Wow. It doesn't make sense that at a time when gay people are much more accepted in secular society they would choose to take such a harsh stand, and not just against gays, but even their children. It sounds like their leaders are just as clueless as the GB.
LisaRose
JoinedPosts by LisaRose
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Mass Resignations In Mormon Cult
by cofty inthousands of mormons have simultaneously tendered their resignation from the cult following secret changes to the handbook that further discriminated against gay members and the children of gay couples.. "last week secret revisions to the handbook for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints was leaked to the public, sparking a furious backlash and ultimately resulting in the mass resignations.
" source....
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What Is She Thinking?
by thankyou ini'm a non-jw guy.. joined this forum 2 weeks ago to learn about jw.
i enjoy the valuable intelligence, humor, and "community" it provides.. question:.
it appears that a non-jw guy is "off limits" to a jw girl-gal.
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LisaRose
I mean is she thinking that since the guy is in "the world" that, no matter how nice he has been, he must be inspired by satan or something?
Not exactly, but he is considered "worldly", and that's not a good thing. JWs are discouraged from forming friendships outside the organization, and that goes double for romantic relationships. They do believe that Satan is always trying to mislead them, so she might see it as Satan tempting her.
Has she likely consulted w/JW family members or JW friends who negatively influence her?
It's very possible, or she might have kept the relationship secret, it's not something she could be open about.
Or, have her "brainwashed" beliefs just short-circuited her ability to think rationally?
Yes.
Does she likely experience "mixed emotions"?
Yes. There are more women than men in the organization, it makes it hard for women to find a suitable partner. She is probably quite attracted to you, but at the same time to marry outside the religion is socially unacceptable. They also are quite strict about sex outside of marriage, so that can create a lot of guilt, if that has happened between you, or if she has even thought about it.
It's hard for a non cult member to get how much they manipulate their members. It is a religion of guilt. They disfellowship and shun people, for things most people consider normal. They use guilt, fear and obligation to keep people in line. She might sleep with you in a moment of weakness, then feel guilty and confess to the elders. This might lead to being privately counseled, what they call "reproof", or public reproof, or disfellowshiping, it depends on the elders. If disfellowshiped, her family and friends would shun her, it might be months, if not years before she would be allowed back. It's not a good thing to go through.
I wish I could be more hopeful, but this is how it is. We have had a lot of people come here with similar stories, it doesn't usually end well, the deck is stacked against you.
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Hodgkins Lymphoma Returns
by azor inmy sister was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma earlier this year.
we thought treatment worked as she finished her chemo treatment a month ago.
i just got a call from her that she has lumps on her legs and she has been extraordinarily tired.
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LisaRose
There is only so much you can do in light of the situation. You can get her alone and make sure that she knows you will support her no matter what she decides. You could tell her that blood, is a SYMBOL of life and so cannot be more important than an ACTUAL life, and that her children need her, but after that you have to let it go, to attempt to force anything will likely backfire, it's a cult after all.
Sometimes peace comes with accepting the limitations of a situation and knowing you did all that you could.
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83,000 theocratic facilites?
by average joe ina bethelite was telling me that there are 83,000 theocratic facilities world wide.
he compared that to 35,000 mcdonalds and 21,000 starbucks roughly to show the size of the theocratic organization.
i am not sure where the 83,000 comes from what would he be counting?
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LisaRose
Every generation thinks things are worse than they have ever been, that it couldn't get much worse, so we must be living in the last days and the end of the world must be soon. Various groups have thought the same at various points in history. Charlie Russel thought the same, he believed he was living in the last days and Christ was surely to return soon, bringing the end of the world in 1914. It was only when that didn't happen they decided that Christ had returned invisibly and they determined the end times had just started.
I was around when they believed Armageddon was going to come in 1975, that the generation alive in 1914 would not pass away before the end. People then also thought every negative news event signaled the end, the Vietnam war, the cold war, earthquakes. Everything confirmed their belief that it couldn't go on much longer. 1975 came and went and the Watchtower tried to pretend they hadn't led everyone to think it was going to be end of the world. Forty years later and they are still beating the same drum, they have redefined the meaning of the word generation, as if it means something different now. They learned nothing from their failed prophecies and still claim special knowledge of the end, despite the bible clearly stating that no man knows the day or the hour.
