Posts by umbertoecho

30

What started me on the path to waking up about the lies the WT teaches?

by oppostate in

it was a simple question: isn't jesus my "mediator" if i put faith in him like the scriptures say?

the research to that answer, from the w79 4/1 p. 31, was mind blowing.

how dare they deny me a belief firmly stated in the scriptures?

umbertoecho

Finding an article about the UN on the internet. That was the beginning of the end......Then seeing the different questions in the baptism book Organized to do God's Will. It was the bit about associated with the JW organization. They had taken holy spirit out of it. Also, the lack of Christ in every way possible, the org relegated him to ...nothing really. They sure didn't like it when I asked about Christ's headship.

Since then (two years ago) I have been struggling to get the indoctrination out of my head. Some days I succeed and other days I feel afraid that I have made a mistake. The child abuse issues have been informative and important in regard to the orgs willingness to fight tooth and nail for it's money and reputation. That really is disgusting to me. Oh! I was in a really crappy congregation where there were a lot of cliques that went back years. No one new was allowed into this selective group of assholes. That helped me a lot. No love in that hall and very little kindness toward others. I watched them tear a few sisters and a gay guy to pieces.

He was not in a relationship and trying so hard to live up to the orgs rules. Very sad.

56

Hello Everyone

by MarieK in

i hope everyone is having a good saturday.

i've visited this many times in the past month or so, joined yesterday and finally got the nerve to post!

needless to say, i'm super nervous, being new to this whole experience.

umbertoecho

Hello MarieK. I'm glad that you are here. It took me ages to sign up, then ages to feel as though I could post. It was a relief not to be attacked for my thoughts. It is a good site with so many very smart people, who know their stuff.

It's not all about attack, although at times people have a good old rant to let off some steam. It has been a good experience for me and it will be a good one for you as you realise that people "out in the world" are not bad at all. If anything, they are broad in their thinking.........

3

Would the WTBTS ever do this?

by ABibleStudent in

i know that jws like to boast about how virtuous jws and the wtbts are and believe that the wtbts abhors child sex abuse.. if a co is equivalent to a catholic archbishop, would the wtbts ever df a co and support him being prosecuted for child sexual abuse like the catholic church is doing to wesolowski, who paid to have sex with children ( http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33491956 )?

i wonder if this news will appear in a watchtower or awake.

i doubt it for obvious reasons.. peace be with you and everyone, who you love,.

umbertoecho

The WT would only show the crimes/sins...... of other religions. Never their own, for they love to point the finger at Christendom, whilst claiming to have a "cutting edge" approach to child abuse and zero tolerance for it in their ranks.

35

Are JWs trying to make dysfunctional kids and destroy their ability to live normal lives?

by C0ntr013r in

are jws trying to make dysfunctional kids that wont "fit" in normal society so they will "return to jehovah"?

because there have been many stories about young people who have been out in the world only to find how bad it was and how correct the org was.. a good jw kid with "good" jw parents will have many big issues, some examples:.

fear of demons (fear, misfit).

umbertoecho

If the org can plant the idea that there is no life, no good life, outside of the WT kingdom to young children. It will stay planted in that child's mind.........more or less for the rest of his/her life.

One sister wrote to me the other day about how wonderful the animations are from the org and that she and her grand children watched and re watch them.........

She is helping to stamp forever, the ideas and doctrines of the WT. And those ideas do stay in a child's mind. It's an unfair advantage that is being taken by the WT and passed on to the families and the children.

It's very difficult for a child, a young, fresh and impressionable child.......to reason against such cleverly devised methods. How can a child find a reasoned response to such indoctrination? They can't, for they are at the mercy of parents and the WT.

The society knows this for sure. They have been practising for over a hundred years.....the art of repetition and therefore the brain washing of such fresh impressionable minds is easy to do. It will take so much for that child as a young adult with doubts, to ever fully break away from such imprints.

I used to count words at the wt study to see how many of the same words were used....it was clear that WT writers were using sentence structure and repetitive words to great effect. It was dulling to the senses. A sort of "white noise" going on in the back of their minds.... dulling creative thought and critical thinking.

The WTBTS knows exactly what they are doing. I have family and acquaintances who are a testament to the success of the WT methods. They were raised in it. Some are out and in real trouble with basic life others are just drugged up and some are still fully in and feel ever so "elite".

14

Belonging To The JW Club Makes JWs Feel Special!

by minimus in

jw
friends

honestly, they really have nothing going for them except that they are in an exclusive club.

they are in a better place than anyone else.

they have it over everyone else because of their superiority.

umbertoecho

Oh how true all the observations are here. My "in" family are far more equal than me. They are equal to Jesus!! If they remain obedient to the GB that is..... They are the ones who stroll languidly from door to door and knock very quietly so as not to disturb the home owner, for they don't really want to talk about "beliefs" or justify theirs'.

