Posts by Etude

18

Deflated after realising my inactive friends are POMI

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

i'm going through an extremely hard and dark time right now and really yearned for the support of people i know in the flesh, and i really thought revealing my serious doubts and frustrations to a few close friends who became inactive several years ago would help.

they attend the memorial and no more than 2 sunday meetings each year, and haven't preached for several years, so are still technically baptised-but-inactive.. it broke my heart or at least left me feeling very alone when they all (they don't know each other and live in separate areas) told me that they can sympathise but reckon i should stay with "the truth" (their words, still) as it's the best thing there is.

it's like i'd discovered a new group of people, not pimo (physically in, mentally out, like me) but pomi (physically out, mentally in).

Etude

I must confess, I was a POMI for a while. I think I even lost a good friend I discovered had left the BORG because I said to him I had hoped to "return". I truly regret that. However, I found that being POMI is not a permanent or terminal condition. After I read Franz' COC and asked the Service Desk in Brooklyn about the contradiction between what happened in Malawi (with Witnesses refusing to buy a party card) and in Mexico (where males have to "register" for military service at least officially) that I started to retreat. After the headquarter's reply (a non-reply) I received, it put the nail in the coffin for me. I became a POMO! Considering my previous state, it was a relatively quick transformation, although not over night.

Over the years, my re-evaluation of everything has been truly profound. I didn't just question the JWs. I questioned the very foundation of belief and why must there be a Supreme Being when everything around me that I consider reality seemed to contradict any religious ideas I had learned.

So, there's hope for POMIs that they may encounter a revelation like I did. Being physically out provides the advantage of exposing people to alternate ideas. The reverse is true in more than one way: Someone who is physically in but mentally out may decide to return or finally get the hell out. Whatever happens, it didn't happen fast enough for me and so I see where the frustration comes into it.

24

Do you find it therapeutic coming to this site?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i read on another thread how this site has helped another user and that for them it has been a form of therapy.. for me yes, jwn has most certainly been a form of therapy.. i recall the days i first came to jwn (in 2004) and couldn't believe i had found people who were of the same opinion as myself in regards to the society.

it was this site that led me to reading ray franz's book 'crisis of conscience' which i read twice within a week.

it also led me to jw facts that goes into every nook and cranny regarding the society's teachings, policies and history.. note: i also visit many other sites and watch you tube videos a lot, but gravitate here most of the time.. coming here to express my inner most thoughts and feelings has helped me no end and allows me to overcome my frustrations.

Etude

I think I joined about 15 years ago. I've delved into other social sharing sources (namely Facebook) in order to express other opinions I have. However, I keep coming back here (this last time after a multi-year absence).

I'm very greatful I found this site to vent the pain of my experiences as a JW. It's been not only cathartic but damned-right therapeutic. I've also come to know in a special way a lot of very smart people on this site as well as courageous and funny people. I feel freer here than on any other social site because I know that most people here understand with unique empathy my life-changing experiences with the JWs.

Etude.

47

Serena Williams Pregnant

by wisdomfrombelow in

jw
friends

now that she has announced that she is 20 weeks pregnant and not married, what is her status in the cult?

.

Etude

Hey, let's not forget that 'mommie' is there watching what the geedubs say about her daughter and soon to be grandchild. As part of the girls' "team", the mom has some cash too and may be the one who actually donates, as a baptized Witness (I presume). JWs are not going to refuse to milk that cow just cause Serena is a little pregnant.

630

SAD news about OOMPA......

by redredrose in

jw
friends

our friend, oompa, has passed away.

just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.

it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.

Etude

I was looking through my old posts (I haven't been around for a while) and found this thread. It still saddens me very much about Eric. Though he's gone, he still lives here. I wonder how many others I've met here have passed?

42

How much damage has internet done against the The Watchtower Society ?

by opusdei1972 in

in the beginning of internet the society was worried about the information published exposing its falsehood.

so, i wonder how many people lost the society on account of forums and web sites like this.

.

Etude

Maybe the Watchtower will change its strategy. If I'm not mistaken, the fastest growth in the cult is in Third-world countries. If poor countries don't have a decent internet infrastructure, it will be a while before their eyes open. It's possible the strange seed would have been sewn by the time they get access. I hear that the Mormons are also in the same situation. For an American religion, they actually have more members outside the US than in it.

