Posts by SAHS

14

Solving the Problem of a Generation that never ends ...

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

luke 21 is a difficult text to interpret.

and jesus' failed prediction that the end would occur in the lifetime of those who heard him speak, makes the whole thing border on farce.. recall what he said:.

30 when they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.. 31 even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of god is near.. 32 truly i tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.. 33 heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.. .

SAHS

“Focus”: “You're pretty ignorant for a loudmouth, now, aren't you?” “What's your I.Q.? 70? 65?” “Yes. 65 tops.”

Let’s see. What does it say at the very bottom of this Web page?

“To ensure all users feel safe and keen to participate, please avoid: . . . Insulting, threatening or provoking language . . . using hate-speech or making obscene or vulgar comments” “. . . stay friendly and welcoming.”

But I guess leopards (like your avatar) – as well as humans with similar or less I.Q.s – just can’t read.

21

No Refusal Blood Checkpoints!

by minimus in

jw
friends

in oregon, during the 4th of july weekend, troopers will be conducting checkpoints to see if someone has been drinking.

if someone refuses a breath test, they will be forced to have their blood extracted from them.. what do you think of this?.

SAHS

To me, it’s really just six of one and half a dozen of the other. Being determined to be over the legal limit through breath or blood is really the same thing: it all boils down to the magic blood alcohol content/concentration (BAC) proportion/percentage in the body. A fail is a fail now matter how you express it. It’s really just a matter of taking a test (in whatever form) or refusing. I mean, they’re going to get you one way or the other, right?

12

always wondered if they canceled turning fs time slips in what will happen

by dugout in

jw
friends

SAHS

Right from the beginning, submitting the time slips has always been a control mechanism to keep people perpetually entangled in the operation of the Watchtower Society (Corporation!). Starting in the January 1, 1882 issue of Pastor Charles Taze Russell’s Watchtower, there was a service report included, but it wasn’t until Joseph Franklin (“Judge”) Rutherford’s reign that it became mandatory for everyone to fill out and submit field service time cards.

But, of course, anything which could be used to, as “nonjwspouse” put it, “ maintain 'proof' of the tax free status of a charity "giving back to the community", ” would be a bonus for them.

9

Another Family Escapes Their Clutches

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

my coworker actually was involved in training me, and i used to be a quiet good little jw when he met me.

i first shared information about him on this forum 7 years ago when he was just starting to learn that i was no longer going to the kingdom hall.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/125918/1/pressure-to-conform-from-his-wifes-congregation#.u6t3c5rx-uy.

SAHS

“. . . the blood doctrine became an issue . . .” “. . . it came up again in the next pregnancy . . .”

Sometimes it takes some kind of serious crisis to shake people awake and force them to see things in a new and objective light. Anyone who was never a JW can obviously see how ridiculous and immoral it is for any man or group of men to dictate and insist that a person’s life – especially the life of a baby – must be sacrificed for some policy which is invalid and plain illogical. But there’s nothing like being faced with the death of one’s self or their child to cause some JWs to finally wake up and use their head. (That is, if the brainwashing hasn’t become too hardwired into their head.)

28

I Am Celebrating 6 Months' Sobriety Today

by agonus in

jw
friends

yay for me!.

please take a minute to visit my blog and leave your comments: benpogge.blogspot.com.

have a good one!.

SAHS

Congratulations, Ben Pogge (“agonus”)! You’re doing better than I am right now. I’ve gotten so many of those 24-hour “desire chips” due to relapsing that it’s not funny. And, unfortunately, I relapsed yet again fairly recently.

I realize that I’ve started to think mistakenly that since I’ve already relapsed so many times, what would it really matter if I just gave up? Also, upon observing all the terrible evils in the world which people do deliberately to each other (such as fighting, torturing, murdering, raping, stealing, etc.), I’ve caught myself mistakenly thinking that, compared to all of that, I might as well give up because going back out drinking could never be as bad and rotten as all those other bad things people are doing.

But now I keep telling myself that I should never give up – regardless of all the relapses I’ve had, regardless of all the worse evils I hear about going on in the world, and regardless of the way I have been treated and judged by others – regardless of all of that, I have to just forget the past wrongs and mistakes of myself and others and just let the past go. I have to make sure that I just keep my side of the street clean, . . . . and, of course, NEVER GIVE UP!

All I can say to you, Ben, is to just keep going on the right path for you and keep working at your sobriety daily. There is no “magic bullet” to cure alcoholism. Sobriety is a constant journey on which one must keep walking, one step at a time, one day at a time.

Take care, and all the best of luck to you.

14

Solving the Problem of a Generation that never ends ...

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

luke 21 is a difficult text to interpret.

and jesus' failed prediction that the end would occur in the lifetime of those who heard him speak, makes the whole thing border on farce.. recall what he said:.

30 when they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.. 31 even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of god is near.. 32 truly i tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.. 33 heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.. .

SAHS

“fulltimestudent”: “. . . Jesus' failed prediction that the end would occur in the lifetime of those who heard him speak . . .”

I believe that the end did occur in the lifetime of those who heard him speak . . . . for the Jews in 70 C.E.! Remember, their big temple was destroyed and their nation there and then was basically destroyed, with millions of them slaughtered by those ruthless Romans.

The problem is when folks such as Russell and Rutherford (a pair of narcissistic shysters if there ever was one!) try to link prophecies such as by the prophet Daniel, the apostle John, and Jesus Christ to supposedly modern times by using sleight-of-hand, illusionary, “mind-freak” techniques. Apparently around the Biblical numerology/eschatology heyday of the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was basically every single year marked by someone or other as a significant year in “end times” chronology. Around the time of the first issues of the Watchtower (beginning in 1879), those sort of folks were a dime a dozen.

