Notorious liers have difficulties with distinguishing reality from fiction. At that point, they no longer feel guilty about lying to others. As a JW I was really best at fooling myself. It helped me mitigate my doubts about lying to others.
Pole
Posts by Pole
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30JWs Are Sneaky Liars!
by minimus inthe truth is, as jws, we were well well trained in learning how to effectively lie.
we were taught that telling someone misinformation or outrightly saying something untrue------was not in itself a sin----if it was told to someone that had no reason to be told the truth.
for example, if an "opposer" asked us questions about "our brothers or the congregation", we could use "theocratic strategy", which is lying and tell them we know nothing that could help them out.
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23
The subtle distancing of my Witness past....
by logansrun inhello folks,.
it has been said by many long-time ex-witnesses that the greatest stage of "healing" we can go through is when we feel like an ex-ex-jehovah's witness.
more and more i have been feeling this way.
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Pole
Experienced ex-witnesses are oftentimes the best experts on JW-ism on this planet. They may play a great role in helping others who want to leave but are not sure if they're right having "nagging doubts" about the religion.
There are also people who need justifiable "revenge". And folks who treat JW-ism as a hobby and enjoy predicting its rapid demise every two weeks or so :)). The UN scandal might never have been discovered without the efforts of ex-JWs.
Anyway, there are also those who will only think their healing is complete when they hardly remember being a JW. Good for them too!!! -
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Getting fed up with fading
by Pole inok, so here is my story in put a nutshell: .
1. i first had "nagging doubts" about the borg some three years ago (after 6 years of being a faithful witness).
2. i stopped avoiding "apostate" internet sites some 1.5 years ago, which really helped me confirm my doubts.
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Pole
Gum-bee,
My family are bulletproof now, so the guns are like plastic.
So you see - you admitted it. It's hard to identify a fader... :)) That's why so many choose this way first.
Cheers,
Pole -
35
Getting fed up with fading
by Pole inok, so here is my story in put a nutshell: .
1. i first had "nagging doubts" about the borg some three years ago (after 6 years of being a faithful witness).
2. i stopped avoiding "apostate" internet sites some 1.5 years ago, which really helped me confirm my doubts.
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Pole
Panther,
THanks for the comment. Yep, there would be no fading issues if WTS was an honest, voluntary religion rather than a manipulative and brainwashing (also self-manipulative) one. I hope things will work out fine for you. Looks like you got fed up with fading too, although it took you longer than in my case. Time to stand up and go GaryB's way! :))
Pole -
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Will Money Cause the Watchtower to Dump Statistics?
by metatron inthe watchtower has a problem that's been emerging over the past few years.
worldwide growth still exists, it is increasingly compensated for by decreases in the .
economically advanced nations.
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Pole
Metatron, good analysis, as usual (if somewhat gloomy - as usual too :)).
Indeed, the WTS income is totally dependant on contributions from Western countries. As an example, I know that contributions raised in Poland hardly suffice to support the Polish branch office. We used to get a lot of support from Selters, Germany. Not to mention passing any money to Brooklyn to support worldwide work.
Another aspect of this problem is the fact that in developed countries a lot of young (most productive) witnesses leave the org when they come of age. That means the WTS loses life-long contributors and ends up having pensioners and or uneducated low-income members. That's just a general trend of course, but it may give them trouble if you consider the fact that the little growth they get is from 3rd world countries. -
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so who does this forum represent now?
by groovycat. inthis may seem a bit audacious for a newbie, but who is this forum for and has it diversified from its original conception?
the reason i ask: i was reading through some of the early posts on the forum and it seemed pro jehovahs witness, almost like a resource for active jws to use, however, the gist i get now is it is anti jw and pro apostate.
or maybe i have cherry picked the wrong topics?
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Pole
Well, I only have a very vague idea of what he represents (I only know he's a long time labour MP??:), but I admit, I made a very general statement and used it as a rhetorical figure. Still, intelectually honest ideologies only appeal to "niche" markets of voters. They are characterised by the lack of promises which are impossible to keep, among other things.
Now, the promises WTS makes are a scam. There is no way to keep them. There is no way to prove they make sense.
Imagine Tony Benn having to defend an extreme variation of neo-conservatism. (Not sure if it's a good analogy) -
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so who does this forum represent now?
by groovycat. inthis may seem a bit audacious for a newbie, but who is this forum for and has it diversified from its original conception?
the reason i ask: i was reading through some of the early posts on the forum and it seemed pro jehovahs witness, almost like a resource for active jws to use, however, the gist i get now is it is anti jw and pro apostate.
or maybe i have cherry picked the wrong topics?
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Pole
Englishman,
When you consider something just an ideology, but you refuse to admit it may as well be 99% wrong at the same time, you lose intelectual honesty.
But of course, as you wrote you can also be a sort of a politician who uses one ideology or another as an instrument. Can anybody name an intelectually honest and sucessful politician, though? -
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IQ tests
by Dawn inhave you ever taken an iq test?
i just did one for school - pretty interesting kind of test.
i scored a 134 .
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Pole
IQ what???
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35
Getting fed up with fading
by Pole inok, so here is my story in put a nutshell: .
1. i first had "nagging doubts" about the borg some three years ago (after 6 years of being a faithful witness).
2. i stopped avoiding "apostate" internet sites some 1.5 years ago, which really helped me confirm my doubts.
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Pole
Gumby,
The thing is: at the point they come to ask you the dreaded question, you may simply not care anymore. I am ready to welcome the Watchtower police officers with their plastic guns. Come and get me, su**ers...
Besides, they're unlikely to use such strict measures against suspected faders. The recent 15 minute rule shows something quite opposite. And how do you tell a secretive fader from a spiritually weak sheep? Faders can lie. "Oh, yeah, I love Jehovah, it's just that I feel down about this evil system of things". "I promise I'll go to the meeting next week." And then they don't. And then what? NUUUTHIN. Now Gumby, if you were an elder, what would you do to detect a fader? Or if you were a GB member (oh, no) what kind of strict, all-inclusive policy would you implement? One that wouldn't ruin your annual stats?
Pole -
35
Getting fed up with fading
by Pole inok, so here is my story in put a nutshell: .
1. i first had "nagging doubts" about the borg some three years ago (after 6 years of being a faithful witness).
2. i stopped avoiding "apostate" internet sites some 1.5 years ago, which really helped me confirm my doubts.
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Pole
Gill,
I'm not sure how long my beard will survive. (It got trimmed yesterday:). It's all about the fun of trying things you never have only because of some phoney official or half-official doctrine.
Another interesting point you've raised is the one of keeping up appearences between spouses. I experienced the same thing for some time. It actually shows how sick the WTS religion is in terms of the monopoly it has on your belief system. It can implicitly divide even those families, who formally practice it. It's just like a totalitarian state. Never trust your neigbor - he may be reporting to the authorities :)))).