When I was a kid: "I don't feel well" or "My tummy hurts".
When I was in High School: "I have to finish a report by tomorrow"
When I was in University: "I've got way too much homework" (that worked for 4 years straight).
When I was away from home for nine weeks training for my first job: "Meetings? What's a meeting"
i don't know why i keep burdening this group.
no one else in my life can really relate to the intertwined emotions i am going through.
my bear friends are there, including mitch, and they they try to keep my cheered up.
hey joelbear!
I don't know you, or what you've been going through, but I've got a good idea.
Without going into details, when I was leaving "The Cult" (and I don't mean that great rock band ) I hit a "low" that was as low as you can go. By some "miracle" (actualy, the miracle was modern medical science) I survived my determined efforts to destroy myself.
I don't know why I'm telling you this, other than to establish a rapport with you, as a prelude to saying "You can turn this thing around. If I did, anyone else can." Personally, one of the biggest helps was my friends. Although I had lost one network of friends (they remained trapped in Dub-dom) I realized that I had an even bigger and better network of friends from school & work. If you don't feel you have friends now, don't worry. You will get some. I did, and you can too. You can start with people here at JWD, and also check out the "JW Meetup" board to meet some in your area.
I also found the following book helpful: "Feeling Good -- The New Mood Therapy" by David D. Burns, M.D. (At first I was skeptical of this being a lot of New Age fluff, but found it to be very solid and scientifically backed, and helpful).
this is an amplification and adjustment in understanding of what appears in the watchtower of november 15, 1974, pages 703-704, and of february 15, 1978, pages 30-32. those who acted on the basis of the knowledge they had at the time are not to be criticized.
nor would this affect the standing of a person who in the past believed that a mates perverted sexual conduct within marriage amounted to porneia and, hence, obtained a divorce and is now remarried.
with this one little footnote in the wt it wiped out folks very lives- notice they refer to such a major doctrinal shift as an "amplification and adjustment in understanding".
*** Watchtower 1983 March 15 pp.27-31 Honor Godly Marriage! ***
More on this topic at http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com/oral.htm
since we are on that subject..... i've visited a church a few weeks ago, and i heard a song that had the exactly same melody as one of the kingdom melodies!!!!
i was always told that every song in the song book was composed by various jws.
has anyone noticed this???
Since we are on the subject...
Let's all sing along:
http://www.terra.es/personal2/online/index.htm
Warning: not for those with a weak stomach! This link contains WT Muzack! You have been warned!
i just ordered steve hassan's books, combatting cult mind control and releasing the bonds.
have any of you read either of them and have any comment...particularly about his strategic interactive approach?
thanks in advance.. gig
I like it so much I posted a review on Amazon.com.
That review is probably gone now, but it has been preserved at http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/books/combatting.html who liked it so much they asked me if they could use it at their site. Of course, I said yes.
Here is my review of Combatting Cult Mind Control:
An excellent examination of the cult phenomena. Described as "The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults," Hassan's book explains what elements are common to cults, and what defines a cult.
As a former member of the the Unification Church (a.k.a. "Moonies") and a psychologist (he obtained his degree after exiting the Moonies), Hassan offers a unique perspective and insight into the cult movement.
Although peppered with examples and anecdotes from the Moonies, Hassan is careful to keep the analysis general enough to apply to many other "questionable" groups and organizations.
When is a cult not a cult? Does a group have to be "religious" to be a cult, or could a "non-religious" cult exist? Hassan answers these questions and more, and clearly defines the difference between unusual beliefs (which do not necessarily identify a group as a cult) and dangerous & destructive social factors (which, independent of the beliefs, make a group a cult, according to Hassan's definition).Strongly recommended for anyone who has friends or family in an "unusual" group; this book will help you to either dismiss your fears of cult involvement, or give you the advice you need to deal with this difficult situation.
