Posts by Rainbow

15

Baptized at a young age, homeschooled, and pioneered ...

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

and all of this by the time i was 14. i was the youngest person in my pioneer school.

was anybody else in the trenches (to this degree) at such a young age?.

i look back on it now and marvel at how isolated i was.

Rainbow_Troll

I was home schooled for a while, but I was not forced into it. When I broke my arm around age 12 after falling off the garage roof, the bone had to be set and then put in a heavy cast for about six weeks so it could mend. Naturally, this would be impossible if I had to attend a school where I constantly had to defend myself from bullies; so my mom and everyone else agreed that I should be allowed to do all my school work at home. After trying it for six weeks, I decided it wasn't so bad and later signed on for permanent independent study status.

Academically speaking, I can't say it was any better or any worse than attending public school. The books I studied from were exactly the same. I am aware that some Christian parents are actually able to exclude books from their child's curriculum that mention evolution, but I never knew any home schooled children in which this was the case (perhaps it was illegal in my state).

Some people on here have mentioned the social aspect. While I will concede that being exposed to people of different cultures could give a JW some perspective on their own beliefs and lifestyle, I think just watching television or reading non-JW material could easily serve the same purpose. I would say that, if anything, being a JW in school just reinforced my programming. Not being allowed to participate in class activities that involved holidays, patriotism, sports or evolution just made me stand out and feel even more alienated. What really opened my eyes wasn't interacting with kids of other faiths, but reading books written by adults who actually knew enough about the Bible and Christianity to make an intelligent critique of them.

Maybe there are some decent public schools out there, but if there are they must be pretty rare since I attended six that were all pretty bad (though some were worse than others). I can't imagine how any parent, no matter how apathetic or anti-intellectual they might be, could possibly do a worse job of educating their child than the typical American public school. The only conclusion that I can draw from my experiences with both public school and home school is that, unless their parents could have afforded to send them to a private school, children who are home schooled aren't missing out to any significant degree.

17

Is a born-in brought up in a JW home like being a child inmate being raised in prison?

by Still Totally ADD in

i bring up this subject because of all the restrictions children have to endure in the jw cult.

they are made prisoners of mind and body.

being forced to do things that are not natural for children to do.

Rainbow_Troll

False analogy. Prisons have extensive libraries, vocational training programs and conjugal visits. Convicted felons have more freedom, more civil rights in this country than children and adolescents. But, of course, it's "for their own good" and parents have a right to raise (brainwash) their kids as they see fit.

40

Is there truth in religion

by bola in

i am asking this questions due to the teachings, beliefs and practices of different religions..

Rainbow_Troll

If the fundamental premise behind religion is wrong, how could any of them contain a shred of truth? All religions (excluding non-theist ones) are founded on error. If I had concerned myself with the question of God's existence, rather than His nature, I could have saved myself a decade of fruitless research.

The only 'religious' people who ever spoke sensibly about God were ones who lacked the courage (or were too prudent) to replace the word 'God' with 'Truth' or 'Cosmic Law'. But in doing this they only confused the issue and misled people, while giving theism credibility it does not deserve.

12

Ritualistic behaviour within the JW faith

by stuckinarut2 in

i was thinking about how the society criticises other faiths such as catholics because of their ritualistic procedures.. but couldn't it be said that witnesses have their own deeply ritualistic behaviours?.

think about the prayers said at meetings.

they all have to follow the same basic style and theme, and include the same basic content.. what about the ritualistic procedures of the memorial, and the passing of emblems - even to the servers and speaker (although they actually handle them more than everyone, they do their own special act of passing them to each other).

Rainbow_Troll

Chanting: "Get out of here Satan, in Jesus' name!" Whenever a JW hears an unexplained sound or the electricity shorts out.

15

Baptized at a young age, homeschooled, and pioneered ...

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

and all of this by the time i was 14. i was the youngest person in my pioneer school.

was anybody else in the trenches (to this degree) at such a young age?.

i look back on it now and marvel at how isolated i was.

Rainbow_Troll

I knew a girl who was home schooled entirely and was never allowed to interact with anyone who wasn't a JW (there were no kids on her neighborhood anyways). Her parent's strategy worked without a hitch: she's a happily brainwashed JW to this day!

44

2017 Convention Video Remember The Wife Of Lot

by pale.emperor in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0qpoelk2r4.

the dad in this is a total douche.

i dont know if the videos have become more judgemental and culty in the year since i left - or maybe im just noticing it more?.

Rainbow_Troll

There was a time when I would have been happy to waste 90 minutes of my life on this trash just to amuse myself; but thankfully I have better things to do.

