This site definitely helped me. I also showed this to my sister (who was a JW) and when she read a thread about silent lambs and about the WT. and the UN issue-that was it for her. It's so encouraging to go on a site like this and read other people's stories. It makes me feel not so bad about my screwed up former JW life. Thank you all who share your stories.
Disheartened
JoinedPosts by Disheartened
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Who all here was personally helped by JWD
by Ticker ini was and i am ever thankful to this board and all the wonderful members on it that have contributed to my freedom.
thankyou all so much and i think i might be becoming a jwd addict.
i love this board it is so helpful.
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A Good Escape Plan.
by Daunt ini'm planning on moving out from my jw parents house in about 7 months.
i'm trying to start a job and i already have a little money going into it (bout 2500 dollars little) however, mainly i just wanted to really know if this was the best course of action.
my parents are the usual jw's but i do love them, however, the pressure is just building up from all their jw reasoning and pressure and guilt trips and all that mess.
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Disheartened
Daunt,
Just wanted to let you know that I wish you the best. At least you have money saved up-I didn't. You'll feel so much freer away from the KH. I'll never go back. I don't regret my choice to leave. Try and see if you can get a scholarship (if you haven't already tried). Sometimes financial aid will pay for housing (via dorm) and you education also. You may be able to get a grant you won't have to pay back. That way you can go to school right away. Again-I wish you the best!
Disheartened
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I could REALLY use some help right now....
by babygrl4903 inhey 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.
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Disheartened
Hi babygyrl..Welcome.
I think it was a VERY smart move on your part to do some investigating before you study and/or join the JW's. I am young also (a little older than you ..in my early 20's). From my personal experience (and many others I'm sure), it was a not a picnic in the park. I don't mean to be negative-just want to give you the facts. As a teen, I was strongly discouraged from going to college-when I went against the grain to go anyway, I was considered "bad association"-meaning, others in the congregation were told not to associate with me. My crime?? Wanting to have a better education and perhaps have a decent living. Let's not even talk about not being able to celebrate your birthday (can be depressing, especially if you're used to it), celebrating Christmas (really makes you feel like an outsider everywhere you go) and other crazy things. Women, are not highly valued in this religion either. If you go to the meetings, you will soon see what I mean. But, I know you have to see for yourself. I probably wouldn't believe it either-had I not seen it with my own eyes and experienced it. Did you also know that they teach that when "Armageddon" comes, anyone who is not a JW will be destroyed (as in killed) by God?? Crazy stuff. I wish you the best, Babygyrl!
Take Care,
Disheartened
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A story I've never told anyone... Part 4 - Conclusion
by Jim_TX inthe outing at the lake...
one last memory.
once when laurie was staying at rainey's house, we decided to go up to canyon lake and spend the weekend.
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Disheartened
Great story! I was glued to the screen . Too bad things didn't work out with you and Laurie. Have you ever thought of trying to contact her recently-just to see how she's doing?
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Another Fading Hurdle, uh, Hurdled...
by Badger ini just got back late monday with the boy after a week and a half (a few pics and possible rundown may follow, for those with insomnia).
the badger pup and i were getting ready to run some errands today when he chirped up.... "daddy, do you go to meetings?".
a toughie...the look in his eyes was pure curiosity.
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Disheartened
What a nice post! Thanks for sharing.
Disheartened
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Ok, Question: Was there a comment made at a meeting that finally convinced.
by New Castles inwas there a comment made at a meeting that finally convinced you, this is not right?
for me a couple of weeks ago was in the service meeting, they stated that if the children didnt finish their homework because they were studying the bible or at a meeting that teachers should understand that their meetings and study are more important.
i looked at my wife and went "what"??
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Disheartened
Yes, the circuit overseer came to visit our congregation one year (this was 1996-the LAST straw for me) and he was giving a talk. I remember him saying, "Sisters with unbelieving husbands, don't worry if your husbands don't accept the truth. Jehovah will surely give you a NEW husband in the new system of things." What the f*%&?? Also, a couple weeks before that, there was a talk for the theocratic meeting where a "brother" said that Charles Taze Russell was foretold in the bible by Jesus. What a bunch of horse doo-doo.
