i was a third generation born-in with no alternative reality, reference points or framework.. for more than forty years i was taught that the highest stakes (eternal life) main game is played on the doctrine playing field (supremacist ethnocentrism).
my eternal future apparently depended on which side of the trinity, hellfire and immortal soul doctrines i played.. apparently if i believed the watchtower way, even if it changed, i was in "the faith" and "the truth".
the same for legalism (supremacist self-righteousness attained by following the supposedly "right" but ever changing and inconsistent rules).. around 6 years ago, and for the first time in my life, one person asked me to explain what "the gospel" is in one word.
I'm a born-in third generation and pretty much always felt deep down that it's all rubbish, but never allowed myself to acknowledge that.
Finally admitting the reality of it all made me realize, “hey I'm not a canine and I have no rear extremity”, then naturally I quit chasing my tail like a dog.
my mother's text: "she tried to love u and be ur sis and leave jw out but when she invited u to memorial like last year she was thinking all religions believe in dead of christ so she wanted u to know when it was and have an invite but u had to send her scriptures back and stuff instead of saying i dont feel comfortable goin... and u dont see it that way u blame it all on jw instead of taking some responsibility for trying or not trying but just hurting her with bring up stuff.
that hurts her.
she tried last summer remember she even went swimming with u and did things with u. it wasnt until she saw u post things and blame jw that she had to cut ties.".
I think your dilemma is rooted in not knowing how to reply because you don't really know what is causing the problem.
Suggestion:
Tell your Mom you don't understand what the problem is; ask, "I don't know why she's upset; do you?"
This not only lobs the ball back in your favor hungry sister's court but also makes your Mom really think about the predicament at hand. If your Mom can't come up with a good explanation to why your sister is upset then she'll see there is nothing wrong or the “crisis” is with your overly sensitive sister; however if she gives a valid reason for why your sister is upset, now you know where you stand and how to reply.
I know when my sister and I don’t see eye-to-eye my parents usually side/believe the one that is acting more like an adult than a child; and your sister seems to acting pretty childish right now. So if you go about this right and reason with your Mom, she will be more apt to listen to your point of view and believe you when you say your sister is lying.
the letter leaked today on "confidentiality" had an infurating set of paragraphs on suicides, attempted suicides, and threatened suicides.
here is the excerpt.. suicides and attempted or threatened suicides.
20. at times, judicial committees may deal with someone who is so distraught that he attempts.
Those hypocritical scumbags!
How many here believe that the elderberries would not suspend judicial proceedings but add on another charge for the sin of attempting to kill yourself?
I've never seen a judicial meat-ing remove burden, they only ad to it.
from the june km this -.
why do we preach and teach the good news?
is it primarily to help honesthearted people onto the road to life?
If you really believe in something, and honestly want to do it, do you constantly need to be reminded why? NO!
So why do they feel the need to relentlessly tell us that we should looove preaching, that it is suuuch a privilege and why we should continue?
The only reason I can think of is everyone must really hate it and would stop if the $ociety quit shaming witlesses into it; I mean they’ve got to keep finding ways to trick R&F into voluntarily distribute their litter-a-turd for free.
the other thread got me to wondering if people who are studies ever even learn about the current generation teaching.. is the current generation teaching part of the book that is used with studies now?
.
NO, why would they willingly bring up anything that would shoo a potential convert/slave/publisher away?
Look at the babble-twitch book; basically it says lots of pretty things with a hook on the end to join their publishing conglomerate if you would like to reap the “bibles” benefits. This is all they teach, just what mother tells them to; it’s a bait and switch with a finely tuned hook, line and sinker.
Whenever something changes they just come out with some new bait (litter-a-turd) to push (sell), all the while acting like the previous book NEVER existed. Think about it, how many new converts ever know about, or read, old study books?
BTW: I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a new “bible study aide” soon; the babble-twitch book contains far too much old light that is getting harder and harder to explain. So instead of having to constantly stretch the troof, mother usually re-writes the definitions for us. (Remember their motto: just be a good witless and read/teach what’s on the page, don’t worry it’s true. How do we know? Because we said so, now do it!)
he has been by buddy since child hood we stayed in the same area and same attended the congregation.
he agrees most of the things taught by the wt is rubbish...but says whats the alternative where dose he go from here.
any idea/tips..
Never give up.
i thought this was a very good quote from seth godin's daily blog: .
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/04/is-everyone-entitled-to-their-opinion.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed%3a+typepad%2fsethsmainblog+%28seth%27s+blog%29.
is everyone entitled to their opinion?perhaps, but that doesn't mean we need to pay the slightest bit of attention.. there are two things that disqualify someone from being listened to:.
Yep, and I'm entitled to not listening too.
only humans have feelings?
well we all know that has been proven untrue!
animals can't think....?
I can't stand how people (especially witlesses) assume that just because an animal doesn't display ability in the same way we do, that they don't have said abilities.
Such ignorant idiocy!
my dad recently found out i wasn't coming to meetings and going out in field service.
he found an excuse to get me alone in his car and just lit into me about it.
he said that if i'm not going out in service that i'm not one of jehovah's witnesses and the brothers won't be able to trust me when the time comes to go undercover due to being attacked by the authorities.
At least the law is against the real mafia and they're sometimes taken out.
The WTBT$ cowers behind a religious label and the law protects their dubious dealings.
BASTARDS!
i, like most born ins grew up being taught that everyone who was not a jw was inherently wicked, that they were dishonest, unloving, selfish, bad parents who don't care about their children, and also sad empty people with no direction in life.. as i grew older i started to see that this wasn't always true with every one, that what i was taught wasn't equating with what i was seeing.. by high school i could see that my friends at school, (yes worldly friends eek!
) we're actually decent people with morals, they may have engaged in a little fornication here and there but not promiscuously, and they were good honest people, with goals and parents that cared for them.. but after high school i was phsycologicaly bullied into ceasing contact with my friends altogether, leaving me with little contact with outside world, and the cult mentality had more room to grow, not fully, but enough to unconsciously not fully trust 'worldly' people.. however, once i'd left the org and began to meet people again, i was amazed at actually how good, honest, loving, kind, and caring many people can be!
who love their spouses and children and try their very best to be good parents and partners.
Not only was I surprised at how nice and genuine the worldlies were, but I was mortified at how nasty the witlesses were in comparison.