They just want the house or the mansion, minus the worldly owner, who will soon be nice and dead after the big A

And the home owner has no idea that some sister or brother has laid a greedy claim to their property...........it makes me sick!!

10

Conti v WT court documents

by umbertoecho in

i don't know if this has been read by any who are on this forum.

i have only received it in the last few minutes.

it is a good document in that, it is easy to understand, it's not full of legal jargon.

umbertoecho

A portion of the WTs defence tactics contained in the document listed a few minutes ago. I hope someone is keeping these documents. I do.

The letter addressed the elders’ “duties that may involve legal issues or questions.” Watchtower instructed the elders they “must be careful not to divulge information about personal matters to unauthorized persons. . . . Elders must give special heed to the counsel: ‘Do not reveal the confidential talk of another.’ (Proverbs 25:9) . . . Improper use of the tongue by an elder can result in serious legal problems for the individual, the congregation, and even the Society. [¶] . . . Worldly persons are quick to resort to lawsuits if they feel their ‘rights’ have been violated. Some who oppose the Kingdom preaching work readily take advantage of any legal provisions to interfere with it or impede its progress. Thus, elders must especially guard the use of the tongue.” The letter continued: “The spirit of the world has sensitized people regarding their legal ‘rights’ and the legal means by which they can exact punishment if such ‘rights’ are violated. Hence, a growing number of vindictive or disgruntled ones, as well as opposers, have initiated lawsuits to inflict financial penalties on the individual, the congregation, or the Society. Many of these lawsuits are the result of the misuse of the tongue. . . . [¶] . . . [¶] The legal consequences of a breach of confidentiality by the elders can be substantial. If the elders fail to follow the Society’s direction carefully in handling confidential matters, such mistakes could result in successful litigation by those offended. Substantial monetary damages could be assessed against the elders or congregation.” The letter went on to discuss “what to do in specific cases,” such as “[s]earch warrants and [s]ubpoenas,” “[c]rimes and [c]riminal investigations,” “[w]hen [l]awsuits

10

Conti v WT court documents

by umbertoecho in

i don't know if this has been read by any who are on this forum.

i have only received it in the last few minutes.

it is a good document in that, it is easy to understand, it's not full of legal jargon.

umbertoecho

I don't know if this has been read by any who are on this forum. I have only received it in the last few minutes. It is a good document in that, it is easy to understand, it's not full of legal jargon.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A136641.PDF

5

Rings on Fingers

by Funchback in

hello, everyone.. i feel like i was in a coma for the past five years and just woke up.

after seeing some videos posted on here showing clips from jw.org, i went there the see all the new bells and whistles they now have on their site.

man, how things have changed!.

umbertoecho

I have noticed that the clergy of Catholicism wear rings on their pinkies too. It seems like the clergy of the WT are falling into line with many older traditional religions.......when it suits them that is....They, the GB are dressed in the absolute best of suits with top of the range accoutrements. They have always coveted the money and wealth that other long standing religions had......namely the Roman Catholic and it's offshoots.

The WT has knocked and heckled Christendom, whilst raking in the dough from ill informed believers.

I have found so many JW sites through a JWtalk site ( a very pro JW site by the way) that is blatantly making money out of WT specific religious paraphenalia. I found this to be one of the most amazing hypocrisies of all time. I mean, really.........the society has always lambasted any religion that sold "images" and made money out of the business of worshipping God.

I know I have gone off topic a bit here, but to me it all seems to point to the WTBTS wanting to have all the material "things" that other religions of Christendom took as a par for the course.

23

My wife , Son and DIL living with us ,have still not acknowledged my birthday today @ 5:15 pm , I might have to drop them a subtle hint.

by smiddy in

i know being a witness for 33 years and not celebrating b/days you do lose the habit , but i thought one of them would have remembered ?

oh well .. maybe i will just rub it in with them tomorrow .make them feel guilty , eh ?.

then again i might just start singing "76 trombones" at the dinner table tonight .

umbertoecho

I don't know you but............Happy birthday from Australia.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday dear Smiiiiiiiiiiideeeeeeeeeee

Happy birthday to you.

Oh why was he born so beautiful, why was he born at all.

He's no bloody use to anyone. He's no bloody use at all.

kissy kissy hug hug hug

14

I joined this site 13 years ago...

by Funchback in

hello, everyone.. as noted in the topic, i joined here 13 years ago.

i last posted here over 5 years ago.

i just now learned that this site still exists!

umbertoecho

Ditto to what Heaven asked. Is there any advice you could share? Also, is there any chance that you could share some of your; story again.?

I've only been here a year. Mainly, it was to find information and to see how others coped with their disillusionment. Then I found out it was a good site for news regarding the WT and often it came out before the witnesses in my area had any idea of change......etc

I am interested in the stories of other people, why they left, how they felt, what made them see things differently..........