Hi everyone !!!

by Durden 29 Replies latest jw friends

  • allelsefails
    allelsefails

    Welcome.

    Whatever you do - Don't get baptized. If nothing else you can just go on with your life and still have contact with your family even if you can't "rescue" them.

    Find the questions to keep asking and maybe it will work. I was an elder for 6 years. Studying the 587/607 issue finally opened my eyes to the dishonesty of the JW's. You never know what is going to hit a particular person.

  • ABibleStudent
    ABibleStudent

    Welcome Durden, I'm glad that you have awakened as a teenage, that you have not been baptized as a JW, and that your parents are "Spiritually Weak" (still thinking), because you are in a position of power to become free of the WTBTS and hopefully with your parents if you carefully plan and do lots of research about the WTBTS, its history, and about the Behavioral, Information, Thought, and Emotional "BITE" control techniques that the WTBTS uses to victimize JWs. I hope that you post regular on JWN to vent your frustrations as well as to ask for help to make your plans to fade from the WTBTS, get a better education for a good career, and to help your parents to awaken.

    One thing I must recommend to you is do not experiment anymore with drugs as long as you live with your parents. If your parents learn about your experimentation with drugs, it may undo all of your efforts to help your parents awaken and depending on laws where you live it could adversely affect your future plans.

    I would recommend that you do the following to help you to get a university/trade education, to fade from the WTBTS, and, if possible, help your parents to awaken:

    • Delay getting baptised as a JW for as long as possible, and hopefully never. You can start a thread asking for help to overcome your JW family and friends pressure to become baptised.
    • Posting as much as possible on JWN to either vent your frustrations, which will increase with time about the WTBTS, and to ask for help about specific points of your plan. It is better to vent your frustrations on JWN then to JWs.
    • Ask your father/mother to explain "Ockham's razor", "cognitive disonnance", and other terms to you that will help them to confront their WTBTS's indoctrination. Ockham's razor is a logical approach to help making logical decisions. You can also ask them about techniques to make logical decisions such as drawing a 'T" on a blank sheet of paper and write what you/they agree with/disagree with the WTBTS (or anything else that you choose) on opposite sides of the paper to help make decisions.
    • Visit websites such as www.jwfacts.com, www.watchtowerdocuments.com, and www.jwsurvey.org, and www.freeminds2.org to name a few. Make sure that you erase the browser history everytime you visit non-WTBTS approved websites on the computer that your family uses.
    • Visit Steve Hassan's website www.freedomofmind.com to learn more about the BITE control techniques that the WTBTS does use and how to overcome them. If you cannot afford to purchase Steve Hassan's book "Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs" in an ebook format, see if you can either checkout his books at the library or at least watch the following two videos of Steve Hassan at least twice: "Steve Hassan explains SIA method to rescue loved ones from unhealthy situations (2003)" and "Steve Hassan at NYC Ethical Culture Society February 2013.
    • Make more non-JW friends. When making new non-JW friends, ask yourself what do you admire/like about the person. I would recommend making friends with people who have a vision/idea of what they want to accomplish in life such as going to the university and staying away from people who just want to get drunk or high.
    • In high school take classes that will help you to get a job. Learning about/how to touch type, building things by hand in shop classes, computers, mathematics, and science are very important subjects to take if you have an interest and aptitude for them. By the way what interests you? Have you considered writing a thread about what type of jobs to look for as a teenager that will not offend your parents?
    • Ask your high school guidance councilors to help you make decisions about what you should study in high school to prepare yourself for the university and getting a part-time job. It might help to explain to your councilors that your were raised a JW and to ask them to do research themselves about the WTBTS and BITE control.
    • Start asking your parents simple questions to help them see what the WTBTS is and helping them to make more non-JW friends such as friends with parents of your friends. Reading Steve Hassan's books and posting on JWN will help you to help your parents.
    • Ask your parents to do fun things with you, to do fun things with non-JWs, or to learn about topics that take a lot of time away from them and you going to meetings and/or reading WTBTS propaganda. A very time comsuming topic to learn and one that will help you and your parents later in life is to learn about investing. If you lived in the USA, I would recommend going to the TD Ameritrade website and learn how to use ThinkorSwim to learn more about investing.

    Best of wishes to critically think for yourself and get through the double-whammy of being a teenager and a JW.

    Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

    Robert

  • Sammy Jenkis
    Sammy Jenkis

    Welcome Durden, I would like to commend you for having the courage to seek out real truth but also maybe advise that you don't want to "convert" him as much as any of us didn't like our conversion into the witness faith.

    I would suggest that you always ask a question and have another one loaded for after he gives his answer. Be logical and seek only to reason, nothing more....

    For example:

    YOU: Issue with 1975

    DAD: Well GB/Slave class are imperfect they received new light and the matter was corrected.

    You: But why would God inspire them to print that information? Is that not wrong to play with people's lives that way, a tease almost?

    Dad: The GB are imperfect men.

    You: God is perfect and mistakes are not of his nature- how then would he inspire his chosen people to believe and preach an end that he knew well was not coming? You can maybe use Matthew 24:36- how come that didn't apply to 1975?

    You can also find some more info here:http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/246720/1/WT-Society-holds-EXTREME-Responsibility-for-1975-and-False-Expectations

    Hope I've been of a little help- just question bombard, the rest will happen with time. All the best,

  • Iown Mylife
    Iown Mylife

    Hello Durden! It is wonderful to meet another young person on this forum, which is the best and most comforting website i have found, for people in our situation.

    Welcome!

  • Iown Mylife
    Iown Mylife

    Oh i should have worded that better - I am not a young person. I meant, it's wonderful to see yet another young person has found this site.

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    Welcome Durden ! your English is very easy to understand, don't worry about it, some of us native English speakers don't write as clearly as you !

    I think the best way to handle a JW who will engage in discussion is to mainly ask questions, and more questions, do not attack their answers too hard, just a raised eyebrow is sometimes sufficient for them to see that their answer is not good.

    But keep on with the questions. Posters on here can supply some really good ones if you run out.

    At some point it will occur to the JW that all their answers are simply rubbish.

  • cantleave
    cantleave

    Welcome!

  • krejames
    krejames

    Welcome Durden

  • Fernando
    Fernando

    Welcome Durden!

    Great to have you here.

    Your English is much better than any attempt most of us would make at your native language.

    Many have observed that simple questions work best, and not pushing too hard or too fast.

    You may want to check the Socratic method.

    Two of my favourite questions:

    1. Is "legalism" apostasy? (g79 6/8 pp. 27-28 Why the Emphasis on Christian Freedom?)
    2. “Can I claim to be ‘in the truth’ or to ‘love the truth’ if the ‘Good News’ according to Paul, Isaiah, Psalms and Moses is not in my heart or on my lips?” (2 Cor 3:16; 4:4; Gal 2:5,14; Eph 1:13; 6:14,15; Col 1:5,6)

  • Newly Enlightened
    Newly Enlightened

    Welcome Durden. Glad you found the real truth.

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