Posts by outbutnotdown

41

What made you "see the light"?

by hubert in

jw
friends

i realize many (or all) of the ex-j.w.

's in this forum have either gotten out of the org., faded, or in some way have come to the conclusion that the watchtower is not the "faithful and discreet slave", and is not the "true" religion that they claim to be.

i am curious to know..... "what made you see the light"?.

outbutnotdown

Two big things, about a year and a half apart, were finally enough to help me see the light.

My now ex-wife and I got df'd for ~~partaking of natural desires~~ having sex before we got married. When I went to this one elder that I thought was actually a pretty good guy and asked for some help with the "problem", he told me that I had to come back first and get reinstated before he could help me with the problem.. He said that, since I had been disfellowshipped, he had "no obligation to help me." I don't know if I wasn't paying attention at meetings when they said that they never cared about genuine, sincere, repentant disfellowshipped people anymore, but that shocked the sh*t out of me.

The next biggie was, when my oldest of four beautiful children was born, my brother called up, I think partly to congratulate me, and also to remind me that, 'since I was the head of the household, if I never went back to meetings that Brandon (my son) would die at Armageddon.'

That ended it completely. I told him that I didn't believe that God would kill my son because I was a sinner. (I eventually got over the guilt problem, too. )

Besides that, anyone who knew my ex-wife and I knew that I was NEVER the head of the household...... teehee. A little bit of levity there, but the rest is brutally honest.

Brad

6

A glimmer of hope-my mother is willing to study the bible with me.

by azaria in

jw
friends

i'm off to bed but just had to tell.

i'm excited but at the same time really concerned that when she tells someone that they will disuade her.

i have been praying for this.

outbutnotdown

Azaria,

To be honest, when I read the topic title: "A glimmer of hope-my mother is willing to study the bible with me.", my immedaiate instinct was that studying the Bible with someone is a bad thing because, to be honest, as you respectfully said, to believers, pray for us, to non-believers wish me luck, I am not a believer in the Bible being God's word.

However, I am a FIRM believer in mothers and daughters sharing their lives together, so you're damn right, I'll wish you luck....... GOOD LUCK!! and I hope you accomplish what you want to get out of it.

Brad

106

If Jehovah's Witnesses Were To Have A Spin-Off Religion, What Would It Be?

by minimus in

jw
friends

suggest a good name for a spin-off religion to the jws.

outbutnotdown

RR,

Why would I take offense to what you said about me being a loser and feeling sorry for myself about the Watchtower stealing my life? Now, if I really did feel that way, then sure, it would offend me. I am a VERY HAPPY person and I don't regret the whole JW thing. It made me who I am today and I'm pretty good.

You see the interesting thing about life is that it is all relative. I am at the precise stage in my life because of the events that have happened in my past. And some of those were beyond my control. Let's face it, I wasn't going to tell my parents I wasn't going to the hall at eight years of age, when I had to give talks and was deathly afraid of public speaking. And they really can't be held responsible, because they BELIEVED that, since I could read, my phobia of public speaking needed to be pushed aside and I needed to be a good dub so that they could be perceived as good dub parents. So, since then, in my life I have accomplished a lot of things that others haven't because I had already conquered that phobia.

Which brings me to another point. That being that perception is everything. I choose to find the good in those things that I could just as easily hate. That is the perception that I choose to have. The other way wasn't so nice, so I like this new perception better.

I have no interest in trying to convince you that MY perception should be yours. I was merely trying to let things be seen from a different light. You evidently believe that you have no need to. You're the boss of you. You know what's best for you. Who knows..... you may even be right about Bible Students being the best/right religion.

My intentions were certainly not to offend you.

Brad

106

If Jehovah's Witnesses Were To Have A Spin-Off Religion, What Would It Be?

by minimus in

jw
friends

suggest a good name for a spin-off religion to the jws.

outbutnotdown

Boy oh boy, RR is just flying around this forum defending Russell at every opportunity. I'm sure he would be proud of you, RR, if he was up in heaven. I haven't seen evidence of such a fantastic display of denial since I last spoke to a JW. Anyone else see the similarities?

