@dubstepped - that video was amazing!
There are so many talented, insightful people on this forum
mentalclarity
JoinedPosts by mentalclarity
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56
Spiritual "Protection" - a Menace on Psychological Development
by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho innot quite a week ago, @lost in the fog created a thread entitled: do you have this illness?.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5187824140681216/do-you-have-this-illness.
in my year of being on this forum, i have browsed many a disillusioned thread of ex-jehovah’s witnesses expressing similar symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder when detailing their awakening - my own story included.
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Are YOU Shunned By JW Family or Friends?
by minimus insome who are not disfellowshipped are still shunned i also know there’ are disfellowshipped ones that family still associate with..
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mentalclarity
@ToesUp "soft shunned" -that's a great term!
I'm soft shunned by most of my family. All of the friends (with exception of one) who I grew up with and knew for decades basically fell of the face of the earth once I became inactive. Honestly, we'd probably have so little in common now that I don't consider it a big loss. I think many times the only thing we had in common was the religion.
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mentalclarity
I'm with Morpheus on this.
No one puts a gun to their heads to get baptized or shun or not take blood. All of these are their choices. This is why I have such an issue with the "cult" label. It seems like a way to free oneself of personal accountability.
@Td I don't know a whole lot about Mormons, but when I read ex mormon stories- sounds alot like ex jws.
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mentalclarity
As much as I have issues with JWs for how their policies have affected the relationships I have with my family, I would never rejoice over any government banning a religion.
Are we seriously looking at the Russian government and applauding them for taking away a human right?
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Are Jehovah's Witnesses selfish??
by stuckinarut2 inis the average jehovah's witness selfish and self-centred?.
i know, i know...many will object and say "no - preaching is the most selfless thing a jw can do.
it saves others lives...".
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mentalclarity
There's always a motive with JWs. They shun people to get them to return to the fold. They are nice to non-jws so that they might recruit them. They are kind to other JWs so that they won't stumble them and be blood guilty.
They are never just genuinely loving and kind because they have a deep rooted conviction that that is the way you should act- regardless if the person on the other end is a jw or gives you anything in return. I would call that very selfish.
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Did Your Taste In Music Change After You Woke Up?
by pale.emperor inafter i awoken from the cult, i went through the normal process of not knowing who i was and what my tastes where.
looking back this was a wonderful time in my life because i experimented and tried different things and now i like or dislike things because i personally like/dislike them - not because i've been told they're good or bad.. black pudding is an example - it's made of blood and is a popular addition here in britain to fried breakfasts.
i tried it for the first time last year and i can confirm that it is indeed revolting.
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mentalclarity
My taste in music didn't change when I woke up. I was allowed to go to concerts when I was a JW and there was a group of us that would go to concerts.
I've always loved the Smiths- I saw Morrissey in concert in the 90's. It was an amazing show. I even went with my JW best friend.
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Suggestions for horror/supernatural movies
by Addison0998 inhey guys, so now that i’m pretty much atheist and i’m not scared of demons or supernatural things, or bring them into my house by watching movies or reading books about them lol, i defenitly want to watch a few scary movies.
i’ve always loved scary movies, but as witness, you don’t get to watch many since they need to be pg-13 and have no spiritism in it lol.
does anyone have any suggestions?
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mentalclarity
Babadook
A Quiet Place
The Others
El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
The Boy
I don't care for the Saw type movies either.
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Jehovah's Witnesses: shame and domination
by john.prestor ini want to suggest something that i've been ruminating on for a while now.
that involves the possibility that when jehovah's witnesses look for "sheep-like ones" what they're actually looking for is this: those who will allow themselves to be dominated (get rid of things that god "hates," accept the movement's beliefs without protest, not check into the movement's history) and those who are willing to be shamed (letting jehovah's witnesses into their homes when doing so is looked down upon in secular society, talking with them on the street when everyone else avoids them).. i say this because from what i observed at the kingdom halls i attended in the course of gathering data for my research i saw:.
-frequent shaming: jehovah's witnesses must do more to be acceptable to god, they are "good for nothing slaves," they are spared through armageddon by jehovah's "undeserved kindness," etc.
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mentalclarity
Communal Narcissists for sure.
I think this is why I have such a strong reaction to certain do gooder groups that are self promoting and incredibly self righteous. They remind me so much of JWs,
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People are nice and life is awesome.
by OneEyedJoe ini got invited as a +1 to someone's house yesterday to watch the fireworks.
i'd never met the hosts, and it seemed that most of the people in the group only knew one or two other people there.
yet i felt more genuine friendship from everyone there than i ever felt at any jw gathering.
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mentalclarity
@OneEyed Joe - so happy that you are able to experience this. We are really lied to and conditioned to distrust non jws so much. Even if we did meet a nice non-jw our defenses and guard was up which probably affected our interaction with them.
It's really nice when you can let your guard down and just be yourself and allow others to do the same. Just being really open to other people and listening to what they have to say instead of seeing it as an opportunity to "witness" to them is such a game changer. I think to myself, who was I to be so arrogant and think somehow I was leading a better life because I went to a couple of meetings twice a week and that I should have any say on the way you lead your life?????
Most people are pretty awesome and I bet with that attitude, you'll attract more awesome into your life.
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The 'IN' families
by punkofnice inone thing i don't miss about being a jobo, is those families that ruled the congregations.. i've seen how the elders protected their own using our old friend, nepotism.. eg.
the son of an elder that stole a car and was prosecuted but 'let off' because it was kept secret and all his relatives were elders in the same congregation.
it certainly went on when i was an elder but i wasn't one of the 'in' crowd.
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mentalclarity
When you have three imperfect people deciding someone's fate based on how repentant (and how that manifests itself in individual people) of course things like a nepotism or familiarity with the family will effect the outcome. We all know judicial meetings are not infallible- there's been so many horribly botched up ones.
I personally managed to stay on the fringes of the religion for many years because of nepotism. There also exists alot of elitism and classism in congregations. Alot of upper middle class baptized JWs that I know went to college and married non-jws without too much drama from elders.
The idea that JWs are this type of perfect utopian society on earth where everything is just and fair is so far from reality. It's just like everywhere else- it's all about who you know and your connections.