And to those, who cannot yet take that stand, though they may want to, you have my deepest sympathy. Being forced to go against your will in such a manner is nothing sort of emotional torture.
doubtfull1799
JoinedPosts by doubtfull1799
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51
To those taking a stand and not attending the Memorial tonight
by doubtfull1799 ini salute you.
many of you, like me, are probably under enormous emotional pressure, whether from a lingering false sense of guilt from your indoctrination, whether from "invitations," and assumptions that you'll naturally be coming, or whether from outright emotional blackmail, even begging and pleading.
i am thinking of you whoever you are, all of you, even though i don't know you in person.
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51
To those taking a stand and not attending the Memorial tonight
by doubtfull1799 ini salute you.
many of you, like me, are probably under enormous emotional pressure, whether from a lingering false sense of guilt from your indoctrination, whether from "invitations," and assumptions that you'll naturally be coming, or whether from outright emotional blackmail, even begging and pleading.
i am thinking of you whoever you are, all of you, even though i don't know you in person.
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doubtfull1799
I salute you.
Many of you, like me, are probably under enormous emotional pressure, whether from a lingering false sense of guilt from your indoctrination, whether from "invitations," and assumptions that you'll naturally be coming, or whether from outright emotional blackmail, even begging and pleading.
I am thinking of you whoever you are, all of you, even though I don't know you in person. I stand in solidarity with you, and feel your pain on this most cultish night of the year.
Stand strong and be as proud of your convictions, if not more so, than those who are pressuring you to go. After all, your convictions are based on evidence & reality, not faith & fantasy.
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"Abuse of free will" - an Oxymoron?
by doubtfull1799 inthe society loves to talk about how adam and eve abused their gift of free will.
doesn't free will mean the freedom to choose?
how can exercising that freedom to choose then be classed as abusing the gift?
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doubtfull1799
The society loves to talk about how Adam and Eve abused their gift of free will. Doesn't free will mean the freedom to choose? How can exercising that freedom to choose then be classed as abusing the gift? You are simply using the gift in the way it was intended to be used!
The Watchtower this week made there claim they really only had two choices: to obey or not to obey. Only one choice is acceptable, so there is really no choice at all. Some gift when you get punished for using it.
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Helping someone to wake up to "the truth about the truth"
by stuckinarut2 inwe all have loved one that we wish we could "wake up" from the society.. of course it is not wise to force them with information, as that could just cause their defences to go up and make them dig their heals in.. this reminded me of an illustration that the society actually used at a convention many years back:.
if we want someone to move out of their dilapidated, run down and dangerous house that they are sentimentally attached to, we cant just grab them and drag them out.
they will object.. but, if we build a brand-new, safe, secure attractive home right next door and allow them to see it be built, their curiosity will be sparked.
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doubtfull1799
Very good post and use of that illustration. I think the point is proved by what everyone says to you when you try to point out something wrong in the organisation: "but where else can we go?" Of course the question is meaningless of itself in the arguments we are making, but it is meaningful and important to THEM, so we must be prepared to answer it in some way and acknowledge their feelings and the problem is creates for them if we want them to leave....
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Why more highly educated people are less into conspiracy theories
by Mickey mouse ini've seen discussions here about how jehovah's witnesses seem to be prone to believing conspiracy theories... https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/04/05/why-more-highly-educated-people-are-less-into-conspiracy-theories/.
this last paragraph seems particularly relevant:.
importantly, van prooijen said his findings help make sense of why education can contribute to “a less paranoid society” even when conspiracy theories are not explicitly challenged.
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doubtfull1799
I can't comment on conspiracy theories, but I know from my own experience that Witnesses are hugely into (if not more prone to falling for) pseudoscience, especially in the area of alternative medicine. I was constant surrounded by brothers pushing pills and potions and weird "magic" remedies on me overtime I had so much as a sniffle or minor pain.
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Regarding Correct Understanding of Bible Prophecies Have JWs EVER Been Right?
by minimus ini seriously doubt that any jw understanding of prophecy has ever withstood the test of time.
how can anyone trust them when they are always wrong?
?.
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doubtfull1799
@blondie Intersting, That 1942 one is the one that really got me too! I was always so proud of the organisation for that one, believing it was a real modern day prophecy based on our understanding of the Bible... until of course I found out like you did, that the formation of the UN was common knowledge in political circles before Knorr gave that famous talk. It just was't common knowledge among witnesses, so easily exploited to look like a prophecy.
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so much for babylon the great falling in 1919
by nowwhat? insuposedly babylon the great lost her power and influence over the people and government rulers back in 1919. flash forward to today the russian orthodox church is behind the banning of witnesses in russia.
yet another failed prophecy!
have these guys gotten anything right?!
