so.. you are a jw or studying, living your life and doing your bit, feverish of spreading the good news to everyone that will listen!.
you prep yourself for meetings, doing your ministry and applying all that there is into your daily life.. so....i have a question... you know... my clogs.
when you where completely in the religion, did you ever think about the impact of your way of life and religion towards others, specially those that lived around you such as good friends or family members that didn’t studied?
I always thought I was "fair and very balanced" in the way I treated my non believing relatives when I was a JW.
It was a very sobering moment when after I told them I had left the JWs they said "Oh good we have you back!"
Obviously, I did a terrible job of being so "balanced" with my poor family.
We are making up for lost time now!
first of all, there's a new imaginary picture of jws during the great tribulation:.
then there's a picture of a jw family refusing to listen to "apostate lies" via pre-programed, self imposed information control:.
the description says:.
So theyre all gonna sit around in an attic drinking bottled water and reading the Bible?
What fun!
Such an encouraging picture.....
please please contact us by private messaging us.
we didn't know what to put this under so sorry in advance but this is why we are here.
courtney was a co serving in another country when his father was dying.
I missed this until now also.
Did you ever get to contact them directly newsheep?
I wish they could see the warm support here.
This poor family. They are better off now and some validation would be wonderful to help them realize it and get closure.
hated by many members of the public for their ( former ?
) door knocking and preaching at the most inopportune times ( at work for instance ).
hated by former members who are now shunned by family and former friends.. hated by thousands ( millions maybe ) of pimos who only stay for fear of losing wives / family friends.. can you name any religious cult thats even worse ?.
What's the opposite of love and hate? Indifference?
I think that is what most people feel about JWs - with maybe a little touch of "glad it's not me"
hi everyone, was hoping i could share my experience, read other people's, and perhaps receive some advice regarding parenting through seperation.. so my wife of 8 odd years, and mother to my 3 children (8,6,3) and i have separated.
largely due to our differences not just with religion but all areas of life.
the breakup was amicable, and we remain somewhat friendly to one another while we work all this out.
Reading between the lines, the fact that you can be in a "working" relationship with your soon to be ex wife tells me you are probably a fairly even tempered guy. You are probably very capable of playing the long game. That will be in your favor because JWs have an extremely low retention rate in keeping young people interested in their organization. Their natural desire as they become teens will be to leave.
As others have mentioned above love them, keep alternatives to what they are being taught by your wife available to them, no need to force it just expose them to different ways of viewing the world than she is.
Time is on your side.
i happen to run into a couple of elders and one of their bible studies was with them.
after we said our formal greetings to each other we caught up on each other’s history.
somehow the conversation took a turn into politics.
Its such a hodge podge of mixed together reasoning.
"Jehovah will take care of it"
"If Jehovah lets us die we can be resurrected"
etc etc etc
I have come to see all of this as being in the same category as fairy tales and magic potions.
There is massive allure in believing that things will work out and you don't actually have to do anything.
Except for wish on a star or maybe burn a feather while chanting, and let's not forget the modern one, pray.
so here's some random highlights from the convention this year:.
in a couple of videos, they promote a very negative attitude about bettering yourself and taking career opportunities.
for instance, in one video a boy is either getting a college offer or at a job fair, i can't remember exactly, but first he imagines getting better off financially, and then he turns around and imagines losing his money and losing his nice car.
Great post AshleyC and welcome!
You are among good people here.
this is the first time i have posted on here in many years..... i seldom visit now although this forum was instrumental to me in gaining my sanity in the early 2000's and recovering from the watchtower religion.. by chance tonight i was on youtube and caught a jw.org video which out of curiosity prompted me to look at the official website and amongst other things i looked up the music section.. why that i hear you ask?
music is my passion and nothing reminds me more or evokes more memories than the kingdom songs i grew up listening to.. i am 49 years old and my mother was baptised in 1974. i grew up in the era of pink songbooks and green bibles.
of the theology of fred franz and types and anti-types.
I remember the green Bible and pink songbooks!
Wish I could say good times, but no.
I think they have made a big mistake getting rid of the old songs.
Songs evoke nostalgia and provide continuity from one generation to the next. Sometimes even *overlapping
*see what I did there?
When you think about Christmas songs, the wedding march, happy birthday song, etc, they all are simple and some of the words aren't even used much anymore but they are favorites because of the sentimental element.
JWs may have been trying to appear like a modern day religion but their beliefs never modernize and in giving up their "hymns" they have just lost ground on all fronts.
pimo verified this at the latest assembly attended.
check on this forum.
he was giving us attendance and baptism info and this was a side note... it is noted by another that when the question was asked after assembly was over, non seemed to hear the change.
Youre so right truthlover. It is almost as if the elders and C.O.s are so "flattered at the modicum of power to appoint that they haven't even thought about themselves being the ones hung out to dry in the end.
hi guys.
i was an active member of this forum many years ago and it played an integral part of my awakening and making peace with my decision to leave.
it’s been a while since i posted here.
Thanks for sharing your story.
With each persons experience, we all learn.
Did you know that the Society has "softened" their stand on how to deal with those who take blood in the latest elders manual?
Now it says that if it can be determined that the individual was under extreme emotional stress then loving counsel may be appropriate.
I will set aside my thoughts on them and their "loving counsel" but I did want you to know that is in print in their manual.
