Well you might be saving them a lot of heart ache by sharring TTATT with them now. As many have related here, often people can be out physically but it just takes some major life event to get them sucked back into the cult. Educating them before that happens will innoculate them against any possibility of getting pulled back in somehow.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
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A real chat with my brother
by All for show inmy brother called to chat, which is shocking from the man of few words, off the cuff i let him know last weekend i learned that the outrageous socks he wears are inappropriate.
i let him know i would no longer be associating with him and the fact that he has been inactive for the past 10 years he has blood on his hands and i didnt want that dripping all over my freshly cleaned floors.
i also told him the internet was no longer naughty, but the fact that he wasn't an ms ever, showed his lack of spiritual maturity.
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I need help
by tiredroadie inim new here, and dont know much about jw, other than what im reading.
i have my best friend who is having bible study in her home with 2 witnesses, and she is soaking it in.
she is very defensive and is getting more and more closed off.
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OneEyedJoe
I reccomend reading "Freedom of Mind" by Steven Hassan, or at least look up some of the material on his website www.freedomofmind.com
As has been said, don't outwardly oppose them. Be interested and ask detailed questions to get them to think about things. For some questions to ask, check out: http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/questions-to-ask-a-jehovahs-witness.php
Another tack to take would be if you talk to them about another group that they would agree is a cult. The mormons are a good example. Explain how these other groups use mind control techniques to indoctrinate people, and your friend will likely begin to see that the JWs use the very same techniques. One technique is to get them to tell you themselves what would cause them to end involvement with the cult. This will require some research on your part (jwfacts.com is great for this) to see what damning evidence there is towards the cult. Steven Hassan, in one of his videos, talked about how he questioned a JW in this fashion and got them to admit that if a Governing Body member (the GB is a committee at the top of the pyrimid in the cult) left the organization because they realized that what they taught wasn't from the bible. This indeed has happened, and the man wrote a book about it.
Look up youtube videos created by ex-members and have them watch them. If they're already to the point where they're weary of looking at anything from ex-members, ask them if they'd stay at a hotel or eat at a restaurant that had thousands of negative reviews just because the proprieters of the restaurant/hotel say that the place is wonderful? How much more important is the decision on what religion to join? Shouldn't they have ALL possible information in order to make an informed decision?
Also, don't use the word cult with them, use "group" or "organization" as the word cult will set off alarm bells in their head that tells them that you're attacking them.
Lastly, the key to all of it is that you cannot stop showing love to your friend. The love that they'll recieve in the cult is conditional upon their acceptance of cult doctrine and behavior - your love is unconditional and they will see the difference. Get other friends/family involved and present a uninted front of concern (not opposition) to them. As others have said, direct opposition will get you nowhere. The people studying with them have probably already told them that satan may cause close friends or family to oppose their study - if you oppose you'll just be playing into their predictions. You might want to put out the word to their family on this as well. Any opposition will seem to confirm that the people studying with them are from god, and you are being controlled by satan, because they predicted it. Love and genuine concern and interest is the only way to go.
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Changed: Head coverings for sisters, w15 2/15 QFR
by wifibandit indoes a female kingdom publisher need to wear a head covering if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher?.
in a questions from readers item published in the watchtower of july 15, 2002, it was stated that a sister should cover her head if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher, whether he is baptized or not.
further consideration of the matter suggests that a modification to this direction is appropriate.. if the male publisher who accompanies the sister while she conducts an established bible study is baptized, the sister would certainly want to wear a head covering.
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OneEyedJoe
I think i've posted this here before, but once when I was probably 4 or 5, we met for service and it was all women and children under 12. It fell to the woman who's house we were in to conduct, and she asked her son to find her a hat. He came back with a mickey mouse ears hat, and that's what she conducted the meeting for service in. Not a lot of things more ironic than wearing a mickey mouse hat in order to show respect and preserve the dignity of the arrangement.
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Ever since I learned TTATT, I stopped contacting a sister who I wanted to date
by Yondaime ini was head over heels for this girl, but when i realized i was in a self destructive cult i realized tieing the knot with her would screw up my future.
this makes me think of the highschool sweethearts i turned down that were worldly.
now she gives me dirty looks whenever our eyes meet a the hall or at gatherings.
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OneEyedJoe
It's difficult for you both now, but in the end you will both probably be better off.
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Changed: Head coverings for sisters, w15 2/15 QFR
by wifibandit indoes a female kingdom publisher need to wear a head covering if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher?.
in a questions from readers item published in the watchtower of july 15, 2002, it was stated that a sister should cover her head if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher, whether he is baptized or not.
further consideration of the matter suggests that a modification to this direction is appropriate.. if the male publisher who accompanies the sister while she conducts an established bible study is baptized, the sister would certainly want to wear a head covering.
