I'm new here..... Studying with the Witnesses

by PenelopePaige 160 Replies latest jw friends

  • Quandry
    Quandry

    Welcome to the forum.

    I don't pretend to know all the answers about demons. Suffice it to say that JWs are not the only ones who believe in them. The Catholic Church still performs exorcisms!

    Please take the time to do research on the history of Jehovah's Witnesses. I wish I had done this. I was "in" for over thirty years...I wish I could have them all back now.

    Did you know that at one time they taught that vaccinations were like "taking pus into the body?" Or that for awhile they taught that organ transplants were cannibalistic? They changed that doctrine, but not before some died refusing a transplant. Nor do they appologize when they change the doctrine after receiving "new light" on the subject.

    Also, their founder, Charles Taze Russell, was into pyramidology..in fact, that is where he arrived at the date 1914. Look up his name on the internet and you will see that he is buried inside a pyramid shaped tomb!

    Unfortunately, probably the ones studying with you don't know this information. If you encourage them to look into it, they most likely WILL NOT even though it is the history of their own organization! They will feel that questioning is apostate, and could get them into trouble; they are right about that.If you ask these questions, you will also begin to see another side of the ones studying with you. They will likely warn you to stop questioning. The "love bombing" will surely be strained.

    Right now you are in a unique situation. You can ask questions. After baptism, you cannot.

    Let us know how things progress.

  • Rocky_Girl
    Rocky_Girl

    Welcome to the board! Obviously, we feel very strongly about this group and us born-ins wish we could have made the choice to stop before baptism and those who converted wish they were back where you are now so they could make a different choice. This results in a lot of strong advice!

    You have to make your own decision about what is right for you. Do research and don't let anyone force you to speed up your decision making process. You are an adult with a working brain; you have the right to deliberate. Those ladies are spending time studying with you and you may feel that you owe them something for their efforts, but you truly need to make your decision based on what YOU need and what is good for your family.

    I am concerned about your husband. When I was a JW, I was taught that non-believing mates couldn't truly love their spouses because no one can love another without loving Jehovah first. They will view your marriage as being on the verge of divorce at all times, because Jehovah is not there with that third cord of strength, and will villianize your spouse at any opportunity. Perhaps you have already been told that Satan is using your husband to turn you away from true worship. Also, the elders will act toward you as if you have no husband to spiritually "guide" you and will step in and pry into things that are not their business. (very emasculating for dear hubby if you allow it) You obviously love this guy (you married him) Do you really want to be with a group that puts him down and actively tries to destroy your respect for him simply because he doesn't join their religion? I would never suggest that you choose one way or another just to make your man happy, but you have to at least keep him in mind.

    As for demons, I spent time in the Catholic Church and my mother was Southern Baptist and they both put a lot of stock in demons and evil spirits, as well as angels and ghosts. JWs are not unique in any part of their doctrine or methods.

    Good luck in your search. Be strong and do what is best for your family.

  • PenelopePaige
    PenelopePaige

    I appreciate the responses everyone- thank you.

    Sizemik- What happened to us was; my family and I were out one night on some backroads in Wisconsin. My husband, me, our two children , and we saw some lights over a cornfield. They were zooming around and doing crazy things, sort of like lasers. So we drove down the cornfields to get a better look, we thought they were maybe UFO"s- Anyway, after pulling way down the road, with cornfields on either side, all of a sudden a single light came down the street and stopped behind our car. We thought it was a motorcycle as there was only one light. The only thing was, it made no noise whatsoever and you couldn't see the driver behind the light. It just sat there, a few feet behind our car. We kept saying, "Why won't this a**hole just go around us? Why is sitting there?" There was a farmhouse down the street so we thought he must live there and we couldn'[t understand why he wouldn't just go around us and go home. Finally, we turned around in the middle of the road and passed the light, just as we passed it, it disappeared right in front of our eyes. At the same time, the lights above us , that we thought might be UFO's were just gone. We were confused and drove home (rather fast -haha) Anyway, the next night, we went back to the road. I don't know why; I think we just thought it was exciting. We weren't scared. But as soon as we pulled onto the road, the light "stepped out" from the cornfields and stood in front of our car. We all began screaming and my husband turned the car around (dont' know how he did it- the road was very narrow) and the light began to chase us- When we got to the end of the road- it disappeared. It was horrifying and I have been very shaken up ever since.

  • InterestedOne
    InterestedOne

    Penelope wrote:

    ... maybe even, the true religion. I love the Watchtower and Awake and to me, none of that seems crazy.

    I spent a year studying with the JW's because I had a friend who is one, and I wanted to learn more about her beliefs. As I looked carefully at the literature, I felt that it lacked good scholarship. If you are reading the "public" version of the Watchtower, you might want to know that they have their own JW-only publications that they do not readily share with the public. If you ask a JW if you may have these to take home and study carefully, they may hesitate and tell you you're "not ready." That's what they told me anyway. Some of these are:

    Magazines: 1. The Watchtower "study" edition (actually they might be ok now with letting you have this since they make it available at www.jw.org), 2. Our Kingdom Ministry

    Books: 1. Organized To Do Jehovah's Will, 2. Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education (studied at the mid week meeting), 3. Shepherd The Flock Of God (They do not allow women and non-elders to read this book) (This replaced the previous elders' handbook called Pay Attention To Yourselves And All The Flock).

