Thanks Yerusalyim, you are exactly who I have been looking for and I will e-mail you soon. So, I guess I should start wearing my cucifix then and see what his reaction is??? Now on my serious side, we have discussed the fact that I have to go to precana, and that I have to get married in my church. He hasn't said anything really against that, just that some of his family won't like it... well tough! I need to fulfill my sacrements by getting married in my church... and that is the way it goes, you get married in the womans place of worship. And for the holiday thing, I will just go to my parents house, if he wants to come, he is more than welcome. I am not going to let him deny me what I have grown up with and what my daughter has grown to see as "the norm". Yet he said that those are the little things that we have to deal with... If these are the little things, I would hate to see the BIG things...
Interfaith Relationship
by Christina77 66 Replies latest social relationships
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Yerusalyim
Looking forward to hearing from you. If you have Hotmail as an Email Provider then send your messages to [email protected] rather than clicking the envelope to the right.
YERUSALYIM
"Vanity! It's my favorite sin!"
[Al Pacino as Satan, in "DEVIL'S ADVOCATE"] -
Christina77
Well today we went out to lunch... and he said that he went to talk to his father yesterday, by that and the look in his eyes, I knew exactly what he went there to talk about, even though he didn't say it directly. His father had other things to discuss so it got put off. But at least it is finally a step in the right direction. I am glad that he got the nerve up to actually decide to face them, and hopefully he will still have the nerve to bring it up again soon. Then we will see what happens next...
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Christina77
And what is even weirder... he asked me to come over last night to help him write a "talk" for Thursday night??? I agreed, but he never told me what the topic was or why I needed to help him with. We ended up not getting to it, since the Yankee game ended really late and we were both too tired. Can someone explain to me what these "talks"are? and why he would be giving one? At this point I am just going with the flow, I have to accept what he is and what he has to do. I respect it, but I don't think reality has really set into what it really involves. Thanks again.
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wife_2_a_Witness
A talk is like a priests sunday speech in a way. They are given a specific subject and they have to write a speech on it. They use their bible for the scripture part of it. and stand up at the podium and deliever the talk while the rest pay attention.
About your crucifix (forgive me if I spelled that wrong.) wear it. dont hide it. be proud to own it. if they dont like it tough bananas. I wear my cross 24/7/365 my inlaws dont like it but they can lump it. When I went to the meetings(their church services are called meetings) I wore my cross and got the funniest looks but ohwell. I have angels and crosses in my house too, they dont like that either but again ohwell. ;)
As Yerusalyim said he will be pressured in to raising the children witness, but he doesnt have to. I wish you all the luck in the world.
Angela
I have respect for your views, all i ask for is respect back. You may not agree with me and you may, either way cool with me. I may agree with you and i may not, either way I respect it.
Angela married to Shawn a non-practicing doubting JW.
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Christina77
Well today, he left to go to his sisters for 4 days... this may be what we need. I have never been away from him for more than 2 days, so this is really going to give me some time to think. I am just so stressed out because of this, it is really starting to effect our sex life. I told him last night that I can't even remember when the last time I had an orgasm and him trying more to please me makes it worse. I just can't seem to relax by knowing what his beliefs are and what will happen to him when others find out about our relationship. Yet I still want to have sex with him. And now my parents are starting to really get on my case about him. It just seems that when things get bad, everything seems to get infected by it. He is really starting to notice that more is bothering me, so hopefully he will do the right thing.
