Posts by dubstepped

20

Why the verb shun is missing from the JW lexicon

by cognisonance in

so my parents when i confronted them about how unhappy i am at them shunning me, responded by saying: "you keep using the word shunning, we're not shunning you.

"i am a bit confused how they can say that.

i'm an ex-jw and an atheist.

dubstepped

To shun is wrong, they know it, and they know it makes them horrible people. It's easier to deny it and blame their victims for "leaving".

45

Special Talks now via video

by AverageJoe1 in

tired of listening to your local elders giving the "special" talk ever year after the memorial?

well don't worry, as of next year we will be spicing things up for your enjoyment.. not only will we be having the talk before the memorial (i know, wild huh), but we will be treating you to the talk via video starring our famous speakers from bethel so you can see how a talk should be given (after all bethel does boast the best speakers in any country, right?!).

here's a copy of the text from our latest letter as i'm sure that with so much excitement you won't believe it at first!.

dubstepped

Yes, attendance goes down from the Memorial to the special talk, but their sakes funnel there has always been wrong. You don't lead with the most special offer, you start with something less special and work your way up. Of course attendance is down for a special talk AFTER the one annual event you shouldn't miss.

In sales you want to get a person to take one step with you, and after that they're more likely to take another. Get a person to come for a talk, then they're more likely to take step two provided step two is a step up.

In the end none of us knows how this plays out or the why behind it, but it seems sound from a sales perspective, and they're trying to sell these people on their cult.

45

Special Talks now via video

by AverageJoe1 in

tired of listening to your local elders giving the "special" talk ever year after the memorial?

well don't worry, as of next year we will be spicing things up for your enjoyment.. not only will we be having the talk before the memorial (i know, wild huh), but we will be treating you to the talk via video starring our famous speakers from bethel so you can see how a talk should be given (after all bethel does boast the best speakers in any country, right?!).

here's a copy of the text from our latest letter as i'm sure that with so much excitement you won't believe it at first!.

dubstepped

So this is the next step in eventually using Bethel speakers to do the indoctrination as we all have predicted.

But why BEFORE the Memorial?

My guess is that it's all about numbers. Trying to ramp up attendance before the Memorial so as to boost Memorial attendance. Even if you can't make the special talk, you can at least make the Memorial, right? At least that's my guess, it is to try to get momentum and boost Memorial attendance to look good.

161

Help! Mike & Kim videos all being deleted by Youtube

by mrmagic in

due to watchtower flagging the mike & kim videos on youtube for copyright, youtube is giving them 6 days before they are shutting down their entire youtube channel.

can you help with a mass downloading program and then reuploading them on a mirror ?

would hate to lose all those good videos!

dubstepped

Fisherman - I feel the same way about a lot of religions -all of them for that matter except for wt- but I don't try to shut them down or infringe on their copyrights.

If after 14 years of being active on an apostate site can't make you see that WT is just as mislead and misleading as those other religions, you sir may be the most brainwashed person on this planet. That is a level of denial that most can't achieve.

You're a unique individual here Fishy. I agree with you on the legalities here in this thread, but your comment there struck me. 14 years of playing the game and riding the fence, with one foot out of the cult as a thinking person and one foot firmly entrenched in denial. I used to just think you were an awful person to be honest, but your comment above struck me. I'm sorry you're so stuck man. That's got to be tough.

14 years and still defending the cult, gripping the wheel tightly on the Titanic, convinced that it is going to be upright soon. Damn. If that doesn't show the power of the cult I don't know what could. I feel for you. You ride an interesting line. I wish I could see you fully free one day. It's like you want to be so bad, but you just can't let go. That's such a desperate place. You're quite the enigma there Fishy. Maybe it's just the rules and authoritarianism just like the legalities that you see so black and white that has you in it's grips. Sometimes our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness.

You and others are right though. It's hard to feel for Mike and Kim if they're just being obstinate. Just abide by the law and move on. It's so interesting that you have no problem with them doing these videos other than legally though. That fence riding is fascinating. It's a shame I didn't see you in NYC. I'd buy you a beer and I don't even drink. You deserve one after what you've put yourself through here on this forum. It must be a tough slog.

