Posts by Scully

17

I Just Knew This Was the Truth as Soon as I Heard It !

by bigmouth in

i can't count the number of witnesses i've heard, or experiences i've read, who say this.. this is the basis on which they decide to join a high control religion ?.

do you make important decisions based on gut feeling or intuition or do you spend time researching a matter first ?

i've made some dumb decisions based on emotion and had to repent at my leisure.. actually, i was thinking about the mother with a missing child who just knows she's alive somewhere and is coming home.

Scully

yes, I've heard that too.

Usually, it means, when translated: I couldn't understand what the fark they were saying, but they were reading from the Bible so it must be true!

24

Buttons, are they necessarily dangerous?

by White Dove in

or do they have some kind of benefit to us, such as self-preservation?.

i learned that i had another button to add to the two i already had.. my buttons are:.

questioning in a judgmental way my parenting methods.

Scully

I don't know if "dangerous" is how I'd describe my 'buttons'.

Having teenagers has seen me through some difficult moments with kids pushing my buttons. Having been a JW also implanted some really stupid buttons in my psyche - like an unreasonable aversion/sensitivity to tobacco use by other people. It's an ongoing process.

The other day, a coworker delegated me to do something to help her. The thing is, I had stuff to do that conflicted with her needs at the time. Still, I tried to accommodate her request. The next thing I know, she's bitching me out (in front of a patient, no less) because, according to her, I was doing something that wasn't a priority. So I'm thinking, why the hell did I bother helping her? Rather than respond to her button-pushing in kind, I told her "Let's not discuss this in front of a patient." It shut her down because she was the one who was behaving unprofessionally at that point. I was fuming inside though, and for the remainder of the shift she was giving me the cold shoulder and dirty looks. I don't do well around people who behave in a passive-aggressive way like that, asking for my help and then biting my head off when I do as they ask. I don't work with this coworker again until next week, but I'm already aware that she likes to hang on to grudges, so it should be interesting.

The thing is, when people are knowingly pushing your buttons, or trying to get a rise out of you, it's a psychological game for them. They want that instant reaction, because it justifies the way they've been treating you, or demeaning you.

When I find myself getting annoyed with someone I try to keep my thoughts to myself, rather than blurt out something regrettable in the heat of the moment. It's taken lots of practice, but I'm getting better at it.

63

{Sigh}, I could use a hug...

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

jw
friends

my first two exams were this week.

things didn't go well.

the classes are tough -- math and science.

Scully

Give yourself some time to settle in.

The first couple of months of nursing school was hellish for me, because there were abstract concepts that I wasn't used to (the initial steps of critical thinking) and nothing seemed to make sense. I must have read that damned nursing theory text 10 times before it sunk in, but when it did it was one of those exhilirating a-ha moments that made everything else fall into place.

And, yes, your instinct to avoid people whose goal is to discourage you in your pursuits is spot on. BTW, who says you have to tell your mom that things aren't going well at the moment?? Ever heard of this thing called Theocratic War Strategy™, where "it is not necessary to divulge truthful information to those who are not entitled to it"?? You know those folks whose goal is to make you quit school - they aren't entitled to know that you're finding it tough right now because they will use that information to their advantage (and your disadvantage). So you tell them that you've got a lot on your plate - which is true; you tell them that there's a lot of challenging readings and studying - which is true; you tell them that your teachers and classmates are supportive - your teacher seems to be, at least. But whatever you do, you don't ever tell them that you feel like you're in over your head, because they will beat you black-and-blue with the stick of self-defeat. That's what they want, don't give them the satisfaction.

We're here for you Billy. Really. A lot of us totally get what it's like right now. Just know that it does get better, and that there is an end to each course, each semester and eventually, the program. If you realize after a semester that you need to go in a different direction, that's okay too. That's what school is about - to learn about what you are suited to, and hopefully to find something that inspires you.

Keep your chin up, my friend.

78

My Sister Died This Morning After Refusing Blood On Four Occasions.

by still wondering in

Scully

Interesting your reference to Molech.

I've often made reference to the passages in Jeremiah where the nation of Israel was chastised for offering up their children as burnt offerings to Ba'al or Molech - the passages where Jehovah says that it was "a thing that I did not command and that did not come up into my heart."

"And you must say, 'Hear the word of Jehovah, O you kings of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said: "Here I am bringing a calamity upon this place, of which when anyone hears, his ears will tingle; for the reason that they have left me and have proceeded to make sacrificial smoke in it to other gods whom they had not known, they and their forefathers and the kings of Judah; and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent ones. And they built the high places of the Ba'al in order to burn their sons in the fire as whole burnt offerings to the Ba'al, something that I had not commanded or spoken of, and that had not come up into my heart."'" - Jeremiah 19:3-5.

