mrs. add and i have seen a need in our area for this.
it all started over month ago when she gave her yearly talk on what is a cult at our local uu congregation.
their was several newcomers in the audience who have recently left the high control cults.
Religious cult recovery is quite different from addiction. Be careful and don 't try to morph the 12 steps. Don't say that your people must declare that they are/were helpless to the cult and came to believe a higher power can give them strength or guidance.
Stick with just allowing people to say they were affected by a group or set of beliefs and desire to share with others like them. Tolerate no bullying of any current beliefs within your group, from atheism to non-Christian beliefs.
some doubt about the bible completely, some partially.
what if the bible turns out to be a product of humans, nothing divine.
would you still believe in a creator?.
What if the bible turns out to be a product of humans, nothing divine.
What if....?
Oh, that is so funny. The jury has already returned on that issue.
The Bible actually hurts the idea that there might be a god because so many people believe it represents such a god.
No proof exists. I don't believe in fire-breathing dragons or "God" without proof. The Bible made it easier to realize that.
my boyfriend, who is a disfellowshipped jehova's witness, asks me to study the bible for 3 months or he won't marry me (i'm a muslim woman).
he loves me and really wants to marry me but he is doing a passive blackmailing: if i don't study for 3 months, 1 time per week, in my home country, and without him, there will be no marriage... as a muslim, i believe the bible is god's word so i look at the bible from time to time and would be happy to study with him.
but the fact that he is kind of saying "study the bible or bye bye no marriage" is really hurtful.
I will be a bit harsh. In Islam, many many many many men treat the women as secondary citizens. Often, in America, if I see a Muslim woman driving a nice car, it is because her husband's SON is in the car. No son, then she drives a not-so-nice car. It sounds like you are going to wind up with a non-Muslim who treats you the same way many many many many Muslim men treat the women.
You can do so much better. I don't care for the Bible or the Koran, Christianity or Islam. But your boyfriend definitely wants to dictate Christianity to you. All that would make him happy is for you to renounce your faith and become a Witness and raise children according to the Witnesses ways. Nothing short of that.
a pet peeve of mine is that there are numerous christian denominations (other faiths with their 'holy' books too), all claim that their interpretation of their 'holy' book is the correct interpretation.
my conclusion is that either their god is a very poor communicator or simply doesn't exist.. i used to believe all this stuff when i was a jobo and later a church going christian.
i simply cannot, in all honesty subscribe to it all any more.
As my willingness to examine Jehovah's Witnesses was in the early stages, I figured 'Christendom' would turn out generally more accurate with the Bible. But as time went on, I came to see that any given group can find a way to make it seem that the Bible supports anything they want it to support.
I won't take you down my trail in this post, but once I added science to my journey out of the lies, I was done with the Bible.
my turning point: serving on a child abuse judicial case.
.
JRK: My big break was Googling Jehovah's Witnesses and finding out about the UN/NGO scandal.
I answered the 'pinpoint' part of the question, but second to that was also deciding to simply Google 'Jehovah's Witnesses' and being unafraid to look at it all.
my turning point: serving on a child abuse judicial case.
.
The 1995 change in 'this generation' deeply disturbed me and bothered me for years, so it was the beginning of allowing myself to doubt that the doctrine was absolute.
anyone here into guns.
i know alot of the euros here hate the idea but i wonder if there are any other members who are collectors or who are into hunting, target shooti g etc.. no shame zone?.
I haven't heard any follow-up on how it's being received. My stepfather, a gun nut who attends meetings for the sake of his JW wife, wants the elders at the Kingdom Hall to attend some classes about arming the flock and being ready for a shooter to come into the Kingdom Hall.
i have an uneasy feeling inside that something is coming this year or the next.
perhaps a new big announcement that turns jwdom on it's head.. we've seen the statement in the watchtower november 15th, 2013 which said:.
watchtower november 15th, 2013 - page 20, paragraph 17.. .
Removing any doomsday connection dooms the organization. They thrive on "The sky is falling...soon."
Increased shunning would be difficult for even hardcore members. It would have to be tied to some major doomsday-connected announcement, or else it will shake out many more members.
One day soon, they may announce a 2034 deadline, but I see that as a last big gasp from a nearly dead organization. Right now, it is most likely they will do more money/property/merging congregations stuff....or put all literature online and shut down printing.
has anyone found that since leaving the borg that their tastes have changed in what they find attractive in the opposite sex?
beards, long hair, tattoo's, etc).
i don't now if it's just my taste changing as i get older or if it's coz beards were frowned upon by the society that i find them attractive now and didn't when i was younger 😊.
I am so much more appreciative of others doing whatever makes them happy, including tats or long hair, short hair, no hair. Don't really care for beards on ladies, but if it makes her happy, she seems more beautiful in it.
what is your level of tolerance for ambiguity?.
ambiguity is a clunky, uncomfortable word, imho.. .
ambiguity means "open to more than one interpretation".
Bill Clinton meant that '... "at this very moment," (currently) Monica is not sucking my penis.'
While that's true, it is just as bad as (but not any worse than) telling everyone that their definition or understanding of "illegal immigration" is wrong and yours is correct. Or that we must agree that the glass is defined as half full or half empty according to your rules.
Have you ever run for office? Like Trump, you are a very stable genius (in your own mind).