So what makes you think a terrorist attack that killed 127 people means the end? As horrific as it is, hardly compares to things that have happened in the past, the crusades, the bubonic plague, WWI and WWII, the Spanish influenza, the mass killing of six million Jews, the mass killing of people in Cambodia.
Don't get me wrong, mankind faces many challenges, but since God hasn't seen fit to step in before now, why would he at this point? What is so special and different about things right now that it means the end of the world?
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JAMES WOODS is in the hospital (heart related)
by Terry injames woods has been a long time regular on this discussion group in all of its incarnations.. he had some kind of "heart-attack" and has been in dallas' emergency ward for several days.
he also has a blood clot doctors are working to break up.. 972-261-4412 is his cell number.. he was in a talking mood yesterday afternoon.. i bet it wouldn't kill him to get some well-wishes.. james goes back a long way as an ex-jw.
he knows where the bodies are buried :).
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LisaRose
I remember him very well, please let him know we are thinking about him and hoping for the best. -
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Watch: Comedian Lewis Black Reads 18 Year Old's Awesome Resignation Letter To The Mormon Church
by Captain Schmideo2 inhttp://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/watch_comedian_lewis_black_reads_18_year_old_s_resignation_letter_to_the_mormon_church(warning!
language!
).
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LisaRose
This was hilarious. My DIL was raised Mormon, she was on a mission and suddenly realized that she didn't believe the hogwash she was trying to teach people. I guess she also found the difference between eating McDonald and selling it. -
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Why do most Christians churches have masonic and/or pagan symbols?
by kabwell inhas anyone looked at the local churches in their area and seen pagan and freemason symbols both inside and outside.
i am not a jw but at least they don't seem to follow this trend.
why do "christians" wear a symbol of torture and death ?
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LisaRose
Just about any image or symbol you can think of had some pre-christian use, there were people around for a long time before Christ and we are talking about very common shapes. What is important is what the person wearing the cross feels it represents, not what you feel it represents. The Watchtower tries to pick and choose what images and symbols are good and which are bad, wedding rings, which had pagan meaning are OK, the cross is bad. It's arbitrary on their part and hypocritical.
Stop judging other Christians.
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Humans are not wired to want the truth
by rebel8 inthat's what i suspect.. perhaps some of us retrained our brains to not surrender to a natural urge to believe the simplest, most drama-laden spins on facts.. examples (at least i think this is the truth!):.
the clock.
the son of muslim activists makes a device that, on purpose, looks like a bomb.
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LisaRose
I agree, we seem to only accept information that fits in with our beliefs or our concept of ourselves.
If you want to see cognitive dissonance in action, read this blog by a mother who did not believe in vaccines. Her children got whooping cough, and were so sick they were vomiting from coughing, but she just kept giving them more homeopathic medicine, chiropractic visits and herbs, despite no improvement.she believed immunity from having contracted the illness was better than immunity from vaccines, despite any evidence, other than her faith in homeopathy.
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Hi noobie here.
by Grags inhi my name is graham (but i much prefer to be called grags), i'm a 38 year old married man from the uk and have been studying with the witnesses for about 3 months.
i do a study every saturday and love every minute.
in john 6: 16-24 jesus's disciples get onto a boat without jesus and set off.
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LisaRose
Welcome. There are many inconsistencies in the bible, to believe that it is some perfect and cohesive narrative is simply wishful thinking, don't fall for it.
The Watchtower likes to selectively quote scriptures, even parts of scriptures, followed by a lot of conjecture, it can get confusing, so be sure to read everything in context. Most of their beliefs don't really hold up once you start to question things, so take nothing at face value, look for the logical inconsistencies. When it comes to the history and beliefs of the Watchtower, verify everything using neutral third party references, like Wikipedia. They lie about their history, and they don't tell people some of their more disturbing beliefs until they have studied for quite a while, so be wary.
They also use cult mind control techniques, like controlling your time (hours of meetings everyweek, obligatory door to door work, etc., controlling who you can talk to (ex members are shunned, friendships with non JWs are discouraged), and they claim to be the only path to salvation, all others will be destroyed by God at Armageddon, which they believe is eminent.
But since you are already questioning things, I am sure you will figure all that out for yourself.
Lisa 🌹
