Posts by Rather Be the Hammer

41

Anyone watching Star Trek Discovery?

by Coded Logic in

so i've been watching the show and really enjoying it.

great to see a trek tv series finally get a reasonable budget.

beautiful costumes, sets, cinematography, action pieces, etc.. really my only complaints are how cg all the ships look and there's a fair bit of stiff dialog from time to time.. what do you guys think of the show?.

Rather Be the Hammer

I stopped watching it.

The Klingons having endless conversations...about feelings?? And the way they talk also is ... so slow. It was boring. Too bad, I really like Star Trek.

10

The Netherlands: Minister for Legal Protection wants Jehovah's Witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse

by jochie in

meanwhile in the netherlands:minister dekker: jehovah's witnesses must review abuse policyin order to protect children better against abuse, the jehovah's witnesses must look back on catholics, according to minister dekker.

but abuse victims think that this approach will not work.. minister sander dekker for legal protection wants the jehovah's witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse within the community, just like the catholic church.

this is stated in a letter he sent this week to the parliamentary committee for justice and security.

Rather Be the Hammer

@ Jochie Thanks for doing such a good job! I know for you this is a personal matter, but for me, I hope this attention in the newspapers and so on will bring my husband to THINK and see the truth.

I told him about abuse within the Borg a few years ago but he said he never heard of that. I asked him why we condemn the Catholic Church for their 'bad fruits', (You know, with everything that happens there, it cannot be the true religion!) but at the same time the same things happen within the organisation and suddenly 'we have to wait for Jehovah' and 'that SOME people are bad, doesn't mean that the Organisation itself is bad.'

Now this news was on the radio last week, and I told him about it (since he had not heard it himself) His answer was ... 'well it's not like the organisation is the ONLY place where abuse happens...it's everywhere nowadays. "

So we've made some progression...at least he realises now that abuse DOES happen within the organisation. There is still a lot of cognitive dissonance of course, but I hope that there will be a lot of attention and discussion about this matter and that more JW's will finally see the light.

8

Brain tumor causes woman to become JW (4 times!)

by Anders Andersen in

why one woman mysteriously started hearing 'divine' voices.

after doctors admitted the woman to the psychiatric unit of the hospital, they learned that this wasn't the first time she felt a strong interest in religion and spirituality.

she described four previous times in her life, beginning at age 13 and again at ages 23, 32 and 41, when she experienced periods of intense spiritual and religious devotion.during these periods, which lasted about a year or two, she would join jehovah's witnesses and then later resign, when she lost interest, according to the report.as part of her psychiatric evaluation, the woman also underwent an mri.

Rather Be the Hammer

The religion feeling apparently can be switched on and off in the brain.

My mother (former JW) went to a homeopathic doctor, got a medicine for something and her feeling for religion was totally gone. Didn't believe in God any more, and could not understand how she had ever believed at all. It never came back.

In materia medica you will find medications that influence the religious thoughts, feelings, experiences.

116

What is behind your choice of forum user name?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

just curious how we all think.. what prompted or influenced your choice of username for this forum?.

there are some really amazing names, and it would be great to hear the stories behind them.... mine was nothing fancy.

i just felt "stuck in a rut too" along with so many others.

Rather Be the Hammer

On a local forum I was Jael. The woman with the hammer, in the bible.

My nickname here is a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song El Condor Pasa: I'd rather be a hammer than a nail; yes I would, if I could, I surely would". I think you understand what I mean.

I don't want to be the one hammered on, don't want to be a nail anymore. I am the one with the hammer!

180

What is the most bizarre counsel you received as a JW, from a JW?

by Funchback in

there were many addressed to me.

for example, i once had a sister tell me i was gambling because i liked playing skill crane (the machine where you have to try to pick up prizes like stuffed animals) at the arcade.

i then fired back a her: "you saw the r-rated movie 'backdraft.

