Posts by fiddler

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!

10

100 Years Ago, 1.5 Million Christian Armenians Were Systematically Killed. Today, It's Still Not A 'Genocide'

by fulltimestudent in

whatever the reasons, whatever the excuses, whatever the denials - its still a tragedy:.

100 years ago, 1.5 million christian armenians were systematically killed.

today, it's still not a 'genocide'.

fiddler

It was from the website of Serj Tankian (of the band System of a Down) that brought my attention to this atrocity and yes...it WAS genocide. If you go to his website there is a haunting video called "100 Years".

I'd never heard of it in school history.

39

I've just been disfellowshipped!

by maksutov in

apparently it was announced last night.

i was not informed (for 'legal reasons'), but they phoned my dad and told him.

i understand it is due to my apostate book.

fiddler

Well Mak, they obviously didn't READ your book. They'd be here with us if they had because you presented things in a very factual way with plenty of references. It's a cowardly and bullying religion. So sorry Maksutov.

41

Jehovah kicks a puppy

by Simon in

technically incorrect, but effectively he does .... if we're to believe the genesis account the serpent deceived eve and made her eat of the tree of knowledge.

it all went pear shaped from there on in, although most people believe it was an apple (boom tish).. but anyway .... either it was a literal serpent that could talk on it's own behalf or, as people typically believe, it was satan who was the puppet master and possessing the creature.. the first raises all sorts of questions that contradict the whole bible narrative (another creature that could reason, talk, debate existence and law etc...) so let's go with "the satan theory".. how does got react to his 'perfect' creation immediately being completely imperfect as soon as he takes it out of the box?

(he's like 0 for 4 ... satan, serpent, woman, man ... all break his rules).

fiddler

The Genesis account, IMO, is a mishmash of ancient stories that were taken from oral traditions going way back in time...farther than the 6,000 years JWs claim...think Catal Huyuk and Nevali Cori in Anatolia...serpent like figurines have been found in those places and they date back to 8,000 BC. Maybe the 'Serpent' was just a man, a Shaman, dressed like a serpent. I read that in some books a long time ago, 'From The Ashes of Angels' and also 'God's of Eden' by Andrew Collins. These are not so much scientifically accurate books so much as they simply pose a different view of ancient history. I found some of what I read at least more believable and logical than the JW version I was brought up with. Serpents have long been venerated or demonized throughout ancient history.

14

In Case Witnesses Didn't know..............

by The Searcher in

watchtower july 15 2015 p.11 pars.

"your share in contributing to the spiritual paradise".

18 it is an honor to be allowed by jehovah to contribute to the beauty of our spiritual paradise.we do that by zealously preaching the kingdom good news and making more disciples.

fiddler

FayeDunaway, in my early days out of JWs it was reading up on the Dead Sea Scrolls and The Book Of Enoch that explained (to me) so much about the mindset of the ancient peoples of the Middle East. It also cleared up, like I said, that reference of Paul to the third heaven but also the goat for Azazel...the scapegoat. Azazel is also represented by the Hanged Man in Tarot cards. Interesting, huh? Wikipedia has a pretty good write up about The Book of Enoch and of course whole sites are dedicated exclusively to it. The Watchtower is so simplistic in it's explanations of things with no really in depth scholarly research. Some idiot on the writing committee read that scripture and decided it EVIDENTLY must be referring to paradise earth! To take a line from Game of Thrones...they know nothing!

14

In Case Witnesses Didn't know..............

by The Searcher in

watchtower july 15 2015 p.11 pars.

"your share in contributing to the spiritual paradise".

18 it is an honor to be allowed by jehovah to contribute to the beauty of our spiritual paradise.we do that by zealously preaching the kingdom good news and making more disciples.

fiddler

I used to wonder about that scripture regarding Paul's little out of body experience.

" Oh yes, It must have been speaking about the earthly paradise"

Hogwash...not whitewash!

I only started to get where Paul was coming from after I left the religion and happened to read parts of the Book of Enoch where Enoch has a similar 'magical mystery tour'. Yes, of course! No wonder it was something to brag about! Those writings were in use in the first century and fragments were found in the Qumran Dead Sea scrolls. First century Jews were well familiar with that kind of writing and mystical experience. Jude also references The Book of Enoch (Jude 1:14 -15)

45

Hold Me, Thrill Me

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

i'm going to be honest and from the heart when i say that for 40 years in the jw religion i was very happy in my ignorance!

man, what a trip it was.

i loved every minute of it but then i was absent the bad in my religion.

fiddler

I don't think that the average JW would ever tolerate a pedophile in their midst but what the average JW doesn't think about is that they follow writings of ancient patriarchal tribal people who's mindset allows for the protection of a pedophile. Pedophiles ARE in their midst but they aren't aware because they follow an ancient mindset. Yes, it's an imperfect system.

But Is that a good reason to follow it?

*sigh*

205

Hi Everyone. Answer to prayer countdown...

by Stumpy in

jw
friends

i've been lurking for about 3 months now and thought i'd better finally sign up.

you have all been an immense help to me as i have come to realize that this isn't the truth so i want to say a great big thank you!

what a crazy, emotional ride it is to finally face the truth about the doubts that i have carried for many years.

fiddler

Before I left I prayed so hard for help and answers. At first I thought my prayers were going UN answered but in actuality, it was getting my eyes opened that WAS the answer to the prayers. Hang in there and may you and your wife make a clean escape together.

21

Oregon, Hillsboro Tribune, Article: Jehovah's Witness sex abuse case in feds' hands

by AndersonsInfo in

http://www.pamplinmedia.com/ht/117-hillsboro-tribune-news/255785-125363-jehovahs-witness-sex-abuse-case-in-feds-hands.

lawsuit seeks $10.5 million from hillsboro church, watchtower society .

attorneys for a 40-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man who say they were sexually abused nearly 30 years ago by a church elder in hillsboro want to have a lawsuit filed by the pair last fall placed back in state court jurisdiction.

fiddler

I used to attend one of the Hillsboro congregations. I see this mans face in my minds eye and never knew anything was amiss about him. I had 4 children going to meetings there as well. Also, according to my sons, all grown and out of the religion, there is still a perp in good standing in Hillsboro who has never been charged. The trail of damaged kids in her wake is observable but none have come forward. I wonder if and when any of them will ever say anything. One ended up a drug addict and probably feels too messed up to even try. The other's seem to have moved on...

104

The Secret is out....but nobody cares

by MrTheocratic in

i've been looking on this site for some time but never posted.

i'll give a little about myself, but not too much.

i'm a ex-bethelite ( brooklyn )and currently serving as an elder (10 years) (thinking about stepping down) on the service committee.

fiddler

I too found this thread to be encouraging to a point and offer my thanks to Mr. theocratic for posting his observations. I still wonder about the same point that Galaxy made:

any ex jw family members who have learned ttatt still suffer because of those who just remain within because they think it's a respectable way of life. Surely thats a contradictory position ?

I hear little snippets about my still in JW daughter and what she does and says seems so contradictory to the 'council' coming from the GB. Her business doings seem to be her major focus in life and she's also into things that would have been on the fringes of spiritism in my day. She stayed home from memorial last year because her toddler was sick...wonder if someone will be 'sick' this year. She gets a lot of her meetings over the phone, a privilege that wasn't available in my day but oh it would have been so nice! Oh, and she's back on anti depressants to help her deal with her emotionally abusive JW husband.

But she shuns me religiously.

It just baffles me. I personally don't care if she is JW for community or whatever. I just would like to see her every now and then and take my grandson to the park or something