Posts by scratchme1010

52

JW Convention 2017

by Disassociated Lady 2 in

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What has been your own personal experience of shunning?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i am interested in finding out on a small scale the extent of which shunning has impacted on you personally.. my own experience is that when i faded about 12 years ago.

the woman whose house the book study was held at (and who was virtually a neighbour) walked right past me in my own street.

i remember it so well.

scratchme1010

@UnshackleTheChains

I felt your pain in every word you typed. That is just so sad.

Thank you, but I don't think that I am in pain. I have my personal preference on how things should have turned out in relationship with my JW family, but if you look at the things in my life that I have and have accomplished, pain isn't exactly what comes to mind. I have a good fulfilling life.

Most importantly I have my family of choice. I am not alone, never have been. Furthermore, when I look at what/who/how they are, I'm more thankful I broke away from them than sorry. Plus, please don't make the assumption that because they are the JWs, they are the only ones in the position to shun. I chose not to have them in my life. I shunned them.

In fact, it's interesting to see how many JWs love, love, love to shun and hear how much people are sad and in pain for it, but hate, hate, hate when the people they shun agree with being shunned, don't want the JWs in their lives and are happier for it. That's not supposed to happen according to the JW crap they are taught.

11

Which Religions Forbid Outside Research?

by AnonVet in

my definition of a cult is just this:if you are not allowed to research outside of your religion's published sources, you are in a cult.what other religions (cults) are there that absolutely forbid outside research on threat of punishment / shunning?

scratchme1010

Just about all religions frown on critical research from a outsiders perspective, why ?

There's a difference between wanting to convince people that their interpretation of the bible (for example) is the right and correct one, and punishing, shaming, even killing people for looking for information or even questioning the veracity of their claims.

Yes, religions of all kinds believe that they are right in everything they say. No one in their right mind ig going to make a claim and say "by the way, I'm wrong".

What makes it a high demand, controlling, cultic situation is the way people who question or do independent outside research are treated. Depending on the severity of the cult, the "consequences" of their research can be from laughing at them to getting killed.

The Amish (I think).

I agree. Some of those communities can be very restrictive, demanding and controlling.

11

How clean is Heaven?

by pleaseresearch in

so when i think of the word heaven.

i see angels, clouds and harp players.

but in reality when we think about it, for thousands of years it's been occupied by the devil himself and his demons.

scratchme1010

But he can occupy the same space as demons. Hmmm.

He's supposed to be the creator of everything, including dirt and demons, and us.

BTW, if you start looking at the behavior of the bible's god you're going to end up looking at Roger from Jerrican Dad.

24

We deserve to die

by elfgoblin in

at the meeting today, we were reading the watchtower and this elder apologetically said to such a degree in regards to romans 5:12 that "we humans are not worthy of any mercy from jehovah.

we shouldn't even have free will because we can't possibly do anything good enough to please jehovah.

we don't even deserve life because of sin.

scratchme1010

Even when me and my friend were in, we never felt that humans were just so bad that they deserved to be treated like slaves but we did believe that mankind should follow God's law. It is so daunting to think that some witnesses feel that way and that means they must have an incredible inferiority complex on behalf of this religion and I believe this can be dangerous but I'm not sure why.

That's the core of every christian religion. We are supposed to be born in sin and therefore we do not deserve to live. Our mere existence according to them is deserving of dying.

It is disgusting.

19

I am giving everyone on the board...

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

a new commadment to the posting guidelines.

we must love one another.. if i read the posting guidelines and saw the lurking presence of that new commadment " we must love one another" i would feel very uneasy about registering.

it sounds more like a threat than an expression of love.

scratchme1010

Strangely as a witness they talk about loving each other, and possibly because they interpret it as a COMMANDMENT, they can disfellowship so easily, and think it a loving arrangement.

They are conditioned to be told everything, what to say, how/what to think, what to do. Not surprisingly, they have to be told how to love. The commandment part sounds like an arranged marriage.

32

Scientology Superbowl Ad

by azor in

jw
friends

simply disgusted with that double standard by our system at times.

cutting ads that question trumps bigoted wall, yet allowing a cult ad in.

wtf..

scratchme1010

However, people are talking more about the cut ad than Scientology. There's not such thing as bad publicity.

236

84 Lumber Commercial

by azor in

jw
friends

just saw this commercial and was very impressed.

hoping more companies start doing the same.

most of us are immigrants.

scratchme1010

Just saw the commercial. Well made. Thanks for sharing.

35

"would you drink a glass of water if it had just a tiny bit of poison in it?"

by stuckinarut2 in

no doubt we have all heard that well used "illustration" in public talks etc over the years:.

"if you were handed a glass of water that looked pure, but were told it has just a tiny drop of poison in it, would you drink it?".

the society has used that illustration at length to say we should avoid all influences of every part of the world.. but, as we know, the society has had a track record of errors, false ideas and doctrines.

scratchme1010

SO, even though they may appear like "a pure glass of water", shouldn't we avoid them because of the "one tiny drop of poison" they contain??

The WT does NOT contain a tiny drop of poison. They are poison. All of it.

OK, now that i got that out of my system, I'd like to add that such analogy is just one of the many examples of their simplistic, black and white way of thinking and teaching. The entire thing doesn't make sense at all. In fact, that analogy is quite faulty when you look at how much "in the world" the WT as an entity is. Just look at their real estate.

45

What has been your own personal experience of shunning?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i am interested in finding out on a small scale the extent of which shunning has impacted on you personally.. my own experience is that when i faded about 12 years ago.

the woman whose house the book study was held at (and who was virtually a neighbour) walked right past me in my own street.

i remember it so well.

scratchme1010

So what's your experience?

My family missed:

My marriage
My failed relationships
My successful relationships
Helping me when going to college
My in-laws
My career path
My travels
My creative projects
When i was given an award
Being there for me
Having me being there for them
My home
My hospitality
My cooking
My birthdays
My Christmas
My Graduations
My promotions
My husband
My successes
My failures
My illnesses
My health
Pretty much my entire life.