Posts by Conanthebeliever

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Alive!-that is true, I don't need to class myself as anything, I guess I just wanted to know where I fall really.

I understand having my own mind though and learning myself, will allow me to understand where I fall myself :).

I was sad too, especially when he defended a convicted child molester as "Naive, who just liked stroking children on his lap"-this made huge alarm bells ring for me.

I have not seen the live ARC videos, I think I will have to watch them-I never realised they dodged questions during it, but I can now definitely imagine it.

Yes, it went exactly as I was told it would, I would get told it was apostate material, they would not become so nice, and even when shown evidence deny it-that is dangerous.

And I am so glad, and thankful this site exists. If it wasn't for here, I would still be under the illusion that JW's are perfect.

And Witness my fury, I completely agree-now I have actually seen it for myself, I know in my mind 100% I have not been lied to on here, what I have been told is true, as it all panned out as I was told it likely would, even down to what they would say.

I have PM'ed you, I hope you don't mind, regarding a reading list.

Thank you all, and I hope you are all OK today, Conan.

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Thank you all for your kind replies.

OK, I guess I fit a Christian then, just not a fundamentalist.

Giordana, I also do not think it is good to study with him, even trying to show him the Pinata's now are acceptable as 'times change', on the JW.orgs very own online library, was not true to him-it was fake.

I did tell him about the peadophile issue in Australia, to be told how do I know it was 1000, the Jehovah's witnesses must of come forward about it, when explained that in fact, not one did, was when he pretty much saw red.

Yes, my Mum said to me "I could imagine he could get quite violent"-I had never seen him like that before, and was when I realised how far gone they are.

He was born into it, so I guess the brainwashing started at a young age. They also told me that shunning is not true, you can still speak to disfellowshipped family members, just not about spiritual matters. I knew this to be untrue. I genuinely believe he believes that though, as he speaks to his sisters, who were baptized witnesses and left the faith-but talks about how bad they are. I, and my mum, thought are they actually bad-or is it because they are not JW's.

And thank you Slidin fast, I am so glad I found this site. I really think you saved me by helping me with research, from going down a road I really do not want to go down-I could never shun people I know, especially if I did not know what they had done. Fair enough if they killed my family or something, that would be quite different though than a often trivial matter that results in a life of torment for individuals.

I realise that if I went down that route, I would also in a few years be as non thinking as my 'friend' is.

I have a feeling he won't contact me anymore if I am honest, apart from dropping off some material every now and then. I just got the vibe, but I was glad we ended on fairly good terms.

Finkelstiein-that is very true. I will never really know what really happened 2000 years ago-that I have to decide for myself, after all, history is written by the winners-we know what we get told, a lot of information can be omitted or changed. I guess I will have a long road ahead of me, but one that I enjoy, without JW influence.

Thank you all, for literally saving my future. You opened my eyes bigtime, and I can never repay that.

All the best, Conan.

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Hi Fayedunnaway and LisaRose.

It did hurt a little if I am honest, but they did not seem to care too much for my feelings, at the end though it was OK.

I was shocked that even the real JW website, with the evidence I showed them, to be told "That is not real, it never happened, or that is a fake website".

Someone said to me that a member of a congregation said to them "This book is red, but if the governing body told me it was blue I would believe them".

I thought this was a show of how brainwashed they are, and more metaphorical, but I now understand they meant it exactly like they said-and Lisa, I could not believe how brainwashed they are, it was quite scary.

Me and My Mum feel happy that they have their faith, but also a sorrow for them that they are that brainwashed.

You never know, maybe they will come round, but I doubt it. My friend was pointing his finger when he was quite angry saying " I can't make you believe, but if you want to believe the apostate lies I can't stop you".

I also stated about blood transfusions, that it applied to animals under old law, and eating blood is different to having it injected-as they used would injecting an alcoholic with alcohol be any different to him drinking it?

