Posts by Confusedalot

9

Jehovah's Witnesseses have been waiting so long for Armageddon...

by usualusername1 in

jw
friends

that they have starting building towers from watches or watchtowers....

Confusedalot

Its sad when you are always watching but forget to open your eyes and ears while doing so.

They are always watching but cannot see or hear what the spirit says....

23

Religious Fanatic Mother

by LickingMyWounds in

i have been faded for 5 years raising my kid after jw wife cheated on me.

i go to the memorial here and there.

my mother is a pioneer.

I feel your pain regarding your mother's actions, and I also feel your frustration about loved ones trapped in this organisation...I have to continuously restrain myself from becoming angry, nasty etc about this organisation and the fallout from their way of doing things. People who have left the organisation or cooled down perceive the JW members and GB actions as highly illogical and even cruel, but when you are on the JW bus all these things are sadly the most logical thing in your life, and living by them makes you feel "in a relationship" with God.

It takes self restraint not to start thinking active members are deliberately bad people (though some are), and to realize the GB and JW system are behind how their members act. What usually helps me is to realize that not many years ago I was exactly the same way my mom is now....scaaaary.

7

Miracles and responses—both are not explicable

by venus in

a miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws.

bible reports many such miracles.

interestingly, responses to these reported miracles could be even labeled as a greater miracle which cannot be explained by any known law, logic or experience.

Confusedalot

Could the reason be that these people lived at a time when almost everything was a miracle because of scientific ignorance and lack of knowledge?

When the wind blows, it rains, the sun or moon rises and eclipses or lightning strikes and you are not sure what it is, and you think its some act of God, someone turning water into wine seems less special.

Our Lord was killed due to his perceived attack or blasphemy against the religious "truth" of the time...in spite of the miracles he performed to try to wake them up.

31

Humourous reasons to go back

by usualusername1 in

jw
friends

in my stand up comedy routine tonight i want to list humourous reasons why i shd go back to jws.. how about nobody throws parties like jws.. how about jws being at the cutting edge of fashion.. how about it being easier for men to get a date.. any ideas?.

paul.

Confusedalot

I would go back, and every now and then during the assembly yell "hallelujah" out loud just to see the response.
Or start speaking in tongues that resemble lord of the rings elfish, and see if any elders or ministerial servants will be able to remove me.
What about using a rap skit to place magazines while doing field service with the brothers and sisters. e.g "Watch you back....watchtowers back, boom boom pfff (some beatbox), these mags are going faster than crack....boom boom pff (more beatbox), you think were mad.....boom boom pfff, but its because your bad...pff pff pfff, read this will you...boom boom...or God'l kill you....pfff......I'm Out!

I apologize for that, not sure what came over me lol

28

"Only Witnesses demonstrate Christian Love"

by Jules Saturn in

so a couple of nights ago i was speaking with a relative and we began talking about the organization.

i had to asked her "why do you believe that this religion is the correct one?

" they stood quiet for a second but then said that they view and feel genuine christian love, a type of love that is spoken about in the bible.

Confusedalot

The problem is they define love as bringing someone to Jehovah in a spiritual sense. Giving out food and supplies to the needy doesn't compare to showing real love by bringing them to Jehovah. They see shunning as love, because it keeps God's organisation clean and can help the DF to come back to "The Truth". Child abuse is blamed on the members and not the GB so that argument is useless too.

This barrier is extremely frustrating to fight against. I know how it works because I was behind it for many years.

The GB spends huge amounts of time indoctrinating its members, we cannot expect one argument or debate to change thought patterns that have been so deeply entrenched.

Normally people become disillusioned due to their own experiences in the organisation and less by external influence.

33

JWs biggest problem is not doctrinal issues

by Chook in

it's biggest problems are associated with its lack of genuine love and concern for the rank& file.

the average person doesn't need a food critic to tell them their hamburger is shit, in the same manner the average person can discern kindness and love.

gbs fake love and concern is evident in the way head office deals with victims of sexual abuse by jw clergy.

