Posts by trevor

36

I am going away for awhile.........

by anewme in

jw
friends

i am going away for awhile to try to heal my heart.

since my dfing i have tried so hard to make sense of what has happened to me.

to see it from the society's view and from freedom's view.

trevor

Anewme

Sorry to hear you are leaving and that you are going through a difficult time due to being disfellowshiped. I once left this board for two years because I wanted to forget all about the Watchtower Society and anything that reminded me of it.

I hope that one day you can come here and enjoy the company of people who have shared a similar life experience and not be reminded of the pain you are presently going through. Leaving the Watchtower Society often leads to depression and being able to talk with people who have been through the same mangle can help.

If you feel the need to that I hope you will pop in. I have always enjoyed your sensible comments and am sure that that they help other people who are in pain.

All the Best

Trevor

22

Do you group think or think for yourself?

by free2beme in

jw
friends

as a witness, i was very prone to follow the group of thinking that was in the kingdom hall and not speak out for myself.

i am sure a lot of us would agree, this is the general pattern of most good little witnesses.

yet, in my post-witness life experience, i have learned this is about as common a thing in life, as there could be.

trevor

I don't know - what does everybody else think?

14

Overheard at Special Assembly Day

by under_believer in

jw
friends

at our "special assembly day," they interviewed an elderly "sister" in her 70's.

she is the wife of a longtime circuit overseer who is of a similar age, but in very poor health.

a couple years ago he retired into our circuit and is being entirely supported by contributions from people in our circuit, living in one of those connected-to-the-kh apartment arrangements.

trevor

I realize that most of you already know this but it is always worth reminding ourselves how easily we can make the same mistake that Jehovah’s Witnesses do, in our own lives.

In order to make maintain the worlds we have built around ourselves to live in, we move different pieces into the places they need to be for it all to continue to make sense. This how our minds work with few exceptions. Very few people - apart from Terry - are totally objective.

Long term Jehovah’s Witnesses have to move far more pieces around than the average person because they inhabit a world that is separate from reality and based on faith, hope and glory. They are limited as to what they can move or change because of the rules they live by. Eventually some find they can no longer make enough of the pieces fit and the edifice come crashing down. They call it spiritual shipwreck, the rest of the world sees it as waking from a sleep caused by cognitive dissonance.

Quote:

"Inconsistency among related beliefs . . . produces motivation to do whatever is easiest in order to regain cognitive consistency or consonance among beliefs."
Jones and Gerard, Foundations of Social Psychology,1967

.

11

The last cry for help as faith burns out

by Qcmbr in

many here have lost once bedrock faith via various means.

like a sun burning up all its fuel i find some people experience a last explosive attempt to retain faith before finally walking away spent and unfulfilled.

did you have a moment when you gambled all on a last attempt to get god's attention and answer all those inexorable doubts?

trevor

I read - The Rubaiyat By Omar Khayyam

One hundred and five verses. It became my bible and I realized that I had been tricked. I quote just one verse below.

Indeed the Idols I have loved so long

Have done my credit in this World much wrong:

Have drown'd my Glory in a shallow Cup

And sold my Reputation for a Song.

Check it out:

http://classics.mit.edu/Khayyam/rubaiyat.html

53

Girls......Should you have your cake and eat it? Booty call

by Spectrum in

i was talking to a female aquaintance the other day and in one breath she was telling me that it's great when she goes out salsa dancing because apart from enjoying the music she never has to buy her own drink as there is a constant stream of guys buying for her and then in another breath she was complaining that they annoy her because they are just after a bit of arse.

now i've seen the way this girl dresses on a normal day i can't imagine what she puts on when she goes out.

btw she does have great booty.

trevor

Is she Indian, Native American, or Hispanic?

Spectrum - if you turn her upside down and look at the sole of her feet it will tell you where she was made. Isn't 'hot' enough for you?

37

What to do - my heart is broken - I feel like a hollow shell ....

by muslima in

nothing in side.. i will give you all the short storyl i was married to an elder - had 3 beautiful chilren -- after 17 years of mariiage -- i couldn't take it all any more.

i bailed when my youngest was 11, 13 and 16.. it was my intention to be no religion at all.

i abhor organized religion.

trevor

muslima

I have great sympathy for the dilemma you find yourself in. Many on this forum have been through similar experiences.

Perhaps you should look at the cause of these problems. Religion. You have left the slavery of one religion only to be caught up in another. How many gods do you think there are? As long as you build your life with people who identify themselves through a religion you will be exposed to heartache and blackmail.

69

No Absolute Truth

by Shining One in

this one is for the politically correct crowd: .

is there no 'absolute truth'?

do you want to live that one out?

trevor

Shining one

The absolute truth is treat others as we wish to be treated and ensure that children are protected from religion so they are free to grow up and live in a way that is best for humans. That is pro-life not anti-life.

To only act in such a way out of fear of a god, or hope of a reward, is selfish.

Such people always accept the notion of people who have not adopted their religion being punished, killed or missing out on the presents. Truly moral people do not need ulterior motives to behave in a decent way.

29

What do you love spending your money on?

by JH in

i always did love tv's and cars.

i really don't know hom many tv's i bought in my life.......15 or 20?

and cars also......i think i'm up to my 15th .

trevor

I spend what I need to but - my greatest pleasure comes from investing money and watching it grow.

I am like a giant squirel who like to hang on to his nuts!

17

Can someone of the 144,000 get kicked out after entering heaven ???

by The_Replacement in

so, if someone is of the 144,000, dies, and supposedly goes to heaven, is it still possible for them to be misled, or kicked out, thus needing another replacement.

if the answer is yes, i guess the 144,000 will never be completed, in fact eventually they will have 144,000 replacements, then 144,000 replacements replacing the replacements, doh !

trevor

People don't get 'kicked out' of heaven. It is a lot more sophisticated than that.

They are 'beamed' to a remote corner of the galaxy, where the weeping and gnashing of their teeth can take place in privacy - forever. Perhaps eternal life is not such a great idea!

18

What leaving really means

by under_believer in

jw
friends

recently my family had occasion to attend a function held in our honor, an event commemorating a certain achievement.

it was thrown by close relatives, witnesses all.

it included parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings, auties and uncles.

trevor

It's easy to say "it's hogwash, just leave." And who can argue with that? Not I. But it's a hard, cruel, bitter bargain, a hollow victory, a death of thousands of cuts. It's anguish.

Under-believer

I understand your anguish. When I walked away I lost the love and affection of 43 relative, also the network of friends I had built up among Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I stayed for some years after I had seen through the illusion. In the end I left because I could no longer keep up the pretence. It was not a choice I wanted to make. It is painful and it does not end there.

The world we live in is full of illusions and it is tempting to trade one set of illusions for another. If the illusion we choose to live involves compromise to keep those you love then, it is as good as any. It all depends on whether you can continue to live the way you do and whether leaving would improve your life.

Your happiness is all that matters. Don’t act out of a need to do the right thing, because there is no right thing. Just living your life in the way that works best for you is as good as it gets.