As a therapeutic exercise, I attempted to rewrite the list of possible EX-JW Dysfunctional Beliefs from Mindful Construct in terms of my own perspective. I meant this to be simple, but it didn’t work out that way. Some of it is rewritten, some of it is explanatory, some of it is questioning – but I’ll honor where this took me and not go back and make the form of the responses consistent. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only ones who know…
Recent conversations in the comments have reminded me that I haven’t done my posting of recent news related to Jehovah’s Witnesses. The purpose in doing this is simply to highlight, over time, the kinds of issues that the JW mindset and set of demands can create or intensify in some. It is meant to encourage more compassionate and ethical policies and behaviors within the Watchtower organization and to help former JWs understand some of the clusters of danger that may…
I posted a little while ago about the little boy who couldn’t see a future for himself outside of the JWs. All Jehovah’s Witness children grow up this way. Watch this short new video to get a sense of the kind of message that all JWs – even children – hear ad nauseum. Notice the way non-JWs are presented, and the image of God that they create. There is no room for love, compassion, or grace in this message. I’ve…
When my friend Janet sent me a link to this piece from a very recent talk (given by James Rayford at a Kingdom Hall in Houston Texas), I actually forced myself to listen to it. I’m going to comment below, so that you can begin to understand what happens to the self-identified “Great Crowd” (who believe they will inherit a paradise earth after Armageddon) in all those hours of listening at the Kingdom Hall. This is why they can feel…
Dear C – As always, take what is helpful to you and reject what doesn’t ring true to your inner self… If there is a spirit of the cosmos, and if that spirit is what we mean when we talk about “God”, then I have to believe that the spirit is a spirit of Love that holds everything together and makes everything related and connected in a million, mysterious ways. All our words about God are simply ways to place…
Wayne Jackson has an interesting biblical analysis of the JW position on Armadeddon at Christian Courier. A sample: In Matthew 24:5ff, Christ set forth a number of “signs†that would herald the impending destruction of Jerusalem. He plainly declared: “this generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished†(v. 34). Of special interest are the expressions “this generation,†and “all.†The word “generation†(genea) refers to “the sum total of those born at the same time, expanded…