Everything is "Satan" ... Now what?

by roxanesophia 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  roxanesophia

  ^Whoa that just makes me so glad I can skip out without ever really being in.

  Thanks for the kind words and welcomes, if it weren't for this forum, I'd still have the 'truth' in my heart and being dangerously close to baptism.

  Retrovirus: So why would rank matter in an organisation full of love? You've been there, and probably know better than I.

  It wouldnt and my study conductor had the nerve to say it makes them better than a Catholic church because a priest dresses in a way to look superior to everyone else. No, in the JW hall, EVERYONE looks superior. HAHAH. I've always wondered what expensive suits had to do with serving God. Maybe if they went to the doors looking like casual, every day people they'd get a better response. That was another weird thing for me to notice: leaving a meeting one afternoon and going to a restaurant in town. I was in good witness attire which makes me feel 20 times my age, and a moron, and other females witnesses show up in jeans and tshirts. They'd changed. What? don't wanna be recognized as God's people now? i use that argument because i've heard many times on the platform that JW's are identified by their dress.

  Farkel: "Your story is just too pat. Almost as if it is from a script"

  I dunno what to say, I AM a writer. Something I'd probably have to abandon if i became a JW. But it's a real story... if only it wasn't.

  Terra Incognita: We were approaching people getting into or out of their cars in the parking lot

  Holy hell just that sentence alone reinforces how ridiculous this religion is and why Satan would be having a good laugh.

  Curtains:

  the satan card is being overplayed accross the board - yesterday's watchtower for example - I sat there thinking satan is the main character here and everything else is built arond him. The pic of satan manipulating the world made me sick to think young children were imbibing this rubbish

  LOL someone beside me said "I can just imagine a brother trying to pull the strings off Satan" as if to say only a JW would be in the position of fighting Satan. *sigh* the idiocy is too much to bear sometimes.

  Meanwhile when i bring up questions/theories they can't defend about Satan, i hear "It's better not to even talk about Satan, he loves the attention whether it's good or bad." Yet entire talks on the platform can be devoted to him.

  Curtains: I want to assure you - you have not been wasting her time.

  I figured there's some benefit in having studies, etc and you just confirmed there is, especially when you said she gets kudos from the congregation regarding me. I constantly hear "You're doing so well, everyone's noticed."

  Thank her profusely for sharing her faith but emphasize that this is her faith not yours and agree to part company.

  I think i'm going to go with something along the lines of that actually. "I respect that this is your truth, but it's not mine." I love the fact that "THE truth" is not mentioned in that sentence.

  re: preying on people with social anxiety/mental disorders, my brother is disabled but he doesn't appear to be that way. Brothers who were callling on him soon stopped doing so once they were aware he is disabled and can't be easily converted.

  Steve2: I laughed when you said she had told you how much research she's done for youI laughed when she said "Using the Watchtower CD." Oh that's comforting, right after I've learned the Watchtower is full of shit.

  jean-luc picard: It has already been said: jws are not the only ones who believe that.

  Believe in Satan? Yeah, but they sure act like they're the sole religion not ignorant of his machinations.

  Lunatic Faith: Very helpful, thank you. Makes sense that going to someone's home, where you get a coffee and having them read out bible scriptures etc is better than being the one speaking them yourself at the doors.

  LOL AussieOz. They actually have, it's no joke. EVERYTHING is Satan! I want to get a tshirt "BLAME SATAN" made up to wear to kingdom hall.

  The one thing I've heard ad nauseam is "YOU JUST KNOW IT'S THE TRUTH! THINGS START HAPPENING THAT PROVE IT. EVEN BEING OUT IN THE FIELD SERVICE CAN ONLY BE WITH JEHOVAH'S BACKING!"

  Where does this thinking come from??? It's what convinced me that God really is backing them. What explanation could you offer that goes against this wishful thinking on their behalf, that God is helping them spread the lies of men? *sigh*
• 

  life is to short

  First welcome to the board.

  I was a born in and believed it totally for years, I have pioneered, been to Bethel and was an elders wife most of our marriage.

  I hate field service and I did not like to have Bible studies. I never knew why though and I put a ton of guilt on myself because of how I felt. I just hated the thought of telling people that they way they have believed their whole lives was wrong.

  I suffered depression the whole time I was active because I never fit in. The other elders wives treated me like dirt. All the cliques in the hall were horrible the way they gossiped over truffle things and would shun even inside the congregation.

  There were meetings I would go to when my husband was the only elder in the hall and to busy to be with me and we would be there for hours before and after the meetings, no one would even say hi to me. It was like I was DF'ed and no one had told me. It was horrible to have to sit there watching all the groups laughing and having fun while I was being shunned for something that no one would tell me about.

