APOSN-TATE: They'll change it and say, "Our adjusted understanding on this matter is that Satan and his demons were not ousted from heaven. Rather, they merely overlapped with the humans already on Earth."
Ha, I like it.
wbts rewrites/carefully edits their own history.
since 2005, i have been through a lot with with wbts.
recently i came across a suggestions that they will start denying that they ever said satan was hurled out of heaven in 1914.. in my experience, it is one doctrine many ordinary members are clear about - you ask them what supposedly took place in 1914 and they'll say, "satan was hurled out of heaven, therefore world war i started.".
APOSN-TATE: They'll change it and say, "Our adjusted understanding on this matter is that Satan and his demons were not ousted from heaven. Rather, they merely overlapped with the humans already on Earth."
personally i think it is 1914 and the following " this generation " doctrine.. this particular doctrine went right against jesus's own words of " no one knows of the time not even he " .
he also admonished his true followers to not set a time upon god's own sacred time .. the leaders of the wts even back to the late 1800's set a time calculated on their own theology 1874 being the first time set and proclaimed by c t russell, also proclaiming 1914 would likely be the year of the final day of judgment armageddon.
all throughout the 20th century the wts held to this doctrine but was eventually revised of course when it was realized this generation had passed away who saw the events of 1914. .
This is like asking Mary Todd (Mrs. Abraham) Lincoln why she hated the play. There's so much to choose from and the answer will depend on your frame of reference and your own circumstances.
There's the cross/stake issue, great crowd and other sheep, mediator for only the 144k and whether that is a literal number. But to go to the roots- selecting and insisting that Jehovah is God's name according to the English version of the Bible and inserting it into the Greek Scriptures. That is the biggest one.
Maxwell Smart Publisher: You need to come back to the truth because the entire world is lying in the power of the wicked one and Jehovah is going to end this system any day now?
Me: I find that hard to believe.
Maxwell Smart Publisher: Would you believe you need to come back because the entire world is indifferent to Jehovah and Jehovah is upset about that and the end may come eventually?
Me: Not much different. I still find that hard to believe.
Maxwell Smart Publisher: Would you believe you need to come back because the Governing Body tells us to shun you and Jehovah is a real jerk and the time of the Biblical Armageddon is anyone's guess?
Me: Well, maybe. Except for the need to come back.
now that i'm out if i ever do find someone and settle down and start a family, my parents wont be a part of it.
my dad wont walk me down the isle if i get married, if i have kids they wont know their grandparents.
oh and by the way i had my freaking tubes tied so as not to have kids in this system.
A big platonic hug to you, Nikki.
I have family in the JW's, my wife and my mother and my in-law family. But I realize that my particular situation has enabled me to avoid family shunning. I have no kids that are torn between the world and the religion of my wife. So I am plenty depressed at times about what I am dealing with, but I recognize that some have it worse.
We have former JW's that don't get to see their grandchildren or whose entire family shuns them.
All I can say is that if I had to go through some or all of that kind of stuff, I would rather do that rather than quietly go back to the Kingdom Hall and live PIMO (physically IN, mentally OUT). If I did have little kids, I would get DF'ed because I would want to offer them a real life with extracurricular activities, holidays, birthdays, dating, music, fun. I wouldn't want to skirt the issues to keep peace in the family and let the kids suffer.
And in many ways, I do that for myself. I don't skirt the issues to keep peace in the family. I tell the family to avoid discussion of the religion and so will I. That's peace enough. I lost my JW friends but not the family. I got new friends who are way better now anyway. And if I had to lose the relatives, my good friends are up to taking their place.
You do need to slow down, but not stop living a regular life. You can pursue a love interest. Just know that you might need to find yourself more than find someone else. But no harm in doing both. "Road to nowhere" above said it beautifully. My half-brother is so much younger than me and we don't really know each other. I have reached out, but his family situation is really damaged by his circumstances. I don't know how it's working out, but he married a lady with kids and who was tight with her family. He embraced her family because they were what he needed. I hope he's happy. I hope you find what you need and embrace it.
a lot of bad things are happening there lately.
people on vacation are mysteriously dying or getting violently ill. i’ve been there three times in the past.
the first time it was great!
I was leery about visiting the Dominican Republic before any of this latest stuff happened.
So yeah!!!!
many of you have asked about my story, so here it is.
it's a bit long lol.
however i still loved jeremy but because he wasn’t a witness i knew i could never be with him and have my family.
Nikki, that is a compact story- WOW! I mean, it seems like you said your whole life in a few long paragraphs.
I hope that sharing it has helped you.
I am going to recommend that you start a healing process. Currently, some of the very best books for self-therapy (which is free except for the cost of the books) can be found in the writings of Bonnie Zieman- a former JW turned therapist.
Start here- https://www.amazon.com/EXiting-JW-Cult-Handbook-Witnesses/dp/1508477132/ref=asc_df_1508477132/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312129792228&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8695491500288780152&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021728&hvtargid=pla-448551095427&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60258872617&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312129792228&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8695491500288780152&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021728&hvtargid=pla-448551095427
Beyond that, I must say you need to be careful with using real names, regardless of the fact that you are never going back.
it really is common sense, but nobody here seems to recognize or acknowledge this blatant and obvious truth.. the holy bible is the result of the catholic liturgy.
they used these scriptures in their religious practices and confirmed which books would and would not be part of their cannon.
they picked, preserved and promoted these books and gave 'the word of god' to the world.. i know that pisses off some folks, but it is the truth [not the 'truth'tm].
Jehovah's Witnesses are Unitarians with a Protestant Bible Canon.
Take that.
there have been a number of threads / posts here over the years about ex jw`s needing to see therapists for what they are going through , and i can appreciate that.. obviously there are many ex jw`s on here that haven`t ever felt the need to see a therapist ,and i`m just wondering why not ?.
why does one feel the need and another does not ?.
is it to do with born ins as against those who were converts ?
there are many ex JW`s on here that haven`t ever felt the need to see a therapist ,and I`m just wondering why not ?
any words of wisdom?
?.
"Should a prospective Mormon avoid asking former Mormons or outside sources what's wrong with becoming a Mormon, or should he just read Mormon-approved materials and trust that they have 'the truth'?"
i think every congregation has their group that sees everything as a sign that they are god’s chosen people.
if a witness didn’t go to a meeting and a storm came and destroyed their house and killed them, and only the kingdom hall was saved, that was a sign that we should be in jehovah’s house.
if russia persecuted jws , it’s proof we are living in the last days.
I became a JW as an adult (with much exposure as a kid).
I needed to latch onto something in my life, so I suppose I was a bit gullible for awhile.
But a couple years into the religion, I pretty much figured out that good times and bad times and natural disasters and political changes and war and peace and changes in the doctrine- ALL INDICATED TO MANY JW's THAT THE END WAS IMMINENT!