Posts by arachnia

39

This was just on silentlambs...how nice

by ashitaka in

"how dare you you should be ashamed of your selves because you know better i was raised for 30 years in the truth and all though i am no longer an atcive witness i canted belive what i just saw on tv to speak out like you did with half truths and outright lies you were never truly jehovah witnesses and never had real love for him.

[email protected] "

arachnia

Hmmm....all of these quotes from those defending the WT brought to mind some others...

Negotiation is irrelevant. You will be assimilated. ~Collective

Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. ~Collective

Why do you resist? We only wish to raise quality of life for all species. ~Locutus

Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You must comply. ~Collective

You will become one with the Borg.
You will all become one with the Borg. ~Locutus

I am Locutus, of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been, is over. From this time forward, you will service us. ~Locutus

Brave words. I've heard them before, from thousands of species across thousands of worlds, since long before you were created, but now, they are all Borg. ~Borg Queen

Don't listen to her. She's poisoned your thoughts long enough. ~Borg Queen [Or the WT to JW's listening to us heretics!]

Pleasure is irrelevant. ~7 of 9

You will be obsolete in the new order. ~Locutus

Cheers,
~arachnia

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
-Princess Leia to Governor Tarkin in SW:ANH

14

Friends

by ARoarer in

jw
friends

i know the usual parrot like rhetoric you all like to use.

"i abhor what is wicked".

give me a break, non, can't you be more original?

arachnia

"Dissidents?" , "Dissidents!!!!"
They used this word at Bethel to describe brothers and sisters
whose conscience won't allow them to cooperate with corruption???
The only time I've ever heard the word 'dissidents' used was
in the context of people suffering under an oppressive
dictatorship like "Soviet dissidents" or "Chinese dissidents".
All the more reason for me to stick with my Soviet analogy
(complete with geriatric rulers and party hacks) when thinking
of the Watchtower.

It is an interesting choice of word, isn't it?

The English word "dissident" means to disagree, and is derived from the PIE roots "dis–" meaning "opposite" or "not," and "sed-" which means "to sit." So what I gather from that is that it is an active, rather than passive, disagreement in that the dissident refuses to "sit down and take it" any longer.

Look up "dissident" in the thesaurus and you will find that the word "heretic" is included in the related words. In fact, the definition of heretic incorporates "dissident:"
NOUN: A person who dissents from the doctrine of an established church

So, basically, the WT was indirectly calling those who stand against it's child molestation policy heretics. Fine. Because....."heresy is only another word for freedom of thought." So said Graham Greene. I am glad to be able to think freely since I left the JW's.

John Morley once observed, "Where it is a duty to worship the sun it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat." This is very much the sort of mentality that exists in the WT. They require unquestioning obedience to shallow laws which are flowered up to sound as though they are meaningful and important, when in fact it is simply to protect the racket that they have going on. There is no room for an examined life as a Jehovah's Witness. I'm glad that my heresy allows for that now. :)

Cheers,
~arachnia

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
-Princess Leia to Governor Tarkin in SW:ANH

14

Friends

by ARoarer in

jw
friends

i know the usual parrot like rhetoric you all like to use.

"i abhor what is wicked".

give me a break, non, can't you be more original?

arachnia

Hey Bathory,

How's that crack *you're* obviously smoking?

HA HA HA HA HA, I'm so hilarious. That was comic relief. HA HA HA HA HA

(Hopefully the obvious sarcasm will be recognized here.)

Cheers,
~arachnia

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
-Princess Leia to Governor Tarkin in SW:ANH

21

Dateline a hit

by Cygnus in

jw
friends

i give it an a-plus.

i am pleasantly surprised.

actually i was more emotional than that.

arachnia

Very well done, everyone who participated in the show. A special thanks to Dateline for making it all possible.

Cheers,
~arachnia

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
-Princess Leia to Governor Tarkin in SW:ANH

55

Things That Make You Go 'Hmmmmm'

by Farkel in

jw
friends

i was trying to do a little catching-up on posts this afternoon and read the thread where leander discussed his resignation as a ms as he is ending his days as a dub.

congratulations, leander!

you made the right choice!

arachnia

There is nothing to challenge. Nothing on earth is more precious than the words of spirit and life contained in the Bible and the magazines of jws. Who would not want to steal such magazines? Even you really want them deep down inside. You just do not want to admit it.

