I am encouraging my JW friends to watch it.Telling them it is ' a very tricky religion', and this would be very beneficial to know out in service. I only hope some seeds of realization are planted.
notalone
JoinedPosts by notalone
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25
Anyone else watching the Leah Remini series "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" on A&E?
by NikL inmy wife and i started to watch this last night and have covered only 2 episodes so far but it is really interesting.. there are so many similarities between scientology and wt.
not in beliefs of course but in their shunning, of their version of apostates etc.. it was amusing for me to see my active jw wife watch and get all indignant.
at one point a statement was made that a religion "shouldn't separate families" and she muttered to herself "absolutely not".. i am kind of hoping that jws will watch and see what is being carried on by a high control cult and eventually recognize it in their own lives.
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notalone
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New member
by NinaCee ini did not see a newbs thread to introduce myself, so my apologies if i'm in the wrong place.
i was a 3rd generation born in witness for 30 years until i was disfellowshipped back in 2007 for making a mistake.
my entire life up until that point was based on and circled around the society, and even though at first i really enjoyed my freedom (i still do), the fact is that i'm still struggling with cognitive dissonance, resentment, and loneliness.. i miss my family all the time.
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notalone
Dearest Ninacee,welcome and love sent your way. As a multi gen-er the ideas, the psychology of the org can become part of your DNA. As a women the way you see yourself, value yourself and interact with others has been scripted by the org. The measuring line to be a 'good' person has been set by a distant group that's main objective was to make you completely reliant on them. First, from my heart I want to say- they are liars! Don't value anything they taught.See it for the twisted manipulation it was. I was a 4th gen around 50. I had raised my children deep in the middle of it all. Then one day after I had physically left, this nice woman I know started to talk about 'grace'. Her heart was so moved as she spoke and yet mine was empty because I had no idea what 'grace' was. I had read the 'bible' cover to cover countless times. I had read the Aid book, the IT books twice and everything the society printed that I could get my hands on - and here I was standing there with no idea what 'grace' was. I am not 'undeserving of kindness'. I will never allow anyone else to ever tell me that again. It hit my heart that they offered no 'truth'. I boxed up all my publications, especially their bible and started my own path. Hear what others have to say but follow no one. Learn, heal and be open to the wonders that surround you, no matter how small.Witnesses put a wall between themselves and everyone else. We feel scared and guilty whenever we cross over that wall. If we have negative experiences when we do it only reinforces their narrative and makes us feel ' we got what we deserved'- NO! We are deserving of kindness. We deserve 'grace'. We deserve dignity. So to you I offer this- Breathe...Heal...Learn...Love...You deserve it.
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God's word-the publications?
by notalone inokay, so i have a friend that still interacts with my family.
she is going through some difficult times, so i suggested she just read some of psalms.
she became a little agitated and said she would just listen to the mags.
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notalone
Okay, so I have a friend that still interacts with my family. She is going through some difficult times, so I suggested she just read some of Psalms. She became a little agitated and said she would just listen to the mags. I couldn't understand the aversion to the Bible.Then she told me that at the recent CO's visit he explained that in the Bible when God's word is referred to in small letters that this refers to all of his words as expressed through 'god's organization'. They are now claiming that 2000+ years ago man was instructed to listen to 'words' from God that would not even exist for 2000 years, and if that's the case- What 'words' in the interim would also count as God's 'word'. Would the Catholic church or the Eastern Orthodox church be able to claim that their teachings were on par with the Bible? Could Mohammad qualify as uttering God's 'word'? I know they are under mind control, but come on. Has anyone else heard about this?
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1st christmas ever
by notalone inso, i am around 50,4th gen born in- christmas.
strange thing this christmas thing.
i've been watching people this year, really watching them.
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notalone
By the way, when we got the cards. I had to hide them under everything. I kept finding myself looking around, making sure no one could see them- strange thing . Okay, maybe the gas passing penguin is in bad taste, but hiding them- oh well.
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1st christmas ever
by notalone inso, i am around 50,4th gen born in- christmas.
strange thing this christmas thing.
i've been watching people this year, really watching them.
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notalone
So, I am around 50,4th gen born in- Christmas. Strange thing this Christmas thing. I've been watching people this year, really watching them. I was always told people don't really like Christmas. That it is stressful. That it makes people selfish. That suicide rates go up. Strange- that is not what I am seeing. My family joined a group that will be having a Christmas party. There will be some sort of gift exchange game. So today, for the first time in my life we went Christmas shopping. It was fun. We were thinking about the others and how to make them happy. We then went to pick out some cards. We thought of each person, of what they were going through in their lives. We thought of what would make them laugh. Then it hit FEAR!!! Not the fear I am doing something wrong, not the fear I could get in trouble, it was fear that if those who really love us and have continued to interact with us and yet still believe everything in the cult found out we had bought Christmas cards would be heart broken. I know how they feel.There is this idea that even if you don't agree with some things or you don't come to meetings that God can still reach you.There is this belief that if a person has any good in them and they understand the 'origins' of Christmas,they can not participate in it. If someone leaves and celebrates holidays or puts out political signs all is lost. There is no longer any good left in them. Armageddon is all that awaits them, and for those who loved them-endless pain. They have affronted God himself. So today, I had fear for the pain that others could feel. Then I got angry, what horrible cruel lies they ensnare sincere ones with. Then I asked- How? How did they convince so many to go along with this? My family knew nothing else, but how do they convince someone who experienced nice holidays to give them up? I came up with that they convince us that there are all these secret hidden traps ready to get us and that if we are special 'God" will show us these traps. We become paranoid- always expecting the traps. All we eventually need is for someone to say, " It's a trap." and we run in panic. We don't even stop to see if it really is a trap. We don't even stop to see f the person saying ' it;s a trap' is an honest or kind person. We are just jumping through the hoops trying to avoid these 'traps'. I guess all I needed to do was to stop, and see what is really happening. Guess what I found- Christmas is really beautiful, kind and full of laughter.
