Posts by Sara Annie

74

I could REALLY use some help right now....

by babygrl4903 in

hey all,.

ok...i know for a fact that you have all probably heard this before but i am new here so i don't really know all the topics that have been discussed.

so, at the risk of repeating past topics.....here i go.... i am 16 years old and have a boyfriend who is a jw.

Sara Annie

that I can understand coz I noticed that when I started talking to my b/f about these things that all of a sudden, my view of god was different. like, for once in my life, I didn't view him as someone nice. I am not trying to offend anyone or say god is bad coz thats not at all what I mean. but like you said with your question...loving someone and serving someone who threatens to kill you if you dont....after talking to my boyfriend, at times I felt pressured to convert coz I felt like if I didn't I would be punished and I even developed a sort of fear of god. I haven't told anyone that coz I would never want to say that I sort of fear him. It just doesn't make since though coz supposedly its the same god right? ... Then how come I was rased to think he accepts everyone and my b/f was raised to think something else? i

That's actually a really easy question to answer. The short explanation is that fear is really great motivator. If we are afraid of something bad happening and are told what we can do to avoid it, we generally will, right? What greater motive for strict obedience is there than "God will kill you if you don't do what we say!"? The simple question I asked you is one that will give you a lot to think about. People in high control religions have to turn off their internal 'nonsense meters' in order to continue and believe everything they're told because the cost of not doing so is simply too high: You'll be destroyed if you don't believe. It's harsh, ugly, and not what I think a loving God wants for us.

You're confused right now, and you know what? That's good. The questions of existence and God and eternity are HUGE questions that need to be pondered and rolled around in your mind. There is a bit of conventional wisdom that states we should "Beware of the man who has read only one book". It means that when you get all of your information from one source, and are not allowed to look anywhere else for answers, you should be immediately suspicious.

74

I could REALLY use some help right now....

by babygrl4903 in

hey all,.

ok...i know for a fact that you have all probably heard this before but i am new here so i don't really know all the topics that have been discussed.

so, at the risk of repeating past topics.....here i go.... i am 16 years old and have a boyfriend who is a jw.

Sara Annie

The way I see it is that we are all looking up to the same god. Just coz they follow the bible more closely than other religions (in regards to doing everything it says to do) doesn't mean that people of other religions do not have as much faith in him.

This is the reason you need to do more research. Who told you they follow the bible more closely than other religions? They did, didn't they? What they are really saying is that their interpretation of the bible is the only correct one, and the rules that they've made up based on it are the only ones that will allow you salvation.

They believe that all other religions are false and that only Jehovah's Witnesses will remain after God destroys the earth someday. Everyone else will be killed and have their eyes plucked out and eaten by birds. They wait with vigilance for this day when God will destroy 99% of the earth's population so that they can live on it forever in paradise.

Ask yourself this: Can you truly, honestly, without reservation love and serve someone who threatens to kill you if you don't?

74

I could REALLY use some help right now....

by babygrl4903 in

hey all,.

ok...i know for a fact that you have all probably heard this before but i am new here so i don't really know all the topics that have been discussed.

so, at the risk of repeating past topics.....here i go.... i am 16 years old and have a boyfriend who is a jw.

Sara Annie

I was 16 and in love once. I remember what it feels like, and I won't tell you that you're too young to be in love. I will tell you that 16 years old is much too young to consider making a commitment that will alter the course of your life forever, especially when that decision is colored by young love.

In lieu of offering you my opinion on what you should do, I can ask you to think on a few simple questions.

1. Are you willing to let any of your future children die rather than take a blood transfusion? If you are, and in the future the organization reverses their position on the blood doctrine due to the emergence of 'new light' (their buzzword for doctrine changes), are you willing to accept that the change was divine direction from God himself and not be resentful that your child died under the 'old understanding'?

2. Are you willing to stop celebrating all regular holidays (No Christmas, no birthdays, no easter, no halloween, no thanksgiving, no national holidays, no mothers/fathers day, etc), and to give up celebrating any form of those days with your 'normal' family?

3. Are you willing to take as truth any mandate handed down in the publications of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and follow them without question, knowing that keeping all of your new friends is conditional upon your acceptance of all the doctrine? Are you willing to believe that anything said by the Watchtower is looked upon as direct communication from Jesus Christ to his people here on earth?

4. Are you willing to voluntarily enter into a contract with an organization (your baptismal vows will require you to pledge your allegiance to the society as God's sole channel of communication on earth)? Are you then also willing to, if at any point in the future you begin to question their teachings, break that contract and be shunned by all your 'christian brothers and sisters'?

5. Are you willing to ignore all the negative information you've found regarding Jehovah's Witnesses as the voice of Satan attempting to deter you from the 'truth'? A JW will tell you that anything anti-JW is blasphemous and not to be trusted, and that they have the ultimate 'truth'. As a JW you will not be allowed to read or research anything that is not in line with their teachings--their own writing strictly forbid it.

If you can answer an honest 'Yes' to each and every one of these questions then I suggest you continue that bible study right away and work toward baptism in the hopes that you'll marry this boy someday.

If any of these same questions give you pause, continue your search for information, and listen to the instinct that guided you to research the matter in the first place. Once you are a witness, you will be forbidden to engage in "independent thinking" so take this time to do as much of it as you can before making any decisions.

I wish you the very best, and hope that you follow the path that is right for you.