42

How much damage has internet done against the The Watchtower Society ?

by opusdei1972 in

in the beginning of internet the society was worried about the information published exposing its falsehood.

so, i wonder how many people lost the society on account of forums and web sites like this.

.

Etude

The Internet did not affect my decision to leave at all. In fact (due to my misplaced desire to "return") it never occurred to me to find information on the organization. When I started on the Internet (1980) there was no World Wide Web or browsers. We had to connect to an on-ramp to ARPANET and use Gophers, Archies and Veronicas to find stuff.

It was after reading Crisis of Conscious (a recommendation from a friend) that they started to lose me. I wrote the GB a letter about the Mexico-Malawi issue. After receiving the most disappointing response in my entire life, I decided to drop them. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for sites such as this and the dedication of some individuals to identify issues and information that will reveal the WTBTS lies.

24

Who oversees the money for the WT?

by John Aquila in

when the wt sells property for a billion dollars profit, who decides what that money is going to be used for?.

when all the money comes in from all the kingdom halls bank accounts worldwide, did all that money go into one big account and who has authority to spend it and cut some checks to whoever?

when all the monthly donations come in to the watchtower headquarters, who decides distribution, and to who?

Etude

Juan Viejo2 Thanks for the explanation. It was very thorough. Before your explanation, I had suspected the WTBTS benefited somehow from the KH. One reason is that I had never heard of elders being in charge or receiving anything after the closure of KH. Also, I had realized how cunning the organization was with its arrangement. Of course at the time, I thought this was the way Jehovah wanted it and it protected the organization. But after realizing how much dough they were rolling in, while "expanding" everywhere (in the 1970s), I figured it didn't all come from change out of the pockets of the lowly publishers. I'm sure there were some rich benefactors. But in between those and the average publisher, there was a scheme.

I remember thinking about how (in my day) we would have to pay for literature for the field at the congregation. We then had to ask for a "donation" from the public to cover for the paper and ink. I honestly don't remember but, since we paid up-front, whatever we received as a "donation" went to cover what we had been charged in advance. Many years later (I was very much out by then) I heard about their scuttle with the IRS. I think it was my mom who told me that publishers would no longer have to pay for literature at the congregation. The penalty was the organization losing their tax-exempt status.

But what got me thinking initially was that it was original contributions (personal and from the collection box) that paid for the paper and ink and everything else. Why was the society then requiring the congregations to in essence "buy" the literature from them? I don't know if it's possible to calculate how much money those bastards made from that scheme. However, I imagine that it is comparable to the monies they've made from the sale of KHs.

24

Who oversees the money for the WT?

by John Aquila in

when the wt sells property for a billion dollars profit, who decides what that money is going to be used for?.

when all the money comes in from all the kingdom halls bank accounts worldwide, did all that money go into one big account and who has authority to spend it and cut some checks to whoever?

when all the monthly donations come in to the watchtower headquarters, who decides distribution, and to who?

Etude

So blondie: If the elders are trustees (hold the title), what happens when the congregation dissolves? What can the WTBTS do with the property?

Etude.

24

Who oversees the money for the WT?

by John Aquila in

when the wt sells property for a billion dollars profit, who decides what that money is going to be used for?.

when all the money comes in from all the kingdom halls bank accounts worldwide, did all that money go into one big account and who has authority to spend it and cut some checks to whoever?

when all the monthly donations come in to the watchtower headquarters, who decides distribution, and to who?

Etude

I was just talking about this with a friend yesterday. I know that when i was at Bethel in the mid 1970s, money was rolling into the WTBTS. The building and volunteering seemed at an all-time peak. But the question that I'm don't know the answer to is if the KHs belong to the WTBTS or not. I had heard that when a congregation wants to build a hall, the WTBTS gives them a loan. The congregation pays it back, in time. But what happens to the property?

Etude.

9

Religous Trauma Syndrome

by Blind_Of_Lies in

jw
friends

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/religious-trauma-syndrome-how-some-organized-religion-leads-to-mental-health-problems/ .

check this story out and please share on social media!

i firmly believe 100% of jw's are suffering from the first stage of rts and a high percentage of people who are now out are also suffering.

Etude

The one thing the article does not address is how the victim lives with the reality of relatives and friends who are still captive and cut off ties. That must account for some angst or guilt. For some people, it`s relatively straight-forward to leave and adapt to a new life quickly. For others, it a hard road.