Posts by Xanthippe

31

What is this "religion"?

by Kom 197 in

jw
friends

for a long time, i was convinced jehovah witnesses were just people preaching the word of god in a different way than other christians.

i was shown the real truth over the past few months.

i've been friends with this guy for over 5 years.

Xanthippe

Why would anyone commit their soul to an organization?

As you said your friend was feeling very vulnerable when he joined and in need of friends. Now he's been taught that if he leaves he could face eternal destruction.

What really hit me is that people say the JW organization is a cult and that their members are brainwashed. Then I started to remember little things that happened in our relationship that pointed to his odd behavior.....Is he always going to be so conflicted and give up things that make him happy?

Yes I'm afraid he is going to be forced to give up things that make him happy. I know you want to help him and this situation is awful for you but there's no way he didn't know dating outside the religion is discouraged and sex before marriage is strictly forbidden. I'm not going to tell you what to do. I hope your young life won't be blighted by this cult. Good luck xx

40

After leaving the JWs - Has anyone stayed with Christianity?

by rulehayl in

i recently made the decision to stop studying with my study conductor, due to a situation i found myself in that led to a high possibility of my unbaptized publisher "rights" being taken away from me.

i have since told my study conductor i have joined a new church (to which she dropped me like a hot rock, of course).... last time i posted on here, i was progressing nicely towards baptism, and was well into it.anyhoo, i like my new church, very hillsong-esqe.

so just wondering if anyone else has stayed the course of christianity after leaving the jws, and if so - where did you go?

Xanthippe

I was a Christian for about two years after leaving the witnesses but didn't attend any church. Studying medieval history for a degree finished off any belief in religion. The obscenely cruel tortures enacted against their fellow humans by Christians just appalled me. Where was God when people were being "slowly roasted, for beliefs they neither knew nor understood"? (Michel de Montaigne)

21

Quick and vague Memorial invitations

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

this morning my doorbell rang.

i opened the door thinking it was a package delivery person or local politicians thanking my community for voting in yesterday's election.

there was a middle aged man standing by himself.

Xanthippe

Yeah talk about vague I was given a leaflet by JWs and they said they were from the RNIB! When did they become so ashamed of who they are?

64

CO picked the wrong "old lady" to say this to!

by clarity in

jw
friends

is this the latest bs to pacify the multiple thousands of singles who are made veritable eunochs because of this organization?

...when i tearfully blurted out that i just couldn't carry on any longer!

i mean almost three decades, for g*ds sake!

Xanthippe

Nice to hear from you Clarity, hope you're doing well. Yes I agree it's great to make friends and not think oh no they'll be destroyed if they don't come in da troof.

9

Once bitten, twice shy

by UnshackleTheChains in

ok. having experienced the jdubs over 27 years.

i have come to the conclusion that sincere people have been 'conned' into the troof, into a 'system' of beliefs that immerses them into an organisation that holds them captive ie no honourble way out without being shunned by friends and family.. having gone through this horrible experience, many are afraid to join another christian group.

it's a bit like someone who trusted someone most of their life only to find that person was a devious lying individual.

Xanthippe

As someone who firmly believes in God and Christ, I am now cautious. I love God's word, I love God, I love the Messiah.......but am extra careful who and what I believe.
Is this something you personally feel?

No not now but a year after leaving the cult I did feel like that. As it's a year since you've joined the forum am I to assume you're about a year out of the cult? All I can say is honour where you are now but also question everything.

Once bitten is twice shy so don't just jump into another church. Ask yourself, is the Bible the word of God? What about all the other holy books? Would I be a Hindu if I'd been born in Delhi? What about evolution, what's that all about? Keep asking questions. Good luck.

22

Disfellowshipped/disassociated – How did your parents handle it?

by Richard_I in

to those who were disfellowshipped/disassociated – how did your still-in parents handle it?.

i don’t want to fade, so i am thinking about disassociating soon – i don’t care if i’m playing by the org’s rules, i just want out.. however, i am concerned about how my parents will react.

i don’t want them to become super depressed or whatever due to me leaving the org.. i don’t want them to be hurt by my decision to leave the org, but i feel like there is no way of avoiding this..

Xanthippe

My mother was very depressed about me DAing but then my mother was depressed her whole life. Nothing I said or did ever helped her. She wouldn't get professional help. She reacted by shunning me and having nothing to do with the child I had six years later. My daughter could have brought her so much joy. She was dying in hospital the only time she asked after my daughter, who wasn't there, she was at a birthday party.

So be aware if you DA your JW parents may shun you until they die. Sorry to be so blunt but it needs some serious thought. For me there was no choice.

7

Michael and Allice Kramer. Dose anyone know about him.

by joe134cd in

i heard this information 3rd hand, so i'm just after confirmation.

mike kramer, a little short guy.

was a bethel heavy and a company man through and through.

Xanthippe

Well liked and they shipped him to the Congo? Didn't like him that much then! He must have stepped on somebody's toes!

10

Cult words

by Great Cook in

if there is any english literature teacher on this forum ...can he or she analyze those words of this song ?.

radicalization is going on ... and people sing without any reaction at the meetings...they are so brainwashed.... song 50.

1. take my heart and may it love.

Xanthippe

Wow there it is right there. Take my body, my heart, my money and my life. Definition of a cult.

5

Clearly, undeniably, without doubt ... is there a term for introducing a thought in such a way.

by jwfacts in

watchtower article often introduce a point that has no merit with words such a "undeniably.".

for instance the watchtower 2014 august 15 page 10 says:.

"jehovah undeniably blesses the preaching work of christian women and supports them in times of trial.

Xanthippe

Yes I would have gone for weasel words too but wiki says that weasel words are a type of tergiversate word. It's a new one on me.

Verb

tergiversate (third-person singular simple present tergiversates, present participle tergiversating, simple past and past participletergiversated)

(intransitive) To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.
- 1999, Philip McCutchan and Werner Levi, The Hoof, ↑ISBN, page 18:
  The officials soon concluded that the easiest way to remain on good terms with the court was to elude responsibility, to tergiversate, to prevent results.