so i'm absolutely clueless concerning relationships.
i had barely any friends at all growing up a jw kid & absolutely no interaction with "worldly" people or any guys whatsoever.
i have had a relationship of sorts with a guy for 4.5 months now, but i'm so clueless!
I just realized recently that it was not just me, even non-JW adults have a difficult time making new friends, and so forth. For instance, those who have to move to a new city for work might have a difficult time.
This episode of This American Life had a segment about that:
http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/587/the-perils-of-intimacy?act=2#act-2
It helped me realize that I am not alone with this problem.
in case you read my other thread regarding my existential crisis and how it was making my life miserable and left me feeling hopeless, purposeless and joyless i though i'd share what's recently happened to me and my way of thinking and have i've for the time being resolved my existential crisis.
i write every day in a journal.
i've been doing this for years.
I agree. I do think there is something greater than ourselves, but I don't think any one religion has all the answers.
As a JW, I couldn't understand what prevented evolution. Toward the end I was having a very difficult time with the Watchtower stance on "macroevolution" and a global flood. Of course, I could not speak about these views.
Not many groups on that list threaten people with dissenting views with shunning.
i used to try really hard to fit in when i was an active, true blue jw.
somehow it hardly ever paid off.
time after time i attempted to mingle and make jw friends.
I can relate. Especially as a teen, I felt left out, and was very lonely.
What made it worse is the cognitive dissonance...after all I was I in the "truth", a "spiritual paradise an among the "most loving people on earth". Had I know ttatt back then, I could've taken it in stride.
sometimes it's hard to know if our own experience of jws was typical and what features were peculiar to our own area or the individual jws we knew personally.
i was wondering if others experienced this among jws:.
a few times on the ministry, when we were working wealthy areas with large houses, some brothers and sisters would make the comment that they look forward to taking ownership of one of these big houses after armageddon, when the worldly people have vacated them.
Well there's also that Mormons don't believe the Big A will bring the genocide of seven billion non-Mormons...
sometimes it's hard to know if our own experience of jws was typical and what features were peculiar to our own area or the individual jws we knew personally.
i was wondering if others experienced this among jws:.
a few times on the ministry, when we were working wealthy areas with large houses, some brothers and sisters would make the comment that they look forward to taking ownership of one of these big houses after armageddon, when the worldly people have vacated them.
I've heard this as well. This seems to be part of the the rank and file JW culture, the unofficial folklore as it were.
When I was in, it made no sense to me. There seemed to me to be no guarantees what structure if any would survive Armageddon intact. Of course, the idea of seven billion everlastingly killed horrified me as well. It is something I struggled with as a JW.
I believe in being respectful toward the people themselves and tactful in approach. it's the best way of winning hearts and minds in order for such a person to adapt a healthier viewpoint.
something struck me the other day.. elders are told to maintain confidentiality with regard to the details of judicial cases or congregation "discipline" in an attempt to dignify individuals etc.. this is even the case for known child abusers!.
yet, if they suspect someone of being an "apostate", for instance being a member on this forum, they will spread such information far and wide, through the witness "grape vine" to congregations miles away (or even in other countries).
so, does that mean they place more importance on "apostasy" rather than child abuse?.
There is nothing truly confidential in this organization.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/218612/how-judicial-committees-violate-individual-privacy
lowell menorca says he fears persecution from the iglesia ni cristo.
they say his claims are 'fabrications''.
by eric rankin, gavin fisher, cbc news posted: jun 14, 2016 2:00 am pt last updated: jun 14, 2016 10:52 am pt.
In reading about this group on Wikipedia they are very similar. They've "Bible students" who have to go through a 6 month study using a publication. If they are living by the cult's rules and can answer all the questions, they can get baptized.
i've been thinking: what with all the bunker videos at the rc, instilling fear and paranoia and excitement among the masses, what could the gb do as a follow-up?
how do they feed the flame?.
how about identifying the "king of the north"?.
They could easily shift the timeline around, especially trotting out 1 Peter 4:17:
"For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the outcome be for those who are not obedient to the good news of God."
If the Governing Body says judgement has started with JWs, then it's time to close ranks, circle the wagons, close the ark door, change the tone of the message...and expect the attack on "false religion" next.
The cry of "Peace and Security" could be viewed as having already occurred...