    One thing that bothered me about them not allowing women to read the elders' book is that this means a woman could become baptized into the organization and not be fully aware of the elders' procedures. Maybe some people would not be interested in boring procedures, but the fact that a woman is -restricted- from reading this book if she happens to be interested bothers me.

    There is a lot of good information online about cults, propaganda, critical thinking, etc. For JW-specific info, I agree that freeminds and jwfacts are excellent.

  • diamondiiz
    diamondiiz

    Hello,

    Most people are drawn to the idea of living forever and think that's what the bible teaches so they begin to study and get sucked in. For those with family on the outside it's not as bad when these new sucked in individuals realize they need to leave because their family isn't in, but those with family on the inside, it becomes very difficult to leave as many families will shun their own (not all, but many). So while, many JWs are sincere, and I don't doubt many are, you have to realize that many cults also have sincere people, after all, if they weren't sincere why are they there? Other than being blackmailed with the loss of family or/and friends if they leave. There are many good people stuck in the wts cult still waiting for the end to come - many have been waiting for 80 or more years since this cult has been preaching end of the world since it began back in 1870s. Many have died without seeing a single fulfillment of wts "prophecies." You see, some given up on their "worldly" families, didn't marry, never had kids, didn't safe for retirement and now they are aged with absolutely nothing other than a hope based on fantasy. So, while their publications make it appealing to live forever in wonderful paradise it's all based on fiction and if you like fiction than better find fictional books that won't hurt you.

    If you research their history you will see many flip flops in doctrine, many scandals and how many people have been deceived and then the wts blamed the followers for believing the leaders while the leaders never take any responsibility or blame for what they've done.

    You will have to decide whether to stop the study or not, what you can do, is research the history and maybe bring the questions to your study conductor and get her to answer your questions. And don't accept nonsense answers like "that was old light", "secular world is lying", "apostates are lying", or "Satan is testing you." Bring one topic to JW attention and request an answer but make sure you do your indepth research prior to asking. A truly sincere JW won't have an answer right there so they will have to research it but you will see what they come up with. I suggest you examine their cornerstone for their faith - 607BC as the year for the fall of Jerusalem. Without that date, neither can they support their 1914 teaching nor can they support the idea that their leaders(theoretically they teach faithful and discrete slave) were chosen in 1919. Examine the archeological and historical facts that secular sources present and that of WTS. Ask that and see what reply from JW you get.

    If you don't want to play games with JWs, just stop the study and be done with it, they will never invite you to another get together and love bombing will end. You will become bad association just as you were prior to accepting their "bible study".

  • MrFreeze
    MrFreeze

    Yeah they love you now but tell them you no longer want to study and the love will be gone.

  • InterestedOne
    InterestedOne

    Penelope wrote:

    And when the JW's came along, they actually had some answers for me! Which made me think they understood much better.

    Keep in mind that although a person may present you with answers, they do not necessarily understand the phenomenon any better. If you experience a phenomenon you are not able to explain, I don't see anything wrong with seeking explanations. At the same time, watch out for people who provide made-up answers that are not solidly rooted in logic and evidence. If you are not able to arrive at a solid explanation, I think it is ok to temporarily refer to it as an "unexplained phenomenon." It is important to have some method of determining fact from fiction.

  • unshackled
    unshackled

    Hi Penelope...welcome to the forum. I'll repeat the best advice already given: Run for your life.

    As for your strange light experience...sizemik made a good point with his story, I'd suggest reconsidering all angles. BUT if you are convinced it was something supernatural, it certainly was not what the JWs refer to as demons. The JW description of demons don't put on light shows, they are evil and only perform diabolical acts. A far more interesting conclusion to jump to would be alien life. How fun...contact.

    Good luck with ending your bible study. Remember the moment because that is when you are taking back control of your life.

  • Rocky_Girl
    Rocky_Girl

    Just my opinion, but strange lights + cornfield = aliens

  • Yan Bibiyan
    Yan Bibiyan

    Penelope,

    I have another idea.....

    Maybe we, on this board, are all bent out of shape awful apostates, trying to sway you away from the truth (this is a classic JW answer). Maybe we all have an axe to grind with the Watchtower and use this medium to "deceive goodhearted individuals and deny them the knowledge of the one true religion".

    Maybe it's true....Check this out for yourself.

    Join a Jehovah's Witness forum or a facebook group and ask honestly some of the questions on topics found here. Do not accept half baked or derailing answers. Insist on an honest response, no matter how many times people try to give you the runaround. After all, if the Jehovah's Witnesses have the Truth, they should not be afraid to answer a simple question.

    See for yourself how fast you will be ignored, ridiculed, or worse, branded an "Apostate" by the same people that now pour their "unconditional" love upon you.

    Come back here and tell us what happened.

    Good luck in your search for honest answers.

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