Posts by Athanasius

13

First Born Syndrom? -

by elderINewton in

jw
friends

is it just me or does it seem like a large portion of first born children leave the "truth" or find ttatt?

its weird for me, but of all the other people out i know (only about 20 ish) they are all first borns, and usually the wife is as well.

just looking at this from a different lens and curious if others see the same.

I'm the first born, and I was the first of my immediate family to leave the Watchtower. My sister and her husband left the JWs six years later. My brother-in-law was the first born of his family and the first to leave, but his younger sister is still in. My cousin, who was also the first born, left the JWs, but his younger siblings are still in.

My ex-wife's older sister, also the first born, left the JWs, but to my knowledge my ex-wife is still in.

However, I also know of several families where the younger sibling left first and the first born is still in. Yet in my experience it seems that it's more common for the first born to be the first to leave.

17

The Governing Body does just what they say Apostates do

by Watchtower-Free in

.

Athanasius

Since Sister Morris seems to be focused on the householder's crotch, perhaps he isn't even wearing pants.

49

"If I wasn't born a JW, I would never have become one."

by OneEyedJoe in

i've seen it mentioned by a few on the forum that at some point there was a realization that had they not been born a jw, they never would've converted no matter how many times the jws tried to study with them.

this was my experience too, and i'm wondering how universal it is for those that were born-in but eventually left.

i think i started having this thought (more specifically that if i were not born a jw, i would surely have become an atheist by now) in my late teens.

Athanasius

JWism never really appealed to me. So had the JWs come to my door, I'd have politely said "no thank you."

Unfortunately my mom had converted four years before I was born and was very devout and raised my sister and me in the religion. My dad wasn't religious, so JWism never appealed to him. But having a non-JW father gave more freedom than my JW friends who had both parents in the cult. I could watch TV shows, see movies, and read books that were forbidden other JWs. I even attended college, something denied to my JW friends.

Perhaps because I had it so easy, I didn't leave the JWs at 21 like many other born ins. I didn't walk away from the cult until I was 37. Unfortunately it did cost me my marriage.

65

How do I handle this situation?

by BarelyThere in

jw
friends

hey everyone.

i'm sorry that this isn't a very thought provoking post but i could really use some advice on how to handle this.

there isn't anyone else in my life i can ask right now because, being dfed, all of my friends are "worldly" and don't know how witnesses function.

Athanasius

Hi Barely There,

Unfortunately it's always a sticky situation when dealing with anything JW. But as a former elder, I'll give you my views based on experiences while serving on JCs.

While one's sense of justice would say print the emails and expose your ex and his MS pal, don't do it. If you want to get reinstated, don't mention the emails. In most cases the elders will ignore the information, or even worse turn it against you, even though the messages were posted on your email account. In retaliation for exposing one of their own, they could add months to your sentence. As others have advised, don't reveal your hand just yet. Besides your ex may later reveal something really scandalous in the conversations that he posts to your account. This could be valuable once you are reinstated and begin your fade.

Regarding a change of congregations. If your present congregation is too toxic for your spiritual health, it's best that you change to one that is less so. But changing congregations won't necessarily speed or hinder your reinstatement. It all depends on the elders in both congregations.

The elders in your new congregation will need time to evaluate you, which can add more time before reinstatement. Also they can only recommend that you be reinstated, the final decision rests with the JC in your original congregation.

In most cases it will be the same elders who DFd you, who will reinstate you. If you are on good terms with them, there shouldn't be a problem.

Again these are my observations based on my experiences as a former elder. Other ex elders may have better advice. Moreover, the members of this forum have posted a lot of information for you . So don't make any hasty decisions, but take your time and carefully read the posts and see what you are most comfortable with.

Take care,

Athanasius

39

How do you feel about the expression "The Truth"?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

it's amazing how the expression "the truth" has become such an ingrained term used by witnesses.. "we have 'the truth'".

"is he 'in the truth'?".

most here have found out so many facts about the organisation, and felt the effects of being "gut-punched" as we realised these facts.. so how do you feel about the expression "the truth" now?.

Athanasius

I was also born into the JW religion. But even as a believer I disliked using the term "the truth" to refer to JWism. There were so many changes and adjustments made to the JW belief structure that I felt "present truth, past truth, and future truth," would be more appropriate. So it was never a problem for me. However, I still cringe when people call JWism "the truth."

