Posts by fiddler

58

If the Watchtower truly collapsed, how would you deal with your JW relatives?

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

imagine the best case scenario.

the watchtower society implodes from within even making final printed admissions that it is voluntarily dismantling it's mission and legally dissolving the corporations.

oh happy day!

fiddler

I would embrace any of my family or friends that sought me out. I would hold them while they cried and I would assure them that there is a whole universe out there and lots of places to go....baby steps at a time but as many here know, those baby steps often take off running pretty quickly when the scales fall off the eyes. As for the older ones with few years left that would be harder. While I don't believe in a god in the manner that they do, I wouldn't push my views. My spirituality is my own personal thing as it should be (IMO). For the older ones I think I'd just say that God is about love and no loving God would abandon them because of an organization gone bad. If they just continued on with the most important 'commandment' to love and also 'be modest in walking with their God' then that is their most important obligation in this life.

Something like that.....

21

A Toast to All the Brave Kids Who Broke Up with Their Toxic Moms

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

sometimes holidays can be hard on us.

some of us deserve a little toast today.. a toast to all the brave kids who broke up with their toxic moms.

fiddler

I suppose my JW daughter could read toxicity into me because anything I say including 'I love you' threatens her faith.

21

the age of adam when he died, anyone know?

by brandnew in

jw
friends

and if so, does this mean that adam had already invented a timetable, and calendar?

fiddler

Oh, Adam had lots of other offspring but they were GIRLS! Bible didn't count them.

14

Tennessee-JW Angela Montgomery sentenced today to 40 years in prison for raping her own children

by AndersonsInfo in

http://wkrn.com/2015/05/06/murfreesboro-mom-sentenced-to-40-years-for-raping-own-children/.

murfreesboro mom sentenced to 40 years for raping own children.

by larry flowers published: may 6, 2015, 4:59 pm updated: may 6, 2015, 6:53 pm .

fiddler

Steve, I wasn't taking a hard nosed stance. I've felt the same about some allegations against men as well. The fact that the mother didn't have anything to say was significant to be sure but some of the monster women (and men) that I've either known or read about seemed to be pretty vocal in their defense. I will look up the case as I should have done before commenting here.

edited to add: looked it up and yes, she sounds like a monster. It was the reference to breastfeeding that seemed out of place.

14

Who are the people in JW TV videos?

by HappyDad in

jw
friends

out of curiosity, i have caught a glimpse or two of the "drama" style videos.

are the ones in these televised "dramas" jw's or did they hire actors for the job?

i can't see the average jw being able to do acting as good (if you will call it good) as some of these people.

fiddler

Hey, Acting is what a lot of JWs do best. Reading scripted talks and putting together mock D2D skits...acting like they are the 'happiest people on earth'. They're actually pretty good at it! Being in a drama is for some, who actually do have acting talent but will never get to use that talent, the highlight of their life sadly.

14

Tennessee-JW Angela Montgomery sentenced today to 40 years in prison for raping her own children

by AndersonsInfo in

http://wkrn.com/2015/05/06/murfreesboro-mom-sentenced-to-40-years-for-raping-own-children/.

murfreesboro mom sentenced to 40 years for raping own children.

by larry flowers published: may 6, 2015, 4:59 pm updated: may 6, 2015, 6:53 pm .

fiddler

I know there are horrible people out there so I'm not saying this didn't happen but I would like to hear what testimony really sealed the case. Just the man saying things happened could also be because he is the 'horrible person'. I don't know and if he indeed did endure this at the hands of his own mother then she deserves to be locked away but he also mentioned her breast feeding other people's babies. That is not rape and in times past, being a wet nurse was common practice...just saying....something didn't sound right in the little bit I saw on that news report.

