Congratulations, Garrett! I’m always glad to hear about someone like you who has the gumption and personal fortitude to break out of a silly and obviously man-made society such as the WT organization/corporation. I believe you’ve certainly done the right thing. Sending a letter of disassociation to those clowns in New York who think they’re really something when they’re really nothing is actually a laudable action in that you are being true to yourself and innate human dignity in standing up to what is really nothing more than classic charlatanry. Once again, congratulations!
Posts by SAHS
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15I've decided to officially disassociate myself
by Garrett inhey guys, .
i just wanted to thank you all for all of your input, support and help over the past few months.
i've decided to officially disassociate myself from the organization and move on with my life.
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Old Hat
by Phaedra in15 years ago i joined this forum under a generic alias.. if it weren't for the fact that i have close family weaved into this tapestry of a religion i think i could have moved on long ago.. when you're connected, you're connected.. to those in the same boat, you're not alone.. we get it, and you.. hugs,.
phae.
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SAHS
Disfellowshipping and Armageddon are the WT’s version of “hell” – tools of the trade for religious charlatans to secure power and exercise control over the ignorant sheep. It’s the oldest trick in the book. Follow us and you’ll get to heaven/Nirvana/paradise – otherwise, there’s consequences. But wasting your whole life supposedly serving God through these evil and self-serving clowns is really the closest thing to hell right in the here and now. And if, say, you were to somehow manage to get into the JW paradise here on earth, when you think if it, you would be spending an eternity living in a world ruled by the new non-anointed governing body representatives of the WT organization in New York – and that would truly be hell! -
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Thoughts on My Exit
by losingit init has been some time since i last posted or even visited the site, and i wondered why that was.
life continued to be difficult without a network of friends to look forward to seeing.
the novelty of being disfellowshipped wore off, and the mundane advanced as it did every day.
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SAHS
Congratulations on your family and career success! The good thing to always remember is that now you’ll never have to worry about that old “scriptural grounds” and “marry only in the Lord” (i.e., JWs) crap ever again. Now you can just go full steam ahead in living your life the way you were meant to – in true freedom, outside of that little WT prison box from which you and your kids have been lucky to escape. Always renember to show unconditional love to those kids, but also remember to always take care of yourself too. All the very best to you and your immediate family (minus the ex).
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A few thoughts
by Powermetal4ever insaturday night in the country where i am from, i am sitting by my computer alone and drinking and having some thoughts.
hos sad isnt that?
.....i am feeling a bit down right now and dont know what to do.had a call from my mum, she was among other things saying that its not very good that i dont go to meetings if they are not (she and my dad.
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SAHS
I’ve been conscientiously doing some informal witnessing here and there on my own, which, now that I think of it, I could have added to my service time slip. I just wouldn’t have to say that it was all anti-witnessing. -
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It's starting shunning will stop brochure first.step
by poopie ini'm in contact with service and writing and brochure first step there bleeding publishers they can't take it anymore publishers are depressed because they feel they must shun others and they know it's unloving.
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SAHS
The WT organization would never drop either the shunning or the no blood policy, because those two things have long become the hallmark of their “religion.” Ask anybody what first comes to their mind when you mention JWs, and right away they would inevitably bring up shunning and no blood transfusions (and then they would mention no Chtistmas and no birthdays, all in that order).
JWs without shunning and no blood would be like the Hare Krishna without the robes and drums or Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple without the Kool-Aid. It’s what defines them. And I couldn’t imagine the WT organization being willing to let go of their pet instruments of power and control – which have served them well. (The governing body, that is. Certainly not their followers.)
If they were to abolish, or to even relax, the powerful shunning weapon, then no doubt about half the membership would leave right off the bat because they would no longer be blackmailed by their families being held at ransom. A huge proportion of the young born-ins would then jump ship in a heartbeat (only about 33% of born-ins stay) – and the governing body knows that quite well!
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Sat., March 28th, TV program "48-hours" investigates JW killer, Christian Longo. Focuses on his impersonation of journalist
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.cbsnews.com/videos/48-hours-investigates-accused-killer-who-impersonated-journalist/ .
48 hours investigates accused killer who impersonated journalist.
march 27, 2015, 8:20 am|a journalist strikes up an unlikely friendship with an accused killer who took his name -- what happened next would become a book and a film.
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SAHS
Thank you, “AndersonsInfo,” for the tip! I’ll be sure to set my PVR for the airing tonight. Here in the Greater Toronto Area (Ontario), it airs on Rogers Cable at 10:00 p.m. (eastern standard time, same time zone as New York, USA).