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wasistdas
Hi, this is Regina, "whatsthisabout?" I lost my password so dang it i had to register again. Anyway. OK I just have to say something about this video thing. I respect your feelings spider and I dont want to come accross like I'm attacking anyone for the sake of it, but here it is. I mean I don't know you, but you strike me as someone I might meet in one of my classes and end up talking to all the time, not even knowing what each other's religion was. Who knows, maybe maybe not. There are a couple pretty intellectual people on here. By that, I don't mean "comes up with good comebacks". I dont know though lets see how it pans out. Maybe this is a small point but what we've talked about in my English class just can't let me avoid it. The idea of watching videos by the Watchtower society makes you cringe or whatever it was? Well, its not the fact that you feel that way, I mean if you do, you do. But good lord, come on... ANd HOllywood DOESN'T? You actually seem like you would be turned off by Hollywood. I've seen so many videos and read so much stuff about big corporations, and industry, that I do'nt even like going to the movies anymore. I mean, if we're talking about people who want to control minds, goodness gracious lets look at corporate America!!! How many of you go out and buy something that you've seen on a commercial or in a magazine? How many teenagers do you think see romantic Julia Roberts or Drew Barrymore movies, or all those teeny-bopper flicks, come away from the movie feeling like they're life does'nt fit what was portrayed in the movie as the way their little lives should be?? So then they go out and dress like Sarah Michelle Gellar because they think it will change something. INdustry only sees people as consumers. But yet, most of us are entertained by what it produces. So, if one is going to react negatively to videos produced by witnesses, how much more strongly should he or she feel so about those done by Corporate America?! Going away from my classes I always feel like "Dang it, I have to DEFY THE SYSTEM! I WILL NOT BUY IN!!" INterestingly enough, I never feel that way when people talk about my religion, though I don't believe I would view it that differently. I don't feel like I'm part of a big mind controlling scheme I gotta learn the "truth" about and break free from. I"M pretty sensitive about that kind of thing as well.
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wasistdas
OK Six of Nine. Truth then. YOu must be familiar with the fact that Witnesses refer to their faith as "the truth". What then is the truth we are talking about? I looked the word up in the Cambridge dictionary and I found 2 basic uses. 1, it can be used as "the quality of being true." So, one uses the word to judge a particular thing by as a quality. What Jehovah's Witnesses teach, for instance. Truth or not. The second way the word is used is "The truth is the real facts about a situation, event or person." I find the second definition more relevant. We need to make sure we know what situatoin exactly we are dealing with. You, are dealing with the issue truth on the level of "the truth about Jehovah's Witnesses." I, however, choose to approach the issue of "the truth about God and of the Universe". This has led me to choose the faith of my parents versus what other people have presented me. I mean, this won't stop me from listening to other people. Search for truth I believe involves the looking for of a solution, and once one satisfactory has been found, the subsequent verification of it. I'm at the verificatoin stage. So far, digging into criticism has only made my faith stronger. So, Six, we are dealing at different levels I guess. I am not looking at truth as applied to a particular organization, but as to the world and why we are here, and what I should be doing. This has LED me to being one of Jehovahs' Witnesses. I am though concerning myself with the issue you are more focused on, but it does not take priority. I am approaching the search of truth I guess with a form of "scientific method." First, one has a question. There is a need. Who created things? Who is God? Second, one goes through possible solutions. One picks a hypothesis and does tests to prove it. If it is found faulty, one goes back to step 2, and so on and so on. Evolutionists realize their theory has too many holes to be truth, but have rejected the idea of God without having a solution. They are not using scientific method. Well maybe it is good enough for them. But if I were a scientist (i might be in fact, a linguist) it would not be good enough for me. Six, I can't begrudge you if you honestly feel differently about it, but perhaps you can now understand my approach and why I hold fast to it. Maybe can we agree to disagree and move on? But I think maybe this difference will prevent it.
Ok moving on, Man I just love it when people put words in my mouth. PLease allow me my measure of sarcasm. And I really love it when they seem to know so much about me like they have bugged my house and my car and my job to know that in reality, I do not do "research". ok as far as the bible goes, I'll have everyone know in perfect confidence of my lack of arrogance, that I am learning Hebrew, and when i have more time, next I will learn Greek. So I plan to be able to actually read the manuscripts and decide for myself. Now I am super into language, that is my passion so I don't criticize others who just arent. But not only will i be able to translate words, but meaning as well. I'm studying linguistics, which takes into account that language goes so far beyond literal translatoin of words. I mean look at idioms.."you're pulling my leg" or "on hand". YOu have to know the cultural and social context to understand those american idioms. I'm sure I"m not alone in the study of the hebrew and greek languages on this discussion board. So, don't tell me I'm not doing research though, because what kind of research is THAT when one learns and entire LANGUAGE?? just so he or she can be sure of his or her beliefs??!! But, if you insist, you know, think what you like. -
wasistdas
Whoa, people, I'm sorry, that was way too long
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spider
Dear Wasistdas
You said you thought I might not like Hollywood films because they control us. I guess so but there are so many controlling forces in this world and I don't want to live as a hermit. If you are aware of them then you can know how to deal with them. The witness videos are so incredibly manipulative however that they go beyond anything Robin Williams has on offer.
