they say it will be out any day soon.
do you think the report will do major damage to trump?.
Attorney General William Barr wrote in the letter he submitted to Congress sharing his summary of the main conclusions from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation:
"The Special Counsel states that 'while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.'"
As any good scientist knows, absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.
i guess less people are commenting now.
last week's whole wt study was dedicating to the issue of commenting.
people were literally making comments about how to comment, it was very meta (not that most there would get that), anyway the main reason that wt gave to explain away people's lack of commenting?
Ugh, I’m so glad I’m not part of that mind-numbing bs anymore.
Since I quit going to meetings I’ve had enough free time to get a real education: a B.A in Music Education and a Ma.Ed. in Education Curriculum and Instruction. I am a high school teacher and have the pleasure every single day of teaching young minds to think, really think.
And they get to ask their own questions, all they want!
hey all,.
so i have recently seen quite a few jws that were former friends in our community.
i am always polite and say hello - although most will not acknowledge me.
I always try to be friendly to still-in JWs when I get the chance, which isn't often.
If asked, I say my life is great never better! (If appropriate, I may mention the one exception is that lack of a meaninful relationship with family that chooses to avoid me, but hey: that's on them, not me.)
Living well is the best revenge! Plus, it makes them jealous.
so in sociology we divide organizations up into three categories or types, you got utilitarian, voluntary, and coercive.
utilitarian means people join to accomplish some purpose like selling food or making furniture, voluntary means they join up just for fun or to hang out with people like the freemasons or a lot of churches, and coercive means they don't really want to be there but they gotta because someone will punish them if they leave, so labor camps, armies, or prisons.. in a paper i wrote for a class a while back i argued that jehovah's witnesses should be seen as a coercive organization.
yeah, people join up and they do leave, nobody beats you up if you stop attending or preaching, nobody imprisons you, shoots your dog, kills your kids that kind of thing, and nobody makes you join up either.
From one jp to another, interesting OP. Thanks!
You overlooked the highly coercive effects of shunning or even the threat of it.
As I know you well know, this keeps many a PIMO JW attending meetings just to avoid losing their families; and many of us that leave do so at the cost of broken and lost relationships.
Because of our deep need to belong, the threat or reality of losing our families is a highly coercive and manipulative tactic used by many cults and other high-control groups, JWs being just one.
No, they don't shoot your dog, but the destroy families. Something which in my opinion is far, far worse.
jp1692
question: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
Finkelstein,
Yes, I am aware of the changes in WT practices and the reasons behind them. But thank you for sharing for those among us that don't have your 40 years of perspective!
jp
question: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
FYI: I am not disfellowshipped. I quit going to meetings a little over five years ago.
The last meeting I attended was the one in January 2014 when the infamous “Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes” WT was studied:
At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. ... Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking. The elders must stand ready to help any who may now be wavering in their faith. – WT, November 15, 2013, paragraph 17
That was it. I was done drinking the Kool-Aid.
question: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
It was nice to wake up this morning and see all the different responses to my late-night (for me) post.
Thank you!
It is interesting—although not particularly surprising—to see how varied your differing responses are. And even though some of the advice offered conflicts with that suggested by others, there is certainly some value and merit in everything that all of you have written. There really is no “right answer.”
This well illustrates the reality of just how difficult it is to deal with the damage done and the broken relationships caused by this cult, it’s policies and practices.
You’ve all given me much to think about.
Again, thanks!
jp
question: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
QUESTION: Have any of you that are now exJWs had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
If so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
I’m asking for myself. It’s been almost ten years since I left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts I make to reconcile.
In the last decade I’ve done everything I can think of to maintain a relationship with them, but all to no avail. I know that I can’t understand how my leaving feels from their perspective no matter how much it try.
I am trying to understand how they feel and see if there is something I’m missing that could possibly make a difference.
Thanks in advance for your help!
after seeing the atrocity in new zealand, do you think white nationalism is a major issue affecting you or where you live?.
somebody already called out chelseaclinton, blaming her for the attack!
.
Absolutely, as are any and all extremist views and ideologies—whether political, religious, social or ethnic.
One has only to look objectively at the results of extremist views of ANY type to see that they should be condemned. All of them.
I’m good. Thanks for asking. You?