If human sacrifice was something abhorrent to god back then (well, maybe it wasn't, considering Jephthah's daughter...) how can it be acceptable now?

78

My Sister Died This Morning After Refusing Blood On Four Occasions.

by still wondering in

Scully

So sorry.

PS try using firefox or chrome if you're trying to post with IE new version

16

References: what did the elders say about you to your other half during courtship?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

when you announced your intention to marry, what did the elders say to your future bride/groom?.

in a long distance courtship, did you have any trouble getting a good "spiritual" reference?.

an elder in my hall told the elders in my wife's hall that i was a low hour publisher.. .

Scully

They didn't say anything about Mr Scully to me, and they couldn't say anything based in fact about me because I had just moved there from 1000 miles away.

40

It's official, the internet IS the Watchtower's nemesis!

by cedars in

i have been inspired recently by some of the comments on this forum regarding the society having reached a "tipping point".

it's been observed that, despite the overwhelming weight of evidence that the society is nothing more than a damaging cult, the number of witnesses continues to increase, albeit gradually.

the latest figures i have available are those in the 2011 yearbook, showing a global 2.5% increase between 2009 and 2010.. as we all know, the internet is steadily rising in accessibility (or "penetration") around the world, and it provides a wonderful resource for those who are curious about joining the faith, helping such ones to quickly identify precisely how warped the teachings of the watch tower society really are.

Scully

I'm LMAO that the WTS actually used the term "junkie" in its Literature™.

Man, they're really reaching - trying to get JWs to believe that any internet use is going to turn you into an addict.

25

Watchtower Hate Speech and Intimidation Might be a Violation of US Federal Law

by DT in

jw
friends

the united states is more lenient than most countries when it comes to hate speech and allowing organised religions to have their way, even when they hurt others.

however, there are limits.

i found a federal law that seems strangely relevant to recent watchtower articles that labels former members as "mentally diseased" and discuss the "slaughter of apostates".

Scully

If this hateful speech escalates or results in violence or other unlawful or intimidating actions, then it would be easier to make a case that a certain group of people (the governing body) actually conspired to interfere with the basic human rights of its members. This would especially be true if they persist in their actions despite worldwide media coverage and possible prosecutions in other countries. They won't be able to claim that they couldn't have predicted the results of their actions.

I hate to say it, but certain Witness "types" are the prime profile for degrading to violence. It's the one's the have developed a codependent relationship with the Watchtower and it's doctrine. They use the Watchtower like piglets use their mother's teats. As the Watchtower's fantasy degrades down many people will find themselves frightened and completely void of world view.

I've said similar things before, and have been criticized for it too. I honestly feel that for some JWs, it wouldn't take too much of a "suggestion" or "hint" from the WTS for them to switch from Waiting On Jehovah™ to destroy Apostates™ to being happy to do Jehovah's killing on His behalf. They've never retracted this statement from the November 15, 1952 Watchtower:

*** Nov 15, 1952 Watchtower ***

We are not living today among theocratic nations where such members of our fleshly family relationship could be exterminated for apostasy from God and his theocratic organization, as was possible and was ordered in the nation of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai and in the land of Palestine. "Thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him to death with stones, because he hath sought to draw thee away from Jehovah thy God, . . . And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee."-Deut. 13:6-11, AS.

Being limited by the laws of the worldly nation in which we live and also by the laws of God through Jesus Christ, we can take action against apostates only to a certain extent, that is, consistent with both sets of laws. The law of the land and God's law through Christ forbid us to kill apostates, even though they be members of our own flesh-and-blood family relationship.

Translation: The WTS would love for individual JWs to execute God's Judgement™ on Apostates™ who are "members of our own flesh-and-blood family relationship", if it weren't for that pesky "law of the land".

8

So i was talking to my Jdub coworker today...

by shakyground in

jw
friends

he asked me about the place i moved to last year.

i told him it was ok, maintenence are a little slow fixing problems, and there has been crime lately.

i said most of the developments around here are nice and peaceful except one up the road which is considered the hood lol.

Scully

I wonder what he thinks of his fellow JWs who own rifles and shotguns for hunting, and how he justifies that kind of violence against other species that Jehovah Created™.

32

The Watchtower slams the Catholics, why not Islam?

by punkofnice in

given that the wbt$ is always ready to insult the catholics and other religions why don't they slam islam in the same way?.

is it because it's not considered 'christian' or do they know that muslims won't take their insults?.

or do they and i just missed it?.

Scully

They may be fanatics and bat$h!t crazy cult leaders, but they're not stupid. They don't want any planes flying into their pre¢iou$ NY City real estate.