A lot of things were said that were not even relevant to what I was saying, and I was told that "I will soon see the truth when it ends"-I said but JW's have said the end has been coming since 1914. Their reply? "That just means the end is closer, it will happen in our lifetime, I 100% believe that".

I explained I respect your beliefs, but feel my relationship with god should be more personal, and less controlled by the watchtower, which they was OK with.

I really did not realise it would be like that when I went there, it was the first time my Mum had gone with me, but I am glad she did.

At the end, I was told I was always welcome to come back to them if I change my mind, and that they are still my friends, I am not so sure after the way it went, but I think it might of just been in the heat of the moment. I stayed calm throughout, as I did not want to put any stress on my friends mother, due to the chemotherapy.

It is actually quite scary, I know now it is 100% a cult, and I feel something-I feel free.

Also, I asked if they could prove what I said wrong, they said yes, and Elder can talk to me and prove me wrong. At this point, I knew how deep into it they were, as I know that the Elders would of just repeated what I was being told, it is lies, don't believe it, and offer no real proof at all.

After this-I still believe in a god, I still believe a Man called Jesus Christ died for our sins. I am not sure it went exactly as the bible states it does, so I do not know what that makes me. As if I think it may of went slightly differently to the bible, I guess I am not Christian-maybe I am classed as agnostic?

I only ask this, as after 7 months of classing myself as a JW, I don't know what to class myself as now.

Thank you all, and I wish you all the best, Conan.

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Well, I went to my friends house with my Mum, as at the study it is always my friend and his mum-I bought up the subject of things I have found on JW.org, and was told that it was not from the real JW.ORG and is apostate material-it was the real JW.org. It was real watchtowers I was using.

He got quite aggressive, at one point he screwed up my paper and threw it at me-this shocked me a bit, my mum was glad she was there as she was worried it would of escalated if she was not there.

I explained about the 1000 child abuse cases in Australia, and was told "How do you know that-the JW's must of reported it"-I said no, the victims did. They told me it was apostate propaganda, and then a story of a friend who got sentenced for child sex crimes, they said he was Naive, and used to have children sit on his lap, and stroke them-innocently.

At this point, lots had been said and me and my mum had hardly said anything, we was a bit baffled as they was talking about things that had absolutely no relevance to my questions.

At the end, I said I still want to be your friend, and I hope I have not hurt you. By then he had calmed down, and said of course I do, and gave me a hug, I told him and his Mum I will always be there if they need me, and they said the same for me.

My Mum gave his mother a necklace, and I gave her a card wishing her to get better soon as she is undergoing chemotherapy.

A slightly different outcome to what I expected, the are far more brainwashed than I even realised.

They also lied to me about shunning, as I had read the watchtower about it, even family members not saying a "hello" too-they said that is lies, I am not looking at the real jw.org.

I know I was, but he would not even read the link, my Mum asked him is that because you are scared of what you will see? He said no, it is because he knows it is not real-even though it was on JW.ORG-the real one. He said it was fake as I had wrote down the links, he said the real JW.Org does not have this-I explained to him the slashes and how links work.

Still, I was told it was apostate material.

Not the best outcome, but I saw what they was like to me, unbaptized and telling them it is not for me-I feel deeply for people on here who are trapped in the organization, and I really, really hope if you want out there is a way you can.

They did exactly what I was told they would do, tell me it is apostate, not be so nice, and even at the end he asked me "Do you mind if I keep you on my list to drop books too?"-I understand this is for his report, so I said I don't mind.

Thanks to everyone that helped me during this time. I hope you are all OK, Conan.

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Hi the listener, I hope you are OK.

I have got a lot of good advice from here indeed, people here are very helpful.

You mention an Non-denominational church, sorry to be naive but what exactly is that? I do have lots of local churches I can choose from, I will likely go to the one my Nans funeral was at-I know the pastor/vicar, and he is a nice man, and I have spoken to him in the past and he seems very level headed.

