Posts by OneEyedJoe

21

Thoughts: Convinced that my wife will never awake from the brainwashing

by goingthruthemotions in

hello all, it's been a long time since i have posted.

well, things have not changed on my end.

i am still going thru the motions.

OneEyedJoe

Don't give up hope completely. It may just be a matter of finding the one thing that she's clinging to. Everyone has their points of doctrine or culture or whatever that are important to them personally and the rest is just like a bullfighter's cape - it only serves as a false target for you and doesn't impact their faith even a little.

Or it may just be a matter of piling on the straws until the camel's back breaks. Either way, there's always an ounce of hope. As long as your marriage is working, keep trying to live a genuine life for yourself and hopefully (probably) she'll eventually be caught in your wake.

Asking questions doesn't always work. Even though my wife woke up, asking questions made her upset. She said I was being condescending by asking questions. She said it felt like I was trying to teach her.

We might be married to the same woman.

41

"Jehovah's people as a whole can never be corrupted..."

by cappytan in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zgds4z-h2i.

transcript below (with key points of interest bolded):.

please open your bibles to phil.

OneEyedJoe

Just like Jehovah's organization in the past (the nation of isreal, and later the christian congregation) could never be corrupted. Oh....wait...

51

I'm my favorite type of JW - Double Life

by thedepressedsoul in

the borg's tactics on most jw work.

they put fear into their mind, they guilt trip them and basically make them scared to do anything when they are away from the kingdom hall.

it allows them to control every aspect of their life.

OneEyedJoe

I guess the part that I find so objectionable is the tacit approval that simply being in the seat (and apparently you're an elder, too?) gives. For about a year I prevented myself from finding TTATT because there was an elder in our congregation that was really intelligent and I liked him very much personally and I told myself "If he doesn't see a problem with it, then maybe I'm fooling myself." I never talked to him about my doubts, just held him up as an example of a sane, normal, intelligent man that clearly saw it as the truth.

If I found out that he had been faking it for over a decade, I guess I'd be pretty upset.

Just another perspective in case that's something you might worry about. It's impossible to know how you may be negatively impacting the lives of others just by your mere presence. Especially if you're an elder.

51

I'm my favorite type of JW - Double Life

by thedepressedsoul in

the borg's tactics on most jw work.

they put fear into their mind, they guilt trip them and basically make them scared to do anything when they are away from the kingdom hall.

it allows them to control every aspect of their life.

OneEyedJoe

Wait, you've been awake and remained in for 16 years, or you've been in for 16 years total, and only recently woken up? I can't imagine what could possibly make someone stick around for that long if they're awake. All the wasted time, the implicit support by your mere presence, etc would drive me insane well before that.

51

I'm my favorite type of JW - Double Life

by thedepressedsoul in

the borg's tactics on most jw work.

they put fear into their mind, they guilt trip them and basically make them scared to do anything when they are away from the kingdom hall.

it allows them to control every aspect of their life.

OneEyedJoe

I hate to break it to ya, but you're definitely an apostate by their definition. Just because you're still going through the motions doesn't make it not so.

How long have you been doing it, if I could ask? I was able to do it for a while, trying to plant seeds in my wife, but over the last year it's slowly ramped up to the point where I'll do just about anything not to go to anything cult related.

5

How long do JW study the bible with someone? Until baptism?

by Lynnie in

i have a 35 year old cousin who got baptized last year after rejecting the jw since she was 13. not sure what happened to change her mind, i suspect it's all about family since her dad is an elder and her two sisters are very much in.

her oldest sister is married to a middle management guy in bethel.

so she studied for about 2 years until she decided to get baptised.

OneEyedJoe

That's been the trend for a while - though studying for 2 years prior to getting dunked is on the long side. Usually 6 months to a year is considered normal. Pre-baptism they study one book (draw close to god, I think it is now?) Then post baptism they go to the next book (keep yourself in god's love?) And sometimes a third book, I think.

As they say in the baptism talk, it's not the end, it's the beginning. The beginning of a life enslaved to the cult and pressured to constantly be up on your indoctrination.

45

How to Choose a Wife!

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

back in the day, when my family moved to a new congregation, i fell head over heels with a young sister who was an elder's daughter.

it wasn't long before we were talking about marriage and i was contemplating buying her an engagement ring.

my parents were not happy at all.

OneEyedJoe

I always wondered "what happens if he refused?" If he says no, shouldn't he be equally obligated to break up with her for making the suggestion? At that point the "it was just a test!"retort would just seem like backpedaling.

It's no wonder that the happiest marriages I've seen in this cult were between "spiritually weak" couples. The more you follow the rules, the worse job you'll do finding a compatible spouse and the worse you'll be at putting them first before anything else.

15

UK Branch visit 2015

by tamagotchi in

jw
friends

anyone know anything about it?

apparently it's going to be broadcast live nationally to all the congregations this saturday

OneEyedJoe

The only thing I can tell you for sure is that it'll be a waste of about 3 hours of your time.

The US branch visit consisted of public shaming of bethelites, a few puff pieces about some missionaries, then AMIII making a bunch of Pharisaical rules that, in spite of his opening claims, had no support in either the Bible nor the cult's literature.

The Canadian visit was apparently more up building, so it's anyone's guess what you'll get.

45

How to Choose a Wife!

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

back in the day, when my family moved to a new congregation, i fell head over heels with a young sister who was an elder's daughter.

it wasn't long before we were talking about marriage and i was contemplating buying her an engagement ring.

my parents were not happy at all.

OneEyedJoe

I don't remember this being a thing 20 years ago. It's horrifying to think that anybody who asks can just be shown your record card.
This religion really has a privacy problem

I've always understood the process to be that the elders look at the records for you and give you a yes/no/maybe type answer. So not a total betrayal of privacy, I guess. When you contrast it with what would be likely to happen if you asked if brother McPedophile is safe to have around your kids, though, it becomes indefensible.

The idea that an elder can work out someone's heart condition based on a few numbers on a publisher card is just absurd.

45

How to Choose a Wife!

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

back in the day, when my family moved to a new congregation, i fell head over heels with a young sister who was an elder's daughter.

it wasn't long before we were talking about marriage and i was contemplating buying her an engagement ring.

my parents were not happy at all.

OneEyedJoe

I think it probably has less to do with producing more baby dubs than it does with training a pattern of obedience and a "put the cult first" mentality. That and if you know your spouse has been trained to be loyal to the cult before you, you're more likely to subdue your doubts with an appeal to consequences - you won't let yourself doubt because it'll mean losing your spouse.

Born-ins have proven to be a retention nightmare, and the ones that stay are usually half-assed about it.