17

Marrying outside the lord

by label licker in

i should know the answer to this but my memory is failing big time.

our friend just called who is still in the cult.

he's been away from it for about five months now.

dubstepped

Yes and yes. You can be disfellowshipped for anything 3 old men agree on. It's all a power trip and he's not falling in line. I'd say that he's more likely to get the boot bases on talking to a disfellowshipped person. Failure to shun the shunned results in the shun gun being turned on oneself.

34

Thinking about the end of the Watchtower

by JeffT in

jw
friends

first, a word about the watchtower’s financial position: nobody (outside the watchtower organization) knows.

the wtbs is not required to disclose its finances, and doesn’t.

we can speculate, but that is all we are doing.

dubstepped

The collapse of WT would be rationalized and read into prophecy somehow, after all much of religion is just bending reality to fit a preexisting narrative. I think most JWs would just dive deeper. Cults gonna cult. I don't personally see the Borg collapsing anyway, but even if they did their members would just press on. Without the unified message they might splinter a bit, but they'd continue on.

5

"Let It Go" describes leaving the immediate reality and path of leaving JWs

by Bad_Wolf in

i was at disney and when the song was on for a show it seemed to describe one leaving.

here are lyrics and my thoughts in ().

the snow glows white on the mountain tonightnot a footprint to be seen.a kingdom of isolation, (immediate isolation when entire social network cut off and shuns)and it looks like i'm the queen (only one alone)the wind is howling like this swirling storm insidecouldn't keep it in;heaven knows i've tried (start of waking up to break free of jw cult).

dubstepped

Ha, when I was still in and trying desperately to hang on I was wrestling with a decision to keep trying to fit in. I was trying so hard to fit the mold. I was talking about it with my wife while cleaning a house, went out to the van while she finished mopping, and suddenly I heard a little girl's voice belting out "let it go". I looked all around and in all of the years we had cleaned there I had never noticed the play set in back of the neighbor's house across the street, and certainly never saw any kids. In a moment of deep thought and concern with a decision to make the song came through. My wife even got me a keychain with "let it go" engraved on it. It proved to be a valuable phrase and I never knew the words above. It's very fitting.

23

last psychology session tomorrow

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

so tomorrow is my last appointment with my psychologist.

we are going to commemorate it by giving each other a letter.. sept 2016 i sat, a quivering wreck, in her waiting room.

i was terrified.

dubstepped

I love this and that you no longer feel ashamed. You are so strong to be able to overcome all of this that you should never feel shame. Many people never overcome even one of the things you've mentioned here, whether it be physical, sexual, emotional, or religious abuse. And yet here you are with your head held high. You're an incredible person and you deserve to celebrate it.

161

Help! Mike & Kim videos all being deleted by Youtube

by mrmagic in

due to watchtower flagging the mike & kim videos on youtube for copyright, youtube is giving them 6 days before they are shutting down their entire youtube channel.

can you help with a mass downloading program and then reuploading them on a mirror ?

would hate to lose all those good videos!

dubstepped

@Fisherman - Your god is a monster that gives women as spoils of his wars, smashes babies on rocks, destroys animals in floods that did nothing to deserve it, and that is watching people on this earth suffer and die to prove some sort of point as pawns in his game. So screw your god. He's not just, he just claims power and people like you cower because you're afraid, the real fear of god, not because he's just. God has no place in this discussion. This is about legal technicalities.

161

Help! Mike & Kim videos all being deleted by Youtube

by mrmagic in

due to watchtower flagging the mike & kim videos on youtube for copyright, youtube is giving them 6 days before they are shutting down their entire youtube channel.

can you help with a mass downloading program and then reuploading them on a mirror ?

would hate to lose all those good videos!

dubstepped

@vienne - If it makes you feel any better, those people that downloaded your book likely didn't cost you money as they probably wouldn't have purchased anyway. Those people typically don't, they only take what they can get for free, so they weren't your market anyway. Just another way of seeing it. I've seen it a lot with digital products. It does still feel bad though.

Usually companies will send a letter first telling people to take certain materials down. I would think that Mike and Kim, who I've never watched, could probably just get rid of the copyrighted content within their videos and remake them, unless of course their videos are dominated by that material. If they didn't beforehand, they should have really done research into what can be used. I know that I wanted to let my interviewees pick a song that they liked for my podcast "shunned" that I'd play at the end but after research I can't even play a clip, even though doing so would actually promote people listening to those songs, maybe even purchasing them.

Ultimately I love that the Watchtower is spending time and energy on this though. I love seeing them waste time and show how much they care about what apostates do.