Similar story, lots of years of tilting at windmills. A word of advice. Go on a few former Mormon sites for a couple days. There are many, many people in a similar place as former JWs. I have dear friends who were kicked out of Wisconsin Synod Lutheran church, Disillusioned Baptists and even 2 ex-nuns. Oh and another that was in a sex cult that kept her pretty much a prisoner.
peacefulpete
JoinedPosts by peacefulpete
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46
Nobody else understands
by ElderBerry inif you once were fully pimi and truly believed jw doctrine to the core like i once did, when you come to the reality that it is not the truth at all it can be extremely devastating.. i think only other ex jws could ever understand.
i wasted my entire life i thought the real life was yet to come to wasted the best years knocking on doors.
now i’m so angry.. i can understand why so many top themselves when they realise it was all lies..
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Santa?
by peacefulpete inthis rare phenomenon occurring above storm clouds 40-70 miles above the earth has only been observed scientifically a few times previously.
the link above is the first real time video of it occurring.
now some science obsessed people might try to dismiss this as some boring physics display, but we know don't we......... it only stands to reason that his magic sleigh would require periodic maintenance and practice runs.
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peacefulpete
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This rare phenomenon occurring above storm clouds 40-70 miles above the earth has only been observed scientifically a few times previously. The link above is the first real time video of it occurring. Now some science obsessed people might try to dismiss this as some boring physics display, but we know don't we......... It only stands to reason that his magic sleigh would require periodic maintenance and practice runs. How wise for Santa to do this above the cover of thunder clouds.
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Who will be killed at Armageddon?
by ExBethelitenowPIMA inif the current doctrine is that only baptised witnesses are going to survive and everyone else burns them what about this new update new light that some from before the flood and sodomites will be resurrected?.
but didn’t he mention at the agm something about there is no point jehovah killing them and then resurrecting them again?
it seems they are confused about what they teach and that’s why brother jackson joked about “is this what we used to believe or what we believe now?”.
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peacefulpete
So from what I understand is that the ‘noo light’ is that even if you die before Armageddon, if you rejected the WTBTS at any point (whether you slammed the door or you were born-in and left) you will die.
Don't know what has been said in last 20 years but they always said that people who had 'sufficient opportunity' to enlist but didn't, would not be resurrected. It was part of their last days=judgement period package of 1914 doctrines.
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Bathwater
by peacefulpete inmany who have become disillusioned by some particular recent wt offence, separate from the church physically but retain the indoctrination the wt installed in their brains.
a familiar trope is often used,.
"don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!".
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peacefulpete
Rattigan...Do you mean the JW doctrine you were taught to believe or those of 100 years ago? How about the doctrine of 100 years from now? Is it maybe possible that your determined viewpoint was influenced by your time with the JWs?
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Bathwater
by peacefulpete inmany who have become disillusioned by some particular recent wt offence, separate from the church physically but retain the indoctrination the wt installed in their brains.
a familiar trope is often used,.
"don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!".
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peacefulpete
Many who have become disillusioned by some particular recent WT offence, separate from the church physically but retain the indoctrination the WT installed in their brains. A familiar trope is often used,
"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!"
Implying that the interpretative belief system that identifies the church might be worth holding even if the people that created it are unworthy of allegiance. In fact, I have concluded after 22 years on this forum that this might be the default position for a majority of those leaving. Maybe it's natural. Maybe it's rationally defensible given the situation. Maybe it's just an understandable first step in a longer process.
A lot seems to depend on the whys and hows of a person's exit. Someone who suddenly finds themselves outside the church against their will, is surely more likely to cling to the past than someone who leaves tired of intellectual dissonance. Be that as it may, people leave for many reasons, the question now is:
"How much was bathwater?"
I'll ask this. Can a person really say they left the control of the WT if they presume most of what they said was accurate? For groups like the JWs, control is not necessarily physical, but intellectual and emotional. Therefore, the control might be a lifelong sentence if a person never challenges every aspect of the indoctrination they experienced.
Questions such as, "How do I measure my worth?, How do I measure the worth of others? How do I live a purposeful life?" These require a fresh examination. In the church, the answers were simple, obedience to the church.
The answers to other pragmatic questions such as: "Do I believe the future is a potential or a predetermined outcome?", will have great effect on your choices. An exiting JW's answer to that question is likely determined by their conclusions about the Bible or other forms of soothsaying.
Bathwater can be mirky and difficult to peer through. We might be trepid about dumping it. Perhaps the wise course is to pour off the water little at a time. If we get to the bottom and find it was bathwater all the way, we have lost nothing but an imaginary baby.
Real "babies" (causes, and people) can now have our much-needed attention.
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We’re getting out.
by MissDaSilva inbeen in for 20 plus years but decided to get out with my son.
can’t do this anymore.
never seen such hypocrisy and clickyness anywhere else.
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peacefulpete
Take some time to breath. Be resolved not to make new commitments for some time. Be willing to question everything. Seek good research not just search results. Leaving a high control community like the JWs is not a small thing yet millions have done it successfully, in fact billions have left other similar churches and belief systems. That is a singularly important epiphany to make. You are not alone and the JWs are not unique.
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The 'Tower has no Face
by NotFormer injust thinking about how the wt has evolved over the century of its existence.
before the gb tricked knorr into making them the ones responsible for everything, the president at the time was very much the face of the society.
after franz, it all became a bit nebulous as to who was in charge.. is the current situation more advantageous to the wt or less?.
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peacefulpete
Magnum, I concur that it's seemingly difficult to have a cult without a cult leader. But, however counterintuitive it might seem, the shift toward idolization of "Jehovah's Organization (tm)" has probably ensured the group will survive a long time. Group loyalty can be as cultlike as that directed toward a person.
I wish I could agree that in the Information Age, controlling minds and loyalties is more difficult. It hasn't proven to be the case. Vested people simply shun opinions or facts that threaten their beliefs, or even better interpret them as persecution. We know that better than most people as we did it for years. Recent posts on this site by well-intentioned believing posters demonstrate that well.
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Gods on Paper and Stage
by peacefulpete inwere the works of homer, aeschylus, sophocles, etc.
acting blasphemously when creating their works of fiction because they included the gods in the stories?
when homer placed dialog into athena's mouth, was he wrong to use his creativity to make her come alive for an audience?
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peacefulpete
From the preview alone I see his argument. From the standpoint of a ruler in the age of emperor cults, a form of Christianity that proclaimed a present age of divine goodwill would be preferable to one that despised the present world and wished for it's extinction. Hard to govern or elicit civic mindedness from detached Gnostics and apocalypse obsessed Christians.
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Gods on Paper and Stage
by peacefulpete inwere the works of homer, aeschylus, sophocles, etc.
acting blasphemously when creating their works of fiction because they included the gods in the stories?
when homer placed dialog into athena's mouth, was he wrong to use his creativity to make her come alive for an audience?
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peacefulpete
I'll check it out.
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The ''dreaded'' birthday cake
by RULES & REGULATIONS inthe watchtower—study edition | september 2023. study article 39. let mildness be your strength.
11 if a workmate asks, for example, why we do not celebrate birthdays, consider: could he be wondering whether we are allowed to have a good time?
or might he feel that our position will dampen the company’s team spirit?
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peacefulpete
Gen 21:8 The child [Isaac] grew and was [a]weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
So ask your mom when she cut you off the teat and celebrate that day each year!