Confusedalot

The brothers and sisters are so loving, they helped me get up on stage and read the bible in front of everyone. The power and love of Jehovah is really great.

The truth? I suffer from social anxiety and I was so stressed that my stomach started to bleed minutes before I had to read. It was one of the worst experiences I ever had. Would a loving God expect that from me? Or a loving elder? My mom is old and frail and they guilt trip her into doing field service (she even goes alone into dangerous areas to "get her hours right") by telling her the "end is near".

All I can say is there is a lack of true love and holy spirit with this organisation IMO.

33

JWs biggest problem is not doctrinal issues

by Chook in

it's biggest problems are associated with its lack of genuine love and concern for the rank& file.

the average person doesn't need a food critic to tell them their hamburger is shit, in the same manner the average person can discern kindness and love.

gbs fake love and concern is evident in the way head office deals with victims of sexual abuse by jw clergy.

Confusedalot

From some of these comments and from personal experience it seems the "brotherly love" seems to be highly conditional. As long as you are willing to be a witness and to follow their doctrine you will have all the so called love you need. Reminds me of Matthew 5 "Love your enemies". Whats the value of loving only those that agree with your worldview?

One of the main issues is that to keep control of people you need to limit their exposure to information that shines light on your lies. Jehovah's Witnesses do this extremely well. They make you feel that any non GB information is satanic influence. They make you feel that any doubt in GB is satanic influence. They make you feel that any apostate ex members are satanic influence. Once these things are entrenched in you, your own conscience does the rest of the work keeping you in line. I've had a family member literally running from my house when I started sharing "worldly" information.....sad!

John 3:19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”

Seems Jehovah's Witnesses's "Light getting brighter" or "new light" teaching is actually the darkness getting darker!

34

Really struggling to go on

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

so, so much has happened in my life over the years and continues to happen, but i won't go into the details as it would take a long time.. i don't really know why, but i returned to "the truth" 15 years ago.

in 2012 when the tv broadcasting station launched, i started to develop doubts.

the australian royal commission and other scandals made me angrier, and i now don't believe most of the core teachings.. the only reason i show up at 5 or 6 meetings each month is to keep in contact with my parents and a few other family members.. but it's killing me, literally.

Confusedalot

I suffer from severe depression and it peaked both times when I left the organisation (see my post under experiences: Killing in the name of... for details). Looking back the true God is with those that suffer because of false religion. Even when there are times we may even hate him and ourselves, just hold on, keep seeking him and you will be able to look back one day and see the truth, love and power of God and that he is always with us.

4

Killing in the name of....

by Confusedalot in

my story:.

i grew up as one of jehovah's witnesses with all the normal complications which include but are not limited to: having no friends because the other kids are worldly and the other witnesses are not spiritual enough, being tormented every day at school for not saluting the flag, not participating in birthdays, not swearing, being a virgin and using the name of god.

this was not only verbal and emotional torment but even progressed to physical abuse.. through all this jehovah was my only friend and i used to pray a lot, and felt that all of these things don't matter as long as i have him.. after school and starting work i met someone and we got married.

Confusedalot

My story:

I grew up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses with all the normal complications which include but are not limited to: having no friends because the other kids are worldly and the other witnesses are not spiritual enough, being tormented every day at school for not saluting the flag, not participating in birthdays, not swearing, being a virgin and using the name of God. This was not only verbal and emotional torment but even progressed to physical abuse.

Through all this Jehovah was my only friend and I used to pray a lot, and felt that all of these things don't matter as long as I have him.

After school and starting work I met someone and we got married. We were baptised together which was wonderful. We devoted our lives to Jehovah; even getting rid of our TV and worldly music and attending every meeting. I even spent my holidays from work in the preaching work.

Even with this devotion I could not help feeling that something was wrong. It seemed there was a distance between me and Jehovah and I could not understand why.

Then came the crash......My wife cheated on me and she ended up telling me that our relationship was a lie. She became my wife and a Jehovah's Witness to get away from her parents. This was not my opinion but what she said directly! At this stage I was confused by the fact that someone could live such a double life, and that Jehovah allowed this to happen to me. I remember once feeling extremely depressed, praying to Jehovah for help and afterwards phoning the designated elder for help with no answer on the phone....I felt alone and abandoned!

