Western society has tended to attempt to create a magical childhood for children and lace it with make belief to increase the impact. Maybe this is a reactionary dreamworld to world wars etc which may have traumatised some childrens thinking with a doom/gloom perspective. Albeit well intended it can cause as much damage to some individuals as they move into adulthood and realise the world is far from a dreamlike place to spend your life in. Humanity seems always to be trying to formulate a better future for its progeny - this is natural and understandable for any life on Earth. JWs have their 'story' to explain the world and much of the bad is challenged by the idea that this world is being misled by satan and a better world is coming soon to a place near you so don't mix too much with people who are being misled. As such their whole philosophy is about building shares in an afterlife no one has seen and about keeping this life at arms length. I can see how this conditions children to psychologically detach from mainstream society and also why they at some point react by diving in at the deep end and finding they can't swim and hoping a regular person will rescue and teach them - which may not always be a good thing dependent on who that someone is! Even their parents may be going through the same and do their best to steer them to safety but with the common history of shared confusion may be ignored or rejected. And since rejection is endemic in their community as a standard practice it is readily defaulted to in times of stress or emotion irrespective of how damaging that may be. JWs attempt to have a perfect view of the next life and a stubbornly off road view of this one. I often have hoped they were correct because I would love to see humanity walk into such a place in spite of my own destruction - It would give me great pleasure to know something better was in store. I just can't continue with the utter unhappiness of all the destruction and speak of evil. It is like living in torment or conflict. Pointless!
R.Crusoe
JoinedPosts by R.Crusoe
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JW's negative outlook on humanity
by kwintestal inalways thinking that the world around you, the people you see and deal with day-to-day, and the forces controling everything are wicked and evil in the most horrible ways is pretty much standard thinking for most active jw's.
none would think more so then those who have had this indoctrinated into them from infancy.
how do you think this effects people trying to leave?
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Only a few are interested in the truth
by Hiddenwindow init occured to me that most jws, as many other religious people are not really looking for the truth; they are rather interested in certain degree of spiritual or emotional confort or at least the illusion of such confort that can be found in cults or religions.
truth inhabits the realm of the intelect, and the intelect is of little use to religious people.
what do you think?.
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R.Crusoe
If my life carried on with my dad staying alive when I was 11 then I think that maybe I would have continued to feed on the purity of happiness that he alone imbued within the family that I was in! It would take a second of his arriving in a room for calm and dissolution of fear to descend! After he died I have never ever realised that same aura. I have been searching in others, and in myself where I know it exists, to recreate that mood but alas to no avail except on occasions with my own children who are now grown and have had other influences beyond my comprehension. What I once had was lost with the passing of my father and I have met no one who levies that same influence. It was in my grandmother though she was weakened by the loss of her second son(my father) and more needy than able to inspire oftentimes. I think I looked to: the odd friend that came along; the rarely available female; any chance encounters with family; work colleagues I shared time with; seek intensely of religion for some time' and thought I had found it in the futures of my own children - this lifes magic - but alas to no avail, whenever it came close life stole it away! Maybe the truth is not to be searched for and found. Maybe it just happens the magic of what malkes the world seem magical! It seems so wonderful when I see people who have spent their lives in that place I rarely chanced to visit. It would have been my hearts desire to have been there along the way but truth leads some of us to realise that this magical place is but an idyll, a dream, a wonderland for some to spend a moment and others a lifetime. Reality is more stark and rigid, seeking to harm and judge and condemn and force others into errors with which to trap them and keep them prisoner. It cares not for the joy of others. Not everyone delights in the flight of their neighbor. And whilst some don't the reality remains! Truth.
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R.Crusoe
Mmmm! I was brought up outside JWs by a mother for whom my best was never enough -and I blamed myself for all the failings of trying to help 3 younger sisters and a brother when things went wrong. I was burnt out so many times that I ended in a dead psychological space that I thought was depression - which is a useful term for many - to give you a name which puts all the onus back on the person who must get over it. What it really is in my view amounts to repeated expectation coupled with limited appreciation followed by a weakening that results in utter rejection! Some of it must have been my own fault, just on the basis of chance and likelihood! And so I alone, from the family I got turfed out of, then married as a teenager and then joined the JWs! Please do not laugh too much!
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Im only mostly dead.
by seven006 inas miracle max (billy crystal) said about westly in the movie the princess bride, hes only mostly dead (i love that movie).
i have gotten a few inquiries over the last few months about why i am posting a little more recently.
wasnt i ill, sick?
