Posts by Reefton Jack

25

Friend Told: "Your Son Will Never Start School Before Armageddon Comes!"

by Seeker4 in

ha!

i just learned that a childhood witness friend, rusty, just passed away.

he was 60 and had suffered from a heart condition for many years.

Reefton Jack

It seems like all of us have a similar story to tell here!
If it wasn't so tragic (and believing in this sort of crap does result in harming people)- then it would be laughable.

Does the WTS itself still believe what they are saying
- or have they painted themselves into a corner years ago, from which they cannot get themselves out of?
- or is it a case of repeating a lie so often that you end up coming to believe it yourself?

But then again, they might all just be bloody idiots!

Jack.

25

How did the 144,000 know they had "the feeling?"

by themonster123 in

jw
friends

what was the deal w. the 144,000?

what feeling is it that they had??

i mean, seriously-it baffles me.

Reefton Jack

I agree with the observation that those suddenly claiming to have "that feeling" these days are likely to be having mental health issues:
- I was married to one who had both!

Jack.

299

Are JW's generally better than average people?

by JH in

jw
friends

i for one, would blindly trust just about anyone on this forum, just the fact of knowing that you already were a jw.. does this mean that jw's in general are better people or are we a very close bunch of people?.

Reefton Jack

If I may, for a moment, go back to the subject of this thread:
- while at the same time keeping out of the baiting Rosalee / being baited by Rosalee slanging match that has developed!
(I'll try, anyway!)

Last night, I was reminded of how much the JW's idea of "friendship" contrasts with proper friendship.
I was speaking by telephone to an old friend whom I had known 35 - 39 years ago.
(i.e. just before the JW Madness took hold).

In conversation, he did obliquely refer to "The Religion", and how "a lot of people wondered how you managed to get involved with it."
None-the-less, he was happy enough to still have me as a friend:
- This despite all the crap that he must have patiently endured from me back then about "Signs of the Last Days", how close the "End of the System" was ect. ect. ect.
(He must have been tempted to tell me to "go to B%#*ery" more than once, but never did)

Contrast that to the JW funeral of my son the other year:
- As D.F.'d, D.A.'d and D - everything else as well, I was of course treated as being lower down than a snake's backside!
(This point was picked up on by non-witness relatives, who were present at the funeral).

Ironically, too, there were some who thought that this was a chance to "give a good witness" to the "unbelieving" family members, to impress them with the "Christian Love" in a JW congregation.
(Excuse me for a moment - while I bolt outside and throw up!)

As others on this thread have already commented:
- the friendship / love shown by the JWs is strictly qualified!

40

How Much Influence Did The Watchtower Have In Destroying Your Faith In God?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

how much influence did the watchtower have in destroying your faith in god?personally, i do not believe that a corrupt organization should destroy the belief .

or concept of a designer, god or creator.

in addition, because an organization .

Reefton Jack

To begin with,I was always sceptical about the existence of a god:
- and after 28 years with the JWs, I was hardly convinced otherwise!

While I keep an open mind on this matter (and I have seen things happen that can only be explained by the supernatural), I have yet to experience anything that points to the existence of a god.

So yes,in my case the doubts were already there:
- The bad expereince of the WTS just made it even harder to accept!

24

Going back to the Watchtower Society right now would be like....?

by journey-on in

jw
friends

"the dog returning to his vomit".

"sticking a needle in my eye".

"spiritual suicide".

Reefton Jack

Like a nightmare come true ........ similar to the ones I sometimes have, in which I am still with the borg.

21

Were you harmed by WTS policy?

by Fisherman in

jw
friends

what is your story?.

should you have gone to a psychiatrist for helo?.

perhaps you regret not getting a college ed or pursuing a career?.

Reefton Jack

Definitely, YES!

A common theme here is the number who were harmed by the WTS's hangups about education.
This applied not always just to College Education, either:
- In the early 1970s, (our part of the world, anyway) they were down on young persons even beginning an apprenticeship.
After all, that was "tying up five years of your life", and we all knew when The End was coming !!!
Those of us who had already entered an apprenticeship were leaned on to get out of it - which I did.

