OneEyedJoe

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Posts by OneEyedJoe

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  43

  New here!

  by Mandy97 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi guys !

  hm.. i'm new in this website !

  my name is mandy and i just want to meet new people!

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  OneEyedJoe

  An apostate is anyone that was a JW at one time but left. I myself would be considered an apostate. If you'd like, feel free to message me to chat. I don't know any French though so it would have to be all English, but it sounds like that's what you're after.
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  53

  What's the craziest thing someone INFORMED on you about?

  by Londo111 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the culture of jws as encouraged by the watchtower is one of informing on one another, reporting to either the elders or ones designated head.

  whats the wackiest thing that someone reported on you?

  im not talking about a black-and-white watchtower rule that would land you in a judicial committee, but some judgmental nonsense that someone thought they should turn you in about?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I always kept my nose pretty clean (read: my childhood was rather dull) so I never got reported on that I know of. Though I did recently hear a first-hand account from a couple in their 30s of being informed on for going to see the movie twilight. Their elders put together a local needs part about movies and spent much of the time specifically talking about twilight (without saying the name of the movie in an apparent attempt to avoid making pharisiacal rules).
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  26

  Do you feel embarrsed?

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you look through a keyhole, and see the person you once were?.

  as for myself, i am just pleased i have mended my ways.

  i realise ( now) my time as a witness was a keyhole that looked in to the ground, and licked the elders arse.

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  OneEyedJoe

  As a JW, I was always embarrassed. I knew things didn't quite add up but it just had to be the truth. It embarrassed me to believe something that I couldn't explain, especially when so much time at meetings was spent mocking adherents of other religions for that very thing. I'm also sorta ashamed of who I was for much of my time as a JW - I was a self-righteous prick. But I've changed once I realized the error of my ways so I'm too worried about that. Besides when you grow up with adults telling you how you know more about the bible than any worldly person I don't know that there's much of a chance not to turn into a bit of a prick about some things.

  Looking back, the thing I'm most embarrassed about now is just that it took me so long to really investigate things. I was so close to waking up in my late teens, if I'd done one google search I would've been out.
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  6

  Stop Using Old WT Library - Any Confirmation?

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/3lw5cx/new_letter_from_ccjw_is_a_doozy/.

  on reddit.. i've been expecting this.. any confirmation?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I wonder how many JWs will twig the fact that the Borg is sanitising its own older material so that the cracks and glaring errors won't be accessible to the newcomers. I am reminded of information control in Orwell's novel 1984. Oh! the wonder of modern technology.
  

  No one will notice. They'll just fawn over what a blessing it is to be a part of such a modern organization that's taking advantage of technology! They also won't stop and realize that a DVD with online updates is technology that's about 10 years old at least.
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  78

  Need Help with Blood Transfusion Illustration

  by Dissonant15 in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  please, who can provide an intelligent rebuttal to the following illustration?

  i always thought it was bullet-proof:.

  "if your doctor directs you to 'abstain from alcohol' would you be ok to have it injected into your veins rather than drink it?

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  OneEyedJoe

  Fun fact: sometimes the medical treatment in extreme cases for alcohol withdrawal (you know, for someone that the doctor might've instructed to "abstain from alcohol") is to administer alcohol intravenously. So their illustration immediately falls apart. If your doctor tells you to abstain from alcohol, there are still situations where that same doctor might inject alcohol into your veins. If anything, that illustration proves the point that if something that you would normally abstain from becomes medically necessary then an exception should be made.
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  11

  Fading policies and doctrines

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  first a clarification - this is not about policies on faders etc.

  it is about how the borg allow policies and doctrines to fade rather than correct them and apologise for mistakes.

  here are two examples of what i mean:.

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  OneEyedJoe

  They try things to see if it sticks and if not, they drop it. I think that's how most cults evolve - they're not lead by psychologists that are experts on manipulation, they just try lots of stuff and stumble upon things that work and keep doing it. The JWs didn't start out with DFing, but they tried it and it worked so they kept it up.

  Another idea that they've allowed to fade away is the 7000 year creative day. They've never said they were wrong but they've stopped talking about it and a CO recently gave a talk in which he acknowledged the age of the universe as being 13.8 billion years.
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  10

  "I would rather have Questions that I can't answer, instead of Answers that I can't question"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  how very thought provoking this quote is, especially in the context of witness doctrine!.

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  OneEyedJoe

  That would have to generate something in most of them, right?
  

  Probably not, especially not the current generation of JWs (those under ~35 years old). Most of them don't have questions, they just sort of listen and accept everything in the KH and then they go off and live their lives not thinking about it. The only way this quote is going to make someone think is if they have experienced asking one of the many forbidden questions and being shut down with social pressure and receiving no answer. Without am emotional connection to the quote based on some experience (or some question that they're too afraid to ask) they won't give it another thought.
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  10

  "I would rather have Questions that I can't answer, instead of Answers that I can't question"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  how very thought provoking this quote is, especially in the context of witness doctrine!.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I used that quote in a discussion with a JW (conditional) friend of mine. He was questioning me about all kinds of things, basically asking "if this isn't true, what better thing do you have to offer me?" in a bunch of different ways. When I said "I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question." he stared at me completely stunned for a moment. It didn't take long for the indoctrination to kick in, but hopefully that sits with him and is remembered the next time he has a question about something in the cult that can't be asked.

  It's a powerful and eloquent quote to be sure. So well said.
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  13

  How wonderful is JW.ORG

  by Sabin in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  there are some who still love the organization & the people in it.. who understand that every large organization has their own issues.. they believe the advice on what type of person you are supposed to be & how to treat others has made them a better person.

  and they believe, quite frankly, even if the g.b are a bunch of narcissistic wannabe powerful guys, the worest thing they have done is to wake up people on saturday mornings.. i`ve been awake most of the night thinking about this, wondering if this person had a point.

  then something came to my mind.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Ugh. I hate this damn cult. Print something that the public sees and thinks "ahh good they're looking out for kids" then they go and retract it to the elders, where it matters.
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  44

  I'm not so sure a bigger awakening is going to happen anymore

  by bradford in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i left in march officially i started reading the forums here.

  i had this excitement that more people would be leaving soon because of the crazy broadcasts, the crazy "new light" that the gb was dishing out, and more recently the australian royal commission lighting up geoffrey.

  this past saturday i had an elder stop by to chat for the first time since i left.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I think there will be more leaving in the future than was typical of the past, but I agree that there will not be a single sudden exodus.

  On another note - I can definitely understand the feeling of a conversation like that hitting you afterwards, especially when it's someone you care about. I had a long talk with one of my (conditional) friends about my reasons for leaving only to be met with opposition at every turn. That has a way of making you feel misunderstood and lonely afterwards.