Posts by pronomono

4

Interesting Links!

by Atlantis in

here are some links you might find interesting!

.. https://sites.google.com/site/jehovahswitnessesmedia/weekly-meeting-material-packs .. .

http://da-ip.getmyip.com:8080/pdf/study%20prep/2013/?sort=t .. .

Maintaining Faith In God As An Ex-JW

by pronomono in

as i fade further from the jws, i'm finding it increasingly hard to maintain faith in god.

i've been exploring many alternatives from atheism, agnostic, apathetic, pagan, and satanism (not devil worship, but the promotion of self-indulgence) to name a few.

i'm thoroughly intrigued to learn how those of you who remained christian managed to maintain your faith in god and christ, especially after enduring all the lies that we've been told about them.

pronomono

Thank you Watkins, Hortenzie, Mr. Cellophane, and others for what has helped you.

Cofty: Our conclusions about the big questions are important. They should be based on a long and rational process that includes facing up to the very best arguments from all sides.

My best advice to exiting JWs is to put the question on hold for a long time. Focus on far more practical priorities like family, friends, fun, education and careers.

Cofty, I definitely like your advice. These things take time, and I need to give it that time without neglecting the other important aspects of my life.

I'm in a kind of awkard place right now, which definitely means I need time to figure it out. I'm not necessarily concerned about being wrong. I'm happy with whatever place I find myself in the afterlife. If it's a state of nothingness, I won't feel anything. If it's heaven, I expect perfection. If its hell, I'll be in good company. I doubt that I'll be punished for my lack of knowledge if I continue searching for this, and if for some reason God doesn't exist, I don't feel that a search for him will be in vain because doing so keeps my mind active. What I find odd about my situation is a general lack of feeling for myself. When I read about the lies we have been taught, I feel for all my brothers and sisters who have been misled, but am not really upset for me. I'm only upset for me when I think of how friends and family will shun me for being misled. It's almost as if I'm looking at most things from the third-person, reading a novel and feeling for the characters, but not really visualizing myself under their circumstances, as if I'm removed (at least emotionally) from the situation. Maybe that's my coping mechanism. I've always felt a little dead inside, so it's nothing new.

In taking time, I really need to take the time to read the Bible. I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it.

It's funny because I've actually been searching for God for a long time, and have just had blind faith. I remember sitting in my room as a little kid with similar doubts in God. I reasoned that if I could prove the existence of the Devil, I could prove the existence of God. So I started screaming to the Devil that I would sell my soul to him for one simple act of levitation. Something to prove that he was real. That of course never happened. If the Devil is eager to steal our souls, he missed an easy opportunity. Needless to say, I was a pretty messed up JW kid. I still have thoughts like this, except now it's going to the cemetery asking the Devil to reveal himself.

But on the opposite end of things. I've started praying to Jehovah, to the Creator, to Jesus. Out of the four, none have answered my prayers. They all seem so lifeless, like figments of my imagination. I can't explain the big questions in life. Who are we? How did we get here? But at the same time I really don't care if I can or not. Those questions aren't that important to me. But I haven't quite found what is important to me except family and friends.

One day I may find some real answers, but I do know one thing for sure. Twenty-eight years as one of Jehovah's Witnesses hasn't provided any answers to me except that they don't have any answers. It may be true that everything I know about the Bible is due to them, but they are also the reason I have been mislead so much about the Bible. Now I'm having to pick up the pieces.

So thanks again everyone for the food for though. The journey continues...

35

So what if they were wrong?

by DS211 in

this is a reply ireceived from a poster on another forum.

"actually the vast majority of interpretations of prophecy are absolutely spot on.. .

people harp on over this and that that was wrong 50 years ago, but today jehovah's witnesses have all the bible's prophecies pretty much figured out in their entirety.. .

pronomono

Of course they seem spot on, until another 10 years pass and they are replaced by New light.

73

Maintaining Faith In God As An Ex-JW

by pronomono in

as i fade further from the jws, i'm finding it increasingly hard to maintain faith in god.

i've been exploring many alternatives from atheism, agnostic, apathetic, pagan, and satanism (not devil worship, but the promotion of self-indulgence) to name a few.

i'm thoroughly intrigued to learn how those of you who remained christian managed to maintain your faith in god and christ, especially after enduring all the lies that we've been told about them.

pronomono

As I fade further from the JWs, I'm finding it increasingly hard to maintain faith in God. I've been exploring many alternatives from atheism, agnostic, apathetic, pagan, and satanism (not devil worship, but the promotion of self-indulgence) to name a few. I'm thoroughly intrigued to learn how those of you who remained Christian managed to maintain your faith in God and Christ, especially after enduring all the lies that we've been told about them. Although I don't particularly like all the ideas of the God of the OT, I find the concept of Christ appealing, but I lack faith and am unsure if I want to regain faith or pursue an atheist/anti-theist course.