  Till this day I do not know why that happened to me, I do not know what I did. I tried and tired and tried to please everyone and not make anyone mad in the hall but it was impossible. I do not know why. I always wondered why it was so hard being that it was the "truth" to get along. I had the so called friends over to my home all the time, I had the whole congregation over 80 people twice in my very small home and yet I was never and I mean NEVER invited into their homes.

  For me it was the pedophiles that finally woke me up. I found out we had three at one time and seeing them being treated so much better than I was an elders wife blew me away.

  Anyway I hated having Bible studies because I felt like I was lying to them. Looking back I never believed any of it in my heart I now realize. I truly doubt the sister who is studying with you believes it all herself so don't feel bad as she is lying to you and to herself. It is the only way you can keep going in this cult.

  I lied to myself to stay in it for so long. Just be glad you saw it now before you got baptized.

  LITS
• 

  psychiatric

  Hello! I am in the same situation as YOU! I know exactly how you feel! You know what i did? i took al my books and everyhting i had to do with the oragiztion and took it to my study conductor and told him im FINISHED WITH IT.

  After a long talk , and hearing this same verse over and over and over and over and over and OVER again: P[roverbs 3:5,6. VERY popular verse. They interpret this as to ntot think on your own and listen to God, and God is telling you what we tell you etc.

  All i would adivse is, listen to what people say here, who are very expericnced in it who know all about it.

  I have been told by people here on this forum, Go with your guy feeling and do what YOU beileve to be right.

  I am going to do exactly that. My gut feeling tells me this isnt right. I have had SO MANY things in this organization, which was like wow moments for me and like wow they really have truth here. But then what about all the doubts? and when people liek people on these forums here are telling you the REAL truth about it? its the devil himself! were all the devil! LOL honsetly! What rubbish. Were people just liek they are not the devil.

  Go with your gut instinct on what you beileve to be right. Im not going to say go ahead or not, hey im not baptized even myself, and i did have intentions of it, but recently, learning more about these lies, i have no intention whatso ever to do with this organiztion.

  God speed!
• 

  thetrueone

  Proverbs 3:5-6 (New International Version, ©2011)

  5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
  and lean not on your own understanding;
  6 in all your ways submit to him,
  and he will make your paths straight.

  Boy there's a Scripture that I'm sure every Christian based faith shoves out whenever their flock starts to ask intelligent questions.

  Most religions are in BUSINESS to control people, the WTS. is no different in this regard.
• 

  Found Sheep

  I had a study stop after they were progressing well. It was a young couple. I cried! Now looking back I feel bad about it but glad they woke up.

  You don't need to explain yourself or listen to her. Just say you are done! close the door with a smile
• 

  skeeter1

  You didn't waste her time...

  She used you as a study to report her time in the field service to the Watch Tower publishing company. You were a crown jewel in her social tiara amongst the JWs. You vastly increased her social standing and most JWs don't have studies.
• 

  tec

  Welcome to the board.

  There's not much that I can add to what everyone else has said. You already know you want out. I liked what you wrote above, about it being her truth, but not yours. She may wish you to elaborate on that.

  When I stopped my study, I said that I needed time to study on my own for a while, without anyone else's influence. I needed time to think and to reflect on my own. I know that I hurt my study conductor. But, she remained my friend, and we still talk sometimes (e-mail, because she moved away). She is a sincere witness, from what I can see, and she does care for me as a friend. She has even said that she doesn't care what 'religion' I am, she still cares about me. I care about her also. I spent two years studying with her. She was one of the closest people to me, in my life for those couple years. My leaving has not stopped us from talking, or caring. I think perhaps I was just fortunate in having her, but it also meant I hated hurting her.

  Anyway, it is Christ whom you should love the most. Put Him first, in regard to seeking and following the truth. Not your study conductor; or the witnesses in general, or anyone else. Of course, He is also loving and forgiving and merciful, so you should emulate that when speaking to her, and ending the study. But you already know that.

  Peace to you,

  Tammy
• 

  EntirelyPossible

  My question is how do i tell a zealous study conductor that I want to stop studying if "Satan" is the answer to everything?

  "I no longer wish to keep studying with the JWs. Please do not call on me anymore. Thanks!"
• 

  Haulin Oats

  You need to recognize whats more important....her time? Or yours?

  We've all seen what happens when people sacrifice their thinking, personal development, and time for an organization. Hint: there's 7 million of them today (sans a few asshole elders who only care about themselves).

  I get that you're torn between being the "nice guy" and "being yourself". Again, what matters in the end is YOU. You don't owe anyone anything in this life. If you don't stand up for yourself, then no one else will.

  Farkel: LOLS! And I see why you react with that intensity: you're right. It is very dangerous.
• 

  grewupjw1969

  Simply say: I have decided to end my study. Thanks

  Grewup