Posts by curiouscynic

38

Empathizing with homosexual struggles as a hertosexual

by sabastious in

when i was a bible fundamentalist jehovah's witness it was easy for me to dismiss homosexuality as a sin and move onto the next, more interesting, topic.

it is much more complicated than that for me at this point in my life.. i think about it this way:.

what if i, a heterosexual, were raised in a community where everybody was homosexual and heterosexuality had a harsh taboo attached to it.

curiouscynic

Umm... that video made me cry. Never seen it before. It's going on my FB. Thanks.

38

Empathizing with homosexual struggles as a hertosexual

by sabastious in

when i was a bible fundamentalist jehovah's witness it was easy for me to dismiss homosexuality as a sin and move onto the next, more interesting, topic.

it is much more complicated than that for me at this point in my life.. i think about it this way:.

what if i, a heterosexual, were raised in a community where everybody was homosexual and heterosexuality had a harsh taboo attached to it.

I agree, no one is 100% straight or gay. If we have physical specimens that display dual sexual features, could you imagine that the mind wouldn't be different? Magazines marketed to straight men are full of color photos of smoking hot, hard-bodied dudes. LoL.

I have a very close friend, that I love dearly, who is a gay former JW. We've known each other since our teenage years and he now talks about how inimidated he was by me because I appeared so masculine and confident. Ha! I was just as scared as every other teenager. Anyway... we XJ-Dubs all have our issues, but if you want to talk to someone who is have a REALLY rough time... try a homosexual XJW. He was 21 when he came out and sex has always been difficult for him. He can't help feeling guilty. For all the time I've known him, he's FINALLY in a healthy 'mo relationship. We're 34...

I'm with Nickolas, the bible is shit. But, Jesus said that the greatest commands were to love your god and your neighbor. He said NOTHING about hating fags. That was Paul's deal and he was famous for "beating his ass" what does that tell you about his sexuality??

33

"Freeing" those "trapped" in the Organization.

by curiouscynic in

i have family members who are still jws, many of you do as well.

assuming your folks are similar to mine, they are, for the most part, rational.

they are jws because they believe and they have a tremendous amount of scriptural knowledge, albeit of wts origins and with the expected bias.. if i chose to demonstrate, to my father particularly, the inconsistencies in wts ideology... he might just decide to leave.

curiouscynic

with regard to mind control, search "BITE model" and see if you can apply it to wts--diamondiiz

Very interesting... I haven't thought about any of this in so long. But the society's discouragement of reading outside literature was one of the first things that REALLY bugged me. If the WTS doctrine is so great, why wouldn't it shine against the criticism? If it's so obviously the truth, wouldn't you be encouraged to continually compare it against alternate information sources? What would there be to fear?

It's not that I fail to understand that such tactics exist... it's more that I have a difficult time comprehending their effectiveness.

33

"Freeing" those "trapped" in the Organization.

by curiouscynic in

i have family members who are still jws, many of you do as well.

assuming your folks are similar to mine, they are, for the most part, rational.

they are jws because they believe and they have a tremendous amount of scriptural knowledge, albeit of wts origins and with the expected bias.. if i chose to demonstrate, to my father particularly, the inconsistencies in wts ideology... he might just decide to leave.

curiouscynic

Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses. I'm excited that I've managed to start a fire-retardant thread.

I'm not sure that I agree that the questions I posed equate to a false dichotomy, but I suppose I understand why you'd draw that conclusion.

Honestly, the mind control thing is a very difficult concept for me to understand. Just because they try to make service seem compulsory doesn't mean it is. Once you've isolated yourself within the environment, the cult mindset is continuously reinforced, I get that... but I, much like cyberjesus, was interested in the truth [the 2nd time I left. The first time, I was primarily interested in getting high and laid. But I was 16!], the REAL truth. Once I was confident that I had sufficient information to conclude that the WTS wasn't teaching the truth as I understood it, I was gone. Too easy. Of course, a couple years later I was abandoned by my family for my decision and that wasn't so easy... but I still have a hard time understanding the feeling of being trapped, because to me, you just walk away. It's that easy.

With regard to family. I've had virtually no contact with mine in years, at their insistence. I texted my parents recently on their anniversary, Happy Anniversary! I love you! I received, I love you too. as a reply. That's all the communication we've had all year.