13

Stephen Lett admits income/expenditure shortfall as he reminds Witnesses to donate “valuable things”

by defender of truth in

it's well worth taking a look at the article, it will only take you a few minutes.

but i would particularly like to highlight this part: .

if you are going to divulge a shortfall in funds, particularly with the aim of leveraging more donations (or valuable things) from a pool of supporters who are already lagging in this regard, the least you can do is treat them like adults and give some hard numbers.

fiddler

The fact that the congregations in the 'wealthier' countries are comprised of older long time Jdubs might just make this latest ploy for donations a bit harder for the very reasons already stated. A lot of us HERE are in that age group and we remember the attitudes LisaRose sited...'no plate passed' and the pride that was taken in the NOT asking for donations. Actually, the accounts report was always, though a necessary business, an uncomfortable part of the meeting once a month when it came up. So, I'm thinking that there's going to be a LOT of discomfort over Lett's TV spot. Yes, this IS making televangelist look like amateurs!

24

They only care about themselves......

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i've watched the reaction to the nepal disaster for the first time with eyes opened.

lots of comments about praying for the brothers and sisters affected.

the official release on the website references only the sister and her two children that died, along with the impact on the brothers there.

fiddler

Just one more thought...

my last student today is from the region that was hit. She told me that her family is safe although they've lost much. She also told me of so much love and bravery that occurred...I can't recount the stories with accuracy but suffice it to say that there was much love and self sacrifice from young and old. Humanity is not the evil wicked thing JWs always pound on. There is so much goodness also.

24

They only care about themselves......

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i've watched the reaction to the nepal disaster for the first time with eyes opened.

lots of comments about praying for the brothers and sisters affected.

the official release on the website references only the sister and her two children that died, along with the impact on the brothers there.

fiddler

JWs appease their minds by thinking 'Oh, the end is SO close and all those 5,000 dead will now have a chance at resurrection'

done!

No more needs to be said or done.

jehovah will fix it.

But what about these? I remember these as a JW child and the thinking was the same

-- Feb. 29, 1960: Southwest Atlantic coast in Morocco; magnitude 5.7; some 12,000 killed, town of Agadir destroyed.

-- Sept. 16, 1978: Northeast Iran; magnitude 7.7; 25,000 killed.

-- July 28, 1976: Tangshan, China; magnitude 7.8-8.2; 240,000 killed.

-- Feb. 4, 1976: Guatemala; magnitude 7.5; 22,778 killed.

There were others as well and JWs mostly just watched the news and said the same as they are saying now and doing virtually nothing. (After all, the JW money is tied up in lawsuits right now....)

just a thought....

(Quoting from James 2:16)

James 2:14-23 (PHILLIPS) | Whole Chapter

The relation between faith and action

14-18a Now what use is it, my brothers, for a man to say he “has faith” if his actions do not correspond with it? Could that sort of faith save anyone’s soul? If a fellow man or woman has no clothes to wear and nothing to eat, and one of you say, “Good luck to you I hope you’ll keep warm and find enough to eat”, and yet give them nothing to meet their physical needs, what on earth is the good of that? Yet that is exactly what a bare faith without a corresponding life is like—useless and dead. If we only “have faith” a man could easily challenge us by saying, “you say that you have faith and I have merely good actions. Well, all you can do is to show me a faith without corresponding actions, but I can show you by my actions that I have faith as well.”

Nuff said!

48

The shift: from follower to wanting to leave

by paradisebeauty in

this week has been the week when my whole way of thinking shifted.

i still cannot believe how this can happen so fast.

over a period of seven days i went from not even imagining that i could ever not be a witness to wanting to get out of this organisation.. .

fiddler

I've been out for 17 years now but I look back at how one week I was a 'forever JW' and the next looking around at an assembly and shaking my head that I'd fallen for such craziness for so many years. In actuality it was also a gradual awakening but a critical mass was reached and yes, like an explosion the scales came off my eyes in what I call my 'aha moment'. I've never gone back but I will warn you that there were trigger words probably instilled in you and when those triggers are pulled a moment of fear might grip you. For me it was listening to the news and hearing the phrase 'peace and security'. Giving yourself a chance to take a deep breath and think logically on things you'll be able to see things like this as just very common phrases that were appropriated by the Watchtower society...like the word 'apostate' that to anyone else is a pretty benign word but to a JW strikes absolute fear in the mind.

May your journey be filled with wonder!