------------------------------------------------
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
-Princess Leia to Governor Tarkin in SW:ANH

39

Well today is the day that I leave the WTS

by Leander in

jw
friends

this morning i told my wife about my decision to step down as a ms and that i also would'nt be attending any meetings.

she made a few comments that i expected her to make, but strangely enough she was for the most part very silent.

she made it clear that she was against the decision but outside of a few other comments she said very little.

arachnia

Congratulations Leander...enjoy your freedom! :)

Cheers,
~arachnia

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
-Princess Leia to Governor Tarkin in SW:ANH

32

Top Five Ways To Annoy WTS at Assembles

by metatron in

jw
friends

i suppose you could annoy the watchtower simply by.

doing the opposite of everything those dreary kingdom.

ministries tell you every year - like let your kids.

arachnia

LOL Xander....

Well they are in sort of an anarcho-syndicalist commune, eh?

Common Traits between the commune in the Holy Grail and the WT Society

--Take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week
(or for decades at a time in the case of the WT President).

--All the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting. By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more.

--The violence inherent in the system!

--Unwavering belief that theirs is the right and only way to live.

Well, perhaps the points are weak but as I'm writing this on about three hours of sleep that's the most sense I can make of it. ;)

And Obed, very cool merch! I want an Apostate Slut shirt in black, not white, though. :D Hee hee....HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed! ;)

Cheers,
~arachnia

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
-Kahlil Gibran

14

Hello

by raven101 in

jw
friends

hello all, referred here from ex-jw pagans site.

looks pretty active and interesting, far too late for any witty rapport on my part but hello just the same!

arachnia

Thanks mouthy! Hopefully this webhost change doesn't keep the site down for too long in the next couple of days so that people can see it. ;x

Cheers,
~arachnia

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
-Kahlil Gibran

14

Hello

by raven101 in

jw
friends

hello all, referred here from ex-jw pagans site.

looks pretty active and interesting, far too late for any witty rapport on my part but hello just the same!

arachnia

Hey Xander...

ex-jw pagans
What, really?
Where?

[link] http://www.exjwpagans.org[/link]

C'mon over and have a look...but be warned I just initiated a webhost change tonight so there may be outages in the next couple of days while the DNS replicates around the globe. Just keep checking back and hitting the "refresh" button on your browser. :)

Cheers,
~arachnia

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
-Kahlil Gibran

31

Email from a JW and our correspondence

by mpatrick in

jw
friends

i received this original email from [email protected] in regards to post i had made on the jw discussion forum on www.beliefnet.org .

hello mpatrick , ya know alot of the things that you quote i question are still in the truth , i am sorry if i affend you.

im 26 from new jersey and where are the true witnesses .

arachnia

I receive emails scolding me for my departure from the JW's similiar in tone to this, where the author is someone who was raised JW and rebelled, became "worldly" and is now looking to re-join the JW ranks or already has. They appeal to me that I know it's really "the trooth" and so on, and since they are returning, perhaps I should consider it too, because the world has "nothing to offer" and is a "pit of vipers."

I'm always left wondering what exactly they did, and who exactly they did it with, etc., to lead them to believe that any life outside of the JW's is self-destructive to the extreme. I suppose some, upon leaving the JW's, especially if they do this in their teens, believe everything they've seen and heard the "world" depicted as in the WT rhetoric and figure that is how *all* non-JW's live. Drugs, whoring around, bad associations, etc., so that's exactly how they must live if they aren't going to be JW.

Most of the "worldly" people, of which I am one now, I suppose, do not live that way. Most are decent people, and those with problems typically can either work them out on their own, with help from family/friends, etc. Some need professional therapy, but it's the exception. (On the other hand, nearly all of my ex-JW friends have required it somewhere along the way.) People are generally good. Just because the WT Society says they are evil doesn't make it so. I think what happens when some of these people (usually kids) leave, their worldview is completely molded on WT concepts and being immature, they don't recognize the need (much less have the ability) to re-shape their worldview outside of the constraints of a cult mentality.

Not everyone who leaves the JW's goes off the deep end and becomes self-destructive. It's sad that these folks don't know that. Unfortunately, they only see two choices in life rather than the multitude that actually exist. Pity.

Cheers,
~arachnia

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
-Kahlil Gibran