More about movies in a moment.I'd like to pick up on a point you made.
"What I have been taught all my life as a Witness is to NEVER believe something just because someone says it"I'd like to comment on this. You're sentiment fits with my experience to a point. I too was taught to be suspicious of what others said regarding my faith. This suspicion however was always turned outward. The system is controlled by Satan, so of course the facts are being manipulated - and there goes the knee jerk.A negetive JW article is always biased,inaccurate or unfair.
One incredibly manipulative movie I once saw was called "A Perfect World" with Kevin Cosner. It had this poor little witness child that wasn't allowed to celebrate Haloween. Sniffle.
I came out of the cinema feeling rather violated. It showed only one side and that was that a murderer is a more fit parent than a witness.
Whenever a medical drama portrays an adult JW refusing blood for her child, they never explore the reasons why they make this decision. They don't know about the faith we have for a resurection.
This is how it always is - witnesses are shown as bad, uncaring, out of touch or figures of fun. It is unfair, biased and controlling but of course it has to be this way because Satan is manipulating things to attack Jehovah's people.
Have you ever seen the movie where someone is trying to kill the hero and there are loads of suspects. Who does it always end up being? The one you least expect, of course - the most trusted friend.
Its a cliche, but usually works because there is psychological shock. The one person he trusted; his rock and anchor, was lying to him - it was unthinkable.
It demonstrates the importance of turning our suspicion inward to examine what we take most for granted.
We accept this can happen in movies, what about real life?
What do you believe more than anything? So much so that you couldn't even conceive of its falsity?
You know where I'm going with this, right? Could "the truth" be a lie.
I do not refer to Christianity, but to the man made organization of Jehovah's Witnesses that claims to be God's only mouthpiece.
Could it be lying to you? Give the idea room to breathe rather than immediately shutting it out.
There are of course too many reasons why "the truth" is true - you don't need to spend time examining the critical.
Do you feel that? - this immediate denial. Most here have. Many have gone beyond it.
I am being unfair. You are learning Hebrew and Greek so you are obviously committed to finding answers. You want to examine Christianity through learning the biblical languages. Many here that left the witnesses continue to be committed christians. It is the organization itself that so many are angry with because of the way they were lied to,treated and controlled.
Once you recognize the control you can do something about it.Ask yourself - do you examine the teachings and religious history of Jehovah's Witnesses with the same level of suspicion that you do to those that attack it.
If you are here then you must have glanced at the "watchtower-observer" and "Freeminds" sites.
Are these all biased, unfair and inaccurate. Are they out to manipulate and control you. You've already rejected the Nazi link out of hand, I noticed. Have you dismissed the rest too. If so then touch you're knee to feel if its moving.
The witness videos controls as does other media. This is not true of every piece of material you examine. Use you're intellect to determine which is which but give them due consideration all the same. Somewhere along the way there might be a perspective you haven't considered.
Read "Crisis of Conciounce" by Raymond Franz, if you haven't already. It is written evenhandedly and offers a unique view on JWdom. People harp on about it as though it were the second coming but it really is insightful and helped and educated me enourmously
Remember,apostate literature is only the other point of view and you must know this is important.
One last film referance. "The Truman Show". I related to this film big time. I thought my life was one thing only to find it was another. Truman could have lived in his artificial world for the rest of his life. It really was pretty nice in there, wasn't it? Was he a fool to leave when he didn't know what was beyond his little bubble?
Is the blue pill better or the red? Only you can decide.