Would you share some of your experiences on how you maintained your faith after leaving the JWs?

6

WT and the Wizard of Oz

by Junebuggie in

off to see the wizardmany will easily recall the story of "the wizard of oz.

" curiously, we can gain some insights about spiritual authority from this popular tale.

dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion go to the wizard because they believe he has the power to give them what they need.

pronomono

GB, Pope, sounds like a lot of religious leaders, even the one's that aren't as cultish.

28

A Faders Guide to Field Service

by pronomono in

as a fader, i'm working on a mental guide to field service.

because most of this is a mental exercise realizing that your new knowledge, the mental side of things, is what makes it so hard to preach after learning ttatt.

what presentations have you used in field service as a fader to preach the good news without preaching jw propaganda?.

pronomono

Volo, that's perfect! Lol

17

jw.org

by d in

what do you people here on the forum think of the new jw website.

i find it strange how when i was jw they made a big deal out of the internet saying it was bad.but now they new this new website and they keep promoting on their literature..

pronomono

I think it's cheaper and easier than printing literature that people won't read. One way of paving the way for cutting back costs.

178

Honest survey question on effectiveness of 'apostacy'

by Simon in

jw
friends

it seems like lots of people have big dreams of 'destroying the watchtower'.

it's usually linked to a story of how they were wronged and want some revenge.

do these 'in your face' attempts to convince people that the truth isn't the truth really have an effect?.

pronomono

Simon, you hit the nail on the head. JWs don't become apostate overnight. Since I've just mentally come out, the experience is fresh in my mind. I've had plenty of people, apostate or not, try to rationalize against my beliefs. I could rationalize certain things, but JW propaganda thoroughly discouraged me from viewing or reading any blatantly obvious apostate material.

The change for me was this forum and sites like JWFacts where I was in control. I was in control of how much information I read. I was in control of verifying facts and references. Unlike videos where someone leads you down a specific path, these websites allowed me to quickly focus on what was important to me due to excellent organization, search functions, and interaction.

Having the feeling that I was in control of what I learned is what led me to explore my doubts and is what led me here.

28

A Faders Guide to Field Service

by pronomono in

as a fader, i'm working on a mental guide to field service.

because most of this is a mental exercise realizing that your new knowledge, the mental side of things, is what makes it so hard to preach after learning ttatt.

what presentations have you used in field service as a fader to preach the good news without preaching jw propaganda?.

pronomono

Two to three hours per month (mostly informal witnessing, if you could call it that) has kept me under the radar so far. I'm not inactive per se, but I'm definitely not exemplary by their standards. The elders pushed back on me the first month, I thanked them for their concern, started doing less, and now they barely speak to me. The sad thing is my previous elders from my last congregation still reach out to me for privileges; apparently they don't know about my new situation. It will break their hearts to learn the truth when I start to turn them down and tell them why. And it will be hard because I actually care about those guys. It seems like they were the only sincere ones I've met, with the exception of one or two back home.

Anyways, the November tract work has made field service easy, but that's quickly coming to an end. There's no thought process needed and very little deception since you aren't saying anything. It's a here, read this type thing. The householder can make there own decision about it, but hopefully they'll wind up just throwing it away.

28

A Faders Guide to Field Service

by pronomono in

as a fader, i'm working on a mental guide to field service.

because most of this is a mental exercise realizing that your new knowledge, the mental side of things, is what makes it so hard to preach after learning ttatt.

what presentations have you used in field service as a fader to preach the good news without preaching jw propaganda?.

pronomono

LostGeneration, Agreed. The only reason I still go, once a month, is to keep my wife happy. I'm being patient with her to let her doubts develop. This takes time, just as it did with me. It's been 6 months now and a steady progression. It hasn't been nearly that long with her. She's already progressed to missing more meetings, saying that she'll go out in service but rarely does, and watching entertainment that the society condemns. Although she rarely goes in service, we still usually manage once every month or two. It's a start but not nearly the finish. As I help her to break the chains I have to be supportive, which means giving in to her spiritual inclinations as she has given in to my inclinations to do otherwise. With the progress that we've made, I'm sure that we will both be inactive soon.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for manning up and dealing with the consequences. I've taken a large portion of my life back already. But out of love, I want to slowly help my wife out of the org instead of destroying her world overnight. Just as Jesus slowly opened the eyes of the blind man, I'm opting to slowly open the eyes of my wife.

So to help me through this, I need some field service presentations. Because there is nothing wrong with preaching the good news. The wrong is preaching the JW propaganda that comes with the good news.

Thanks Splash/CrazyGuy for the suggestions. Hoping they turn me away doesn't happen all that much in the Bible Belt until you try to put literature in someone's hands, though.