Posts by Xanthippe

42

Would You Go To A Memorial Service For A JW )if you were no longer attending the KH)?

by minimus in

jw
friends

some of my old jw friends are sickly and getting on in age.

so far, i’ve only gone to my mother’s memorial and have avoided the kingdom hall altogether.... your thoughts please?.

Xanthippe

Going to my mother's funeral at the KH I grew up in was awful. My childhood friend was there with her parents even though she'd moved away. She kept away from me. Lots of other faces I recognised but they all avoided me.

I honestly don't know if I want to go through another KH funeral service. Even when my siblings pass away. Is that terrible? None of us know how we'll feel until it happens I suppose. Do they want me around, will my being there help? I mean if it doesn't help them and it doesn't help me what's the point?

49

My 71st Birthday Confessional

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

i was born january 15, 1947in mt.

carmel hospital, detroit, michigan.. within six months of my birth, my mother would bundle her baby boy into a blanket and board an american airlines propeller-driven plane--in effect, leaving my father behind--to return to her hometown, ft. worth, texas.. my dad had an excellent job working for cadillac as an inspector.

it was a union job.

Xanthippe

Happy Birthday Terry for tomorrow. I get the over-compensation thing, it makes it difficult to make friends. I think everyone's life is a raggedy-ass drama of survival. It's a difficult planet, but what a ride!

31

Are You An Angry Exjw At This Point In Your Life?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i’ve been here for many years.

the tone seems to be different in this place.

not so many pissed off exjws .

Xanthippe

Nope, I'm not angry at the pitiful bastards who believe, as Jackson said, they're going to be with Jesus soon. Jesus! What delusional ****+*

I'm just getting everything ready for my next trip, to India. Living well is the best revenge.

21

Why the JW org should fail.

by Half banana in

dr margaret t singer, a professor of psychology at berkeley university california has studied the experiences of 700 cult members.

''consciously and manipulatively, leaders and their trainers exert a systematic social influence that can produce great behavioral changes,'' said dr. singer.. .

one of the ways the jw organisation exerts so much influence over its members is because it has created a culture sustained by constant propaganda, which polices itself according to how the leadership has moulded it.

Xanthippe

People get something out of being in this cult though don't they? Very ordinary, uneducated people get to be ministers preaching in a church setting with congregations forced to listen to them even if it's drivel.

Positions of authority with a huge amount of control over people's lives. They can drag people into JCs and make them spill their guts about intimate sexual encounters. Even throw them out, forcing congregation members and their own family to shun them. It's too much power for the average uneducated man in the street to cope with without becoming corrupt.

This religion should fail but the pay off is too tempting for some. The GB knew exactly what they were doing when they introduced the elder arrangement.

40

Older JW: not happy

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

this week i visited my sick father in law.. then an old elder from my far away congregation came in for coffee.

did not see him in 15 years.. nice chat.

had a lot to say, is alone, his sick wife disabled and away from home.. he told me: "living alone is so hard.

Xanthippe

Where are their loving brothers and sisters when these ones become elderly?

48

Anyone struggle to find meaning in life?

by Good JW in

just wondering if this is a common thing for you guys and girls?

when i left the jws it was hard to make a connection with people, much of the time i felt that whatever they wanted to talk about just didn't seem relevant/deep/meaningful.

i find myself filtering my mind to get to a level with others (small talk mostly).

Xanthippe

Thanks very much for the links Snare. I love the Feynman vid

'I have approximate answers and different beliefs..... I'm not absolutely sure of anything....But it doesn't frighten me.'

A man after my own heart.

48

Anyone struggle to find meaning in life?

by Good JW in

just wondering if this is a common thing for you guys and girls?

when i left the jws it was hard to make a connection with people, much of the time i felt that whatever they wanted to talk about just didn't seem relevant/deep/meaningful.

i find myself filtering my mind to get to a level with others (small talk mostly).

Xanthippe

Is this because I was a JW? Or a pessimistic/over-thinking personality trait?

Its both! I went to a seminar years ago where ex-cultists gave talks about their experience of leaving. A woman from the Children of God said just what you're saying, small talk seems well - small! She found that the way people lived seemed pointless, she desperately wanted to find the meaning.

It's because we've come out of a cult where everything meant soooo much, everything you did, said and even thought. It was the end of the world, well soon! We had lives to save!

Its not, actually, over-thinking to want life to have meaning but you've got to find your own meaning, what matters to you. Whether it's art, science, sport, music, literature, travel, relationships, Netflix or whatever. Don't think that the pursuit of happiness doesn't matter, it's vital to your health and well-being. Good luck searching for meaning and try and enjoy it. 😀

26

What Is The Major Reason Jehovah’s Witnesses Exist?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i understand that cults and religious groups will always exist.

but why do jehovah’s witnesses continue as a religion that people will join?.

Xanthippe

Things happen to everyone that are hard to cope with, illness, bereavements, financial problems. I can only speak of my own country where mental health programs are struggling to cope because of central government removing funding.

From volunteering in a mental health charity I realised that many severely damaged people turn to religion eventually because the NHS has failed them badly. They have shattered self esteem and religions tell them God loves them unconditionally and whatever has happened in the past has been wiped away instead of what they get from society which is the stigma of mental illness. If that religion actually knocks on your door and gives you personal attention like JWs do, all the better I suppose.

28

What Will The Future Hold For Jehovah's Witnesses

by VW.org in

jw
friends

as descibed by the title here is a link to reddit of a what i believe is a powerful post with heaps of information.

.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/7ovq5o/watchtowers_decline_what_will_the_future_hold_for/?utm_source=reddit-android.

Xanthippe

Thank you John Redwood and vw.org for this. A very interesting post John Redwood. Your words particularly hit me that ordinary JWs in Eritrea and Russia are languishing in prison or under government ban, suffering terribly, while following the rules of overweight GB who travel the world businsess class and look out at their landscaped gardens listening to bird song. It makes me very angry.

38

Will #metoo have an affect on forcing changing attitudes at Watchtower?

by jwfacts in

despite decades of the feminist movement, watchtower's attitude of woman being inferior has changed little, with pauline sexism justified as inspired, on the basis that women are lesser emotionally, intellectually and physically.

jehovah's witnesses seem to accept this with little resistance.

is there anything about the #metoo movement that may wake followers up?

Xanthippe

I'm sorry if I sound a rebel but if I wanted to buy my child a small gift - and we could afford it - no way would I go and seek 'permission' from my husband!

Dont apologise for being an independent woman Phoebe. I agree one hundred percent with your post. Women have been sexually abused for thousands of years and just lately they've got a bit pissed off with it.