I always show these news items to my folks, but they always find ways of justifying things from a JW perspective. My dad is a very well-known, long-time elder in our general area. It seems that no matter what manifests itself in the media, such long-time, entrenched JWs never connect the dots – at least not in their conscious mind, anyway. All well. Every bit of such tidbits and items surely go to helping people at least taking another look at what is their very small world of indoctrination. -
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Breaking cognitive dissonance - or - how to get Bill Cosby to help a dub see the light
by undercover inlet me preface this by saying, i don't know if mr. cosby is guilty of all that he's being accused of.
the number of women coming out against him is pretty damning, but no real proof has been offered (that i'm aware of anyway).
and it is this circumstantial, hearsay evidence that can actually play into the hands of someone trying to get a jw to grasp the seriousness of the child abuse claims in the jw religion.. how so?.
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SAHS
“Storm”: “The accusations against Mr. Cosby are against him as an individual. The people attacking Jehovah's Witnesses are seeking to make others responsible aside from the person who actually committed the crime.”
Actually, this is not a case of attacking all Jehovah’s Witness people, nor is it seeking to make others responsible aside from the person who actually committed the crime. At issue here are the policies of the Watchtower organization/corporation itself, which is under a legal and moral obligation to follow the secular laws in these matters. Thus, the plaintiffs’ legal actions, or ‘attacks’ as you call them, are properly, legitimately, and justly directed at the corporate entities of the Watchtower organization. The aim of such actions (including those others which may be pending) is only to effect punitive justice upon the individual perpetrators and effectively prevent those perpetrators from causing further harm to other victims, and, in practical monetary terms, punitive justice upon the legal/corporate entities of the Watchtower, which would hopefully result in them reexamining and improving their self-serving and harmful policies – but such cannot be judged as “attacking Jehovah’s Witnesses” as a people, like it’s some kind of archaic “community responsibility” punishment.
The Watchtower policies in dispute are those requiring local bodies of elders to immediately go through the legal department of the Watchtower before any consideration of notifying the proper authorities, as required by law, and which seek to protect the image of the Watchtower organization at all costs, even if it means covering up repeated and scandalous actions toward the vulnerable and the very young by deliberately failing to inform and warn others in congregations within the Jehovah’s Witness community. Elder bodies forwarding outstanding recommendations as introductory reports to other congregations on behalf of dangerous and habitual pedophile sexual predators, while they refuse to even acknowledge the testimonies of victims because of not having second or third witnesses to the crimes (which basically would never happen during sexual assaults on young children), certainly do not, in my opinion, in any way constitute even a basic and minimal due diligence in protecting the congregation – the flock – of which elders are supposedly assigned to do by their God-appointed position. That is what is at issue – the policies sanctioned and systematically implemented by a self-serving, arrogant, and corrupt organization.
The Watchtower couldn’t give a hoot about all those little victims of unwitnessed indecent assaults, . . . BUT, should somebody ever get caught having anything to do with any holiday celebrations or allowing their baby to have a necessary lifesaving blood transfusion, or even just storing their own blood to make it available for an upcoming dangerous surgery – then you’ll see the vicious punitive fangs of the Watchtower organization come out in full fury! Think about it.
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Yet Another Putdown of Women! – KM March 2015
by SAHS inthis weeks service meeting part (week starting march 23, 2015) in the our kingdom ministry under the heading meetings for field service that accomplish.
their purpose includes a little sub-article entitled when a sister must conduct.
the direct link is: http://www.jw.org/en/publications/kingdom-ministry/ click the little document download button under the one labeled km15 03-e us and then choose a format (pdf looks best)..
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SAHS
“Vidiot”: “If Saudi Arabia opened its doors fully to the WTS, they'd absolutely thrive there.”
The edition of Our Kingdom Ministry specifically for that whole area would probably replace the words “head covering” with the words “burka and mouth gag.” Although, it wouldn’t surprise me if such change were to be implemented in all the editions for everywhere soon. The WT leash is getting tighter all the time for women. At this rate, women won’t even be qualified to clean the kingdom hall windows because it’s not demeaning enough, and they’ll be restricted to cleaning the toilets only. (If that were the case, the brothers would start using the women’s toilets and stop flushing.)
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Yet Another Putdown of Women! – KM March 2015
by SAHS inthis weeks service meeting part (week starting march 23, 2015) in the our kingdom ministry under the heading meetings for field service that accomplish.
their purpose includes a little sub-article entitled when a sister must conduct.
the direct link is: http://www.jw.org/en/publications/kingdom-ministry/ click the little document download button under the one labeled km15 03-e us and then choose a format (pdf looks best)..
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SAHS
Excellent comments, folks! It all goes to show just how ridiculous and backwards the teachings and policies (opinions) of the WT leadership really are.
I recently attended an event in a church community center, and I checked out an item on their bulletin board listing the scedule for “ushers.” As I thought, the names listed were pretty much mixed between males and females. Aside from women preachers (mostly non-Catholic, I assume), I’ve noticed that all the various administrative positions and general duties of service within churches and in spiritual community-based organizations and programs are freely mixed among the genders. I showed a non-JW man a photograph of the WT governing body, and right away he asked me, “No women? They’re all men. How come there aren’t any women?”
