Posts by Village Idiot

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

cappytan, that's a pretty big congregation. Are you fading?

Edit: Never mind the question, I just saw your thread about your wife.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

I think that any fader who doesn't have family to worry about might try an experiment with others that are fading and see whether they are TTATTs. They can pose a question like "I've noticed you haven't been at the meetings lately. Do you still think it's the truth?"

If he dodges the question that might be a signal that he is mentally out. You should not get in trouble with the elders for asking that question since it is one that they themselves may pose. Worth trying unless you think he/she might get in trouble.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

Morpheus, I like your reference to both Anonymous and the Matrix. As I say whenever the subject comes up: "blue delusion, red reality" - give me the red pill any day.

OneEyedJoe, "...there's probably about 0.25-0.5% ...", a slightly conservative number but you are probably right. I'm just being a bit optimistic with my 1%.

The Searcher, that is one of the most unfortunate parts of the predicament that TTATTs have to go through. After they successfully fade they cannot go back in to find out about any other TTATTs.

It must be lonely being in that position.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

Richard_I, good luck with your fade.

I do think that there must be more than a thousand TTATT still ins like you throughout the world especially in the US. I know of one still in who used to live in my JW apartment complex where there's about a hundred active witnesses and 15% of the tenants are disfellowshipped. I do think that it will be risky for them to try and hook up with the others; everyone keeps their guard up.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

Phizzy, I believe that most burn-outs are not necessarily amiable to the TTAT. I've known 3 inactives who wholeheartedly believed it was the truth and have no tolerance for those who criticize the Watchtower. Those are the ones who will come flocking back when they go through a life crisis. However, if only half of them learn TTATT that could have repercussions for the Watchtower. Let's hope that happens.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

DwainBowman:

"I am in the coldest congregation...extremely harsh treatment..."

Have you thought of switching congregations?

@ Giordano:

"Either way over 30% are no longer identifying........ many are just not out yet."

There must be a lot of burn-outs as I refer to them. I wonder if there can be a safe way to communicate to them TTATT.

27

Evolution - Myths and Evidence

by maksutov in

i have nearly finished writing my 'apostate' book, which i will soon be publishing as a free e-book.

here is an excerpt from it on the subject of evolution and the misconceptions about it held by jws.

sorry it's a bit long, but i would appreciate any feedback.

Village Idiot

It's way too long. For example, your section titled Evolution is 'only a theory' or a 'belief' or even 'requires faith'. is 817 words long. At one time it's length would have been ok but nowadays everyone has a short attention span. For example, your "Evolution is 'only a theory'" section could be condensed into this:

A theory is a scientific explanation. It is called a theory regardless of whether it's proven or disproven. For example: Einstein's "theory of relativity" was proven over a hundred years ago but it's still referred to as a theory. Therefore the saying "it's only a theory" is meaningless since a theory can be called a theory long after it's been proven. The same applies to evolution.

That's 66 words or 8 percent of the original. It may not include every detail or nuance that you want to get across but in in the real world it stands a better chance of being read.

If you were to condense every section in a similar manner you may not have too much of a book - more like a booklet - but it would be more readable.

42

Please Focus on the Bible

by terrypike in

hi people, may i firstly thank those who have responded to to my intro article, i am replying to you all as a new topic because the direct messaging is not working for me at the moment so i can clarify my perspective on bible study.

yes there are many arguments that are put forward to demonstrate for example that the bible has been composed of numerous preexisting creation story's ect, my focus is to give the bible the same opportunity to defend itself as anyone reasonably expects if charged with some crime they are not guilty of.. i find for example the account of jesus response when questioned about the divorce certificate 'but it was not so in the beginning' confirms that moses allowed changes to be made to the original, that said consider also the religious traditions moses people had been exposed to, the story of the god enki who seduced even his own grandchildren and the well known incest of the egyptian royalty, given the genetic cost, are such practices any more right now than they were then?

communities that practice close relative marriages today are well documented for there higher risk of numerous health problems so how would you find moses on that basis, guilty or not guilty as jesus did because he understood why moses took the creation story's of other cultures and gave his people there own creation story that taught them to avoid the general pagan practice of incest.before looking any deeper at moses creation story may i also ask the question why does jesus knowing that god promised he would never again destroy the world by a flood as he did in noah's day say 'as in the days of noah ..the flood came and took them all away' so what did jesus actually mean mt 24:.

Village Idiot

"...I am concerned about how our future generations yours and mine will cope with the growing pressures on our religious heritage not least from the sharp increase in the Muslim community, Should we then continue to trample down the only real resisstance we have to being absorbed into Islam or any other religion..."

Our religious heritage in the European continent consisted of multiple wars and witch-hunts (Inquisition). The Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all authoritarian religions which not only believe that their religion is the truth but condemn those who are not part of them to either genocide or a make believe inferno where everyone is tortured for all eternity.

Then, in the United States we had the Puritans who executed those who were not of their religion. This included the famous Mary Dwyer who was hung from a tree by the Puritans for the high crime of being a Quaker. Such intolerance is built into the Bible both Old and New Testament.

This Biblical attitude and the religions based on it does not make for a worthy "heritage".

As for Islam, it is as incapable of converting large numbers of Christians as Christians are incapable of converting mass number of Muslims. There is an issue in Europe because of the large numbers of alienated and unemployed Muslim youths who are ripe for conversion to tyrannical versions of Islam but that can be handled by stopping immigration from those nations.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

OneEyedJoe, Teenagers are their Achilles heel. They cannot perpetuate their organization with so many dropping out.

Mad Sweeney, I also suspect that there might be at least one per congregation.

DesirousOfChange, It definitely looks like a great crown with all the newbies coming in to this site at the rate of several per day.

58

A Question for Underground Apostates, How Many Are There?

by Village Idiot in

when i first came to this forum i was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the jws.

soon i came to the realization that there were many more.

we have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in.

Village Idiot

When I first came to this forum I was of the belief that those of us who were still in due to family reasons were few in numbers perhaps one in a thousand in the Jws. Soon I came to the realization that there were many more. We have dozens of posters here who are mentally out but still in. So I then started thinking that perhaps 1% or so of a typical congregation were 'underground' apostates.

So my first question is, how many on this board are still in?

My second question, What percentage of the congregation know TTATT but are still in for whatever circumstances?

Then there is the possibility that the numbers might exceed 1%, perhaps 2 or 3%. That would mean that there would be 2 perhaps more underground apostates in a congregation probably unknown to each other.

My third question is, Do you know of any other underground apostate (not including your spouse or children)? Do you talk to each other about TTATT?