Posts by Lost in the fog

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).

Lost in the fog

Remember the JWs publication "Life Does Have A Purpose"? Their purpose was to knock lots of doors and count hours of time.

Well how did that work out for you?

It's your life so it's your purpose.

Explore the world around you both in travel and in print. Get involved in a charity which strikes a chord with your soul. Be it animal or people or planet earth. You can find fulfilment in the little things you are doing to make this world a better place for the next generation. In this way you do not have to wait for a 1,000 years to pass by to see good results for all your hard work.

Sit down and watch the sun setting. Life's meaning is for you to decide.

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

Lost in the fog

Didn't that whole thing about speakers and white shirts or not, come up in the Watchtower some years ago w89 11/1 30

29

Anxiety, OCD, Hoarding, and the JWs

by Spiral in

i'm noticing what seems to be a higher incidence of the above among the local jws than in the "general" (read: worldly) population.

i don't say this lightly, my wanderings around the fringes of jw society locally is revealing an alarming trend here.

the poverty doesn't help (there are good jobs, but you need a degree or qualifications to get one).. anyone else see this?

Lost in the fog

You have forgotten the most obvious type of OCD, namely scrupulosity. The obsession that you are in some way offending the Almighty. This is very common among the Witnesses.

Here is an OCD article which explains it better than I ever could.

http://damienmarieathope.com/2017/07/religious-ocd-subtype/

41

Avoiding Service Tips?

by Kohanic in

back again!.

so as i'm still pimo and living under my parent's roof, how can i get out of service?

cause i really don't want to go and i feel dirty just knowing i could be influencing someone into this garbage..

Lost in the fog

Tell everyone at the field service group that you are going to do your return visits rather than first call. Add that they are very wary of strangers and you have taken ages to build up a rapport with them, so you need to go back on your own.

Then head to the nearest café or bar in the opposite direction of where the rest are going out on first call.

35

Child abuse

by Jrjw in

i was talking to a jdub yesterday about child abuse in the organisation and this was his response:.

"it has been known for kids to make stuff up.

we have to trust the society on these things, also the legal process is there.

Lost in the fog

Even back in 1986 the Watchtower was acknowledging that child abuse happened within the ranks, but that once discovered such ones were disfellowshipped! Interestingly, elders and ms are listed first, hinting that some of these might have been at fault (abuse of position). Tell him to read his own literature!

16

Is Happiness Without Religion Possible?

by Brian J in

according to the 11/2017 study watchtower.......apparently not.

is it really true that one can be happy without religion?

certainly an individual can be happy without false religion, but a person cannot be truly happy unless he has a relationship with jehovah, who is described as “the happy god.” (1 tim.

Lost in the fog

Are people truly happy in North Korea?

Happiness is indeed a human condition. But within the Org as with North Korea everyone is on tenterhooks in case they step out of line and get slapped.

It is impossible to be truly happy when you are worried that someone of your (supposed) friends might report you for a word spoken out of turn, or a joke with a double meaning you happened to tell.

Christianity is supposed to draw people closer to the Divine Nature, not make them feel afraid, shameful, or guilty 100% of the time.

All Christian religions will be happier doing what the written word of God instructs them to do to follow the path. But once man-made extra conditions come in to control the person, then happiness flies out of the window!

12

the watchtower in the uk

by pepperheart in

the watchtower in the uk are expecting volunters in the uk to travel many 100s of miles for a days work either skilled or unskilled in the new bethel at chelmsford;from edinborough in scotland its almost a 800 mile roundtrip.

Lost in the fog

And the volunteers have to be able to stand up on their feet all day.

Sort of sounds more like a punishment.

:D

13

April 2018 Watchtower

by Listener in

here's a few little gems from the latest watchtower.. 5 many today think that to be truly free, they must be able to do anything and everything they want to do, regardless of the consequences.. this statement is just ridiculous, any normal functioning individual understands the necessity for restrictions, for their own protection and justice as well as for others.

it's a very childish statement with no substantiation and written only to create a perception in jw minds of how worldly people are selfish to the point of being reckless and unrestrained.

they liken adam and eve's sinning which resulted in disaster as being like a pilot not following their designated flight path and make this commenthowever, if the pilot chose to disregard that guidance and fly any route he desired, the result could be disastrous.. this is a very bad analogy because when adam and eve sinned, they had already been forewarned of their disaster to follow.

Lost in the fog

I have often thought of Paul saying to Timothy about drinking wine... for his frequent cases of sickness.

The likelihood is that if Timothy had been ill a lot of the time he would have missed lots of the meetings.

If his stomach problems led to diarrhoea he would not have been able to stand up preaching for any length of time either.

2

Cleaning up the Relics - How much did they use to charge for books, etc.

by days of future passed in

sorry i wrote a novel.. i'm trying to clean up.

of course, once you find a pile of pictures or papers, you start looking through them.. i found a small pile of magazines, mostly from 1987. some kingdom ministries, written reviews and a few 1985 -'86 awakes.

i guess 1986 was the last year the magazines were printed in that pastel range of orange, pink etc.

Lost in the fog

Haha.

Reminded me of a stern District Overseer at a Circuit Assembly doing an item that the literature was "without charge" but this did not mean it was free.

Charities accept donations and so should we, he insisted. Nowadays, the cart witnesses have big big signs over their carts, FREE LITERATURE please help yourselves.

I'm pretty sure that most people dispose of it the same way as the junk mail which comes uninvited through the letter box. Bin!! 😁 😁

4

The Use of Hyperboles.

by Lost in the fog in

i have often wondered if jesus deliberately used hyperboles to obscure his meaning.

i can say to my wife that i will love her until the moon is no more.

she well knows that i will love her forever, not simply until earth's nearest satellite crumbles into dust.

Lost in the fog

I have often wondered if Jesus deliberately used Hyperboles to obscure his meaning.

I can say to my wife that I will love her until the moon is no more. She well knows that I will love her forever, not simply until earth's nearest satellite crumbles into dust.

Jesus said, "and I will be with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things." Did he mean the world would end? Or did he simply mean that he would not be going away from his followers ever?

Likewise the good news is being preached in all the earth, and then the end will come....

Since the number of people in the world keeps on growing the good news will never ever end and it is assumed that neither will the gospel's true message.

If these are hyperboles nobody in their right mind would take them as anything else, except for the Jehovah's who honestly believe that if they keep on preaching the end of the world will come!