Posts by OneEyedJoe

27

Unbelievable! Is this even allowed? Two elders from my hall RANDOMLY stopped by my apartment!

by macys in

jw
friends

ok wow.

i am really really pissed.

i had to really hold back and bite my tongue.

OneEyedJoe

I'm not sure why you keep acting surprised that this is "allowed." As far as I can tell the only time the elders are directed not to harass someone is if there's some legal aspect to it and they're trying to avoid liability or if someone's claimed that they'll commit suicide if the elders keep calling (which, I guess, really goes back to the legal liability thing). Since you're trying to get reinstated they're very likely to keep dropping by to see if they can get any dirt on you - they'll want to make sure that you're not still doing whatever you got DFed for, and they're not super likely to just take your word for it. Also, the memorial is coming up and lately it seems like the elders are being asked to call on DFed and inactive ones in preparation for the memorial/conventions/CO.

The unannounced call by 2 elders is the rule, not the exception. In most cases asking them to call before coming does not yield any results.

24

The official relationship between Jehovahs Witnessses and the Watchtower? I'm confused.

by Joliette in

jw
friends

can anybody answer this for me?.

whenever i tell people i'm ex jehovahs witnesses, they always assume that i'm against the jehovahs witnesses, but i am more so against the watchtower then anything.people assume that i'm anti-jehovahs witness, but now that i've done more research i've realized that its the watchtower thats more harmful then the jehovahs witnesses, even though theres a lot of jehovahs witnesses i dont like, i'm not against jehovahs witnesses as a group.. can anyone explain this to me?.

OneEyedJoe

I'd explain it like this: I'm not against the members of the people's temple, I'm against Jim Jones.

The JW conflation of god with the watchtower is seemingly pretty universal. I told my father that I could no longer conscientiously support the watchtower society in any way, and his immediate response was "we all have to prove to ourselves that Jehovah is real." I'd said nothing about Jehovah, but that was his immediate reaction. You're going to have trouble creating a distinction between the cult and their god in the mind of any JW, no matter what you say.

10

Worthy of imitation?

by stuckinarut2 in

the society says that ancient biblical characters (and their faith) are worthy of imitation right?.

so let's start a list of examples:.

- lot.

OneEyedJoe

They were just imperfect men! God knew their heart condition was good, thats why they didn't get punished!

Abraham - heard a voice telling him to kill his son, and actually took action in order to follow the instructions.

Elisha - asked god to kill a bunch of kids because they made a joke at his expense

83

if you had the slightest of doubt about leaving leaving the watchtower org. go to to jwsurvey.org NOW!

by nowwhat? in

and we are suposed to trust these guys with our lives?

!

OneEyedJoe

JW survey should submit their videos for consideration, then proudly declare that they've won the same award as the JW cult. No better way to demonstrate that they're phoney awards than by "winning" one and documenting the process that it took to get it.

31

A poll of sorts: How long have you been a "fader" for?

by SecretSlaveClass in

i'm curious about the following:.

1) how long have you been a fader for?.

2) how often do you still get pressure from congregation members and/or family to return as an active witness?.

OneEyedJoe

1) 1-2 years depending on how this counting.

2) I seem to get the ol' unannounced 2 elder visit every 6 months. Due to the dynamics of my family, I think it's pretty clear that I'd have no problem cutting them off, so they don't push too hard.

3) I don't know any other faders personally

4) I actually look forward to the prospect of being DFed. Only reason I haven't DAed is at the pleading of my still-in wife.

5) kinda hard to tell. I didn't have many cultist friends, but the ones I did have haven't completely cut me off so I guess I'm not being shunned. There might be some in the congregation that would shun me, but I never bump into them so I wouldn't know.

6) no. As stated earlier, I've only faded as a compromise for my wife.

7) I haven't done any cult activities for about a year

8) the cult still controls my wife, and thus has a good amount of power to make my life miserable.

7

Whats it like being an atheist and still going to meetings?

by Crazyguy in

anyone fall into this category?

OneEyedJoe

I any imagine it's much different than if someone was a believing Christian going to meetings knowing it's a cult. You just want to tell "WAKE UP!" at everyone sitting there listening to lies and terrible reasoning, wasting their lives. It's very frustrating. When I was going to meetings still, I also had some symptoms of PTSD, but I'm sure that's not because I was/am an atheist.

27

I am losing

by NoMoreHustle in

i haven't posted anything for a bit, but wanted to express how i am losing this battle.

it has been over 3 years now since i woke up about watchtower.

the battle that i am talking about is the tug of war with my wife (i adore her immensely), watchtower is winning, she simply will not give in to my so-called negative thoughts about the religion that we are in.

OneEyedJoe

I'm in the same boat. I'm no longer pretending to be in the cult - I'm trying to build a normal life while my wife is acting like a boat anchor fighting to maintain status quo. It's tough and it may not work out.

Anyway, I've got no advice for you... Nothing's worked for me. But you're not alone.

24

Please, tell me.

by andrewlya in

hi, i am a christian and i would like to know jehovas witness's belief in god and whether you believe jesus is god.

please, any statements back up with biblical verses,thank you and god bless, in jesus's name.. i am new on here, so please be patient with me :).

OneEyedJoe

What LG said. They believe Jesus is "the firstborn of all creation" and the son of God. By virtue of the fact that he's the son, he cannot be equal to god. Furthermore the JW bible renders John 1:1 as "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god." Note they change this verse from what most translations use (the word was god) to "the word was a god" to imply that this is a statement of his status as a spirit being that is more powerful than a human, but not THE god. Whether this is a faithful translation or not I'll leave up to you to determine. But it is known that the JWs have modified their version of the bible to suit their doctrine, so it wouldn't surprise me if this were a case of that.

Regardless, I wouldn't worry about comparing your religion to this cult. Without knowing your denomination, I can still pretty much guarantee you're better off where you are than in the JW cult. If you're trying to learn about JWs to help someone out of the cult, I would start somewhere other than doctrine.

18

Why all the secrecy in Gods organisation?

by Truthexplorer in

looking back and seeing all the secrecy and cover ups throughout wt history such as the secret elders books, the branch correspondence guidelines, the shameful lying and deceipt exposed during the arc questioning, the in-house way of dealing with things, the lack of openness to the media on issues such as blood or child abuse or anything controversial for that matter.

could this relate in some way to russell's alleged past as a freemason?

it seems quite strange that the founder of the bible students quite possibly may have been a freemason, (an organisation well known for its secrecy).

OneEyedJoe

All cults practice secrecy. The watchtower society is a cult, ergo it practices secrecy. Try not to over think it.

56

Why Faith is Self-Defeating

by cofty in

the god of christian theism values faith.. "without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists" - heb.11.

faith and evidence are inversely proportional - the more evidence there is that god exists the less faith you need in that proposition and vice-versa.. so how can a christian criticise any other faith-based belief?

for example they can protest that all the evidence is against the claims of scientology, but that just means that scientologists require more faith than christians.

OneEyedJoe

This is a bit of a tangent, but I'm not even completely sure that, in isolation of other factors, the claims of scientology really require more faith to believe than the claims of fundamentalist christianity. It's just easier to believe the christian claims because there are more people who do, and it's seen as "normal." But is Xenu any more implausible than the god of the bible? Are thetans any more implausible than angels and demons? At least scientologists accept evolution.