I was so "in the Truth" that when I left at 24, I felt like a "stranger in a strange land". Even just the idea of thinking for myself was foreign to me. That's how much in the JW bubble I was.
StrongHaiku
JoinedPosts by StrongHaiku
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How strong were you in “The Truth?”
by John Aquila inwhen you were still asleep in the watchtower organization and had no idea of ttatt.
what would you have done if you were in a serious accident and all of a sudden you woke up in the emergency hospital room with all the brothers and sisters at your side and your spouse cheering you on to be faithful to jehovah.
then the doctor comes up to you and tells you that you are about to go into surgery because there is no time to lose and the only way to live is to take a blood transfusion ?
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What the Governing Body found out when they ' did the math'
by Esse quam videri instephen lett may 2015 broadcast.
14:45 ... the governing body very much feels the urgency of accomplishing as much as we possibly can, in behalf of kingdom interests, knowing that the great day of jehovah is near....
... in an effort to inform you of the support that is needed for this great work, i have the following information to share.
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StrongHaiku
Never rely on the math from people who didn't know not to count a year zero between B.C. and A.D.... -
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Charity
by aintenoughwiskey inwe know the wt interpretation of matt 25:40 is support of the anointed.
since most of us here are no longer in that situation, what, if any forms of charity are you involved in?
sorry for the awkward framing of the question, it's not meant to imply atheists, or non-christians are not charitable!
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StrongHaiku
Oh, one more thing (sorry)...
If you have the resources, look at setting up a foundation as part of your will/estate planning. You can work it out so that all or a portion of your assets and investments can be used to fuel a number of causes after you are gone.
And, please, take any opportunity to donate blood...
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Charity
by aintenoughwiskey inwe know the wt interpretation of matt 25:40 is support of the anointed.
since most of us here are no longer in that situation, what, if any forms of charity are you involved in?
sorry for the awkward framing of the question, it's not meant to imply atheists, or non-christians are not charitable!
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StrongHaiku
Oh, and there are other ways to help... Donate your clothes or other stuff you don't need to "Goodwill" or some other charity organization. The less you have, the happier and more carefree you will be. And, giving and working with charities helps all of us learn how to be a citizen instead of just a consumer.
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30 most edited regular Wikipedia pages
by biometrics injehovah's witnesses topic made it to the list:.
http://i.imgur.com/7m2xgzz.png.
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StrongHaiku
3/4 of the updates is probably one of us posting "It's a cult!" and some JW deleting that entry...
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Charity
by aintenoughwiskey inwe know the wt interpretation of matt 25:40 is support of the anointed.
since most of us here are no longer in that situation, what, if any forms of charity are you involved in?
sorry for the awkward framing of the question, it's not meant to imply atheists, or non-christians are not charitable!
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StrongHaiku
My pleasure. And, one thing that helps is listen to what makes you angry. Anger is a valuable emotion because it often tells the truth and motivates change. What makes you angry tells you what you fight for and needs to be fixed.
I think one of the saddest things is to think about all the energy and resources being spent on door-to-door and other non-sense work. Can you imagine if every Saturdays or Sundays, they would go out to their communities build houses for the homeless, and feed the hungry, and clothe the poor? If JWs wanted to give the best all-time witness ever, that's what they would do. Can you imagine what the world would say? The GB has no imagination.
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Is there ANY JW belief/doctrine that has remained the same from start to now?
by journey-on ini was trying to think of one teaching or doctrine that has remained consistent from the society's inception to now, and couldn't.
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can you give me one?.
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StrongHaiku
"Buying property" is probably the most consistent thing with JWs from the start... -
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Charity
by aintenoughwiskey inwe know the wt interpretation of matt 25:40 is support of the anointed.
since most of us here are no longer in that situation, what, if any forms of charity are you involved in?
sorry for the awkward framing of the question, it's not meant to imply atheists, or non-christians are not charitable!
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StrongHaiku
I think you ask good question and you hit on a profoundly human need to help each other. Since I have left the JWs, I work with a number of charities for health, justice, and a better planet. One of the best times I had was serving food in the local shelter during Christmas. We are wired to do good beyond what any religion and scripture prescribes.
However, if you are looking to help and don't know where to start, act locally. There are lots of people around your vicinity that need food and services. In addition, the so called "worldly people" have a better handle on what things to contribute to than most JWs. Asking the people around you is a good place to start.
One thing I realized when you leave and want to help is that the problems in the world can seem overwhelming and makes it hard to know where to start. Start locally, simply, and do a small thing every day.
On a side note, one of the things I have been working on in my spare time (for fun) is to develop a set of heuristics that will help evaluate what people care about (via a simple guided questionnaire) and match them to a charity. I think, people want to help but are often overwhelmed. Also, I have also changed my investments so that I support companies that improve the world and/or have strong socially conscious policies, even if it means a loss to my bottom line. Act locally. Think globally.
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Did you make stuff up without realizing it when you were in the 'truth'(TM)?
by punkofnice inrecently, since my d/aing, i've heard the same old cobblers has been said to and by my family members.
(more than likely referring to me).. ''jehovah(tm) will judge.
he knows who will survive and be destroyed at armageddon.
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StrongHaiku
My mother is anointed and for years she would have some wild speculations. Some were pretty crazy, while others made pretty good sense. She would make us swear not to share with anyone lest we stumble someone or go too far ahead of "Jehovah's Chariot" or simply, not look crazy.
One that stands out was that she firmly believed that we would eventually master interstellar travel in the new system (i.e. that this would be "New Scroll" information). She knew that the billions of resurrected people (~100 billion if you start at ~50,000 BCE) would not fit the Earth and there was a large universe out there. I totally agreed with that at the time. She also speculated that perfect humans would be revealed technologies not yet imagined.
I am convinced that wild speculation is one of the coping mechanisms for people who stay in...
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Normalcy bias keeps JWs from leaving
by zimunzucz ini have been frustrated by the inability of most jws to escape their bondage to the kh, despite repeated exposure to negative information about their religion and belief system.
perhaps it's due in part to something called normalcy bias- a definition i have found is:.
normalcy bias is part of human nature and, to some extent, we are all guilty of participating in it.
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StrongHaiku
Good post. I would also add the human bias for "loss aversion" as a contributing factor. Once you begin to be invested into something (even if it is a losing proposition) it is very hard to stop. Our brains are wired this way (and, apparently so are other primates). The more you become invested (e.g. time, resources) on something, the least likely you are to quit EVEN IF one realizes that it is a losing proposition. This bias is what keeps Las Vegas humming day and night. This is why people often screw up their investment and stock portfolio. It is also what may keep many people in the Organization from walking away.