Posts by scratchme1010

27

Asking for help with wife

by Are you serious in

hello everyone, my wife wants nothing to do with my awakening.

every time i try explaining something she tells me she doesn't want to hear it.

i believe she's afraid of learning something she's not ready for.

scratchme1010

...my wife wants nothing to do with my awakening. Every time I try explaining something she tells me she doesn't want to hear it. I believe she's afraid of learning something she's not ready for. I'm not ready to give up on her learning the ttat.

Based on what I have heard from professionals who deal with the matter of brainwashing and negative influence, that is a common reaction. It is the most common occurrence. However, what I have heard them say about this are a few interesting things.

It may not feel like that, but she is in fact listening. She may not be listening to your words and your actual thoughts, but as a person who married you and is with you, she is following you in every step you take. That's what she's paying attention to, your behavior, your credibility about where you are standing, and your degree of happiness (that's not something that you may not be interested in, but that matters to JWs, as happiness is one of their biggest selling points). Patience.
At some point you as a JW were in the exact same place. What did your JW training tell you to do? Were you ready then to listen to any other person who would say anything different? Think about when you were in that place where you couldn't listen to others because you could bet your ass you had "the truth" and no one else did. That's where she is now.
Talk in her language. First, you will be surprised about how many JWs actually don't even understand some of the things that they teach and go along with it because they are conditioned to follow and believe without questioning. If she's one of those who cannot even articulate some of their nonsense, but believes it anyway, no matter what you try to reason with her, she's not going to be interested. Look for what speaks to her. Her eye opener may not be the same than yours.
Last but not least, please take a look of what is at stakes for her. How invested is she in the WT and their nonsense? What does she have to give up, other than doctrine? What are her ties, relationships, friendships, etc? Remember, admitting that they are not truthful in that context means walking away from people she may care about. It implies more than simply believing something new. A great example is precisely what you posted. I'm sure that you are not only interested in her changing her believes. Your relationship with her will be different if she does, so will her relationship with other people in her social and spiritual cycle. Many people stay mostly because of the relationship part of it, not because of their believes.

I'd say be patient, be candid, but don't force it on her, and speak abut the things that matter to her, that may not necessarily be the same that woke you up.

19

JWs don’t break up families

by Jules Saturn in

i get very angry when i hear this claim being made by jws and get even angrier when i read the article they have on their faq section on jw.org which i’ll leave a link here:.

https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/families/.

i know that the majority of this article is written about having a spouse that isn’t a believer and how the bible encourages them to stay together but that’s one of the things that can cause division in a family, for an example if a son or daughter marry a nonbeliever or a worldly person the parents aren’t going to attend the wedding.. once i was told by an elder that if i continued with my behavior of wanting to seek worldly friends and worldly companionship that i would have to leave my home because the holy spirit would leave my house and that would have a huge impact on my family.

scratchme1010

That's the biggest resentment I have with that organization, how it destroyed my and other people's families.

34

Today's W.T when it mentioned Depression and Anxiety

by Isambard Crater in

our co-ordinator put his hand up and commented saying that people who go on about how depressed or anxious they are just need to stop giving in to impulses and show more self control without letting their emotions rule their lives.. if anyone from the media, a government agency or some other public body heard a comment like that, they'd have a hard time exercising self control over the rubbish this elder spouted, which my friends and family with genuine depression found insulting..

scratchme1010

...commented saying that people who go on about how depressed or anxious they are just need to stop giving in to impulses and show more self control without letting their emotions rule their lives.

Sure, we should all rely on the mental health advice of people who barely finished high school.

12

The Extremes of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Scoiety

by The_Seeker in

i have been reading through the posts over the last few days and something occurred to me, an epiphany, if you will.

people don't leave the jw's, especially those raised in the religion, simply because it is easier for them to continue to believe a lie even when faced with the truth.

the ability to think critically is something that most jws lack, we all know this to be true, but i truly believe many of them are simply too lazy to try anything different.

scratchme1010

They are so accustomed to having someone tell them what to do in every situation that they do not want to have to make decisions for themselves. I'm not talking about a physical laziness, but a laziness of intellect.

Thank you for sharing some of your experience. I have to say that many people have different circumstances in which they leave (some fade and as such have time to prepare, while others are thrown out into the world outside by getting disfellowshipped). People also have different personalities, attitudes towards life outside, and capacity to discern things about the world around.