Rather Be the Hammer

An elder told us to 'train' our daughter to sit still at the meetings (at that time she was about 1,5 years old) by having her sit down for two hours in a chair, at home. If necessary tie her to the chair. He even had some bible verses to make it all sound okay.

Even my husband thought this was crazy advice. Too bad the elder was his brother.

10

Revised bible in Dutch

by Rather Be the Hammer in

we had a special talk (streaming) today from g. jackson, announcing the new revised bible in dutch.

there are many many changes, even some of the the dutch 'jw-language' will change because bible verses changed.

also brother jackson admitted (be it in a joking way ) that whole talks in the past (until now) had been based on wrong translated bible verses.

Rather Be the Hammer

Hehe, yes, regarding my birthday, i Joked to my husband that the bible was a nice gift for my birthday. Then he joked back that it was his gift for me. Lol. But it turned out I didn't get one....😂

10

Revised bible in Dutch

by Rather Be the Hammer in

we had a special talk (streaming) today from g. jackson, announcing the new revised bible in dutch.

there are many many changes, even some of the the dutch 'jw-language' will change because bible verses changed.

also brother jackson admitted (be it in a joking way ) that whole talks in the past (until now) had been based on wrong translated bible verses.

Rather Be the Hammer

'De grote schare' doesn't exist anymore. It is 'de grote menigte' now in Rev.7:9

and also 'geloof oefenen' was something that had been literally translated from English, not from Greek. In Greek 'faith' can be a verb, just like in Dutch. In English it needs other words...to put faith in someone, have faith, exercise faith.

Indeed we had lots of times spelled out in talks how we have to EXERCISE faith...as if it is a work we have to do. (Exercising like in 'workout, training'). All based on that translation from ENGLISH instead of Greek... now it is simple 'geloven' instead of 'geloof oefenen'.

10

Revised bible in Dutch

by Rather Be the Hammer in

we had a special talk (streaming) today from g. jackson, announcing the new revised bible in dutch.

there are many many changes, even some of the the dutch 'jw-language' will change because bible verses changed.

also brother jackson admitted (be it in a joking way ) that whole talks in the past (until now) had been based on wrong translated bible verses.

Rather Be the Hammer

We had a special talk (streaming) today from G. Jackson, announcing the new revised bible in Dutch. There are many many changes, even some of the the Dutch 'JW-language' will change because bible verses changed. Also brother Jackson admitted (be it in a joking way ) that whole talks in the past (until now) had been based on wrong translated bible verses.

IN The congregation was a new bible for every publisher. I didn't get one. I don't understand that, because though I'm not an ACTIVE publisher I always thought in JW speak I still was a publisher. Maybe they changed something, or maybe I never understood it at all. 😏

Another brother didn't get one either he left the kingdom hall in anger.

25

And then it hit me: we were abused

by Anders Andersen in

from a psychcentral (run by mental health professionals): a familiar item on a list of 7 types of parental abuse :.

spiritual abuse.

has the child experienced:dichotomous thinking – dividing people into two parts: those who agree with the parent and those who don’t.

Rather Be the Hammer

When I read the list of signs, I thought you meant JW.org being a 'parent' and the JW's being the 'children'. And yes, it was abuse. When you are NOT allowed to think your own thoughts, that's criminal and abusive. Even when you have parents that really love you, when you grew up in this religion you have been caged.

And the feelings of people abused like this can be as strong and overwhelming as the feelings of people who have been physically abused, and so can be the effects on the life. It can make you ill. The feeling of not being possible to live the life you want can make you physically ill, and cause a lot of mental and physical troubles. So no need to apologize for anything you wrote.

13

US vs THEM

by Anders Andersen in

i still remember that feeling.

thank god it's gone for good.

i used to be part of us witnesses.

Rather Be the Hammer

Great poem, really.

And Eckhart Tolle is the best if you want to understand how religion and 'us vs them' is only an ettempt of EGO trying to feel better.