Posts by dubstepped

11

1975 EX JW Critical Thinkers video.

by WHATSGOINGON in

hi everyone.

jt and lady cee have posted an awesome video about 1975, its very interesting.. check it out, i just watched it and its great.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6nocaq0x-8 .

cheers wgo..

dubstepped

I subscribe to their podcast (imagine that) and just listened yesterday. I agree, that one was good.

71

Wow i do not reconize this religion anymore...

by _Morpheus in

had the misfortune of stopping by the "regional" convention yesterday.

i promised my daughter i would come to sunday afternoon so she wouldnt have to ride home with her mother.... holy crap it was weird!

im sure all of this has been covered on the forum but to actually see it.... just wow.

dubstepped

Of course they've been anti internet, they're just pro their site. Remember, everything is bad unless they are the ones doing it.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

Thanks stuckinarut and jambon! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I worked some on episode 4 last night and had some fun writing about what JWs believe. I think you'll like it when you hear it. I hope to have it wrapped up and uploaded this weekend. This is our long week of work and I'm finding time hard to come by until the weekend.

16

My disassociation story

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

following is a summary of events leading up to my decision to disassociate from jehovah's witnesses and the unforeseen results of that decision.. a young man named joel engardio produced a documentary about jehovah's witnesses called "knocking" which aired nationally on pbs.

i purchased the dvd from joel before it was even released and we exchanged emails.

joel had been raised by his jw mother and had been active in jw activities during his adolescence, but he was never baptized as a jw.

dubstepped

Wow, what a story, thanks for sharing. JWs strain out the gnat and gulp down the camel, don't they? I'm so sorry that your wife reacted so poorly. That is heartbreaking.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

@Libby - I think it's really cool that you went back through my posts on here and my journey out. Yes, my wife's first birthday party was so much fun. It's about that time again, though this year will be more subdued. We can't do a big blowout every year.

As you get farther away from the cult the fear of Armageddon will fade. At first I felt a lot of "but what if they're right", but hanging around a place like this reinforces how wrong they are and keeps you from backsliding into the brainwashing.

As far as purpose in life, life has the meaning that you give it. Think about it. JWs gave it a certain meaning and you and I bought that. If we were in India the Hindus might give it a totally different meaning and we likely would have bought that. So instead of getting your purpose from your culture or religion or other influences, you now have the ability to decide for yourself what that purpose is to be. I look around me at the plants and animals and they all have a purpose on this earth even if it isn't some eternal purpose. Sometimes they're food for another creature, sometimes they help some other creature grow, etc.

What is my purpose? I don't think it's clearly defined, but I can't go wrong with try to do no harm, help others, and be the best version of myself that I can be. If I've done that, at the end of my life when I look back, I'll be satisfied. Will I struggle with the thought of death? Maybe. I do struggle with that quite a bit. Okay, a lot. But I also know that's just because JWs put the idea of permanence in my head. Buddhists believe in impermanence and teach that as a concept. Had I been raised with that, I'd have no problem. Let's face it, everything around us points to a cycle of life and death. Whether it's the seasonal patterns from Spring to Winter or life on the plains of Africa for the animals that wander, death is as much a part of life as anything. Life goes on though. Life is quite the indomitable force. Will my life or your life go on after death in some other realm? Nobody knows. If there is some sort of loving creator that gives us an afterlife, then my life plan of doing no harm and trying to be the best version of myself and helping others surely will be enough. If there isn't, then I'll have lived a good life and mattered to the people I've come in contact with, and that's more than a lot of people get out of life.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

mentalclarity - I think there is a big spectrum in the hall of JW's - looks like your family was definitely on the more fanatical side.

I've joked before that my family were JW extremists, and they kind of were, but lots of them were. In any fundamentalist type religion you seem to get a higher concentration of extremes. There were certainly congregations that had different personalities, so to speak. Most that I ever went to were quite fanatical. It can also be a regional thing, and I grew up in the "Bible Belt" of the United States where people tend to be more extreme.

Like you said, and I think I even said on one of the episodes, it is kind of a spectrum. In the end though, at both ends of that spectrum is crazy. Whether fanatical crazy or just your everyday run of the mill crazy, it's all crazy.

22

Reunited With My Brother

by pale.emperor in

my little brother on the left exited the cult after 29 years.. me in the middle.. my older brother on the right stopped his bible study after discovering ttatton youtube videos.. never lose hope guys!.

.

dubstepped

Great pic man, thanks for sharing that!

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

@ Libby - Oh wow, your mom certainly had a different reaction to the food than we did. WTF? That is crazy. Being upset that someone embarrassed you by giving you food is the height of ego. You must have had a rough childhood too. I'm so sorry.

One day in my journey of waking up I looked around the Kingdom Hall and asked myself, are these God's chosen people? Are these people capable of making good decisions in life? Good grief, so many around had lives that were an absolute disaster outside of the KH. These weren't people known for making good decisions. The same went for my own family. They were not good at life, relationships, etc. Why would these people have stumbled upon "The Truth" when they lived lives that were such lies and so crazy? It didn't add up.

I'd love to rip my parents in ways, but I have to temper that with the knowledge that they had good intentions. They weren't nefarious, were likely doing the best that they could with the tools that they had and truly believed they were doing the right thing. I can't fault someone for that completely. I do have resentment and anger, as I am human. However, I too did a lot of dumb things because of the cult and treated people badly, and I would want people to give me the dignity of realizing that I was caught up in something bigger than me and not quite myself, wrapped up and driven by a cult ego. Of course, I was humble enough to look for real truth and my life has flourished because of that. Anyway, that's kind of the reason that I don't simply "slag them off" (I like that term), even though I do feel that way deep inside. I'm trying to be better than what I was raised to be and not let base emotion define my reactions as much as I can. Forgiveness is something you do for yourself, not for them, and I'm trying my best at that.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

@jambon - Hope you find something in it that strikes you in some way.

@WGO - My mom actually said aloud that she wished my dad would hit her so that she'd have proof. I, on the other hand, was glad my dad didn't throw that bonus in. I'm so sorry that yours did. I'm glad/sad that you can see yourself in my story.

My goal is an episode per week, released on the weekend. I had two ready to go when I launched, and the third was nearly done so I finished it and released it early. I'm going camping this weekend and wanted to make sure it was out. So next weekend there should be another new one if I can get it together by then.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

@jambon - Yes, it is available. I can't speak for every app because I don't know where all of them pull from, but I know it is on the iTunes app and Podcast Republic, and you can stream it from my site or download it.