..and found myself agreeing with 95% of what he said.
well who would have thought.
i would recommend everyone should read this.
I've said it here before, but I too highly recommend The God Delusion. Read it with an open mind. Dawkins is about 90-95% right, I found I disagreed with him on maybe only one or two key points. Misquoting Jesus, I would also highly recommend. This book explains how the textual criticism process works, and is very revealing about where and when much of what we presently call the bible came from.
j
is dfing someone religious persecution?.
i do not believe what the wts says, i do not want to belong to that org.
because of that, i no longer have contact with my family.
Am I being persecuted by the WTS for my choice of beliefs?
From their perspective, NO. Nobody deserves religious freedom but the WTS.
j
not a witness but have them as neighbors.
i have been studying watchtower publications for years and have spent lots of time in discussion with witnesses in hopes of having them read the bible without watchtower glasses on.
i will be going to a jw wedding soon and am wondering, since i'm not a witness, what to expect.
my advice byob
Been there done that at j-dub weddings!
j
i'm am so heart broken to see my boyfriend with so many internal strugles.
he is a good man, a good god fearing man and this is why it has been so difficult for him to leave the jw's religion.
we love each other so much and we want to be married but he fears the consequences of marring somebody who is not a jw.
Blueday,
He needs to come here, and perhaps some other ex-jw sites to help him get over the jws. I wouldn't go as far as marrying if he remains divided.
j
recently i have been reading a book, nearly done now, called "under the banner of heaven".
it is about some fundamental mormons (the ones who practice polygamy andwho are not accepted as lds among regular members of the slc based church.. in this book, while explaining the attempted insanity plea for a fundy lds murderer, they had several psychiatrists (both lds and non lds) explaining insanity.
the argument i thought was interesting was when the defense brought up his very unorthodox beliefs (they sounded nutty to me-and would be considered so by most lds folks also).
am wondering why it took me so long to even ADMIT that I had doubts about religion altogether. Not just the JWs. I remember I used to wish I had been born into a family that had a faith that was undemanding and undramatic. The morals w/o armageddon, d/f'ing, etc etc. But really, how is it much different but a different set of crazy ideas? I don't know. I am really wondering.
The only differnence here is most other "mainstream" religions have had time to "settle down" somewhat, hence, no drama. The overall trend of almost any religion has been similar. Even the jws don't walk around with sandwich boards anymore. One could only expect that they will continue to tone things down somwhat too in the future as reality begins to play a bigger role in the minds of the r&f.
Bottom line: insanity=no reality.
j
i'm an evolutionist.
one cannot argue that evolution isn't a fact.
however, i'd be interested in the better informed amongst us here explaining in simple terms how the feeling of love evolved.
Evolution is a scientific theory, not a fact.
Evolution is a fact. How it happened in its completeness is what remains theoretical.
j
finally said it out loud even though my actions have been showing it for quite some time.
a fight ensued and now she isn't talking to me.
the wierd thing is when i just didnt go she didn't say much (she hasn't been for over 2 mos for a medical reason) but god forbid i should actually vocalize that i don't want to go... i didn't want to give her any fuel to call me an apostate so i just blamed discouragement and my dislike of the elders which she already knows.
Remember that part of the problem is that women in the Borg have no identity except that of their husband's. It will be hard to stop being an "elder's wife."
What Blondie said here is important to remember. I wen't through similar things with my ex. While, I'm not saying that we would have been able to overcome our issues anyway, I will say, that had I been more mindful of this, I could have had more peace. It bothered me tremendously that she just "wouldn't get it". So my advice is, expect that she won't "just get it". Give her time, (a lot of time, if your family is worth saving, and it sounds like it is). Help her build an identity outside of the organization, really, this will help make it easier. It's about both of you.
j
little drummer boy's comment on the d&d thread made me think about this:.
when i became one of the borg, i threw out about $600 worth of pnp materials and books, a fact that i was proud of at the time and which makes me sick now because almost all of it is irreplaceable.
he also threw away who knows how many cds that were "bad" for dubs; also threw away a framed picture of a dragon that was really cool, and maybe some cool rock band t-shirts.. i don't remember having to physically throw away a lot of stuff, but i had to resign from the citizen's band i was in (played the clarinet), threw away my good friends from high school, etc.. what did you all throw away when you became dubs that you regret now?.
1. Marijuana
2. Smoking
3. My Led Zep albums, (have those back now, though)
j
i thought i'd open a discussion on the mental health condition of most practicing jws.
and get viewpoints on what kinds of mental health effects the wts.
may have for most of the people that are practicing witnesses.
I have seen many a JW w/ mental problems, some of which were family members. I have wondered about this for a long time, in my human mind I have come to this conclusion: 1) they either start out w/ having mental problems and are looking for something better and are susceptible to the JW or 2) they are fine until they are in the religion for an extended period of time and are worn down mentally by all the "you are not worthy" and "the end is soon to come" brainwashing (but since they will not allow their members to seek therapy, the disease of the mind just continues)
It's a vicious cycle. Typically, many who are unstable are attracted to the WTS, (my anuts, uncle, mother, etc). However, their conditions usually only worsen, (all are very bad alcoholics now, and mother dead from DUI). Thier children, including myself, suffered from clinical depression from exposure to all of the negative energy the WTS created. I'm now healthy, now that I am out.
It's the same typical problem eveywhere in the WTS.
j
cults come and go so do you think the wtbts will eventually come to an end?
i think about this sometimes and i wonder if i will live to see it.
the reason why i want it to end is because i don't like the administration.
If the WTS is going to survive, they will have to morph, (as many religions have done). Somehow, I doubt this will happen though. Today, they are far too stodgy, for the world in which we live, (i.e. the Internet, Cable news, etc). Unless something happens soon, (it won't), they will loose numbers in droves. They may successfully tap other markets, but most of those markets don't have the deep pockets the org. needs. Having said that, I don't see any wholesale "end" happening soon. Just a significant reduction of numbers that will hurt them, and force them to sell off properties and assets. Once these are depleted, then maybe...
j
