Posts by ivanatahan

34

Do most ex JW's go politically left?

by Lightgrowsbrighter in

i've found it interesting that- imho- most of the politically vocal ex-jw's at this website seem to lean left.

i'm personally pretty centered- right on some issues, left on others, but overall have a pretty cynical view of all political/religious leaders.

i find it somewhat ironic that people who leave such a dogmatic group like the witnesses become so politically dogmatic.

ivanatahan

I find myself pretty far on the left side of the political spectrum. Whether it's a result of my JW background, I don't know.

21

Hey, this is me... I'm the guy on the left! =)

by Divergent in

jw
friends

(picture taken from the wt study some weeks back).

all these years, i've always dreaded waking up early for field service.

i'm a night owl & love to sleep late, so it was excruciating for me to have to wake up early in the mornings & go door knocking.

ivanatahan

Lately, I've been looking at those images they produce of "bad examples" and they look much better than the "good examples".

74

Jehovah's Witnesses May Have Peaked in Membership at 8 Million (+/-)

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

i don't have all the details of their new "service year" numbers, but i have read enough on jwn to state my opinion pretty strongly.. memorial attendance for 2015 was down.while they kept saying they were going to build a bunch of new kingdom halls, and everybody is still in recovery from watchtower taking all the local money away, they say pretty much that there isn't enough money to build new kingdom halls.putting gb members on the videos at jw .

org has allowed people to really put a face and personality to these guys and remove the mystery of how they should be such deeply spiritual serious men.

instead they see silly thoughts about tight pants and, really everything that comes out of lett's mouth is delivered ultra-goofy, along with the money reports.. the gb lost credibility a little more with every new light that shone down, with the strangest one being "overlapping generation.

ivanatahan

I agree. The JWs have reached their peak.

I remember when I was still in a few years back when the number was still around 8 million and I expected an exponential growth and at least 10 million JWs by this time. Where are the 10 million? It's utterly disappointing. You have these elders and COs and everyone saying that Armageddon is coming and that the growth is bigger than it ever has been and that all these success stories. I can't imagine how disappointed I'd be if I were still in and, after years of high expectations, the number of JWs has pretty much stagnated. That doesn't seem like a religion supported by God to me.

As other have mentioned, it's clear that with the advent of the Internet and better communication people are more likely to realize the extent of stupidity prevalent in the religion. The financial disaster the cult is experiencing supports that. People are finally realizing that God's "chosen religion" is just another man-made religion that can't even fend for itself. Even my highly pious mother questioned their decision to build a new headquarters when they don't have the money to support themselves, the project, or any other projects.

4

Google Translate has an attitude

by MaxTan in

so i came across this today when i was trying to translate something to russian.

also, i did not know where to post this other than jokes and humor.... so according to google translate, jehovah in russian is "lord".

the name itself was not available in alternative translations either.

ivanatahan

You can always trust Google Translate to screw up its translations. I know for a fact it commonly screws up its Russian (and other Slavic) translations a lot.

14

How did your close JWs react when they found out you know TTATT?

by ivanatahan in

jw
friends

i'm not sure if this topic has ever been posted (surely, i believe it has), but it would be interesting to revive such a topic and hear your stories!.

when my parents heard my first rant (after they told me to be home schooled when i was caught kissing a girl) they entered into a long depression that continues to this day.

my father suffers knowing his once amazing family is now divided, and my mother is equally angry.

ivanatahan

I'm not sure if this topic has ever been posted (surely, I believe it has), but it would be interesting to revive such a topic and hear your stories!

When my parents heard my first rant (after they told me to be home schooled when I was caught kissing a girl) they entered into a long depression that continues to this day. My father suffers knowing his once amazing family is now divided, and my mother is equally angry. My mother is cracking down on me, infringing in parts of my life she never got involved in. She even told me to move out of the house (I'm not even of legal age yet) once when I was falling asleep at a Sunday meeting (?) and even enforced it the next morning. I used the excuse that I was doing my laundry to pack my bags with clean clothes before moving out (my girlfriend's family was willing to take me in if anything happened). Fortunately, she calmed down before I could leave, but she's still being really snoopy. My dad is still very depressed and since my sister is moving he's gotten worse. I wish it didn't have to end up like this, but ideally things will get better.

