Posts by Xanthippe

91

My brother died last night

by LisaRose in

jw
friends

i found out this morning that my brother died last night, he was also an ex jw, 73 years old and died of heart disease and kidney failure.

it was not totally unexpected, as he had been in poor health, but it's a blow, especially as i just lost another brother two years ago.

there were six of us, now only four.

Xanthippe

I'm so sorry LisaRose. Take care of yourself, it's a stressful time for you.💔

21

Nice weather this weekend. Made me think.....

by punkofnice in

there was a time when as a family, we'd host a bbq in our large back garden.

we'd have a small gazebo, tables and chairs.

the reggae music would be pumping out but not too loud.

Yeah I remember being stuck in a rented flat for nine long years after leaving the cult before we could afford to put a deposit on a small house. God I hated living there. I used to long for a garden too. Sorry you're still int he middle of that Punky, it's slow going I know. Hope things get better for you soon.

160

Beliefs About What Caused the Universe

by Perry in

the universe can be observed to be expanding.. an expanding universe must have had a beginning.

whatever begins to exist had a cause.

therefore the universe had a cause.

Xanthippe

But Perry God can't be detected, observed, measured or proved. So belief in God is also going beyond empirical science and is as speculative as the multiverse theory.

34

The Big House Forced Exodus

by ttdtt in

long video i guess addressing the many hard feelings of people getting the axe at brooklyn and other facilities.. the gist is - thanks for your help, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

or scripturally saying - "keep warm and well fed"p.s.

they are admitting that the are letting older ones go.. http://tv.jw.org/#en/video/vodprogramsevents/pub-jwbrd_201605_5_video.

Xanthippe

Having Saturdays off at Bethel so they can do FS. Having an extra day off when they turn 70! Being allowed to have morning worship in their room when they are sick. These are nice changes he says. You're in a cult mate, they're working you to death. When they've finished with you you'll be homeless.

27

The two paths of exJWs

by Simon in

it's easy to think of exjws as being a single amorphous group but the more i think about it, the more i believe that there are two distinct sub-groups and wonder if you agree.. there are those who believe and those who don't.

i know that seems obvious but let's break it down a bit more.

there are those who don't and never believed and some who are looking for a religion to match their beliefs.. i used to think this split would be between born-ins and converts but of course it's possible for born-ins to be believers although i suspect that many, like with other faiths, do so simply because they have never experienced anything else or made a conscious choice.

Xanthippe

I think it explains what I sometimes find unfathomable as a born-in who left - why on earth does anyone ever join the WTS when there is lots of information about them. It's not that they are suckered or conned as many imagine, it's that they are actively looking for something that matches the WTS brand of religion.

Yes I struggle to understand anyone joining as an adult, especially now in our information rich society. When we left we got involved with a research group of sociologists and anthropologists at the London School of Economics called INFORM, Information focus on new religious movements. My husband was asked to give a talk at one of their seminars.

They believed that the problem is with raising kids with a basic religious belief like Anglicanism for example is that they are taught an unrealistic and idealistic view of human behaviour. Nobody tells them that actually people aren't kind all the time, they don't always love their neighbour and far from turn the other cheek it's human nature to hold grudges and be unforgiving.

So these kids are then rich pickings for cults that stand outside colleges and universities and tell them that there are true Christians who really care about their fellow man and the planet and they are welcome to come meet them. We know the rest, these possibly lonely, away from home, teenagers who have been raised with unrealistically high expectations af humanity are then love bombed by wonderful new 'friends'. They think here at last are the people I was taught to believe existed when I was small and went to Sunday school.

It made sense to me. I could see how people get sucked into cults even when they are not particularly religious or looking for anything because a) they've been given unrealistic expectations of people from childhood and b) cultists pretend to be those perfect people until they are too emotionally involved to get out.

174

Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

by Designer Stubble in

the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

Xanthippe

but no outrage in the article itself. What happened was accurately if clinically described

I suppose if they had shown outrage it would have become outrage porn?

174

Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

by Designer Stubble in

the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

Xanthippe

I read the Pink News article. Outrage in the article at this terrible killing was thin on the ground.

Well I read it and the facts were clearly published for the world to see on this site for LGBTQ+ people to read and the comments I saw were, evil, cruel, murderers, rest in peace brother. Plus some trolling and arguing of course, no surprises there. Not sure what you think you read, are you really a uni student?

174

Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

by Designer Stubble in

the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

Xanthippe

One thing that I've noticed: making Western anti-gay videos, saying homosexual acts are wrong, disapproving of gay marriage seems to cause more outrage amongst gay communities and heterosexual progressives than when extremists push gay people off tall buildings in the name of their religion.
Why is this? It seems that Western gay people are of more worth than gay people from other areas around the globe. Are some elements of gay communities and progressives racist?

Bollocks. That article you're talking about describing the gay person being thrown of a building is from Pink News. Surely showing the outrage of the gay communities LUHE.

Frankly it was rather disingenuous of Cofty to agree with your comment and expand on it, talking about outrage porn, without mentioning to you that it was he who posted that link to Pink News to start with.

160

Beliefs About What Caused the Universe

by Perry in

the universe can be observed to be expanding.. an expanding universe must have had a beginning.

whatever begins to exist had a cause.

therefore the universe had a cause.

Xanthippe

Why should the cause of the universe be something big, intelligent and caring? Do planets and galaxies crashing into one another and suns going supernova, scorching planets and any life on them, suggest something big, intelligent and caring? Who knows how many stars have already gone supernova and killed intelligent life like us? Random events can be causes too.

24

The "apostacy stigmatisation" of doing research!

by stuckinarut2 in

a thought occurred that the way the society has stigmatised the doing of external research by witnesses, and labelling any such questioning as "apostate", is tragic.. no doubt, in every other aspect of life, we research things before making decisions.

eg, if making a purchase, we go online and check reviews etc to check the product out.

we don't just trust the words of the marketing department.

Xanthippe

Please let 7 people you don't know think for you. It's what dog wants.

The Slovenian word for God is Bog. Weird things you find out watching people swearing on TV on holiday. I know, small things........