I don't mean to give you a hard time, RR, but you may not like this comment very much: You are acting EXACTLY like Jehovah's Witnesses act when we, collectively as a group, try to open their eyes to the lies that we have been told.

I wish you the best, but methinks you may have been best off not jumping from the one religion to the other so quickly, without giving your mind some "free" time.

Brad

61

Pastor Russell and 1914

by Kenneson in

jw
friends

1. russell did not believe that 1914 marked the "beginning of the end" as do jehovah's witnesses.

rather, he pointed to 1799 for that (i.e., see zion's watch tower for nov. 7, 1893, page 24: in commenting on the discovery of the rossetta stone he states: "[the point is that 1799 was the very year beginning the time of the end when many would run to and fro and knowledge be increased.

' dawn, vol iii, chapter ii--editor]" .

outbutnotdown

RR,
I find it odd that two religions can be formed, basically from the same man..... at least I know JW's think that Russell started theirs.... you seem to be saying so also. Doesn't it make you sit back and think for a moment....... that you are basically saying that Russell started them both, but JW's misinterpreted everything that he said and you are fully understanding it?

What's that saying about the teapot and kettle? I personally think my brother and sisters and I all have some oddness about us because of our teachers.... our parents..... it would not be very believable to anyone here if I said that I learned all the right things and they learned all the bad things from them, would it.

I guess that's why I stay away from structured religion....... too many absolutes and harsh judgements.

B.

Brad

106

If Jehovah's Witnesses Were To Have A Spin-Off Religion, What Would It Be?

by minimus in

jw
friends

suggest a good name for a spin-off religion to the jws.

outbutnotdown

Thanks for the question, minimus.

I have a bit of a funny story related to spin-off JW religions..... teehee

When I was struggling with going back to the JW's for the sake of my family and, at the same time, other delusional thoughts were running wildly in my head, I finally accepted that NOT GOING BACK was the best way to go. I was pondering what I would call my new religion, since this new-found freedom of mind, I thought, certainly needed to be shared with others. So I combined a few religions' ideas/titles and I came up with "The Disorganized Fellowship of Non-Denominational Bible Students".

However, I immediately felt the impact of what I had just done and the history of the World as it has been affected by religion, went rushing through my mind in a second..... I thought about the 185,000 Assyrians that were killed by God's Angel...... I thought about Jesus and others around his time who were tortured and killed..... it rushed forward to the Crusades and other Middle Ages' atrocities..... to the present day and the emotional torture that I and friends and family have endured...... and within that instant I knew exactly what I had to do.... almost as if God was speaking through me...

I immediately limited the number of members of my religion to one...................... ME!!!!!!!!

And the world is a much better place for it........ BTW, if anybody thinks that I am brilliant and they would like to follow me......... didn't you read what I just said.... JUST ME DAMMIT!!!! I will not be responsible for controlling other peoples' minds......

Cheers, Brad

61

Pastor Russell and 1914

by Kenneson in

jw
friends

1. russell did not believe that 1914 marked the "beginning of the end" as do jehovah's witnesses.

rather, he pointed to 1799 for that (i.e., see zion's watch tower for nov. 7, 1893, page 24: in commenting on the discovery of the rossetta stone he states: "[the point is that 1799 was the very year beginning the time of the end when many would run to and fro and knowledge be increased.

' dawn, vol iii, chapter ii--editor]" .

outbutnotdown

RR,

I don't know what to say, without it seeming to be rude. It is not intended to be, but I thought that most people that leave JWism stay away from other close-minded, delusional, holier than thou horsesh*t as well. Kenneson makes a good point that Russell looked back and made 1878 the year that the Bible Students use as their pivotal year. How handy is that? I could say that 2001 (World Trade Centre incidents) was the beginning of the new age.... yadda yadda yadda... I am not even going to make up any phoney stuff at the risk of others believing it, for I would feel responsible for closing peoples' minds.

What if there is no God outside of us? What if he has no plan for us? IMO, God is either so controlling that we are simply puppets of his, or that he is so intelligent that he has predicted all of history's events or that he is neither and that we create or own world, individually and collectively. For you to suggest that God came to you while you were a JW and told you to be a Bible Student, at the risk of sounding rude, is just delusional. It's like the Mormons who thought that their church was getting a little off the right path, so thay made a new religion. Instead of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", they called themselves "The Re-Organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".