Enter the Dragon: This faith shaking event was really a turning point in my life. I started questioning the society and its motives. How could Jehovah leave me alone and abandoned when I always tried to do the things pleasing to him? I ended up reading about the Watchtower society from secular sources which was a real eye opener. I started considering science, reason and logic seriously for the first time. The straw that broke the camels back came when I read Jehovah's Witnesses own Insight into the holy scriptures (encyclopaedia) entry under the topic "Jehovah" where they admit that the true pronunciation of God's name is not known! To someone who built their whole life on the Name, this was devastating!

After these events I lost my way completely, I started living with someone which caused my mom to treat me as dead. She would not talk to me or see me which went on for two years. So after feeling abandoned by God my mom also abandoned me which led to severe depression and guilt, missing 6 months at work (not sure how but managed to keep my job). I attempted suicide, and became severely violent. Sad times indeed.

I kept on searching for God and ended up studying the bible with Jehovah's Witnesses again, even attending meetings. My mom started talking to me and loving me again as a reward and things were looking up. Yet again something just felt wrong....When reading the publications the Name issue kept bothering me, when listening to the talks at the kingdom hall I did not get any satisfaction only more questions; like the spell the organisation had over me was broken. My bible study ended by me asking the elder doing the study: "If I study the bible on my own, but am not one of Jehovah's Witnesses does that mean that I am dead to God?" He did not answer but there was no need, because we both knew the answer was yes.

I decided that I was not sure anymore that Jehovah's Witnesses had the truth or Gods spirit and started studying the bible (trying to ignore what I was taught by them) on my own. This was one of the most enlightening, thought provoking and happy times in my life. It was like reading the bible for the first time; shaping my own ideas. I really felt like I was drawing closer to the true God. For the first time I could start worshipping him in spirit and truth.

End times: In the end I started feeling bound to the organisation by my baptism and this became an issue. I knew that if I resigned I would become "dead" to my mom again but I could not stay bound to an organisation that used a name that they were not even sure of! I went to my mom and it went something like this:

Me: Hi mom

Mom: Hi

Me: Mom I have to tell you something (her smile starts to change). You know I love you very much and you are always welcome in my life. Mom I love you but I am resigning from Jehovah's Witnesses.

Mom: Then I can not see you anymore (turns her back on me and walks away)

Even though I tried to prepare myself this was devastating for me and her. I haven't seen or talked to her since. The day afterward I drove to the kingdom hall and handed in my letter with contents basically saying that my devotion is to the true God, and not an organisation. Jehovah's Witnesses usually quote the scripture that talks about losing family for his names sake when dealing with disfellowshipping.....but I felt this was what I was doing, not them.

Not being able to see my mom causes me great emotional distress that I have to find a way to deal with that, but I have never felt closer to God and his son. I guess the world hates you when you want to worship God in spirit and truth; Jehovah's Witnesses being "the world" in this case.

In the end I realised that the true god was with me through all this, and he knew that extreme events were needed to break me free from the Watchtower societies spell. He brought me out of Egypt and I hope never to return.

45

River flowing from the garden of Eden

by joey jojo in

hey there.. if this point has been covered before please forgive me.. i have had the principles of noahs flood used by jw's to encourage me to attend meetings recently and this has got me musing about the flood....again.. genesis states that a river flowed from eden and branched out into four rivers, two of which being the tigris and the euphrates.. heres the baffling part; if it had never rained before, how is it that rivers existed before the flood?!!?.

a brief google search tells us that the euphrates begins its journey as snow melt and rain ( as most rivers do) in mountains in turkey.. ecc chapter 1 mentions the water cycle and describes the rivers flowing into the sea but the sea not becoming full.

how did it work pre-flood?

Confusedalot

Stillin, I used the word "theory".

I'm also trying to make sense in my own way. Does the bible mean river every time that word is used?

I feel like crying a river......