.
Time can regain its meaning.
And the story of our lives can have a happy ending.
Good luck, Terry. We all deserve a measure of happiness and love.
Love your wonderfully told event Terry and love the inspiring hopeful posts its generating here on this thead also!