i mean - many of us had a history that was exclusively in the 'truth'.
nothing else.. now having left, do you long for a discussion with some who share your past culture, understandings, and lifestyle?.
is that the 'appeal' of this board to many?
is it like we have no history - like a blank page has been inserted in our biographies
Absolutely. This becomes even more evident when filling out an application, and it ask for personal references...and sadly, none are available. Its like, don't you know anybody?
This becomes more of an issue when compounded with the hardships in creating new relationships.
Axel
i don't know if i could've 15 years ago because of having nowhere else to go, but now i know i couldn't stay.
what about you??
?
Another quick point:
I believe the intenet is a big threat to the WT because through information, it exposes so much of their misinformation.
But the bigger threat is that of networking with others who have been there done that. When jws can see that they are not alone in their depression in the "spiritual paradise, that they are not crazy, and that their thoughts are shared by many others, this is the bigger threat. It will provide many the courage to peek behind the curtain. That number is increasingly reaching a critical mass. The internet will provide the support.
Axel
i don't know if i could've 15 years ago because of having nowhere else to go, but now i know i couldn't stay.
what about you??
?
I was already on my way out. I was miserable in the seemingly endless cycle of meetings and preparing for parts. I was a young elder with more and more responsibility being piled up on me. Everyone seemed to be happy with my life except for me. I still somewhat believed even though I had serious questions that no one wanted to tackle, and I didn't want to press too hard. I wont get to far into it, but I was what could be termed the pinnacle of my JW career, which made my next moves all the more unexplainable, discomforting and disquieting to those around me. There was no label to place on me.
At this point I changed congos, resigned and reduced my attendance to a trickle. I was willing to just live and then die at Armageddon.
I eventually went on the internet, and I cant quite remember what I typed in, but in had something to do with being a free spirit. I started going to sites about being a free thinker. I knew that I wanted to re-engineer my whole life. While researching reethinking and reading more about personality types (i.e. Jung and Myers Brigg) I literally stumbled onto the freeminds site. I read everything. It expressed a lot of things I had already thought and filled in the gaps in a lot of other areas.
I read COC and it allowed me to come to terms with the fact that it was ok to leave. ISOCF then showed me Ray's brand of chrisianity, and though I'm still deciding what i believe now, I do know the wt took the wrong path when they came to the fork in the road in the late 70s and 80. I read books on cults, and was finally able to admit that I was raised in one. Other key books were True Believer, 1984 and Animal Farm. There were other books too.
I enrolled in a couple of college courses. Seeing and learning the cyclical nature of religion, and how it has been used to control, opened my eyes emensely and made quite evident what a sheltered education I had gotten throughout my jw life. Once I saw a more whole picture, I was able to see what a speck the jws really are and have been on the world scene. Jws are legends in their own minds only.
But there is no way I would have gotten to the point of looking on the internet at jw sites if I wasnt already ready for it. I had no clue these types of sites even existed.
This is more info than you asked for, but I felt like typing.
Axel
i do not know if any of you have heard.
no one in my congo.
other than one other elder on the body has heard:.
They wanted everyone to be there so made an announcement ahead of time. The emphasis is being put more on the field and they are going to start to drastically reducethe number of Bethelites. Some will be sent to Gilead, some as sub CO's some as CO's. They asked them to please accept the assignment because itis as if it's a Bethel assignment.
This should be interesting. Axel
i do not know if any of you have heard.
no one in my congo.
other than one other elder on the body has heard:.
They've been slowly getting rid of their publishing angle. There's no money in it anymore. There's more money in real estate.
I have been thinking about this as well. As well as for other reasons for the shift in focus, while downsizing. Consider this scenario for a typical in his 50's life-long bethel middleweight:
I'm in my 50's and not getting any younger
I'm in my 50's and have no retirement to live on in the upcoming years
I have no marketable skills to use on the outside in the real world
I have seen the rough plight of others who have left Bethel and the hardships they are facing, and their dependance on the mercy of the friends.
I have no children to look after me in my old age
While at the same time:
There is this big pile of money and assets that should be able to carry me and my wife through for the next 30 or so years.
Yes people are leaving in droves, but if we downsize enough, at least we'll be taken care of (the ones left at Bethel).
I can live out the rest of life in a paid for prime location riverfront Brooklyn condo, while selling or leasing the rest.
I can get free med care and live off of the friends for the rest of my own life at least.
I have no kids, so there is no need to have assets to pass on, just worry about me and wifey.
Just some random thoughts about what may be going through the minds of some at HQ.
Axel
i have had a quick look and found no references to this, so - here goes..as in the mag we picked up on sunday.. worldwide % increase over 2004 = 1.3%.
memorial partakers 8524 (compared to 8570 in 2004).
most european and nth american lands show pretty static figs - britain 1% increase, canada 0%, germany 0%, france 1%, usa 0%... but spare a thought for the inhabitants of zambia where 1 person in 90 is a reporting witness, must be hell going down to the local market!
Why does the Society endlessly nag the friends about college education - but never offer their own college to help preservetheir own subculture?
Off topic again:
This was another mistake. I don't know how they could have done it or the details involved in the whole process, but they should have created their own accredited university open to all jws and whoever else a long time ago. The Mormons did it and their membership thrives, and their members feel that they have gotten something, at least, that they can use for life. Whether it would have been Gilead or a completely separate institution, I don't know.
They have put nothing into preserving their subculture long-term other than pushing more magazines and books. There is nothing here that serves the practical interests of "the friends" for the long term as far as making a living and growing as individuals. Pushing books and magazines can only go so far, and is now becoming completely obsolete as a way to get more recruits. The friends know this even if they arent saying it.
The friends are not having success with this method, and this is translating to a dutiful, if not negative, attitude toward the door to door work. They just want to "get the time" to keep the elders and CO happy, and earn the salvation
The result is that even if they do still believe it is The Truth, as met said, The friends are getting tired of all of it. Many more are willing to just take there chances and just live the best way they can in this old system.
There is no infrastructure because 1/2 of the WT is really a book publishing business, and the other 1/2 really believed their own around the corner rhetoric.
Axel
i do not know if any of you have heard.
no one in my congo.
other than one other elder on the body has heard:.
Its been my experience that ex-bethelites sometimes make the best x-jws.
Axel
i hope all of you genx-r exjw will get a kick out of this story from my childhood.
i was just talking to jt and he says i should post it..... my daughter is studying wwi history in school.
i told her that when i was in 10th grade, i had a social studies teacher named nancy galbraith.
These stories and remembering my own mindset at the time I was a jw reminds me to give new posters and those on there way out a little slack.
I mean we really really really bought into this stuff hook, line and sinker...and there was no one who was going to convince us otherwise!
Looking back, ...its so embarassing.
Axel (of the uggh! class)
i hope all of you genx-r exjw will get a kick out of this story from my childhood.
i was just talking to jt and he says i should post it..... my daughter is studying wwi history in school.
i told her that when i was in 10th grade, i had a social studies teacher named nancy galbraith.
LMAO!
I think that even puts my 10th grade biology paper on evolution to shame...which was pretty detailed and laid out itself.
I was deep, but not Actually bring info on League of Nations into the classroom deep.
Axel
according to our new co, elders nor their children are allowed to go to college.
my dad is being deleted.
evidently new material was presented at the elder school.
I asked earlier if this might be some new directive that COs will start implementing as they make there rounds. More likely it is the crusade of a few gungho COs...but we can hope.
There are way too many jws, elders and there wives included, going after a degree or taking courses for this not to become an issue. Maybe some will start to think.
Axel