128

Participate In The EX-JW Personality Test!

by C0ntr013r in

first of all; i must admit that i'm not a huge fan of putting people in boxes like this, it is not an exact science.

but i still think the data can be quite interesting and i intend to collect it and share it in a structured way with you guys.

so without future ado here are the details.. link to test: .

ivanatahan

Born in: Yes
Personality type as JW: ENTP (The debater quality in me, which I still have, led me to question the nonsense known as the Jehovah's Witnesses cult. I still consider myself an ENTP.)
Personality type Ex-JW: ENFP

40% Extraverted

25% Intuitive

34% Feeling

38% Prospecting

64% Turbulent

39

JW UN Rumor

by ivanatahan in

jw
friends

yes, i have returned.. a short recap of major events since my inactivity began: i finally revealed to my parents that i do not believe the same thing they believe in (after i was caught smooching my girlfriend by a family of good-for-nothing pieces of human feces), and of course they view themselves as failed parents who were unable to brainwash their children.

that is, of course, the reason why they are much more controlling over what i do in my life now (my mom even tried having a "bible study" with me).

i told them everything and i was unable to dent their jw imposed mind force field, while also exposing a clear jw misunderstanding of probability, evolution, history, logic/reason, and the big bang theory.. in a conversation i had with my mother a few weeks back (i also heard this rumor before, but my mother told me it again), she mentioned how the un held a summit of all religions and when the jws presented themselves and mentioned their preaching work warning of the coming un ban on religion (referring to an international organization who can't even prevent genocide, much less impose human rights), a un official came up to the jw who presented the cult and told him to "speed up the preaching work", because they plan on doing the ban soon.. it saddens me to think of how ignorant jws are in relation to the principles upon which the un was founded and being unaware that the un at least has some sense as to not ban religion, but this rumor, as ridiculous as it is, needs to be put at rest.

ivanatahan

I used to hear that back in the seventies, so it's been around a while. It's nonsense, just something to get people scared. Did you know the Watchtower belonged to the UN for a while? When they got caught they tried to pretend it was so they could use their library, but you don't need to join to use the library. It came out in the nineties, they eventually dropped their NGO (non government organization ) membership. This was after they condemned@ the UN for years calling it the scarlet colored beast in revelation.

Yeah, I've known that for a bit. It's not that shocking to know it's been around for so long, but I wonder how I could convince people of this.

39

JW UN Rumor

by ivanatahan in

jw
friends

yes, i have returned.. a short recap of major events since my inactivity began: i finally revealed to my parents that i do not believe the same thing they believe in (after i was caught smooching my girlfriend by a family of good-for-nothing pieces of human feces), and of course they view themselves as failed parents who were unable to brainwash their children.

that is, of course, the reason why they are much more controlling over what i do in my life now (my mom even tried having a "bible study" with me).

i told them everything and i was unable to dent their jw imposed mind force field, while also exposing a clear jw misunderstanding of probability, evolution, history, logic/reason, and the big bang theory.. in a conversation i had with my mother a few weeks back (i also heard this rumor before, but my mother told me it again), she mentioned how the un held a summit of all religions and when the jws presented themselves and mentioned their preaching work warning of the coming un ban on religion (referring to an international organization who can't even prevent genocide, much less impose human rights), a un official came up to the jw who presented the cult and told him to "speed up the preaching work", because they plan on doing the ban soon.. it saddens me to think of how ignorant jws are in relation to the principles upon which the un was founded and being unaware that the un at least has some sense as to not ban religion, but this rumor, as ridiculous as it is, needs to be put at rest.

ivanatahan

Yes, I have returned.

A short recap of major events since my inactivity began: I finally revealed to my parents that I do not believe the same thing they believe in (after I was caught smooching my girlfriend by a family of good-for-nothing pieces of human feces), and of course they view themselves as failed parents who were unable to brainwash their children. That is, of course, the reason why they are much more controlling over what I do in my life now (my mom even tried having a "Bible Study" with me). I told them everything and I was unable to dent their JW imposed mind force field, while also exposing a clear JW misunderstanding of probability, evolution, history, logic/reason, and the Big Bang Theory.

In a conversation I had with my mother a few weeks back (I also heard this rumor before, but my mother told me it again), she mentioned how the UN held a summit of all religions and when the JWs presented themselves and mentioned their preaching work warning of the coming UN ban on religion (referring to an international organization who can't even prevent genocide, much less impose human rights), a UN official came up to the JW who presented the cult and told him to "speed up the preaching work", because they plan on doing the ban soon.