Interestingly the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, a Russellite Bible Student group, call their monthly magazine "The Present Truth."

The term "the truth" in JWism may be a carryover from Freemasonary. Though with the Masons it is the pursuit of truth, not that they are in "the truth" as the JWs define their religion.

22

CO's never say thank you for the green handshakes

by suavojr in

jw
friends

ever noticed how co's and ex-do's never say thank you for the hard earned money they get from the friends?

they truly believe they are entitled to live an easy life at the expense of others.

this makes my blood boil!

Athanasius

The congregations that I've attended have been served by good, bad, and ugly circuit overseers. Since I never gave them any green handshakes, there was never a reason to thank me. However, since the CO controlled patronage, I did see those who did shake the CO's hand get positions in the congregation faster than those who didn't.

Don't know if the CO sent them a thank you note, but being rewarded with an elder's or MS's position would have been an acknowledgement of the gift received.

133

The new service meeting

by John Aquila in

i wanted to relate an experience that happened this morning.

it is regarding the new format for the meeting on thursdays in my area.

its not word for word but im summarizing what i heard, the best i can remember.

Athanasius

While I’d love to believe JA’s post, I must confess that I too am skeptical of his account. Eleven elderly sisters, the youngest in their late 70s, and the oldest being 93 or 96, stop by at the same time. How did they get there? Nothing was said about the sisters arriving in a chauffeured mini-bus, nor their use of public transportation. Did the eleven elderly women drive themselves using two or more automobiles, with the drivers being in their late 70s or 80s? This sounds very unlikely.

Also there was no mention of JA’s mom during the sisters’ visit. Since he provided the refreshments, it sounds like mom wasn’t there. Again would eleven elderly JWs hang around in the presence of an inactive JW of questionable loyalty? Though I was never DFd, whenever I visited my JW mom and her JW friends stopped by, as soon as they saw me they excused themselves, saying: “I see you have company. We’ll drop by at another time.”

However, as others have commented, many older JWs are questioning what is going on in JW land these days, and some have revised their wills to exclude the Watchtower Corporation from inheriting their assets. But this information was revealed in private conversations, not in large groups of ten or more. Moreover, the larger the group, the more danger that one of the sisters could be an informer, who would report back to the elders. It’s very unlikely that with this large a group, the sisters would feel free enough to voice negative comments about the JW organization.

Some of what JA posted is believable, but not in the setting that he described.

11

Do JW's still go door-to-door?

by Dark Knight in

with the rise of the new literature cart method of preaching, i'm curious as to how the traditional jw preaching work is organized.

the other reason i ask this is that i hardly see jw's door-knocking anymore.are they still going door-to-door and tracking how regularly their territory is covered?

are they still using territory maps and keeping track of do-not-calls, ethnic/deaf houses etc?i'm also curious as to how the literature cart ministry is organized.

Athanasius

I doubt that they go door to door as much as they used to. I've lived at my current address for 15 years and the JWs have never came to my door and talked with me or my. Granted I might have missed them before 2009 the year I retired because I was at work during the week.

Several years ago the JWs did leave a tract in our door, as we were out when they stopped by. But we've never had a JW call on us in person. We don't live way out in the country, in fact there are four KHs within a ten mile radius of our house, with ten congregations.

6

My Bethel Experience Part 9

by new boy in

the worst thing, someone could call you at bethel, was a "jack.

" as in "that guy is a real jack, he doesn't work at all".

the other term not used very much anymore, was "pot licker" used basically the same way.

Athanasius

The Bethel cleaning ladies sound like the KGB maids who worked in Moscow hotels during the Cold War.

Your experiences at the Watchtower Vatican are very interesting, New Boy. Living there must have been like living in the former Soviet Union. Informers everywhere.

13

Using your car in service and still the GB asking for money

by life is to short in

i listen to dave ramsey while i work.

he is that financial guy who hates debt.

i agree with 90 percent of what he says.

Athanasius

What gets me is the GB begging for money to finance the preaching work. While the Watchtower corporation may give a small allowance to the few special pioneers still serving, field circus is paid for by the local JWs, and always has been.

Whenever I used my car in business for the companies that I worked for, I always received a mileage allowance. When I pioneered, like the rest of you, I used my car a lot. Did the Watchtower ever reimburse me for my mileage? No.

I