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OneEyedJoe
Hair splitting at its best.
My thoughts exactly. And, what's more, hipocrisy at it's best. Taken from the "Draw Close To Jehovah" book, page 152-3, par 10 and 11:
The religious leaders buried God’s Law under a mass of man-made rules and regulations. The Sabbath law, for instance, simply forbade work on the Sabbath, setting that day aside for worship, spiritual refreshment, and rest. But the Pharisees made a burden of that law. They took it upon themselves to decide just what “work” meant. They labeled as work 39 different activities, such as reaping or hunting. These categories gave rise to endless questions. If a man killed a flea on the Sabbath, was he hunting? If he plucked a handful of grain to eat as he walked along, was he reaping? If he healed someone who was ill, was he working? Such questions were addressed with rigid, detailed rules.
In such a climate, how was Jesus to help people understand what justice is? In his teachings and in the way he lived, he took a courageous stand against those religious leaders. Consider first some of his teachings. He directly condemned their myriad man-made rules, saying: “You make the word of God invalid by your tradition which you handed down.”—Mark 7:13.
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U.S ZONE VISIT PROGRAM
by alexandre inwho have the program of this zone visit ?.
please send to us!
send a resume ,a synopsis!.
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OneEyedJoe
Just US branch
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wow, shaking my head
by Hortensia inmy neighbor told me she had been talking about me recently.
"i was saying to carrie in the office i just don't see how anyone can deny the existence of a higher power.
she needed some q-tips, and found a box of them on the free table by the office.
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OneEyedJoe
One time a lady admired my new vacuum cleaner as I was cleaning her house. I began to tell her all about the features. She said, "Well maybe the lord will bless me with one."
I need to talk to her husband. I've been trying to get my wife to call me her lord for years!
I was always bothered when I heard similar stories in comments at meetings. None of them ever convinced me that there had been any kind of divine intervention - just a devout person having a moment of good luck.
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Will Elders Still Perform Marriages If The Sister Doesn't Marry At Least A Ministerial Servant?
by minimus inbased upon the last big meeting this past weekend, would it be proper for an elder to perform a wedding ceremony if the brother is not at least a mini servant?.
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OneEyedJoe
I'm sure there will be a number of 'holier than thou' elders that will refuse to perform marriages on these grounds. That only seems logical than one of the 7 gods that you worship has already condemned the marriage as a mistake that they'll pay for.
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My Relief
by Smart inwhat a massive relief!
thank god i have just found this site the other day!
i don't know where to begin!
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OneEyedJoe
I don't live nearby, but I will agree 100% with GTTM's advice. Get out while you still can. If you really care about the girl, you might tell her what you've learned as far as TTATT (since it doesn't seem like you have much to lose if you get DF'd in the process) but don't expect her to run away with you. Even if she does agree to leave the cult to be with you, that's a deal I can't advise you to take. The cult creates a powerful hold on the minds that it has poisoned, and it seems there are cases where it just never lets go, in spite of outward appearances. Even if she leaves, you still have all the family drama and it's probably not worth it.
Get out as fast as you can, and live your life! No need to pile on extra problems for yourself.
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Lowering the standards: The sign of a cult struggling for survival
by Hidden-Window inmany of the recent changes in the jehovah's witness organization are a clear sign of a cult that is struggling for survival.
the internet has change the scenario in a very dramatic way.
many of us who for years struggled alone with doubts and cognitive dissonance thinking that we were the only ones, that we, as individuals were the issue, now know that there is a large community of individuals who see the organization as what it is, a mind controlling cult that is not only false, but also dangerous.. the governing body clearly understands the consequences of this awakening.
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OneEyedJoe
To qualify to serve as a MS, is there something lower than
1) worshipping the GB, and
2) having the ability to "fog a mirror"?
Doc
Doc - you forget that there are lots of unwritten rules to qualify as an MS - reported service time must be above 8 or 10 hours a month on average. Meeting attendence must be high, and I've been told that I need to comment regularly at meetings in order to qualify as well. I'm sure there are more/different rules depending on the BOE in a particular congregation, too.
It's pretty funny, they once sat me down and read the scripture about what's required to qualify (1 Tim. 3:8,9,12) and they asked me what of those qualifications do I not satisfy. I honestly said "none" and they asked me why I wasn't an MS. I said "I don't know" (at the time I was still mentally in and this seemed like a better response than "It seems like too much trouble"). They then told me that I didn't comment at meetings enough and I didn't get enough time in service. I left the conversation wondering if we'd read the same scripture...