My thoughts are that this is a forum for discussion. Venting is so important to human society. Terry is not some broadcast TV station with a FCC license that must present all views. I feel he writes for those still in who may be considering leaving the WT. He is a potent voice. The Declaration of Independence can sound bitter.
A MESSAGE to the Governing Body and others like them through human history
by Terry 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Terry
Myelaine says: " The elders here, the HLC members...ANYONE here that has made a wrong choice that's injured others as a JW must, in your economy, be held accountable. which begs the question, accountable to whom?...you see, in your muddled thinking there really ISN'T anyone who can HOLD these people (leaders or not) to account for their actions...no justice...no recompense. That's why, no doubt, you fully expect to be railing against the WTBTS until someone closes your casket. That is what no hope looks like..."
Missing the point as usual!
The Watch Tower leaders have crawled out from under their rocks in the last decade after years of anonymity.
We are seeing their faces published and a kind of turtle-wax shine is glimmering into a cult of personality.
I SAY WE SPEAK OUT to remove that luster and shine!
We "apostate" former members usually end up outside the Kingdom Hall totally unprepared to fight back MEANINGFULLY.
There are several phases we all go through:
1. They done me wrong
2. I'm depressed
3. I'm gonna act like an apostate (smoke, drink, drugs, sex, outrageous behavior)
4. Big search/Big decisions (Gee, what IS the truth?) (I found Jesus) (God sucks)
5. Fear (What if the JW's really DO have the truth?)
6. Grumbling (permanent bad mood gossip about how lousy JW doctrines are)
7. Activism (strategies for informing everybody of specific harm caused by the JW religion)
I have been through all those stages, too.
Number 7 is the only phase which fights lies with facts and information to tear down the phony publicity and self-adulation of the GB.
In case you don't remember, I recently wrote a book** about my life as a Jehovah's Witness as well as covering historical comparisons
between early Christians, later Catholic and Protestant Christians. I placed a bullseye on the WTS leadership for specific actions they have taken
to jeapordize members well-being.
I've gotten so many e-mails and messages from STILL-IN JW's, you wouldn't believe! It is having an effect and proud to actually have DONE SOMETHING.
**
(I Wept by the Rivers of Babylon -a Prisoner of Conscience in a Time of War) available on Amazon.com/also e-book download)
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Phaedra
Terry,
Amen to the OP.
Phae
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Terry
I think of everything I absorbed from my two decades attached to the Jehovah's Witnesses as pretty close to contracting malaria!
I feel pretty darned good MOST of the time. In fact, I'm way too cheerful and healthy for a man my age (or any age, for that matter.)
However . . .
every once and awhile I begin to get that fever and shakes (malaria-style) except, in my case, it is a boiling anger welling up in me.
I have to vent and pour it all out like purging toxins in a fevered sweat.
Then, it passes and all is well again.
There is no cure. There is only treatment.
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HappyDad
Very well said Terry! Thanks for all your posts. It has taken me years to finally break free from JW obnoxiousnous and just listen to what others have to say without my old "I'm better than you" attitude. My thinking has really changed now that I listen, read and think. I was physically free for years but now my mind is free too thanks to poster such as yourself.
HappyDad
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Violia
Your Bitterness is safe with us Terry. (shameless use of a Seinfeld phase)
The only folks who have no bitterness are people who lost no one or don't yet realize what has been done to them.
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Vidiot
Violia - "The only folks who have no bitterness are people who lost no one or don't yet realize what has been done to them."
You're probably right.
My dad might have died as a result of the blood ban, but I'll never know for sure.
I don't feel that my life has been disadvantaged too much (I had fairly permissive parents, actually, and went to college in the 90s), but I do sometimes feel as if I missed out on a couple of experiences that I now realize were a normal part of growing up and/or adult life.
For instance, it's unlikely that I'll ever become a rock star at this point... (okay, maybe that's not so normal, but still...)
I only occasionally feel a slight pang of bitterness, though, and it's pretty fleeting; I've still got a number of decades ahead of me, and in retrospect, I was never as personally committed to the WTS as others. I was raised in (not converted), and got baptized more for practical purposes (if there is such a thing).
Luckier than most, I guess.
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Terry
Sometimes we focus only on the effects without dealing with the causes.
None of us is going to topple the Watch Tower leadership, but then we don't have to do that to be successful.
We only have to create so many little fires they over tax themselves dealing with the fire-fighting to weaken them.
Thousands of incursions like pin pricks on every front can make a huge total impact.
One seed of doubt in an active JW mind is all it takes.
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Heaven
"The Governing Body tells us we have to all agree with what they teach EVEN WHEN THEY ARE WRONG
This is f*cked up.
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Vidiot
Terry - "None of us is going to topple the Watch Tower leadership, but then we don't have to do that to be successful. We only have to create so many little fires they over tax themselves dealing with the fire-fighting to weaken them. Thousands of incursions like pin pricks on every front can make a huge total impact."
Oh, totally.
It used to get me down (after I'd started working out the TTATT, but before I'd started fading) that I couldn't "take down" the WTS, because at the time, I thought it was the only way I'd be free and/or be able to leave and retain my dignity (obviously, I've since learned otherwise).
What helped was remembering an analogy one of my old high school teachers told me that was similar to yours...
...a school of piranhas is a lot more scary than a great white shark, because a thousand itty bitty hungry mouths can easily do way more damage than one great big one.