It saddens me to think of how ignorant JWs are in relation to the principles upon which the UN was founded and being unaware that the UN at least has some sense as to NOT ban religion, but this rumor, as ridiculous as it is, needs to be put at rest. Have you guys heard of this, and if so, do you know any background information?

Thanks!

Pope Ioannes Atahan

6

Influence of Death in the Mind

by ivanatahan in

most meetings and congregations stress the idea that jehovah's witnesses will live forever on a paradise earth.

most jws are always "comforting" others about how death is only temporary.

then you get those jws who are scared of death.

ivanatahan

Most meetings and congregations stress the idea that Jehovah's Witnesses will live forever on a paradise earth. Most JWs are always "comforting" others about how death is only temporary. Then you get those JWs who are scared of death. Why? Don't they believe that they'll live forever in "Paradise?"

I personally never truly feared death. I accepted it. Even as a believer, I accepted death as an end, even if it meant I could get a "one way ticket to paradise." As I matured, I really did start to accept death as an experience nobody can explain, even JWs. I know my mother is scared of death, and so are so many other JWs. They don't accept death as the end of it all, and so they resort to cults such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, since it assures them they'll live forever in paradise.

The same is true for many people world wide, and it's obvious people who truly follow a religion such as Christianity most likely do so because they don't accept that death is the end. They want something more after their journey in this world. So could it be that people such as ourselves have accepted death as the end, and so don't need a religion or any set of beliefs to comfort us? I feel stupid for asking, but maybe some of us haven't realized this.

I thus feel acceptance of death is the basis for sound and logical reasoning in relation to how we live life. Those who accept death as the end live life as they want, fully aware they may die tomorrow. They don't worry about what happens after death and don't base their life philosophy off of any ideas nobody can prove. Who could argue? Sadly, most people don't want to live life like that because then they're admitting to defeat when they die.

I'd agree religion exists to comfort those who fear life. They fear death and all the troubles they experience. This sounds very harsh and cold and should be taken with a grain of salt, but my more extremist side must admit that anyone who feels that they need to be comforted and assured of made up beliefs about the troubles in life and death really needs to man up and accept that there's no way to know what happens after death and accept that life is the way it is because that's the way the world works. It's the unfortunate (as some may say) side effect of evolution.

Naturally, I accept people of all kinds, and look passed their beliefs because I know for a fact I can't disprove any god and it would be unwise to call someone's beliefs stupid, even though I may have done so in this post.

I feel I've pointed out a fairly obvious and possibly controversial point, but if anyone has any thoughts, I'd like to hear them.

65

Now Even JW Men Are Going To Die At The Big A

by OneFingerSalute in

so this weekend there was a part about not following jesus at a distance.

the speaker made a big point of stating that any baptized jw male who was not either appointed ms/elder, or at the very least "reaching out" actively, was in fact following jesus at a distance.

he said that the only way to live through the big a was to follow jesus closely.

ivanatahan

Death,....that's all they've got to threaten people with? Instant destruction?
How about a precarious life of never knowing if or when I might lose my children due to a disfellowshipping? How about a life of being forced to do stuff I don't want to do, and having to do it CONSTANTLY, RELENTLESSLY? How about a life where I can't speak my thoughts and opinions for fear of being 'turned in'? How about a life where myself and my children are supposed to follow one infinitesimally defined path, unable to freely express our individualities, having to stick to someone else's definition of 'proper' OR ELSE?
Oh, you can't threaten you will do this to me, because that is what you ARE, that is what living with you IS ACTUALLY LIKE. Well, that's worse than instant destruction. And you will NEVER be in control of my life again. Your threats of death are nothing compared to what living under your control was like. And I'm out of it. So death is all you've got? Youve got nothing.

When I read this, I imagined Winston Smith telling this to O'brien during on of his torture sessions.

This really spoke to my heart, and shared this comment with my sister, who is also aware of TTATT and expresses her disapproval more-so than I do. Indeed, it's true that death means nothing when the alternative is essentially a life of being a puppet with no control and the suppression of individuality. I agree with you, I'd rather die than live like that, much less forever with others who are fake. "You can only find true friends in the organization." Hah!