Also, people have different levels of attachment to that organization and their believes. Some are emotionally attached as they feel that being a JW is part of their culture, and others, like me, couldn't care less about anything JW after I left, as influenced by them as I was. Others leave but still believe in what they say to various degrees.

I embraced leaving, and was looking forward to my life outside. Yes, I did and still do have a little bit of the follower, but people are not robots, and people aren't stupid either. We found our way as we minimize the influence of that organization.

13

Asexual dating?

by purrpurr in

for those who don't know, asexual is someone who feels no sexual desire for other people.

they may often want the companionship of a relationship but with no benefits.

what would the jws view be of a jw dating an asexual worldly person?

scratchme1010

What would the jws view be of a jw dating an asexual worldly person?

I don't see why they should feel any different about an asexual JW dating a wordly person. A wordly person is a wordly person in their book, sex or not.

Not to mention that the Wt doesn't have the depth of though necessary to understand the concept of basic human sexuality, leave alone gender identity or sexual orientation (or lack thereof).

6

What type of study subject is this?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

i'm finding i'm getting more and more interested in debunking the bible/ christian beliefs.

looking into the evolution and history of how religion develope.

i'd like to study this further but i don't know what subject it would be classified as?.

scratchme1010

I'd like to study this further but I don't know what subject it would be classified as?

It is a combination of theology, history, language, sociology and anthropology. Researching information on people's believes and tracing their origin (which is one of the most common approaches used to debunk a belief) requires understanding its history and the content in which it comes from, as well as understanding the meaning and the way people communicate in the original language in which things originated.

If you look at documentaries that try to establish the veracity of a given belief, they always have to consult professionals in those areas (as well as tracing its origin). Additionally, if there are some believes that involve geography, architecture or science, for example, you might need to consult with people who specialize in those areas.

I don't think that there's one field that is dedicated to just Christian believes (unless you go to a Christian school, and their purpose is not exactly to be unbiased).

14

If you have Windows 10 . . .

by compound complex in

my roommate bought a new dell laptop, operated by windows 10. in the three weeks he's had it, it's online then goes offline (and this repeatedly): when he goes from one e-mail to another, when he engages in a financial transaction, when he opens a new webpage, etc.

he does the basic rebooting, as prescribed in the article whose link is attached.

his pc and my older dell and apple powerbook are all on wifi.

scratchme1010

Does your roommate use the laptop in the same spot? Sometimes there are areas where the WiFi signal is weak. Check with the company that makes the wifi modem if they have some driver update. Also, never update your wifi or any computer drivers through Windows update (Windows 10 Home version updates Windows automatically).

I hope that helps.

28

252 Congregations have closed in Germany since 2015

by LevelThePlayingField in

this is a video from down with the tower.

it's excellent.

enjoy.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0lvvy2qurm.

scratchme1010

That sounds like a whole lot. I'm always the Devil's advocate, so I wonder if there's a way of verifying those numbers.

23

Warwick Protest 11-5-2017 - Who's all going?

by Acluetofindtheuser in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64xhcoowr6y.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhuvmvbjk-q.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bejhmfrzl0.

scratchme1010

Interesting concept, but I think there are better ways of using the time and money. Not sure what exactly they expect to accomplish. Plus it's not accurate to say that it's the first time that there's such type of gathering. Maybe it's the first in Warwick, but not the first time ex-JWs protest or get together.

11

American JWs - Marriage in Foreign Countries

by NeverKnew in

jw
friends

as a non-jw, i now know of at least 3 american jws who have left the country, married some random person in a third world country and who have returned to the us alone.

there may be a 4th one soon.. it could be pure coincidence, but just thought i’d throw it out there to see if there’s some bizarre jw logic to this .

i’m no longer close enough to the group to hear any details so... could be purely coincidence.

scratchme1010

It could be pure coincidence, but just thought I’d throw it out there to see if there’s some bizarre JW logic to this
I’m no longer close enough to the group to hear any details so... could be purely coincidence.
Thoughts?

I can tell you of Muslims, Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostal, Santeros and Atheists people who also have left the country, married some random person in a third world country and who have returned to the US alone.

Being a JW is no different than being of any other religion, no matter how much they claim they aren't part of the world.