Posts by lriddle80

7

Christmas Trees.

by Lost in the fog in

we are all very familiar with the fact that jws do not celebrate xmas.

we probably used the same speech as we had been told from the platform that since xmas had its roots in paganism everything associated with it was a big no-no.

xmas trees, definitely a no-no!

lriddle80

My husband said that Christmas is just a wordly event on par with seeing a movie or going to a secular concert.

Our pastor says it is an opportunity to share Christ with people because they will be open to going to church during Christmas season.

Some years I will get into trying to buy the present that will show the person that they are seen and loved and it brings me joy. Some of them I enjoy Christmas songs. A few Christmases were disasters.

One year, I called it The Riddle Family Gift Exchange and did it on a different day to try to include my JW family and they said they were busy and didn't come. That was a bummer.

One year my husband gave $100 gift cards to each in my JW family and they weren't even going to acknowledge it and barely said Thank you. And were looking at each other kind of weird. I said it was just because we loved them. They spent it, though.

37

What Do You Think About Banning Plastic Bags?

by minimus in

jw
friends

we need to save the planet so we have to stop using plastic bags!

in massachusetts, the new law will be going into effect soon.

if you go food shopping, you only cat get paper bags.. what is your opinion of the state banning plastic bags?

lriddle80

I saw a senior adult post that he remembers when plastic bags replaced paper bags because of the trees being destroyed

52

How Much of the WT Teaching Did You Believe?

by Ding in

some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".

i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.

lriddle80

I wouldn't say I believed much of it. I could parrot back all the beliefs. I think I hid that unbelief from myself in order to survive (in a way). I played a role. But didn't really know that's what I was doing. I believed God existed, that's about it. Other than that, just tried not to get in trouble with the elders who always seemed suspicious of me. I hated giving talks, though I could whip one up in about 10 minutes, hated field service and went as little as possible, school was a nightmare with having to say I can't celebrate holidays and then all eyes are on me and people calling me weird because of the religion. I just felt alone.

17

Did you have a Narcissistic JW Parent?

by Butterfly607 in

did anyone else have a parent who could be described as highly narcissistic who was a jw?

how was that for you growing up?

which was worse - the narcissistic religion or the narcissistic parent?.

lriddle80

My dad. Yes it was terrible. Once my sister and I were thinking about going to the elders about him, but then we'd have to live with him after that. (Plus, we were scared of the elders, so we probably wouldn't have done it) Luckily, he didn't beat us - just yelling, name-calling, berating, silent treatments, seething anger. Then add to that the Jehovah's witness stuff and it was awful.

He is still very manipulative and I am now realizing how manipulative my mom is and that makes me sad because I thought she was different.

The religion trains people to be narcissistic with all of the pride talk and conditional love and the "no one is perfect" only when it is convenient. Blaming the other person instead of admitting anything.

11

Normal Family Relations Continue...My Arse....

by HiddenPimo in

i think that the big issue here is the double standard based on the location of the family members - if they are 'immediate' meaning they live at home in the same dwelling under the same roof then it's ok but if you are like me and living on your own, your family will absolutely avoid contact with you as that is the real jw policy..the old canada court trial and recent swedish news are totally out of context and the jw attorneys are complete tools and filthy liars....

lriddle80

When I got disfellowshipped a few months back my family went into shun mode. They unfriended me. But! My brother in law was in the hospital and they messaged me to let me know and my sister stayed and talked while I visited.

I sent a message to my mom on Facebook, just to see what would happen and she responded! Also yesterday, she refriended me. I think this shows that she thinks for herself a little!

I was encouraged!!

36

how do you perceive God ?

by stan livedeath in

what i'm trying to do is ask what theists think god is like.. also--why is he invisible.. how big is he ?.

in fact--why is god a he--not a she.

or is he / she hermaphrodite ?.

lriddle80

I can fall asleep listening to Michael Heiser, too, lol! His book is good! The Bible Project Podcast on God is what linked me to Michael Heiser. It's all really fascinating and fun to think about. I just try to live by the whole believe in Jesus and love others message these days. It's less complicated and very rewarding!!

36

how do you perceive God ?

by stan livedeath in

what i'm trying to do is ask what theists think god is like.. also--why is he invisible.. how big is he ?.

in fact--why is god a he--not a she.

or is he / she hermaphrodite ?.

lriddle80

I read the book Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser (he addressed this topic) and a lot of his videos/podcasts. I also listened to The Bible Podcast series that they did on God. It was eye opening, to say the least!!

Y'know, we were raised in a spiritually abusive, narcissistic cult that tried to hijack God's word.

Some of us bought into the lie that the Watchtower was God...so if the Watchtower is false, then God must not be real either.

God will judge the Watchtower for that. Don't go down with them. Believe in Jesus and be free!!

❤️

21

What can a therapist really do?

by Thetruthhurts in

hi all, i've not read the forums for awhile as i've been trying to move on with my life but i'm back and posting for the first time feeling like i cant get a grip.

so i'm wondering for those of you that have seen a therapist and say that it truly helps, what can be accomplished?

i'm just really skeptical, but starting to feel desperate.

lriddle80

I saw a therapist when I was in the middle of some very hard life circumstances.

Basically, the therapist was very kind to me. She validated my feelings and told me I had healthy mindsets. That my feelings were normal given the situation.

It was good to talk about things without feeling like this person would gossip to their friends about me. And it was nice to be able to talk and not be pressured to be a friend to this person.

Also, for me, as a people pleaser, it made me want to get over my negative feelings to make her proud, in a way.

It helped, though I don't really feel the need to go back at this time.

But I always know that I can. So that's cool!

36

how do you perceive God ?

by stan livedeath in

what i'm trying to do is ask what theists think god is like.. also--why is he invisible.. how big is he ?.

in fact--why is god a he--not a she.

or is he / she hermaphrodite ?.

lriddle80

There's a story in the Bible where some people supposedly saw God and they had a feast together.

Exodus 24:9-11

Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel went up and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stone like the very heavens for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief minister the people of Israel; they beheld God and ate and drank.

I think that's as close as we're going to get as for a description.

There are other passages from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. Similar descriptions. I don't think anyone saw his face, though, because they would have died. Moses saw his back that one time.

I personally don't picture him at all. I pray and then I "see" him in how he answers those prayers, or how he cheers me up when I am down, and a lot of other ways. But that's because I am looking for him in everything and I have eyes that see.

18

Anyone have someone move in and take over the congergation?

by rickroll in

i have been in two congregations where someone moved in from the big city and took over with the attitude of the northerners when they go south, i come from where they do it right.

like bulls in china shops they remove people and do the house cleaning like the political org cult it is.

.

lriddle80

The guy that disfellowshipped me was a new guy, so he was apparently cleaning house