Posts by apostrate

180

What is the most bizarre counsel you received as a JW, from a JW?

by Funchback in

there were many addressed to me.

for example, i once had a sister tell me i was gambling because i liked playing skill crane (the machine where you have to try to pick up prizes like stuffed animals) at the arcade.

i then fired back a her: "you saw the r-rated movie 'backdraft.

apostrate

When I was in my early 20's I did not know what the word "euphemism" meant. Not only do I now know what it means, but I realize that the "brother" you are about to hear about did not really know what it meant either.

One night after the service meeting this "brother" came up to me and said, "The other elders and I have noticed that you tend to use "euphemisms" a lot."

Not knowing what that meant, I just gave him a perplexed look and said, "What???"

He said, "You know, you use words like "golly" and "gee whiz."

Not trying to be funny, but I again looked at him and said, "Gee! I didn't realize that!"

Then I just walked away from him, pissed! With all the other things that I was going through at the time, I couldn't believe that someone would try to make a big stink about me saying, "Gee"!

This "brother" happened to be the husband of Diane Wilson, who would later write the book, "Awakening of a Jehovahs Witness".

When I read her book, she told the story of how her husband had scolded others for the same transgression.

Goooolly! (Gomer Pyle voice)

52

After Death Communications in the JW community

by jack2312 in

my name is jack and i'm looking for after death communications from the jehovah witness community.

an after death communication (or adc) is when a loved one sends a kind of message to this side of life after their death.

it can be a dream or smell (like perfume or roses that would be attached to them in memory) or a feeling of their presence.

apostrate

This isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I will share it anyway.

A few years ago I rented a room from an old man. He was a grumpy old codger and a devote atheist. Time after time I heard him say, "When you're dead, you're dead!"

Well, one day he's out in the front yard and he falls and breaks his leg. After being taken to the hospital and getting a cast on his leg, he has to spend a few days in rehab. Problem is, rehab is full, so they arrange for him to stay in hospice.

One of the people he befriends is an older black woman. They have breakfast each morning and he seems to enjoy her company. One morning, she's not there. Next morning, she's not there. He asks one of the nurses where she is and is told that the woman passed away the other night.

Now, remember, he is an atheist and he believes that when you're dead, you're dead!

But he tells me that each night, for the duration of his stay, a ghostly figure would appear in his room at night and he believed it was the woman! (Now I gotta tell you, taking a cue from an old Eddie Murphy monologue, if I wake up in the middle of the night and I see a ghost in my room, friend or not, I'm getting the HELL outta there!!!)

Now, of course, I can't believe that he is believing this! And I know this man. He's not yanking my chain or anything.

Well, I just listened to his story, I didn't offer up any advice or give my opinion or anything. I just found it odd that he would believe this.

A few months later I brought the subject up again. I don't remember exactly what I wanted to know from him. But he just looked at me, perplexed, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about." I reminded him again about the dead woman, and he just looked at me like I'm crazy and shakes his head.

Alzheimers maybe??

19

John Lee Hooker - Jehovahs Witness

by apostrate in

a couple of excerpts from an interview with john lee hooker, american blues legend, a few years before he died in 2001. i found this to be somewhat humorous.. have you been married more than once?.

four times.

i aint never gonna get married again.

apostrate

A couple of excerpts from an interview with John Lee Hooker, American Blues legend, a few years before he died in 2001. I found this to be somewhat humorous.

Have you been married more than once?

Four times. I ain’t never gonna get married again. I mess around some now, you know, but not like I used to. I may shack. When you’re shackin’, you do wrong and you can get the hell out! No, I ain’t gettin’ married no more. That’s a big responsibility, and you might get a woman you don’t know. You think you do, but she starts running around, cheating and going on – I don’t want that. Just come in, stay awhile and get out. Sometimes a woman thinks she wants to marry you, and after she gets married to you, she gonna find different and want to start trouble. And if God call you today, you want someone that’s gonna take care of your kids.

Did you raise your kids to believe in God and Jesus?

Oh, yeah, because I do. I’m a Jehovah’s Witness.

Were you that most of your life?

No. I was a Baptist. My family was too.

What led you to become a Jehovah’s Witness?

God is Jehovah. I come to believe in that. You don’t have to be sanctified, but you do the right thing in life and love people and believe in him. I always do.

Do you think there’s a heaven?

I believe in paradise. It’s here on earth. “He will clean the wicked and save the righteous.” God will never destroy this earth. He’ll destroy the evil on this earth, but he invented this earth. When, we don’t know. It’s been here forever. He’s not gonna destroy this earth. He’ll destroy the people that are on it and do evil. He will clean this up, and the righteous will survive. That’s what I believe in. I could be wrong.

The entire interview can be found here for those who are interested:

http://jasobrecht.com/john-lee-hooker-living-blues-interviews/

10

How many teens stay because they have their eye on someone they hope to marry?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

i was just watching a documentary film about the amish.

this one girl who left said she didn't leave until her early twenties because as a teen until then she had her eye on one of the boys in the church.

she had a crush on him and hoped to marry him.

apostrate

It happens all the time and it has been happening for many decades, I guess as long as the organization has been around.

And I know many, many elders who only became JW's in the first place in order to "get the girl" of their dreams.

It happens in all denominations.

22

If only............

by tresdecu in

jw
friends

....charles taze russell's mom and dad didn't have sex back on that night in june of 1851.... weird that a married couple getting horny could affect so many lives 164 years later.. just a random friday thought.