That sounds good, using any information available, I think that will be the most helpful for myself, to learn.

Thank you, and all the best, Conan.

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well today and feeling well.

JWdaughter, that may be an idea actually. A straight up study of Jesus, I will tell the truth, I feel it is very important to learn about Jesus, and would like to study this.

The only thing I feel bad about, is potentially using their time, when I know I won't be getting baptised? I feel I am misleading my friend if I do that. I will have to be honest, and say it is unlikely I will get baptised, but I would like to be friends and learn more from the bible.

Anon2-Thank you. I mean that. You are very kind. I did not realise my attitude was something everyone could learn from, that is a very nice thing to say.

I wish you all the happiness possible in life, and everything you do too, and I will definitely keep you, and everyone else updated. :).

Outsiderlooking in-It was a bit of a shock if I am honest, I joined here only 3 days ago to find other witnesses to talk too, but I did have doubts at the back of my mind. After reading JWfacts, and many stories, I feel a bit numb.

I think one of the worst I read was of a woman, who was regularly beaten by her husband. She reported this to elders, to be told it is because she is a "Bad wife.

Eventually, her husband was trying to turn her kids against her, and a neighbour luckily heard her getting beaten badly one night, and quietly gave her a number for help.

She ended up in a women's refuge, with her children, but that was not the end, far from it.

Her children were kidnapped, and hidden by people who were once her friends. The police luckily were aware, and helped her get her children back.

The worst part of it all? After all the torture and torment she went through, people talking about her, supporting her husband, Etc, her husband got off scot free, whilst she got disfellowshipped.

If I am honest, this is one of the stories that hit me hard. To have people you once thought as friends to turn against you, and even hide your children from you, the only people you have left in the world, made me feel just wrong. I don't know what word I can use to describe it, it was a very strange feeling-not exactly cold shivers, just a strange feeling in my stomach and back, as well as my thoughts for the woman who had been through all of that, to lose everything.

OK, I think I am understanding this, so it means god in three persons. Jesus and Jehovah/God ARE two different entities, but because of their qualities, they are so close that they are basically one and the same? I understand the third part of the trinity to be the holy spirit, I do not fully understand that if I am honest, but I am sure I will the more I read.

Yes, Jesus did go through many struggles, and the main one of all was for all humanity. I think this is extremely kind, as he could of said "leave them, why should we save them", but he didn't. This shows me love on a very high level, knowing he would die, go through torture, and the horrors he would experience for US.

I understand that the word Kryious/Kurious (Sorry my spelling may be off there), I was reading that in the greek scriptures/new testament, there is actually no mention of Jehovah, he is referred to as lord, the father, E'Li, and a few other names-but JW's added in the word Jehovah, and this detracts from the importance of Jesus and what he did for us all.

They use a translation of Matthew, that was written in Hebrew, known as the "J" texts, each numbered. The thing is, around the time of Christ and early Christianity, Jehovah seemed to be a word no longer used, so I do not understand why they would use a translation written in hebrew, when there is many more accurate translations, that refer to Jehovah god under different names.

Thank you all for your help, advice, and kindness.

All the best, Conan.

7

MAYBE GOD DID MAKE "Adam and Steve" after all!

by Terry in

here is the box containing what we think we know:.

let’s think outside the box.

god is invisible but he made man in his “image.” what does an invisible image look like?.

Conanthebeliever

This is actual real food for thought, I like this.

You are correct, it would be a clone of Adam, if it was XX chromosomes to make a female, that would basically be the literal version of Adam, but female-even closer than brother and sister.

I have also heard the "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" quite a lot, and I am in the UK!

I have only been here for 2 days, but I like it here. It is a lot different to what I imagined.

Lots of thought provoking topics.

All the best, Conan.

11

The reward of being a nice guy!

by StephaneLaliberte in

today, an old jw friend came to visit a member of my family who is still active.

i saw them leave together to run errands.

when they left, she didn't say hi and barely looked at me.. after taking care of my cores around the house, i noticed that the sister had forgot to turn off the head lights of her car.