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R.Crusoe
7006 Dave, Interesting reading your post about diet and how you respond personally to food depending on how your body reacts to it. It seems to me this is also true of other inputs in our daily lives. It is true that if I ever get into a habit of running, that after about 3 times a week for 6 weeks my whole metabolism changes and so does a lot else. It is ok to keep it up until something goes pear shaped - like responsibilties for others or whateva - and especially when too much is put upon you psychologically and you have to stand on your own where thoughts are concerned! When someone understands - really understands and is actively interested in the core of who you are and how you think and feel and then is proactive in your situation, it is like life has value - true value and you are able to maintain programmes which are positive for yourself and others around you - like a team who keep each others lives maintaining happy positives! I feel we all need this holistic essence to our lives and when we do not have it for whatever reason, each of us are shunting along on less than the 4 cylinders needed to maintain a smooth ride that soon has us feeling the same way. I hope you have people close who you feel close to! Also it struck me what you said about diet helping with your condition, and whether you had ever tried that Aloe Vera drink called 'bits n peaches' for a trial. There are other flavors but that was the only one I could keep taking and wanting more of! It is claimed that Aloe Vera has a vast number of the amino acids required by the human body for all sorts of cell funtions etc. and even some that the human body struggles to manufacture for itself. Ray
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Quote of the Day
by purplesofa in" it is never too late to be what you might have been".
i read this today and thought of you.
purps.
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R.Crusoe
Apologies for my posts but hitting RETURN key does not post as a paragraph - just continuous text!
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Quote of the Day
by purplesofa in" it is never too late to be what you might have been".
i read this today and thought of you.
purps.
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R.Crusoe
I feel that somehow this quote sums up the status quo in western society. I have lived ll my life trying to prove myself wrong but have been painfully reminded too often to even consider any alternatives. Here is the quote of a one American female and a Mt Churchill 'Sir, if I were married to you I would poison your coffee!' to which most of you know Churchill replied, 'Madame if I were married to you I would drink it.' To which I reply, 'In both cases the man drops dead!
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When did you STOP considering yourself a JW ? ? ? ?
by JH inany particular event sparked this change of heart ?.
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R.Crusoe
Even though I faded in about 88,it is only this last 6 months or so I am able to get a perspective on the world tha is not filtered by some JW seive in my mind. I now even think parts of the Bible are completely contradictory to the extent that it proves it cannot be Gods' word! And I see excellent things in other faiths as well as evolutionary theory. I can read Dawkins and agree 99% with him but still go with my gut feeling of thinking there is a loving force of mindblowing power but at the same time not being overly concerned if I am wrong. I am ok to be what I feel with whatever input comes along that may change me. I have already morphed via forced scenarios so much change is more likely than not.
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Three Sisters Came by the house yesterday
by purplesofa ini saw a car pull up in the driveway.
i was at my computer trying to order some tickets from ticketmaster, having a hard time with some details.. then i saw one sister, two then three get out of the car......up to my door.. i had a towel on my head (just got done coloring my hair) new clothes pulled out in the living room for my grand daughter, she was laid out of the sofa watching hannah montana.........i looked like hell.
they, of course, all dressed up.. it was around two, and i figure they had been out in service and was finishing up their time.
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R.Crusoe
Funny, same thing happened to me! I gave them all one for the road and they went away blushing but with contented smiles on their faces.
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Amazing Krut Vonnegut quote
by monophonic in"and lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been.
but she did look back, and i love her for that, because it was so human.
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R.Crusoe
The OT is full of servant classes and ruling classes. Equality does not seem its focus! And some kings regarded as close to God were having new wives for every day of the week. I'm sure the king didn't earn his fortune 12 hours a day down a coal mine - so how was he so holy? And some of us have beaten ourselves up over knock knock knockin on heathens doors, singin' take this JW badge offa me, I don't need it anymore!
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PLEASE tell me I'm crazy!!!
by Elyse867 inso... hubby and i have been getting into discussions with a lot of people lately about the wts.
i want so bad to know what to believe... i don't believe that the 'truth' is the one true religion anymore, but i don't know what to believe anymore when it comes to certain things... what happens to you after you die, etc.
so, i've been praying a lot (i still believe in god) asking him to direct me somewhere, just give me something to believe in.
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R.Crusoe
Mental clearness you make an accurate point. It is true that people are drawn to groups that seem to have the best 'story' about who God is when the questions in individuals minds make them feel very insecure. Most people who feel there is a God feel an overwhelming responsibility to do what God wants. IMHO it is dangerous for you and your family if you follow any intense regulation as a result of such insecurities. The emphasis should be on gradual awareness and NOT haste! Some faiths teach you how to be worried and reliant and almost an emergency situation for you to get on board! This will be bad for your soul! When you are happy with decisions rather than worried, guilty or stressed - then God is with your human nature! It is why I am learning to hate parts of the Bible because it instills conflicts and disharmony in the soul rather than love. I remember that God is love and so too I try to be!