JWs are so used to that extreme misogynist crap within the WT leadership and membership, but to any normal people outside of the WT, it just seems bizarre, nonsensical, and plain extremist. Most JWs by far, especially born-ins, don’t really realize just how different they really are from everybody else.
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Yet Another Putdown of Women! – KM March 2015
by SAHS inthis weeks service meeting part (week starting march 23, 2015) in the our kingdom ministry under the heading meetings for field service that accomplish.
their purpose includes a little sub-article entitled when a sister must conduct.
the direct link is: http://www.jw.org/en/publications/kingdom-ministry/ click the little document download button under the one labeled km15 03-e us and then choose a format (pdf looks best)..
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SAHS
This week’s service meeting part (week starting March 23, 2015) in the Our Kingdom Ministry under the heading “Meetings for Field Service That Accomplish
Their Purpose” includes a little sub-article entitled “When a Sister Must Conduct.” The direct link is: “http://www.jw.org/en/publications/kingdom-ministry/” – click the little document download button under the one labeled “km15 03-E Us” and then choose a format (PDF looks best).
Here is that little part about women directly pasted below, in which I have highlighted in yellow the most pertinent parts:
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When a Sister Must Conduct
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A sister should wear a head covering and would normally be seated when conducting a meeting for field service. What she chooses to discuss would be similar to what a brother would consider. While she should avoid giving the appearance of instructing those in attendance, she may initiate a group discussion. If she invites another baptized sister to say the prayer, that sister should also wear a head covering. If a baptized brother joins the meeting after it has started, the sister would normally invite him to finish the meeting. The service overseer should try to anticipate unusual situations and give appropriate instructions so as to minimize awkwardness. For example, a very young, perhaps preteen, baptized brother might attend when a sister is assigned to conduct, but the elders feel that he is not yet qualified to conduct the meeting. In such a case, the service overseer can inform those involved that the assigned sister should conduct the meeting, but the brother should say the prayer if the elders feel that he is qualified. Or perhaps there is an adult brother who is restricted from conducting the meeting or offering congregation prayer for reasons known by the elders. Without revealing confidential information, the elders should let the assigned sisters know that they should conduct and pray even if he is in attendance. The elders might also let the brother know which days sisters are scheduled to conduct the meetings for field service.
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Now, we have all heard about the head covering thing for sisters in those rare instances when they absolutely have to take the field service group because no baptized brothers are around. There is nothing new with that – except, I don’t recall ever reading a directive from the Watchtower organization that in that situation where a sister has to conduct the group, she has to not only wear a head covering but also she has to remain “seated.” So, she would have to remain seated even if offering prayer for the group.
As well, “she should avoid giving the appearance of instructing those in attendance” . . . . um, isn’t the whole idea of taking, or conducting, the field service group to “instruct” those attending, to organize them into partners, car groups, and territories? If whoever is conducting the group isn’t supposed to appear to be “instructing” and making necessary practical working arrangements for field service, then what the hell are they there for? I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t make any sense to me. Either you’re doing the job of conducting/organizing or you’re not.
Further, “if a baptized brother joins the meeting after it has started, the sister would normally invite him to finish the meeting.” After it’s already started? The Watchtower organization can’t even allow a woman the basic respect and dignity to at least finish conducting the group if a baptized testicle-carrying member arrives partway through? Really?
“The service overseer should try to anticipate unusual situations and give appropriate instructions so as to minimize awkwardness.” Awkwardness? So, it’s really that much of an “unusual” and “awkward” situation for a woman (female) to conduct a little field service group? The governing body must really feel uncomfortable about the very thought of a woman (female) having to do anything in the congregation. (But, of course, cleaning those toilets and washing those floors and sinks is always most welcome for those apparently lowly women. I guess that’s their real place, at least according to those seven grumpy old men at the big conference table in New York. Lucky them.) “The elders might also let the brother know which days sisters are scheduled to conduct the meetings for field service.” Oh, yes. We wouldn’t want any of that awful “awkwardness” arising from one of those “unusual situations,” now would we?
The more that little blurb in this week’s Our Kingdom Ministry can get shown around to people in general in the “world,” the more people will be able to see just exactly what they would be in for if they were to join, and thus be able to make a more informed, and hopefully intelligent, decision just in case they ever got any ideas about membership. Copies should really be sent to women’s rights groups, or even just human rights associations. It’s ridiculous and nonsensical little things like this that will surely prevent any more growth of the Watchtower “religion” in any progressive parts of the world and be the purging of more and more of the current membership out the door. What a stupid, quirky, medieval outfit!