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doubtfull1799
Great point! Another failed prophecy. Another failed interpretation of prophecy.
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doubtfull1799
See my most recent post - the experience touches on that subject...
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5109869029883904/thank-you-helping-me-through-bad-days
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Has Anyone Ever Just Gotten Mad and "Popped" an Elder?
by Cold Steel init has to have happened.
people get stressed out, an elder or overseer takes just two steps over the line and gets a fat lip for his trouble.. does that ever happen?
or maybe someone "counsels" a brother at the wrong time and tempers flare at the old kingdom hall?.
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doubtfull1799
Righteous indignation made me feel that way yesterday - I sure wanted to do exactly that. Not physically, that's just not my nature, but mentally. I kept my cool though, and my dignity. It only feeds their assumptions about you as the "enemy" to do otherwise.
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Thank you for helping me through the bad days
by doubtfull1799 ini'm sure that whatever stage we are at with our journey in leaving the corporation disguised as a religion, aka the watchtower bible & tract society, we have good days and bad days.
maybe young ones who have managed to escape mentally do not suffer quite as much, or suffer in different ways, but after 40 years of indoctrination, what i now like to call the "machinery of reinforcement" it is unavoidable that you don't have days where your head is messed with.
yesterday was just such a day for me.
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doubtfull1799
I'm sure that whatever stage we are at with our journey in leaving the Corporation disguised as a religion, AKA the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, we have good days and bad days. Maybe young ones who have managed to escape mentally do not suffer quite as much, or suffer in different ways, but after 40 years of indoctrination, what I now like to call the "machinery of reinforcement" it is unavoidable that you don't have days where your head is messed with.
Yesterday was just such a day for me. I lost a dear work colleague yesterday morning (who was only 27) so was already in a bad emotional state. Then in the afternoon I had, not one, but two visits from brothers in the congregation. One from a brother I haven't spent a lot of time with, who was fairly new to our congregation before I left, and one from my co-ordinator, a person I considered a true friend and colleague as we have served together for many years.
Frank conversations were had with both. The publisher treated me as a friend, with dignity and kindness. He listened and acknowledged my viewpoints even though he no doubt disagreed with them, and shared a "scriptural" thought with me in a very kind way, which I thanked him for simply because I appreciated the kind intent behind it. It is nice to have dealing with brothers that still have humanity in them, not just for their own, but for outsiders as well.
The elder on the other hand acted like a tyrant and bully. He called all my viewpoints "rubbish", yes those were his words. When I offered to show him supporting evidence of my viewpoints he said it would be a waste of his time. Funny how they claim they would die for their brothers, but once they consider you the enemy that will not "waste" so much as half an hour of their time for you. He also had the arrogance to claim he is not accountable to me or anyone else, only to God. Funny, when I was an elder I always considered my self accountable to my fellow humans, especially the brothers I served in the congregation. As far as I know there is only one group of people who consider themselves unaccountable to their fellow humans and this is dictators and tyrants.
Anyway, getting back to the point of this post. I want to thank all the contributors here for your support in general. But I particularly want to thank @stuckinarut & @unstuck, two friends I have had the recent pleasure of getting to know in the real world as well as here online. People who demonstrate the real meaning of friendship, as the scripture says, "brothers borne for times of distress." People who have never (yet) met me in person, but have been there for me unconditionally over the last few weeks whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on. I know they know how much I appreciate it, but I wanted to acknowledge them publicly, and all the others too that I'm sure are out there that help others on their rocky journey to cult recovery.
I also wanted to say that there is nothing like having that human connection. It is lovely to share stories and comment on forums like this in the virtual world anonymously, but being able to talk to someone in the real world is important too. I know many of us are probably scared/paranoid/shy/burned/lacking esteem - pick one - when in comes to making new connections, but I think its still worth trying and reaching out to people. Other ex-jw's may or may not end up being the right friends or compatible friends. Being an ex-jw in itself is not enough in common if you lack other common interests of course, or you have different world views. But it is a good place to start. Because at least they understand you on one very big level. And most will at least share the same values.
To all those who open themselves to friendship and give of themselves to provide emotional support to their fellow ex-jw's THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. You are the best of humanity.
P.S. In regard to the death of my colleague, I am very proud of the community of colleagues in my profession here in the city I live in. We started an online fundraising campaign and within hours hundreds of people in our profession chipped in and we had raised the $3,000 we needed to be able to fly our colleague's widow's mother out from the other side of the world to be with her daughter and be here for the funeral. And this from so-called uncaring, selfish, "wordy" people. People who don't really know what true love is. Amazing!