Fortunately, I did manage to pick that up again six years later, although it was extremely difficult:
- certainlty not the recommended way of going about things!

However, the biggest gripe I have against WTS policy is how it prevented me from having any sort of a family life.
(This is in addition to the stress caused on everyone by trying to restart an apprenticeship when you have small children around).
The whole JW routine of:
- dragging small children out to five meetings a week,
- expecting them to sit still and be quiet for two hours at a time.
- also being expected to drag them around with you while you do your mandatory bit as an unpaid door-to-door salesman for the WTS.
- And, to say nothing of having to repeat the process at the Assemblies; only for longer!

- None of this is exactly Family Friendly ; more like inhuman.

No wonder most JW youths hand the WTS the good old Two-Fingered Salute just a soon as they are able to!

38

What did you think of "new light"?

by reneeisorym in

jw
friends

you kind of get to a point where you know all the answers when you are a jw.

you don't really have to research much more because its the same stuff they present over and over again.

"jehovah's reminders" but i kind of looked forward to new light.

Reefton Jack

This business of "New Light" was one of the final things that made me wake up to myself in the end:

- It always seemed to me that the so-called "New Light" most often revealed itself after (but only after) something the WTS insisted would happen didn't happen!

Then, they had to concoct some story to bull@%#t their way out of (yet another) failure.
This story would be dressed up, of course, as "New Light."

(The example that comes imediately to mind is the matter of "The Generation!"
How that one got modified over the years - and then practically discarded altogether - as the the passage of events showed consistently that the WTS was talking through a hole in its hat!)

As an aside, Gregor's observations are revealing
- i.e. about how each revelation of some "New Light' is often accompanied by much reference to Hebrew or Greek "Root Words".
This, when the WTS's scholarship in the Biblical Languages (or anything else, for that matter!)is about zero.

So, going back to the subject of this thread "what did you think of New Light?"
- for me, it was about the final straw
(the first straw being the matter of 1975, and how the WTS handled its aftermath).

299

Are JW's generally better than average people?

by JH in

jw
friends

i for one, would blindly trust just about anyone on this forum, just the fact of knowing that you already were a jw.. does this mean that jw's in general are better people or are we a very close bunch of people?.

Reefton Jack

They certainly think that they are!
Also, during the "Lovebombing" phase of ones introduction to the cult, a person could perhaps get that idea - particularly if up until then, you had had little to do with other religious groups.

For sure, there are some good people among them:
- What the dubs fail to either realize or acknowledge is that there are a lot of other good people around who are not JWs.

AND - speaking from the experience learned at the University of Hard Knocks here - the Dubs have more than their fair share of nasty @^&**"#ds amongst them, too!

Jack.

17

Is there a JWD mindset?

by beginnersmind in

not sure if this is the correct place to post this but i thought it would be better in here out of the choices.

the title was to hopefully make you at least be interested in this post whereas the politically correct non generalised question might be "is there a mindset of some on jwd?.

a while back i was browsing the forums and 2 posts stood out.

Reefton Jack

I don't know that "being more willing to accept negative publicity about the JWs" is entirely accurate.
Speaking (admittedly!) for myself, it is more a case of nothing would surprise me anymore about the JWs.

As for believing everything written about the JWs, the Japanese proverb comes to mind:
"If you believe everything that you read, then it is about time you gave up reading altogether!"

Jack.

12

Why couldn't I have been a Mormon?!

by Amber Rose in

jw
friends

i watched the first part of the frontline special on mormons last night and i just visited the website.

mormons are so much cooler than jws.

they have a bloody history, pride in their ancestory and their temples are beautiful!

Reefton Jack

One thing that I notice about the LDS versus the JWs is that they are more family friendly
(mainly because the JWs are plainly just family unfriendly!)

However, I think that Gerard has a point:
- i.e. it is like making the choice of whether you wanted to be poisoned by a strong acid or a strong alkali.

Then again, since I broke with the dubs (13 years ago),I have yet to see anything or experience anything that would make me want to get involved with any religion.

Jack.