FayeDunaway

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Posts by FayeDunaway

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  40

  How do you feel about the expression "The Truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's amazing how the expression "the truth" has become such an ingrained term used by witnesses.. "we have 'the truth'".

  "is he 'in the truth'?".

  most here have found out so many facts about the organisation, and felt the effects of being "gut-punched" as we realised these facts.. so how do you feel about the expression "the truth" now?.

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  FayeDunaway

  I didn't realize how VERY culty it sounded until I left.

  Now when I hear people say it I want to say 'So how long have you been in The Lies?'...which is much more accurate.
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  26

  "Fa La La"

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  out at the mall with mrs. otwo, she sees a shirt on the rack that was marked down from $25 to just $4.

  she holds it up and says, "should i buy this as a workout shirt?".

  i tell her "no, because as soon as you figure out what it means, you won't wear it anymore.

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  FayeDunaway

  That Dylan song story is ABSOLUTELY CLASSIC. I can hardly believe it! I'm trying to remember the lyrics and see it from that perspective :D.

  Re: jingle bells. Does anyone remember the sesame street segment 'Elmo's world'? A particularly strict sister wouldn't let her children watch it. She shut sesame street off right before it started. Why? Because the Elmo's world song was set to the same tune as Jingle Bells. 'Elmo's world, Elmo's world, time to play today'.... I told her ' but jingle bells isn't even a Christmas song.' She responded 'but it's ASSOCIATED with Christmas. I've done the research...'

  Omg. So glad to not be exposing my kids to that insanity anymore!
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  96

  Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  seems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.

  maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.

  many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.

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  FayeDunaway

  Thats interesting, crow! All I know is that I can navigate around the bible a lot better than most people in my church. They try. An interesting revelation has been how we examine big sections of scripture at a time. The skill of going from Ezra to Philemon not so important for that. Witnesses very rarely read whole sections at a time. Scriptures take on a whole new meaning when read in context (duh! Took me so long to find that out but it should have been so obvious).

  LisaRose I'm sending you a PM but very good points. My church is a lot like the Congregationalists.
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  23

  Non JW friends don't understand

  by kozmo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it never ceases to amaze me that your personal friends have no clue what it is like to have been one.

  i was speaking with a friend the other day about having been a jw.

  she said, oh i have a dear friend of 30 years who is one and she is so nice!

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  FayeDunaway

  Lieu, that's hilarious! And thank you HB and bless you for helping your friend get out of it!!

  Sometimes (not so often as I used to!) I will mention to someone that I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. They'll say 'oh, that's nice.' Oh my GOD does that drive me nuts. Even when you try to explain 'NO it was really NOT nice' it takes mental energy that people aren't willing to invest. That's why I love this place, you all KNOW.
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  96

  Is the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses really an inferior form of Christianity?

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  seems to be quite a few posters recently pulling down the beliefs of jw's as not biblical or truly christian.

  maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, i really don't care.. in some important ways though mainstream christians often behave better than jehovah's witnesses; most don't practice shunning or impose lethal medical prohibitions on their members.

  many are far more tolerant of the lgbt community and a few even make the awkward attempt to square the fact of evolution with their faith.. please note that i'm saying some, not all.. so i suppose it's fair to say that differing forms of christianity can be better or worse for individuals, families and the wider community.

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  FayeDunaway

  Thank you Lisa!! I don't know how you know so much about 'normal' churches, I know you don't go to one! But your points are exactly right, about mine and many others.

  Doctrine was important to me when I was leaving JW's, and I spent a lot of time and passionate energy researching and proving to myself and my family that the witness doctrine is screwed up. Their doctrine is NOT one of the few things they have going for them. If I was going to name a few things, I think it would be ability to find their way around a bible (a skill learned from their practice of matching up scriptures all over the bible that don't actually go together), and the fact that they are a cult helps people feel close to each other (even tho this is usually pretty superficial and if you start diverting from the group views, they start dropping from your life like flies.)
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  23

  "I thought About You" Email

  by BeautifulMind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hey everyone!!

  i hope everyone is doing good today.

  i don't share or comment often, but i'm in the mood to do that today.

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  FayeDunaway

  Magnum, AMEN!!
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  2

  JUST WOW!!

  by brandnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just watched a show on tlc..where a man killed his mother, and father.

  after the show was over, and everyone said their comments....one comment stuck in my head.

  the comment that stuck in my head was" he not only lost his parents....he lost everyone associated with himself"... .. i thought to myself.......it happens in kingdom halls every day, and not for murder......but for something petty....like smoking a cigarette.. any views on this?.

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  FayeDunaway

  Same view as yours. It happens every day in witness world. Not just for petty things, but for living your life as you were born to live it...authentically. For living authentically, people lose everyone they've ever known. Whether they are gay, or a natural free spirit, or have integrity to their own selves and their own beliefs, and can't live the fake witness life. Every day it happens.
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  26

  "Fa La La"

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  out at the mall with mrs. otwo, she sees a shirt on the rack that was marked down from $25 to just $4.

  she holds it up and says, "should i buy this as a workout shirt?".

  i tell her "no, because as soon as you figure out what it means, you won't wear it anymore.

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  FayeDunaway

  Your wife seems to live in her own universe. Even for a Jehovah's witness. You are a good man, otwo.
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  20

  Reasons for NOT Returning

  by Saved_JW in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i left the watchtower in the winter of 2008. my first year out was by far the most difficult.

  i had every intention of returning to the watchtower for the very purpose of being able to speak with my friends and family.

  i had already concluded that the teachings were not the "truth" [after reading crisis of conscience] so coming back was more emotional then anything.

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  FayeDunaway

  Saved, your post reminds me of something I observed right away when I left the jw's and joined a new church. In the first sermon I heard, the pastor spoke of his own human weaknesses, how he felt when his daughter was born and he learned she had severe physical abnormalities. It was almost shocking to me. Not once in any talk did I ever hear a witness brother say anything of their own personal weaknesses or struggles or lapses in faith. Not once! Everyone has to pretend they are perfect all the time. It's difficult to find any genuine witnesses who aren't 'pretending.' Even among friends, you don't talk about these very real things. It's not part of their culture, which is built around 'appearances.'

  It's still hard for me to admit my own failures to other people, but I'm learning, and its a much healthier practice than pretending I'm perfect.
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  35

  Lurkers: A truth is either true, or it isn't. There is no in between.

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  truth is absolute.

  there is no such thing as 2=1 or 1=2.. if one starts out with the equation 2=1, one has already failed.. truth = truth.

  you cannot change whether something is truth or not.. when the organization teaches one thing as a truth (ex.

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  FayeDunaway

  I told a weak witness recently to examine his religion. I said to him that the truth can stand up to research.

  Crossing my fingers that he listened to me. If he drops the cult, he will have huge relief from his guilt issues and never, ever being good enough despite decades of trying.

  The truth CAN stand up to research, if it's true. And if it doesn't, it's false, and doesnt deserve to be called truth anymore. Name me any type of ANYTHING that it wasn't beneficial to research outside material about before signing up for. What company you might want to work for, what insurance company you might want to get, what stock funds you might want to buy, what school you might want to send your kids to, how to build a house most efficiently, what car to buy, what shoes to buy...suddenly when you are choosing a religion, witnesses expect you to do NO outside research. This thing that controls your life and affects you in every way, you aren't supposed to research outside info on. This thing that is going to consume almost all of your free time....you aren't supposed to do outside research on before signing up. This thing that controls your WHOLE. LIFE.

  TRUTH CAN STAND UP TO RESEARCH. Isn't it eye opening they feel so threatened by research? Doesn't that tell you something?