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Yoga: The Watchtower's View
by Disheartened inwhat a load of crap!
i copied and pasted this from watchtower.org.
this just goes to show how they will stop at nothing to maintain the mind control over the poor blind people who still believe.... yoga.
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Disheartened
Galaxy 7-This article was published in July 2002 Watchtower. I copied and pasted it from Watchtower.org. The only reason I was on that dumb website was to find out if I could email my letter of disassociation. Unfortunately, they don't accept emails. Anyway, I was looking at the ridiculous articles and pictures (like the picture of a little girl petting a bear in the "new system" ..come on) and I happened to come across that silly article on Yoga. I had to share..
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Yoga: The Watchtower's View
by Disheartened inwhat a load of crap!
i copied and pasted this from watchtower.org.
this just goes to show how they will stop at nothing to maintain the mind control over the poor blind people who still believe.... yoga.
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Disheartened
The Watchtower's logic on this is absolutely ASININE!! What harm can come from meditating or yoga? I practice yoga and I love it. Oh, I forgot..it takes away from selling the Watchtower and Awake magazines and the hundreds of other books they like to push down people's throats.
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Yoga: The Watchtower's View
by Disheartened inwhat a load of crap!
i copied and pasted this from watchtower.org.
this just goes to show how they will stop at nothing to maintain the mind control over the poor blind people who still believe.... yoga.
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Disheartened
What a load of crap! I copied and pasted this from Watchtower.org. This just goes to show how they will stop at nothing to maintain the mind control over the poor blind people who still believe...
Y OGA
Just an Exercise or Something More?HAVING a slim and healthy body is very much on people's minds today. This has caused many to turn to gymnasiums and health clubs for help. For the same reason, thousands of people in the Western world have turned to the Eastern art of yoga.
People suffering from stress, depression, and frustration have also turned to yoga for solace and solutions. Particularly since the 1960's, the decade of hippies and flower children, has interest in Eastern religions and their mystic practices spread throughout the West. Transcendental meditation, a close adjunct of yoga, has been popularized by film stars and rock musicians. In view of the growing interest in yoga, we might ask: 'Is yoga simply an exercise routine that will give the practitioner a healthy, slim body and some peace of mind? Can yoga be practiced without any religious overtones? Is yoga suitable for Christians?'
The Background of Yoga
The origin of the word "yoga" is related to that of the English word "yoke." It can mean to join or yoke together or to bring under a yoke, to harness or control. To a Hindu, yoga is a technique or a discipline that leads to union with a great supernatural force or spirit. It has been described as "the yoking of all the powers of body, mind and soul to God."
How far back in history can yoga be traced? Figures of people seated in various yoga positions appear on seals found in the Indus Valley, in present-day Pakistan. The Indus Valley civilization is dated by archaeologists to between the third and the second millenniums B.C.E., very close in time to the Mesopotamian culture. Artifacts from both areas portray a man, representing a deity, crowned with animal horns and surrounded by animals, reminiscent of Nimrod, the "mighty hunter." (Genesis 10:8, 9) The Hindus claim that the figures sitting in yoga positions are images of the god Siva, lord of the animals and lord of yoga, who is often worshiped through the lingam, a phallic symbol. Thus, the book Hindu World calls yoga "a code of ascetic practices, mainly pre-Aryan in origin, containing relics of many primitive conceptions and observances."
The methods of yoga were at first handed down orally. Then they were put into detailed, written form by the Indian yogic sage Patañjali as the Yoga Sutra, which remains the basic instruction book of yoga. According to Patañjali, yoga is "a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical." From its inception until the present time, yoga has been an integral part of Eastern religions, now particularly Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Some practicers of yoga believe that it will lead them to attain moksha, or liberation, through a merging with an all-pervading spirit.
So once again we ask: 'Can yoga be practiced simply as a physical exercise to develop a healthy body and a relaxed mind, without any involvement with religion?' In view of its background, the answer would have to be no.
Where Can Yoga Take You?
The objective of yoga as a discipline is to lead a person to the spiritual experience of being "yoked" to or merged with a superhuman spirit. But which spirit would that be?