Jesus’ words about the “end” occurring make more sense when considered in their basic simplicity (without pulling stuff out of hats) and related to the times when they were spoken; i.e., during Jesus’ earthly lifetime and the political circumstances around that time involving the Jews and Romans. The more people try to complicate it or force it to relate to something or somewhere or sometime else, the more false and unfulfilled prophecies you’ll see from charismatic self-appointed “leaders.”

Jesus’ words were simple and naturally relevant to that time. Forcing his words beyond that scope to which they were intended is where the problems begin. Like anything else, I say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

52

This new JW video is so stupid that it has to be a troll

by Pacopoolio in

jw
friends

recently, my mother, who had stopped talking to me because i was 'apostate,' started speaking to me again.. (note that i successfully faded as opposed to ever being disfellowshipped due to dodging every elder question with "i'm not sure, i'm still searching and trying to find the answers.").

the reason why?

at the international convention this year, they receieved a new video called something or other.

SAHS

[me]: “. . . the couple who rents the downstairs in the latest video.”

“DesirousOfChange”: RENT the downstairs? ARE YOU CRAZY? Those kind of JDubs never RENT the downstairs or rent the rental house or apartment!”

Actually, you’re right. Now that I think of it, I remember that the father told the brother – in a rather matter-of-fact, nudge-nudge-wink-wink manner – that he wouldn’t have to pay anything to dwell in the family’s basement (apparently temporarily).

“WingCommander:” “Why doesn't the Org put it on Youtube, on their OWN channel? Why was it taken down? What is the WTBTS so afraid of?”

I’m guessing that the WTS wants to wait until this year’s regional conventions are all completed before posting it onto the Internet so as not to spoil people’s surprise when it’s released at their own convention site. (As if JWs won’t be getting their own “sneak preview” one way or another.) Although, strangely enough, the WTS will no doubt still be making copyright infringement complaints to YouTube, or any other Web site that has the video posted, even after it’s been released at all the convention sites, which illuminates their true bureaucratic and petty nature – while, of course, still claiming to philanthropically be making every efforts to spread the “life-saving kingdom message” worldwide. I guess they think that everything must go through them, even if that means trying to legally stifle anyone’s own personal efforts to help spread the WTS’ message, regardless of how sincere they may be. (It’s always their way or the highway.)

52

This new JW video is so stupid that it has to be a troll

by Pacopoolio in

jw
friends

recently, my mother, who had stopped talking to me because i was 'apostate,' started speaking to me again.. (note that i successfully faded as opposed to ever being disfellowshipped due to dodging every elder question with "i'm not sure, i'm still searching and trying to find the answers.").

the reason why?

at the international convention this year, they receieved a new video called something or other.

SAHS

I have seen the entire video. They released the DVD at our convention on Sunday, June 15, 2014, and my dad picked one up. My folks and I saw it together. (I can’t remember the title of it. It’s at home, and I’m out right now.) I noticed that this DVD video, as well as last year’s (2013) video called “The Prodigal Returns,” slyly tries to foster a general fear of “the world” around us.

A common theme of these new Watchtower videos is that normal and innocent things – such as dating, music, recreation, association with friends, leaving home, education, knowledge, secular work, etc. – are put in a dangerous or even negative light. For example, the message in the Prodigal video is that leaving home and focusing on making a living always leads to disaster. This latest 2014 video touches on – and, of course, vilifies – casual friendly relationships with the opposite sex, popular music (you know, the kind with that heavy low beat), and parents each holding down a secular job. And, of course, it presents the “desired” goal of “moving to serve where the need is greater” (i.e., the couple who rents the downstairs in the latest video).

This type of operant conditioning (brainwashing) is somewhat subtle and covert to those still on the inside the Watchtower religion, but it becomes rather obvious to those outside. Once you can zoom out and see the whole forest from above, it becomes quite obvious what they’re up to – i.e., push, push, push the doctrine, policy, and, um, “suggestions” of the tower. Yes, to the Watchtower Society, “normal” can only be “normal” according to the rules of their game.

9

What stage are you in after leaving or waking up to TTATT?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

i can honestly say that although still in, i have lost the fear of wts dooms day version and in all sincerity i don't care what others inside the cult think of me.

at first i was mad of being lied to, i was sad that paradise is not coming, and i felt fear of death.

i happy to report, that i am now at peace with my eventual mortality and i am enjoying every second i have while i am alive.. .

SAHS

I have already completely left the WT cult in my heart. I don’t make any financial contributions in the contribution boxes. But since I’m still living with my folks right now, I’m not able to vote with my feet as well as my wallet.

I’m trying to get my debts paid down (which is certainly not an easy thing for me now) so that I can finally move out on my own again. I keep thinking that I’ll be able to do a proper and complete fade once I manage to get my debts close to being paid off, but I can never seem to pull that off. Financial independence is like the carrot in front of the donkey for me. I keep thinking, “Someday, someday.”

My folks are around their mid-70s, so this current living arrangement isn’t going to last forever. When I get my inheritance from my well-to-do aunt, I’ll be able to make a run for it. But, of course, how long will that take? Who knows. So, ‘what stage am I in after leaving or waking up to TTATT?’ I’m still stuck in frikin’ limbo! That’s what stage I’m still in now. My heart has already made the choice – I’m just waiting until my feet can follow.

39

How Would Your Being Disfellowshipped Affect You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

would you care?.

would there be any repercussions?.

SAHS

“minimus”: “ I would be only affected negatively due to my mom's circumstances. But if they decided to shun me, that's their choice.”

I take it that you have not been actually disfellowshipped as yet. If you are not actually disfellowshipped by now, then I would say that you have been doing quite an excellent job of being able to remain under the elder radar, and my hat would certainly be off to you, sir. That would be quite the chameleon act!