4

Uniting Church apologizes to victims . Jw.org does not.

by TTaTT4U in

.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-10/uniting-church-in-australia-apologises-to-victims/8344496.

Rainbow_Troll

I'm glad. The more brazen their lack of remorse, the guiltier they appear in the eyes of most people, perhaps even some JWs. This puts them a step above the Roman Catholic Church; at least in my opinion.

31

Have Jehovah's Witnesses Become Boring?

by David_Jay in

okay, that new video about 1975 has got people talking, and yes, the child abuse cases will always require us to remain vigilant...but after my having left in the late 1980s/early 1990s, it seems all the real "exciting" stuff is gone.

when i left the witnesses were still preaching that the "generation that was old enough to understand the events of 1914" will not pass away before armageddon comes.

no blood cards were our badges (not that stupid jw logo) and that card meant what it said, "no blood"!

Rainbow_Troll

Another way to post the original question is, Why are the JWs Going Backwards?

I wish I had a thoughtful answer for you, but the truth of the matter seems quite obvious and simple: JWs are going backwards because cults do not want smart, educated people in their ranks. To compare Jehovah's Witnesses with Jews (especially Jews), Catholics and Protestants is an apple 'n oranges fallacy. JWs simply are not a religion in the same sense that these are. Religions are communities of people who hold a common faith. It's not just about dogma, but about tradition, liturgy... so many things that the JWs lack. The Watchtower is a publishing/real estate company with a religious front to avoid taxes. Perhaps I am showing my youth, but I cannot remember JWs being anything more than this. If they have dumbed down the doctrine, it is only to accommodate the intellectual level of their audience

51

Did you ever have a discussion with an apostate that helped your journey out.

by jwfacts in

there seems to be a number of different ways that apostates try to get jehovah's witnesses realise they do not have the truth, ranging from subtle comments to aggressive attacks.

do you have any that looking back helped you finally leave.

some of the methods include:.

Rainbow_Troll

I never spoke with an apostate before leaving, but I did have some interesting discussions with evangelical Christians as a teen; some of whom knew more about the Bible and "Jehovah's Organization" than I did.

I remember one day a guy with a KJ Bible accosted me on my way out of the market and asked point blank if I was a Christian. It would have been so simple to just answer in the affirmative, but, troll that I was even at that tender age, I instead said I was a JW. I still remember the expression on his face. Next he asked me who I thought Jesus was. I replied that he's Jehovah's son. Then he breaks out his Bible...

Midway through his sermon my mom comes along: "What are you doing with my son?!" She exclaims as if she caught us both with our pants down; though of course she had seen his Bible and knew the answer to that. While they start debating over the trinity, I stand by and enjoy the show. I don't think my mom was prepared for this guy. She was expecting John 1:1, but the evangelical had a few more scriptures up his sleeve.

Eventually, my mom retreated into her car and urged me to get in the other side. "You people will say anything to deny Christ!" the guy yelled as my mom rolled up the window and started the engine. I don't think she could have been more anxious to leave if our new friend had been wielding a chainsaw instead of a Bible.

24

Uninvited...again...

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

so a week or so ago we received an invitation for a jw friend's wedding anniversary party in the mail.it was addressed to 'the andersen family' (and not just mrs. andersen & baby andersen) which was pleasant of course, but not a huge surprise given the type of person who said friend is.. however, i already prepared myself to be uninvited after all.

some time ago, there was a congregation farewell party/get-together.to my surprise, i was invited too!

an elder specifically came over to my house to tell me.then some weeks later, he visited again, being terribly sorry but the invitation was revoked as the congregation got concerned over my possible presence.. with that debacle in mind, i wasn't surprised to receive a message from my friend 'hey are you at home?

Rainbow_Troll

I actually wish they had been so explicit with me.

Shortly after I parted ways with the bOrg, both me and my mom were invited to a wedding. I didn't want to go. I knew my friends would be there. I knew it would be as awkward as a junior prom without spiked punch. But I didn't want to offend the bride and groom, so I went.

It was pretty smooth for a while. I had my corner of the building (it was a big place) and my erstwhile friends had theirs. The only problem was that there was only one set of restrooms and they were down a narrow corridor. I only went to the bathroom once, so it was either deliberate or one hell of a coincidence... But when I walked out of the bathroom, she was just there staring at me; looked as if she was going to cry any moment. But before that happened, she turned around and went her way. I think that is the last time I saw my friend in person.

I've hated weddings ever since.

Rainbow_Troll

Posts by Rainbow_Troll