That's like one schizophrenic saying to another, "I'm better than you because I have more personalities than you." No offense to schizophrenics, but I think you get the point, RR.

Brad

80

Still Demonstrating/Prostesting at the KH and Support is Growing

by Corvin in

jw
friends

we laid low for a week from picketing the kingdom hall.

i wanted to see how things would go with the emergency hearing before i continued.

because of the pending restraining order sara applied for, i cannot go within 100 yards of her or her husband, mark.

outbutnotdown

Brownboy,
It is unfortunate that you had such an experience, and I feel for you. Are you trying to suggest, though that, even though Corvin said that she "happened to be hispanic" and explained the relevance to why he said that with the "Charo" scenario, that he is a racist?

I, myself, was wrongly charged because of the "zero tolerance" idea that if a wife claims that her husband has hit her, then they charge the husband, to ensure the safety of the woman. I do not think that it was fair for my now ex to do that, much like it was unfair that you were wrongly charged and that the judge didn't fix it.

However, due to the fact that many women are able to escape from "truly" abusive situations because their spouse will be taken away immediately, without being able to seek revenge while the police investigate, I still believe that "zero tolerance" is a good idea. But, I also knew enough to get away from that lying, deceitful person in order to protect myself from further lies.

My point is that you shouldn't judge society as a whole because of an unfair thing that one or two people did to you. I hope your situation gets resolved, if it hasn't been yet, but to be honest, you might be rushing to judgement a little too quickly.

B.

80

Still Demonstrating/Prostesting at the KH and Support is Growing

by Corvin in

jw
friends

we laid low for a week from picketing the kingdom hall.

i wanted to see how things would go with the emergency hearing before i continued.

because of the pending restraining order sara applied for, i cannot go within 100 yards of her or her husband, mark.

outbutnotdown

I hope that this does not add to the "race" conflict...... it is intended to help put it in perspective.

I have a friend, who I greatly admire and love, despite the fact that I think he is a little sensitive to the race issue, who HAPPENS TO BE black. In the city where I live, there is a Blackacres Street and a Whiteacres Street directly across from each other. One happens to have condos on it, while the other has houses. He is of the opinion that white people conspired to put the cheaper units on the Blackacres side and the more expensive houses on the Whiteacres side, because after all, ALL white people have always thought that they are superior to blacks.

Like I said, I love him, despite this quirk, but I do not take offense to his comments about whites. I am not a racist, so him accusing me (in his big lump of ALL white people) of being racist does not bother me. Why should it?.... I think he is a great guy. But I will not take it to heart..... I also try to avoid the topic, since he is sensitive to it, but his judgement of white people hurts only him. Any whites that do take offense to it hurt themselves.

My point is, Xandria, that (without trying to be insensitive to you), you should take a look in the mirror before you start judging Corvin. IMO, when he said she HAPPENED TO BE hispanic, I was convinced that he was not a racist.

Besides, his topic is far too important to have accusations that are unfounded, to be distracting people from the bigger point.

Corvin,

Keep up the good work, but, like others have said here, make sure you keep in mind what the Judges may think about your protesting. If it doesn't make you look irrational, then hats off to you. I am in a battle with my ex and her family, too.............. and yes, even though I try to be a peaceful person, with little conflict in my life, sometimes there are BATTLES that we have to fight..... for their importance is too great to sit passively by.

Brad

12

World's Worst Century?

by City Fan in

.

with events in iraq seemingly going from bad to worse, and with what i see as an increasing number of end-time 'prophets' posting on this board, i thought i would bring this programme to everyone's attention.

it may put today's events into perspective compared to some of histories more turbulent times.. would anyone here rather go back and live in the 14th century?.

outbutnotdown

Heathen,
Do you really believe what you said about the 21st century getting off to a bad start and that you can't perceive it getting any better?

The world, as you see it in the big picture, is the way you see your world immediately in front of you. I feel for you, my friend......... my world is a very beautiful place..... whatever happens beyond what is around me is outside of my immediate control and will not cause me to see it any worse than how I perceive it in my immediate circle of influence.

B.