.

apostrate

Agreed Faye,

(By the way, I really like your name that you post under, I didn't get it until recently ((Fadin'Away))

CTR started the WT, but even his ideas were lifted from the Adventist sect that he had been a part of. And they lifted their ideas from MILLER, another end of the world sect.

I grew up in a dysfunctional family. If my mother had not bumped into the JW's and become enamored with the cult, I have a feeling that I would probably be posting on an ex-Mormon or an ex-Moonie site, or of some such ilk.

I guess that I feel, in a way, that I was almost destined to be suckered into some type of cult. I just feel blessed that I was able to get out and recognize the WT for what it really is. I do all I can to help others get out. But, I don't have to tell you how difficult that is!

I had a friend (a JW) who was as close to me as a brother. He will not talk to me anymore. It hurts. I know that you have mentioned that your family is now cut off from you. I understand that pain completely.

The WT took my dysfunctional family and made it worse. I wouldn't have thought that was possible.

No way will I ever defend Russell, Rutherford, the WT, the Adventists, or any of this cockamamie business.

Always good to talk to you Faye!

22

If only............

by tresdecu in

jw
friends

....charles taze russell's mom and dad didn't have sex back on that night in june of 1851.... weird that a married couple getting horny could affect so many lives 164 years later.. just a random friday thought.

.

apostrate

Not that it really makes any difference, but.....

Charles Taze Russell was never a Jehovah's Witness.

Nobody ever died refusing blood transfusions or medical treatment in CT Russell's time.

Families were never torn apart as a result of shunning in CT Russell's time.

Bible students under CT Russell's leadership were free to associate with anyone they wished and to celebrate any "worldly" holidays they chose.

I am not a CT Russell defender or apologist. Russell was just another goofy cult leader with some shady business practices, but his "bible students" were pretty much free to think for themselves with no adverse consequences. Again, I am not aware of anyone dying or being killed following his goofy teachings.

Judge Rutherford is the real culprit here. He commandeered the Watchtower estate and assets after CT passed on, he turned what was left of the "bible students" into Jehovahs Witnesses, he established the "model" for what we now know as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Again, I don't mean to sound like I'm defending Russell, but someone like Rutherford would have found some cult to take over had it not been the Watchtower.

44

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

by bradford in

jw
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.

apostrate

When I realized TTATT back in 1998 I felt about the same as bradford. If an average joe like me can see through the WT for what it really is, thanks much to the internet, then it's just a short matter of time until the WT is completely out of business.

Over the next few years, when driving by a Kingdum Hall and noticing their parking lots filled to the max, I couldn't help but wonder, "What's the matter with them??? If I can see through this, why can't they???"

I took me a little while longer to realize that many just do not care what their religion teaches, one way or another. They have found a social club that they feel comfortable with. It fits them like a well worn shirt.

1914, 1925, 1975, 2014, it just doesn't matter. Whatever the preacher says is fine with them. Many people like not having to think, and to have someone else make their decisions for them is all the better.

The only people who will end up leaving are those who individually stumble on to their own "Crisis of Conscience".

75

Lurker trying to gain clarity

by questioningmyfaith in

jw
friends

hello all, i would like to first say that i am basically questioning my faith in god.

i am not negative towards the wt at all.

so honestly i am to concerned with more ad hominem attacks towards the wt because i still love the organization and the people in it.

apostrate

questioningmyfaith,

It sounds to me like you are about 95 per cent JW and about 5 per cent doubter.

When you talked to your elders, did they encourage you to get out in the field service more often and remain firmly within "Jehovahs modern day ark"?

If I were you I would listen to them and do just that. Get right back in there and give it 150 per cent!

I know that's what I did! I was once right where you are at right now. So I listened to the advice of the elders and jumped right back in determined to be the best damn JW there ever was!

And, you know where it got me? The deeper that I dug my head into the Organization, the harder that I tried to be a super-duper JW, the more things began to become crystal clear.

I realized that I was trying to live a lie! And the more I realized that if this really wasn't working for me, how could I go out door-to-door and endorse this "religion" with a clear conscience?

Yep, go out in service more, place more magazines and books. That was always the stock answer I got when seeking advice from the elders (no matter what the question was).

So I would advise you to go out in service more and place more magazines and books. Then come back here after a while and let us know how it's working for you!

Seek truth and you will find it!

39

The Paranormal

by Peony in

jw
friends

i'm interested to know if anyone has been to see a medium/clairvoyant since leaving jw's.

i must admit now i can make my own choices i seem to have a fascination with it although haven't acted on it as a) am i just jumping into believing another load of rubbish?

and b) what if it really is the demons pretending to be loved ones!!

apostrate

I realize that this link that I have listed is a cartoon, mostly, but it raises some good points for one to ponder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAnFbZQw1Jk

39

The Paranormal

by Peony in

jw
friends

i'm interested to know if anyone has been to see a medium/clairvoyant since leaving jw's.

i must admit now i can make my own choices i seem to have a fascination with it although haven't acted on it as a) am i just jumping into believing another load of rubbish?

and b) what if it really is the demons pretending to be loved ones!!

apostrate

Peony,

Read and heed the post above by jws. You obviously have access to the internet, use it! Research "cold readings", skeptics, illusions, and magic tricks.

Personally, i did my homework on this subject at the same time that I did my homework on the Watchtower. One thing that I noticed was how much the WT employed many of the same tactics as the "psychics".

There is a psychic out there named John Edward (not to be confused with former politician John Edwards). This guy is the worst of the worst in my opinion. He is just not that good at what he does, and yet he is one of the most popular.