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2017 JWN Christmas Card Exchange
by blondie inin years gone by i have organized and coordinated this.
pm me if you want to be added to the list giving me your snail mail address and/or your e-mail for those with tech skills and a safe e-mail.. do this by december 14, and i will pm the list to each person on it.
latecomers will be added but you may not get it by christmas.
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notalone
I really like the idea, but due to cult induced paranoia I feel compelled to ask- How do we know that our information won't fall into undeserving hands?
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Need input: elders showed up at our door today
by de-opresso-liber inso as i announced last week, my wife and i started our fade and i sent in a letter to our body that i was stepping down and cited the arc as the reason and insisted that we not be bothered.
my wife told a few relatives in person that we weren't going to attend meetings any longer (immediate shunning occurred, the new videos must be effective) and that what we found with the arc shocked us etc etc.
i have an inside track on how this is all going down by an awake elder on the body, co told them to handle the matter quickly.
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notalone
I guess the question is are you ready to be completely shut off or do you think by being quiet you may actually benefit someone.If you want everyone to get this information do this quickly before they get cautious.The reaction will be quick and complete shunning. You will be gossiped about for some time and friends and family will be repeatedly questioned about you. People will also become suspicious of anyone trying to defend you. If you keep up with the slow fade you will still have those that won't talk to you but you may be able to slowly reason with some.If you have older ones that you don't want to upset at this time go for the slow. I bit of advice about going slow- be proud! You have nothing to be ashamed about. You don't have to make a full accounting to them just because they ask..If you see someone in the store walk right up and ask them about service, a meeting or a recent assembly. Get them talking- they like that. If they ask where you are going simply say you are going through something and you don't want to share that information with them at that time.
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Depression, Anger and Anxiety
by Sorry infor the last few months, i feel like i've been going through the 5 stages of grief.
lately, it's been happening simultaneously.
in my other posts, i've expressed anger at my family and congregation for their thoughtless ways.
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notalone
I know this may sound hokey, and I don't want to sound weird, but if you are of limited funds, I have a few things that have worked for my family. First, find some support group or maybe a interfaith group.Secondly, for anxiety try 400 mg inositol.It is great for calming down without making you sleepy. You can put the powder directly into water for a quick reaction. The bach flower remedies rock rose ( for panic and nightmares) and cherry plum ( for suicidal thoughts) can take the edge off. I am not by any means suggesting that you not get professional help, in fact I highly recommend it.Most communities have some way you can get help if you are low income, but the wait can be quite long.Take this time to educate yourself on mental health and the effects that mind control and co-dependency have on our reactions.
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1 Step Forward and 3 Steps Back: Trying to Get My Mom to See 'The Light' (Oh the Irony!)
by Sorry inrecently, my mother's been hounding me to do personal study (i think she's slowly realizing i'm becoming disillusioned with the organization and is trying to reign me back in).
i don't know what made me do this, but i decided to test the waters by challenging 'new light'.
she asked me what i learned in personal study, so i brought up organ transplants and the wt flip floppy stance on them (thanks jwfacts!).
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notalone
Dear, no need to be Sorry, if you would like to get your family thinking,this is something that helped my family. Be preemptive about your 'need for personal study'. My husband began to read the interlinear and look up the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek and how they are translated. He looked up the parasia and syntelia and shared what he was learning. This spurred me on I researched all the different words translated as sin. we also hit the beorean pickets site. We refereed to old magazines pre 1990's and the interlinear and Strong's concordance. We brought out things that were deep and just slightly off, not outright wrong. Most people just smiled and ignored us, witnesses really don't like to study, but a few were impressed and really enjoyed what we wee saying. These will often come too us if they are having difficulty understanding some new teaching.We direct them to scriptures but don't give them the answers. This is a slow process but in the end, they will decide what to believe.
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So I woke up and Trump was president
by notalone inso i live in the u.s. i had family that lived in germany when hitler came to power.
i had family that was in london during the blitz.
being raised as a witness i was obsessed with everything having to do with the rise of the nazis.
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notalone
Well, I've read all your posts. Thank you for giving me a window into the mind of society. Mrs.Flipper I really appreciated your thoughts. At this point the deed is done. I have to make decisions for my life based on what I am really facing. I am not going to react to hopes or imagined attacks. I will try to live my life with kindness and integrity to all I meet,even Muslims. I am not prone to fear or hate and I am not inclined to try and lump individuals into a group with negative attributes.So I will welcome this day for the beauty and wonder that it brings. When difficulties come I will try and not react, but make calm decisions. I do not know Trump and I will never meet him. If his policies bring harm to others I will do my best to support the weak. In the end I have to live with the decisions I make and others must do the same. May we all reach the end of our lives proud of the people we were.