If I asked my dad to have lunch with me, he would. I think he would even allow me to discuss religious issues with him for a little bit anyway. But even though I don't think what he's doing [in the org] is necessary, or right. It seems to make him happy and, provided it were possible, I would feel guilty for taking that away from him. Even if it meant I regained him as a friend. Even if it meant that his eyes were opened and he began to think for himself...

33

"Freeing" those "trapped" in the Organization.

by curiouscynic in

i have family members who are still jws, many of you do as well.

assuming your folks are similar to mine, they are, for the most part, rational.

they are jws because they believe and they have a tremendous amount of scriptural knowledge, albeit of wts origins and with the expected bias.. if i chose to demonstrate, to my father particularly, the inconsistencies in wts ideology... he might just decide to leave.

curiouscynic

There is obviously no right or wrong answer, "varied" is what I'm interested in. I'm curious what everyone's thoughts are.

Interesting point, Black Sheep. I've just never really thought of them [converts, recruitees] as victims before. It seems to me, fairly obvious what you're getting yourself into. But I've seen many say that's not how it was for them, so...

33

"Freeing" those "trapped" in the Organization.

by curiouscynic in

i have family members who are still jws, many of you do as well.

assuming your folks are similar to mine, they are, for the most part, rational.

they are jws because they believe and they have a tremendous amount of scriptural knowledge, albeit of wts origins and with the expected bias.. if i chose to demonstrate, to my father particularly, the inconsistencies in wts ideology... he might just decide to leave.

curiouscynic

I have family members who are still JWs, many of you do as well. Assuming your folks are similar to mine, they are, for the most part, rational. They are JWs because they believe and they have a tremendous amount of scriptural knowledge, albeit of WTS origins and with the expected bias.

If I chose to demonstrate, to my father particularly, the inconsistencies in WTS ideology... he might just decide to leave. During talks that he and I have had along those lines, he essentially said that he didn't WANT to know. He said that this [JW life] is what he's done his entire life and he didn't know what sort of person he'd be without it. In a nutshell, he WANTS to be a JW and would prefer to ignore evidence that disproves WTS theory.

My question[s] to the group...

Do you attempt to "free" your loved ones from the destructive WTS cult by any means necessary? Or is it appropriate to acknowledge that they have the right to make their OWN decision [mind control notwithstanding]?

52

Does the Watchtower Society have the "Biggest Lie" ever published?

by Terry in

.

the truth that leads to eternal life.

the truth that leads to eternal life was a bible study textbook published in 1968 and revised in 1981 (now out of print).. the 1990 edition of the guinness book of records included this book under its heading "highest printings".. according to the guinness book, by may 1987 it had reached 106,486,735 copies, in 116 languages.. .

curiouscynic

What intrigues me about 1975 is how many JWs lived through it but deny that it ever happened.

Some witnesses went deep into debt thinking that they'd never have to pay it back. That's got to suck...

18

Do you know anybody that got reinstated really fast after being df'd?

by Iamallcool in

i was reading one of the posts here that 15 year old was df'd but he got reinstated in 5 months.

do you know of any case that someone got reinstated pretty fast after being df'd?.

curiouscynic

Fastest I've ever heard of is 9 months.

14

Please President Obama - save us from the Watchtower (religion)

by Fernando in

does society need to be saved from religion, or does religion need to be saved from society?

who needs protecting?.

mouseover: no religion.

curiouscynic

Oh Jesus... don't get me started on the tax free status of religious organizations. I'll hurt someone's feelings for sure.

And with regard to organizations not having a right to manipulate individuals; I would remind you that you, as an individual, are free to seek membership in any organization YOU CHOOSE.

14

Please President Obama - save us from the Watchtower (religion)

by Fernando in

does society need to be saved from religion, or does religion need to be saved from society?

who needs protecting?.

mouseover: no religion.

curiouscynic

Wow... 1st Amendment anyone?

Many of you are still Christian and advocate an eradication of JWs? How 'bout your own brand of Christianity? It's all ice cream and popsicles and deserves its place in society?

While it's true that a divisive religion, prone to brainwashing and indoctrination, like JWs, can be harmful. I personally see very little significant differences between JWs and the rest of Christendom and would just as soon see all mythology eradicated. However, that isn't my decision to make as mine is just one voice among many. So I must favor a system in which all are permitted to worship, or not, as they see fit as long as they don't hurt anyone else. Other than their own offspring, of course, they can screw their own kids up as much as they want.