Even more strongly recommended for anyone who feels they are an a group that has been "mislabelled" by society as a cult. This book will either help you to understand what defines a cult (so you can defend yourself against criticism) or else give you an interesting perspective on how others view your organization.
in the uk, if you drop a wallet in the road in error, what are the chances of it being handed in to a police station by the finder with all the contents still intact?.
when i read that in the times some weeks ago, i was very skeptical.
then i thought of all the people that i know, friends, aquaintances and pub pals, and i reckon that 90% of them are basically honest with their fellow man.
My thoughts exactly!
If, say, JW was to have their wallet returned to them intact, I suspect they would view this as an indication that this is an "exceptional" person in their honesty. They would then assume that such an honest person is "of the humble heart to accept Jehovah" and attempt to witness to them.
I remember suffering from that warped paradigm myself. I would go around expecting the world to be a terrible place and looking for proof of same; and if I found a person that didn't fit that, I would target as "potential convert"
*SIGH* I am so ashamed of my JW past.
i thought some of you might enjoy some more email i have received as a result of my quotes webpage.from: teena turner [email address removed].
i cannot believe how low some of you people will sink in order to slander jehovah's name.
how reliable are these quotes?
plmkrzy, good question. I got the feeling that this "Anglican Christian" was looking for a fight and having found my site, assumed I was WTBTS and sent an angry venting email without actually reading very much at the site.
I don't think I have anything about the Lords Prayer (this site is growing too big ) so he must have carried that knowledge from his past experience.
I've got to say that is was difficult for me to end that letter to the Anglican without saying ".... ASS!!!!". But it is better to get him working for us, so I try to keep it on-the-level and matter-of-fact (with a little implied tongue-in-cheek mocking about his seeming lack of Christian values & love).
i thought some of you might enjoy some more email i have received as a result of my quotes webpage.from: teena turner [email address removed].
i cannot believe how low some of you people will sink in order to slander jehovah's name.
how reliable are these quotes?
Thanks everybody for the kind words. I'm glad to know that you all could sense the (behind the scenes) humour in my replies. At the same time, I think I pretty much stated the facts too. Glad you know my work is appreciated!
No, I don't think Ms. Turner will stop going to meetings tomorrow, but maybe, just maybe, the next time she is at an assembly, and the speaker holds up the latest spiritual garbage book and asks the crowd, while motioning to the book, if "they are thankful for this spiritual food that Jehovah has provided", she will think back to HER OWN words, to wit: "all these contradictions by humans and mistakes made by humans" Maybe she will realize that this is just a book by those same mistaken humans, not spiritual food from God. Maybe, just maybe, she will look around at her fellow JWs as they fall off their seats clapping in thanks for the spiritual food, and inside her head she will say "hey, relax people, this is just a book; they have made mistakes before, they could be making mistakes now. Don't treat it like it is God's word!"
Then again, it may never happen. When I was fading, I discussed with a close friend how (among other things) I didn't like the way the "imperfect humans" (which is how he defended the record of the WT) were claiming to be God's Channel, and were making a pretty haughty claim by saying their publications were "spiritual food from Jehovah".
Of course, he DENIED that they EVER said that.
So.... at the next 2-day assembly, I sat next to him, and intentionally nudged him and gave him a knowing nod everytime they made one of these claims.
Of course, he got tired of me nudging him. He got the message, but he couldn't deal with it (I had completely destroyed his "imperfect humans" defense). He is a very smart guy, computer programmer (never went to college, though) and all he could say was that I was "misinterpreting" what was being said -- but he didn't (or couldn't) offer any different interpretation.
Not too much later he turned me in for "apostasy". *SIGH*
"You can lead a 'dub to logic, but you can't make 'em THINK"
what should i do with my books .
we are in the process of buying another house and are on the move again.
packing stuff up, chucking it out, selling the surplus you know the story.
Damn, why is it you are "down under"? Why can't someone have a box of "rope" right here in Toronto?
.
the overseer gave me a hand to decorate the hall last night edited by - jh on 5 december 2002 8:34:30.
Ah, very festive. Just like the "restoration of true worship" that Russell provided back in the turn of the century.
