Posts by Black Sheep

27

Has anybody been guilted/emotionally blackmailed into attending the 2015 Memorial?

by Bucholz in

hello everybody, i was wondering if anyone has been guilted or emotionally blackmailed into attending the memorial this year.

something along the lines of "if you loved your family you would at least attend the memorial".

i myself haven't attended in 5 years.

Black Sheep

I never get invited. They know me. They know I was never baptised. They pretend they are my friends. They call in to say hello while doing the invite drop-off, but don't give me one.

9

Celebrate the Un-Memorial

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

i was thinking that we could spend the memorial evening doing the exact opposite of what we used to do.. smile and laugh.

have fun.

dress comfortably.

Black Sheep

I've been doing that for years. I have a beer at the local pub while the family Dubs have their annual 'Pretend Jesis is Important' scam.

35

Wow, the forum is very slow

by FlyingHighNow in

jw
friends

i know that logging in has been a problem for some.

i hardly post any more.

i figured there would be more activity than this.

The first page I see is pretty sparse on all my devices and I haven't had time to educate myself on how to surf the site for something to read. Was that country flag issue sorted? That put me off for reasons I won't go into.

263

Poster country flags and privacy

by Simon in

the new forum originally had a little country flag next to each post showing the country that the post was made from based on the geoip encoding (the country the ip address is from).

before i switched over to the new site someone made an issue about it violating their privacy and i didn't want to complicate and confuse the switchover with policy debate at the same time as technical issues so removed the flags even though i disagreed.. someone has already requested it as a feature and i think it should be added back so i thought it's now time to open the discussion and get everyone's opinions.

first, the reason i think it should be shown:.

Black Sheep

I'm sure having a pretty little flag is fine for most people most of the time as long as they live in large countries with thousands of Dubs and don't live in, or occasionally post from, small countries where everyone knows everyone's business.

45

About the ten plagues in Egypt

by runForever in

alot of people are saying god is cruel for killing the firstborns and animals and people in the ten plagues.

but didn't god achieve his goal of making nations and people be in fear of him?.

Black Sheep

Exodus 9:5. How could he kill the first born animals when he had already killed them?

15

Is it worth it trying to wake up a friend and my parents?

by Mr. Self-Destruct in

jw
friends

my situation right now is trying that how my friend and parents that the jw's are not the true religion.

i've shown numerous examples of flip flopped doctrine, false predicions, the validity of the jesus choosing the bible students in 1919 and more.

but it seems that although the recognize these mistakes they ask me, "aren't you happy the organization is making progress?

Black Sheep

Don't tell them anything they shouldn't already know.

Don't show them anything they shouldn't already know.

Don't show them sources they won't/don't trust.

Show them their own literatrash and ask them to explain it.

Ask them questions.

Don't answer their questions unless it suits your purposes.

Don't accept diversions.

Give them guilt trips for any devious tactics or bullying they try on you. Double standards are fair game here.

Ask questions to highlight dishonesty and double standards, so that they are defending their actoins, and you are not you defending your statements.

37

How did you feel when you got baptised? Seriously....

by stuckinarut2 in

so recently, several over-righteous ones in the cong were discussing "how amazing it felt when they got baptised".

statements like "how awesome did it feel as you got raised back out of the water?!".

or the classic "i felt so close to jehovah as i came out of the pool"!.

Black Sheep

I didn't

14

Why can't I just leave?

by Trapped in JW land in

some of you may know my situation.

i'm still going to meetings, but i am a closet apostate and homosexual i. only keep going to meetings to please my family and some friends.

i guess i could tell my mom i no longer want to be a jehovah's witness and stop going to meetings, but i'm too scared to do it.

Black Sheep

"This can work if done right, but it's still traumatic, and it has to be done carefully and with a measure of planning."

There is no painless way to wake up that you have wasted decades and trashed relationships in exchange for membership in a looney cult. We have to take that into consideration when talking to cult members, but it shouldn't stop us from trying. It's not only about them. I've seen cult members trying to recruit from their death beds, an excellent time to show off their faith without having to answer difficult questions.

14

Why can't I just leave?

by Trapped in JW land in

some of you may know my situation.

i'm still going to meetings, but i am a closet apostate and homosexual i. only keep going to meetings to please my family and some friends.

i guess i could tell my mom i no longer want to be a jehovah's witness and stop going to meetings, but i'm too scared to do it.

Black Sheep

Instead of being honest with your mother, start asking her questions that make her be dishonest with you to defend her choice to stay with a failed doomsday cult.Don't tell her anything she shouldn't already know from her own church's rantings and historical facts she already knows, just ask sincere questions that will affect her .... not you .... her, then keep her honest if she tries any tricks to weasel her way out of an honest answer. Act offended if she tries to fool you into changes of subject or any type of bullying.

Do not express your own opinions, as she has been programmed not to listen to anything opposing, just corner her into defending her opinions and choices, while you practice a bit of shut up.

Be the last to leave, not the first. We all know how that goes.

18

Please,I need non-"apostate" info./sites for my exit case on following topics

by Kensho in

i'm preparing for my exit after 4 years of de-programming myself from the cult (much help from here..thank you) been fading for as long as i can to keep decades of family and friends, but the moment the "real truth" is arriving soon.. i desire to make an intelligent defense for my actions and of course will never get to first base using any resource material that will shut down the process by my blind brothers and family members.. i have collected some resources on my own, but would appreciate help in the following.. 1) child abuse.

2) ngo un docs.

3) follow the money any public records of what the borg spends or invest our money on.

Black Sheep

Don't show them anything that they don't trust. Show them their own litteratrash, and ask them to explain it while you practice a bit of shutup.

Don't pick a subject that impresses you, pick one that affects them, personally. Something that they said to you in the past. And don't start anything. Let them start, then steer the conversation to where you want it to be, ask your question, then shut up except to make them talk, stop them changing the subject and to keep them honest.

It is their job to defend their decision to stay with a failed doomsday cult, not your job to explain your decision to leave. Don't express your opinions, they don't want to hear them except to find an excuse to bash your character.

Repetition for emphasis:

Shut up

Make them do the talking