Elder asks me why we quit... (Long)

by Odrade 85 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Eliveleth

  Odrade, great post. I love listening to someone with a way with words. You have it!

  doesn't mean he won't seriously consider the things that have been said to him.The seeds have been planted.I know there were times when the friends would mention something to me about another elder or some belief and while I tried to explain it I also acted like perhaps it didn't bother me that much.Later, however, sometimes much later, it came back to me and I gave the matter serious thought.The cumulative effect of all these "plantings" can grow to a serious situation that provides ample motive for personal contemplation and subsequent action.In my case it led to leaving the org.

  As Breaking Away said above, I believe that seeds are planted each time we hear something unfamiliar. We begin thinking. It is not hearing the same thing over and over and just accepting it. As

  Watkins said: " The right seed planted at the right time."

  I think this is what brought all of us out of the WT. I remember things that people said at the door, that I tried to refute, but got me to thinking. If we can break through with questions or thought-provoking statements then they will have to think.

  Thank you for this interesting post.

  Love and hugs,

  Velta
• 

  moshe

  Thank you for this story. JW elder types fade out quick when their faulty logic is deflated- exit stage right.
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  freydi

  Beating a child every day for a year. Best analogy I ever heard for df'g.
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  yumbby

  Thank you for posting this. Excellent! I hope I handle it as well if it ever comes up.
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  avishai

  Yep, willful ignorance. Especially on the child molestation thing. I assume he was an elder in Oregon? If so, one case was in the Oregonian, the other on national news. Two kids, two molesters ONE congregation. Think ANY elder in Oregon did'nt hear about it? Oh, yeah, and the WTS paid out on both cases.
• 

  FormerMormon

  Mulan wrote:

  That was really good reading. Thanks for sharing. Wish I had seen it sooner.

  You did a great job.

  One more point on the Mormons. When I was about 20, the Mormons had the same number of members as the JW's. The last time I saw a number is was 22 million. That's about 4 times the number of JW's. They are doing something very right. And their kids aren't retreating to the world in record numbers. They lose some, but most stay in the faith.

  Don't worry, I'm not going to convert. Done with religion forever.

  The last numbers I heard was around 13 million. This figure is likely highly inflated--probably by a factor of two (7ish million). People inside the COB (church office building) in Salt Lake report that there are 110 year olds, excommunicated and people who have asked for membership removal who are still counted as part of the 13 million. Far greater are the numbers of people who just disappear and go inactive. The church has quite an apparatus for tracking down paying subscribers (tithe payers). Even with that, there are significant numbers who have simply walked away. Where I grew up in California, there used to be a substantial Mormon presence. Around my home, 3 stakes were collapsed into one. Of the 9 kids in my age group that I grew up with, I think two are active. Sure we started off active, went on missions, married in the temples... and found out about the lies or just drifted off.

  Sorry if I burst your bubble. Cheers, Mulan.
• 

  Mary

  Excellent Odrade! Unfortunately he did what all Dubs do: When they have no answer, they jump from subject to subject.

  He didn't believe me. I told him that 5000 pages of court transcripts had been made available online and that he could easily confirm the lies and cover-ups for himself, just look it up. He said he wouldn't be doing that.

  Ya, same with my Dub sister. When I told her about the pedophile problem she said "there must be more to it than that!" because deep down, they're afraid to look too closely at the facts of the matter, because it would be a huge dent in their view that this Organization is run by God.

  He then replied again that "those are just men" and that if I could just overlook that and "hang on for 1-2 more years, we would be in the new system and it would be over. Jehovah would deal with it. Wouldn't it be worth 1-2 more years of endurance to be in paradise?"

  There just aren't enough eyes to roll at that statement.
• 

  RubaDub

  Odrade ...

  A Great Read.

  Thank you for taking the time to detail the conversation.

  Very enlightening.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  inkling

  I don't know if anyone will actually wade through the conversation,

  Well I did, and it was well worth it. Long posts just flow right along when they are well written.

  Thank you.

  My favorite lines:

  How many times can he fall back on the same excuse like it's some kind of mantra warding off the rot?

  They CHOOSE to wallow in manure even after you hand them soap, a towel, clean clothes and point them toward the shower.

  cheers,

  [inkling]
• 

  lesterd

  I love your point of beating a child every day for a year. When we are IN the borg our thinking ablities are soooo narrowed that, in striking a match we dont see the fire or feel the heat, the JW mind is shut off after their first dictated action. I still feel the stripes of years of abuse by the hand of the org

  Thanks