i went into my mother's office to leave her a small note to say that we love and miss her and would love to get together.
i found this on her desk.
this is jehovah's witnesses.
I'm so sorry to hear about this. You certainly don't deserve such treatment. Please keep in mind that you are a nice, good, valuable and decent human being, and your mom may be that too, but she's brainwashed by a high control group.
I'm sure that you have other people who love and support you. Make sure to have them with you. Only time will tell who is the one showing the right morals.
Please keep taking care of yourself and children.
in natural calamities, everyone (despite one’s faith) is affected.
when one denies god’s existence, he experiences no punishment from him.
when one worships him, he receives no special favor from him.
In all these religious evolution, God obviously plays no role. This could be interpreted as either proof of His non-existence or His majesty that comes from His policy of non-intervention.
In any type of evolution (no pun intended) God plays no role.
The creation is majestic, by his works you will know him.
Nonsense.
the organization transforms quickly into a multimedia self-help feel good religion.
i am very allergic to it.
can not hide it either.
...self-help feel good religion...
How so? Self-help? Anything that it's for one's self is discouraged in that religion.
How are others involved in this? This must have an impact on some of the witnesses' population?
I'm not. Been away from it for quite some time.. What i know about them is from what I read here. For what I have heard, the changes that they are making are reactive to the way people are and communicate today, and to the fact that there's access to so much information about them as well as ex-JWs who know each other. The changes seem more consequential than anything else.
this has happened to me on 4 occasions.
3 times it was an elder and i simply pretended i didn't know him and avoided eye contact.
the other time was someone of my age that didn't really talk to me of the opposite sex.
i regular pioneered for 2 years and never have actually converted anyone through the door to door work, in fact, i only knew a few individuals that joined this way.
most were born-in or at least had some type of family influence.
i had several bible studies but they all got cold feet when things got serious and potential baptism was discussed.
Looking back the entire experience was just a waste of time and meaningless. A lot of empty homes, coffee breaks and people uninterested in what we had to say.
It's very interesting, that was my experience too. I started preaching by myself when I was a little child, all the way up to when I was 23. Rarely I saw a person who really wanted a revisit for the right reasons.
Now as an adult, and also way more educated in the matter of negative influence and high demand, controlling groups, I know that research shows that most people who fall for groups like the JWs do not pay attention to their message unless it comes from a friend, a coworker or a loved one. Most people in these groups started following another person they know and/or have a degree of trust. It's no surprise that house to house preaching raises awareness at best.
glad it isn't the 1200's...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbtad2c08xu3-25-89 to 9-10-15.. today is my two year shuniversary since they executed me for apostasy..
Congratulations. You don't sound too "executed". You sound pretty much more alive an happier.
since my awakening i have tried to understand why and how people could continue to believe so blindly in a proven false "religious" cult that has such an extensive and detailed record of scandals, lies and cover ups???
i've come to the personal conclusion that there are three major reasons.
i call them the 3 f-ups!
Is this the beginning of the end of the JW corporation? Time will tell...
Doubt it. They changed their model like every other business that was in the publishing industry.
have da'd myself nearly 3 months ago.
now i am part of this world but i feel myself the odd one out.
something inside me is still blocking me to do the things i have been longing to do while i was still a jw, such as attending birthday parties, sex, etc.... just last nite, i was on the way to attend a birthday party.
Now I am worried about my military obligation in a year's time. Will I be able to get myself involve in bayonet fighting?
Been 16 years under bondage by the org. (since birth). The only sin so far is smoking and heavy petting .
Sorry that you are going through all that. Please be gentle with yourself. I can give you a million reasons to understand how ridiculous that concept of "sin" is, but I think that you get that well at the rational level.
If you find it to be a problem that is stopping you from living your life and feeling comfortable in your own skin, I may suggest you to get professional help. You don't need to deal and figure everything out all by yourself. A counselor or therapist who specializes in negative influence may be able to help you with whatever is blocking you.
Leaving that organization physically is not the end of your relationship with them. Please know that many of us have gone/still go through the same or worse.
One of the most important "sins" that you can commit is getting outside help and advise from a mental health professional that understands the negative influence of that organization while remains a complete outside source. Remember we were trained to believe that we "know better" than those professionals, and that the only source of help is not even the Bible, but the gazillions of publications containing their interpretations of it. Ditch that believe and ask for help if you feel like you need it.
And of course, there's this forum.
even as a jw i was fascinated with hypnosis and seeing people like derren brown putting people under almost instantly.
in the last 2/3 years when i was a jw but beginning to wake up from the bullshit i read up on hypnosis, watched a few youtube demos and explanations etc.
but never actually studied it seriously until about a year ago.
Interesting topic and experience. I myself explored it at some point, but my level of interest is not that deep. That ridiculous condemnation of hypnosis by the WT is just bizarre.
Hypnosis has had a bad rap in the past due to ridiculous claims that many other sources have made about it, such as:
Or:
And:
It used to be common that hypnosis was made fun of or misrepresented in the media and even in education. There were/are many misconceptions about it. HOWEVER, most of the world have moved on to knowing better, but the WT continues their stupid archaic way of thinking about it.
the internet is what helped bring me and so many others out of this evil organization or at least confirmed our doubts.
i have to say, i have seen quite a few youtube videos recently of ex jw's secretly recording their interactions inside of different congregations, halls, etc and see how empty the halls are!
so many people comment on how the attendance is so low, far more emptier than when i was in 6 years ago, even on a weekday meeting.
One of their most used tricks to maintain people controlled and to keep ex-JWs feeling like crap, was to isolating and limiting access to both information about doctrine and about the lives of people who leave.
The Internet has posed a giant challenge to the WT in that sense. Aside from people having easier access to information regarding all the nonsense that they teach, the thing that has hurt them the most is ex-JWs being able to unite, compare notes, form groups, and provide a consistent message about what the WT really is.
Without the Internet (for example), many people would have never heard about the case of the Australian Royal Commission and their institutional child abuse. More than finding discrepancies in their teachings, the Internet has provided a more realistic picture of who they are.
Also, people who may be thinking on joining them have the opportunity of hearing the entire story before making a decision.
At first they tried to stop people from using the Internet, then they started talking about the "dangers of the Internet". It was inevitable that they had to embrace it, but they came in late to the game. That is the result of having older non-technology oriented people in their GB.
So yes, the Internet is one of the WT's biggest nightmares. Still is.