Conanthebeliever

I like this.

You helped her out, even after all the years of being blanked, and after helping, she was actually talking to you, being kind.

This proves you are a kind person, and I think that might of shocked her a little, she probably expected you to be some crazy lunatic, as JW's are taught of apostates.

All the best, Conan.

52

Is the WT’s Paradise Earth doctrine a delusion?

by deegee in

the wt’s teaching that humans will live forever on a paradise earth will necessitate that given that there will be no more death, then immortal humans will have to be relocated to other planets in order to prevent the earth from becoming overpopulated.. so how many habitable, earth-like planets are there?more and more habitable, earth-like planets would have to become available on a continuous, never-ending basis ad infinitum as mankind’s population grows given that there will be no more death.. the longevity/sustainability of life on these planets will be limited by the fact that the sun serving these planets will eventually die:https://shar.es/1cko6n.

http://www.space.com/22437-main-sequence-stars.html#sthash.ejbt1xrz.dpuf.

so immortal humans will have to keep moving from planet to planet.

Conanthebeliever

I am pretty new here, and I only know what I have been taught at my studies, so this is what I feel if it is indeed an earthly paradise that will occur.

Not everyone is going to be righteous, or good at heart. We only have to look at the world to see that many, many people do not care for others, but themselves, and themselves alone.

Now-I DO NOT know if these people will be good people, without influence of evil. If they are bad, they would cease to exist as I understand?

So, maybe the world will be big enough, just not enough people will actually make it in the afterlife?

Remember, I am pretty new, so I may be completely wrong, and everyone will be saved. If this is true-then, there definitely will be an overpopulation issue. I am not sure how that would pan out if I am honest, but I believe with God, anything is possible-maybe a lot more land mass would be available, or maybe even the earth would appear bigger?

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

Conanthebeliever

Hello everyone. Thank you all for your kind comments.

My brain damage is NOT terrible, I just get confused very easily, and my emotions have been affected. My rational thinking is pretty much still there, as far as I know. You would not know I was brain damaged if I am honest-I was very lucky in the outcome compared to what I could of been like.

Fayedunaway, I am glad to hear that God and Christ are two different individuals (I can't think of a better word, I apologize there). It makes much more sense to me they are different, but very similar, I understand the verse "whoever has seen me has seen the father" means that is due to his qualities-or is this another JW teaching, and it literally means if you was to see the father, he would be the same image of Christ?

And I think I will be sticking around, I quite like it here, everyone is friendly, and giving me lots of information. I am sure I will have questions regarding the bible in the future, and I would love to talk to people here about it.

Anon2, luckily my damage is not as severe as it could've been, it is there but you would not know it. I am very lucky in that respect.

I feel deeply for your friend, she has enough on her plate already, then thought she made a friend, only for this 'friend' to drop her when a overseer had told them not to bother with her anymore.

To me, that is in no way, shape or form a friend.

I am just glad she has you, you seem a true friend to her. I understand it must be awful seeing her upset over her other 'friend' who just dropped her like that though.

Thanks for the heads up, I know it is likely I will lose my friend, but I guess in this case it may be necessary if I do not want an awful life.

Smiddy, thank you, like I say i believe someone was definitely on my side when it occurred on the 23rd April, 2014.

I definitely am not getting baptized, I am trying to find a way to end my study, but in the kindest way possible really.

And you are correct. Everyone who is religious thinks that they have the truth, I guess this is the thing about religion.

And thank you-that actually does make sense-I do not want to do anything inherently wrong, and would like to keep the friendship, but if I do just get dropped, I guess it shows a lot about my friend.

Australia yeah? Where I come from, people in the USA always mistake us for Australians lol. It is our accents-kind of Cockney.

All the best to you all, and speak soon, Conan.