Posts by problemaddict 2

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

problemaddict 2

I have no idea why the beginning of my post is gone above......so it looks a little weird. I think it was just pleasantries, explaining I was born into the faith, yadda yadda.

56

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

by Conanthebeliever in

hello everyone, i hope you are all ok. .

my name is conan, i am 25, and from the uk.

i have some brain damage, so i apologise in advance if my syntax is off or i go a long way around explaining things.

But, I did decide in my 30's (Im still in my 30's), that there was one particular doctrine I did not feel was biblical. That was the MANDATORY refusal of blood transfusions or certain blood products. Its is not supported in scripture as it elevates the symbol of life above life itself, and has many misunderstanding embedded into it. I was content to live with my doubts. The problem was that if I taught this to others, it bothered my conscience very much. You see what you don't already know as a bible study, is you are not allowed to think and feel differently about these things. If your bible trained conscience allows you to take a transfusion in an emergency, or some other forbidden item, you would still be disfellowshipped from the congregation for doing so.

I stopped attending meetings as a esult of this and other things I disagreed with. I didn't disagree angrily, nor did I try to get others to think and feel the way I did. Still......friends I have for decades, called me to tell me they would not be communicating with me anymore. Mind you I have a family, I'm a moral person, raising two small children, I try to live with integrity and help others when it is in my power to do so......its not like I left and grew a beard and started listening to Metalica! Haha.

Still, these otherwise reasonable young guys i lived with and shared moments with over the previous decades just wrote me an e mail saying they regeted that we couldn't "kick it" anymore.

The hall is nice and friendly, as long as you are new, you do not think for yourself, and you never question what you are being told.

that however is not living an authentic life my friend. While JW's may dismiss something like JWfacts.com as lies and false without even reading it, it is far from factually inaccurate. I personally used to come online and argue with what I considered were "apostates". I was thoroughly convinced I was correct, and that the rest of the world was going to die soon if I didn't help them.

I am thankful at one point I decided that I would follow what was logical and the evidence no matter where it led.

My gentle suggestion, is not to get baptized. Once you are, you are subject to the unscriptural practice of disfellowshipping based on a misunderstanding of several scriptures.

Keep learning. And once again, welcome to the board.

25

Inviting disfellowshipped to the memorial

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

i read in a european ex jw forum that this year they are making a special effort to invite not only the inactive but also a special effort is made to invite all disfellowshipped.

.

i don't know if this as always been a common practice, or something started anew so they can boast about the numbers of attendees..

problemaddict 2

I'm not disfellowshipped, but I have faded pretty decently. I really hope this doesn't get them thinking about contacting me. If they did, I am not sure it would go well.

17

Memorial Non-Attendance: The Single Most Impactful TTATT Witness to JW Friends & Family

by AMNESIANO in

note: the following is submitted in full recognition of and with compassion and due respect for those who, due to personal circumstance, feel they are unable to employ this powerful strategy.. ---.

anyone who has awakened to ttatt and has conscientiously left the organization--especially a once-prominent, highly-regarded, studious true-believer from a celebrated multi-generational tribe of jws-- after decades of devout, high-profile "serve-us," who continues to put in an annual appearance at the memorial thoroughly subverts and undermines, by this one act, any hope s/he may entertain that his/her departure will stir family or former friends to question the whole watchtower bamboozle.

by this one concession s/he assigns him-/herself by every single jw to their handy and dismissive purgatory: the "spiritually-weak.".

problemaddict 2

Someone that I know that used to attend asked me when he found out I didn't go anymore this exact question.

"So are you a 'go to the memorial' ex JW, or no memorial JW". His question was interesting to me, because the assumption on his part and I believe many others is that if you attend the memorial, DEEP DOWN you still feel the way you used to.

Since I heard that question....I no longer attend memorial. I am hoping my wife stays home this year for the first time.

22

Beards

by pgjallan in

i left the witnesses.

returned full bearded, which drew censure from a district overseer: “peter, you can’t witness door-to-door with a beard”.

bewildered, i asked for an explanation.

problemaddict 2

Welcome man.

32

JW Child Abuse Documentary

by cappytan in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulswb2avxvc.

let's set aside our differences for the moment and appreciate this excellent documentary cedars put together that should prove to be an invaluable tool in helping to expose the child abuse issues in the organization.. i was humbled to be able to help with this project on such an important subject, though my part in it was insignificant..

problemaddict 2

I kind of wish Cedars would have cleaned up abit from the nice homeless Croatian thing he has going on......but then again.......I'm sitting here on my butt.

33

Urging More Lurkers To Sign Up

by freemindfade in

i have seen a lot of new posters intro stories on here, also updates from those who have been around for a while.

i just want to take 1 post to beg those reading to speak up.

it was a big turning point for me and one of the best decisions i made.

problemaddict 2

Dont use your name. Reveal things vague. Be cautious. Very hard to be outed on this board if you aren't spraying personal details.......even then. Not likely.

But your presence means something to everyone here and others without the desire to sign up. If you look at old threads there are hundreds or more people that no longer come here, whose threads and insight still do much to help those using the search function.

Or don't......thats the beauty. Don't do anything you don't want to. We won't disfellowship or shun you for thinking different.

20

ADVANCED WARNING - April 18th to 24th WT Study

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

february 2016 study watchtower"prove yourself loyal to jehovah" - week of april 18th to 24th"15. if a brother treats us unfairly, how should we react?

15 in congregations of jehovah’s people today, it is very unlikely that we would be treated unjustly.

however, those taking the lead among us are imperfect men and could misinterpret our actions.

problemaddict 2

I wonder when the last time a committee of three guys talking to some poor "sinner" in front of them said well.......I guess we will just "wait on Jehovah".

My guess is pretty much never.

56

A fresh start

by FormerlySandL in

after the worst introduction i could ever make on the forum i would like to reintroduce myself and make a fresh start on the forum and hopefully over time i will be able to redeem myself.

i have changed my user name which was over dramatic and ridiculous in the cold light of day but for transparency and to show i am not trying to hide anything i have adapted the original name and it now has a more positive feel.

after reading a lot of posts on this forum i am feeling more optimistic about my future.

problemaddict 2

Welcome. Looks like I missed something......but no worries. The board has all kinds here bud. Welcome.

There is little to say about what you are going through. its an emotionally confusing time, and there is little to do other than go through the process. Its similar to the grieving process in my mind. There are stages to it that seem to mirror grieving is what I mean.

31

Bloodless Medicine....not all its cracked up to be.

by Lee Elder in

this is a pretty good example of the limitations of "bloodless medicine", and why the informed choice should always be "blood conservation" medicine, which retains the safety net of blood transfusion when medically required.

sadly, the watchtower fails to inform jws regarding these important limitations, and their potentially disastrous consequences.. http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202750028414/jury-awards-100k-to-family-of-jehovahs-witness-who-died-after-refusing-blood-transfusion?mcode=0&curindex=0&curpage=3&slreturn=20160118223352.

problemaddict 2

Great research Orphan Crow.

Absolutely unbelievable. 100K is certainly a token amount. Being that the jury did in fact believe she was the greatest architect of her own death by not allowing a full suite of possible tools at the doctors disposal, it seems the sum was essentially to backstop further action, since the hospital seems to have been poorly run and not handled her case very well. You would think a bloodless specialist group would have it a little better!

Of course as OC pointed out, this is no doubt the base for all dubs in the area to get medical treatment.

In fairness, it sounds like such a freak issue, that there really is no winning in this situation.