20

I, ROBOT

by Yerusalyim in

i took the wife and kids to see i, robot with will smith last night....great movie.

my son is a real issac asimov fan.

he said asimov would have hated the movie, but that he really enjoyed it.. come to think of it, i'd be hard pressed to name a will smith movie i don't like.

Sara Annie

It was a decent movie. Not going to change your life or anything--but it's always fun to see Will Smith kick some robot/alien/bad guy/etc. ass.

I had somewhat higher expectations for the movie since it's director made 2 sci-fi movies that I thought were fabulous, but it was still worth the ticket price.

20

building a house, cost?

by jwbot in

jw
friends

jwbot's dream house

i want that house.

after doing the budget, mike and i could put a down payment on a house loan.

Sara Annie

Yeah it will be about 2 years, maybe a year and a half before we REALLY start looking at this. We have to get our credit perfect and save some mad $$. Hopeing to save at LEAST $20K for a down payment in 2 years.

Good for you! Saving for a sizeable downpayment (and avoiding costly extra PMI charges) is so important, and even though it takes some sacrifices it's totally worth it. If you have to eat mac and cheese and ramen to save up, do it. You won't believe the difference the tax break will make in your finances. My other piece of unsolicited advice is that you'll need to budget a pretty sizeable chunk of change for all the things you'll need to fill up all that space! When we started looking at all the little things you need for a brand spanking new house that you didn't consider before it added several thousand dollars to our budget--wood blinds alone for the windows were unbelievably expensive.

It's a nice house--I love the overlooks into the vaulted ceilling main floor areas.

4

His Next Movie: "Mr. Moore's Wild Ride"

by L_A_Big_Dawg in

watch out mickey.

you may be the next victim of "shclocumentary.

in the interest of fairness, i was going to go see moore's movie.

Sara Annie

I'd be much more likely to watch and enjoy Moore's films if he didn't assert drivel like that as 'fact'.

Watching one of his 'documentaries' and declaring the content as truth while disregarding things as ridiculous as the "bee" information is like saying "This book on egyptology is fascinating and informative, if you ignore that bit about how the entire society was populated with space aliens".

I find him to be such an insufferable bore.

20

building a house, cost?

by jwbot in

jw
friends

jwbot's dream house

i want that house.

after doing the budget, mike and i could put a down payment on a house loan.

Sara Annie

When we built our home a few years ago, for our area (midwest) a good estimate was $100 per square foot of living space. It can be double/triple that or more in other markets. Since you're looking at a non-development blueprint you'll have extra costs incurred with purchasing the plans, and you'll need to consider the cost of the lot you want to build on. Our lot cost nearly as much as the house.

A great first step would be to meet with a mortgage counselor and look at what you can be approved for, and then you'll be able to decide what you can really afford and how much of a down payment you'll need.

It's a very exciting and stressful process. Best of luck!

211

Go Get Em COSBY!!!

by Flash in

jw
friends

cosby has harsh words for black community

by don babwin, associated press writer

chicago - bill cosby (news) went off on another tirade against the black community thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere.

Sara Annie

However, I wouldn't place the blame solely on the people. Any criticism in that regard, given in this manner must include an evaluation of the socioeconomic problems that plague the inner-city. It would be disingeneous not ot include that in the discourse.

I agree that it's a complex subject, and that 'blame' lies on more than one set of shoulders.

However, there is very little outcry when someone discusses only the "socioeconomic problems that plague the inner-city" without acknowledging the blame that does lie squarely on the shoulders of the black community as a whole. It is equally disingenuous to not address the prevalent behaviors and attitudes when blaming the rest of society and public policy.

One of my least favorite attitudes is that of entitlement and victim-hood that is bandied about by anyone who feels that someone else is holding them back/or down. Yes, we all have obstacles. Some people have bigger impediments to success than others. But we also have to embrace our personal responsiblity for the situation our lives are in. The truth is often unpleasant, and the fact that the other factors involved weren't brought into the discussion doesn't negate what Cosby said. It simply makes the content of the conversation unpalatabe to some.

40

Jehovah's Witnesses Are The Best Liars

by minimus in

jw
friends

i say that because we have been trained to lie and not even give it a second thought!

we might intially call it "theocratic strategy" and we may utilize this "provision" so that the "good news" might be spread.

but more often than not, we bend the rules as we see fit, reasoning that it's not really lying, afterall!

Sara Annie

To a J-dub, the most important thing is "keeping up appearances". You always must look righteous.

Isn't that the truth (pun intended)

A JW friend of mine and I were discussing the concept of individual conscience v. dogmatic rules and she was telling me how the WT allowed individual dubs to freely make decisions about their lives where there was no clear biblical prohibition against their actions. She was saying that smoking was clearly defiling your Jehovah-created body by introducing foreign substances into it for selfish pleasure, and therefore unacceptable.

I then asked her if her relatively new breast implants, which were made of foreign substances that were introduced into her body purely for selfish pleasure, fell under that same rule. Without missing a beat she shook her head and said "Yes, but no one knows about those." It was as if they were perfectly fine with Jehovah, regardless of what the WT party line was, if no one in the congregation knew she had them. I tried to point out the fallacy in what she was saying, and she just kept repeating that they didn't know about her implants, and so it didn't matter what the WT position on them was.

It was a very surreal conversation.

82

What's Your Worst Quality???

by minimus in

jw
friends

....jealousy?

anger??

cheapness??

Sara Annie

My good opinion, once lost, is generally lost forever. It's a personal failing and I am trying to work on it...

Oh, and I tend to be a little passive aggressive.