In Hindu World, author Benjamin Walker says of yoga: "It may have been an early system of magical ritualism, and yoga still retains in its meaning an overtone of occultism and sorcery." Hindu philosophers admit that the practice of yoga can give supernatural powers, even though they usually claim that this is not the ultimate goal of yoga. For example, in the book Indian Philosophy, former president of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, says of the yogi that "control of the body through postures results in an indifference to the extremes of heat and cold. . . . The yogin can see and hear at a distance . . . Transmission of thought from one individual to another without the intervention of the normal communicating mechanisms is quite possible. . . . The yogi can make his body invisible."
The image of a yogi sleeping on a bed of nails or walking on hot coals may appear to be a hoax to some and a joke to others. But these are common occurrences in India, as is the practice of standing on one leg while staring directly at the sun for hours and breath control that allows a person to be buried in sand for long periods of time. In June 1995, The Times of India reported that a three-and-a-half-year-old girl lay in a trance as a car weighing more than 1,600 pounds [750 kg] was allowed to run over her abdomen. To the amazement of the crowd, when she awoke she was totally unharmed. The report added: "It was sheer yogic power."
Without a doubt, no normal human is capable of performing any of these tasks. Hence, a Christian must ask: Of what are these feats an indication? Are they from Jehovah God, "the Most High over all the earth," or are they from some other source? (Psalm 83:18) The Bible is clear on this point. When the Israelites were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, which was occupied by the Canaanites, Jehovah told the sons of Israel through Moses: "You must not learn to do according to the detestable things of those nations." What "detestable things"? Moses warned against "anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer." (Deuteronomy 18:9, 10) These things are detestable to God because they are works of the demons and of the fallen flesh.?Galatians 5:19-21.
Not a Choice for Christians
Whatever health instructors may say to the contrary, yoga does not stop with physical exercises. The book Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies relates the experiences of two yoga novitiates who were under the guidance of a guru. One is quoted as saying: "I made superhuman efforts to hold my breath as long as possible, and only breathed when I was on the point of fainting. . . . One day, at high noon, I thought I saw a bright moon, which seemed to move and sway from side to side. Another time I imagined myself enveloped in thick darkness at midday. My director . . . was greatly pleased when I mentioned these visions to him. . . . The time was not far distant, he assured me, when I should experience much more surprising results from my penance." The second man relates: "He obliged me to stare at the sky every day without blinking my eyes or changing my position. . . . Sometimes I thought I saw sparks of fire in the air; at others I seemed to see fiery globes and other meteors. My teacher was much pleased with the success of my efforts."
The strange sights were evidently what the gurus felt were proper results along the way to the true aim of yogic exercises. Yes, the ultimate goal of yoga is moksha, explained as the merging with some impersonal great spirit. It is described as "the (intentional) stopping of the spontaneous activity of the mind stuff." This is clearly contrary to the goal set out for Christians, who are given the admonition: "Present your bodies a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason. And quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God."?Romans 12:1, 2.
Many enjoy healthy activities that do
not involve exposure to spiritismThe choice of what physical exercise to pursue is a personal one. Christians, however, would not allow anything?be it bodily training, eating, drinking, clothing, entertainment, or something else?to mar their relationship with Jehovah God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) For those exercising simply for the sake of their health, there are many avenues available that do not involve exposure to the dangers of spiritism and occultism. By keeping clear of practices and beliefs that are rooted in false religion, we may look forward to God's blessing of a righteous new system of things in which we can enjoy perfect health in body and mind for an eternity.?2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, 4.
Appeared in The Watchtower August 1, 2002 -
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Since You've Stopped Going To Meetings, What's Your General Outlook?
by minimus in.....in life?
do you still have hope?
are you truly much happier?
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Disheartened
Since I've stopped going to the meetings I had time...time to do all the things I've always wanted to do like join a book club (where we discuss intellectual literature and discuss different themes in our own words, not feeling the need to mention what "the paragraph brings out"), take a yoga class, volunteer with children, go to the gym three times a week and have a social life just to name a few. Since I have stopped going to meetings, my general outlook is pretty good-much better than before and besides, I never fit in the borg. I have always had an open mind.