Reefton Jack

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Posts by Reefton Jack

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  18

  What does The Watchtower really give to its followers?

  by VM44 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i think this question deserves a thread of its own;.

  what really does the watchtower provide to its followers?.

  they take (and really demand) people's time, energy, and resources.

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  Reefton Jack

  Stevenson, in his 1967 book "1975 - Year of Doom?" summed it up beautifully
  i.e. "No other religious group demands so much of its followers, in return for so little."
  
  In other words, JWs give back about two thirds, of five eights. of seven tenths of #%$& - all!
  
  
  Jack.
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  64

  Some People Enjoy Being Jehovah's Witnesses For Various Reasons

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some individuals truly enjoy being jehovah's witnesses.

  i think about those that would have liked to be in acting.

  well, having a part in a demonstration in the service meeting or giving a talk in the theocratic ministry school gives one the opportunity to act, be melodramatic, show a little comedic talent,etc.

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  Reefton Jack

  Going by previous comments from some posters here, being a JW fulfilled a certain social need that my late mother (never a JW) got from being a member of the Country Women's Institute.
  (Then again, some people lie, too!)
  Jack.
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  71

  poll/ survey on what you "were" (rank in your hall)

  by burningbridges in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wasjust really curious to see what the average of everyone's "history" is here, and also how many "higer ups" we have that have abandoned the ways.

  so what were you, an elder?

  a pioneer?

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  Reefton Jack

  I went from being the BOE's blue-eyed boy, to the lowest of the low row in the congregation, then back into the BOE's good books once more.
  (Getting back into their good books took nearly ten years, though).
  During the final few years "in the truth", I was an MS, and got to deliver the odd public talk.
  
  
  Jack.
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  27

  What determined the path you took once you came to your senses?

  by donny in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have been reading a lot of posts over the past few weeks and noticed how some folks have taken the atheist/agnostic path, while others have replaced their zeal for the society into one of another faith.

  what led you to take the path you did?.

  for me, i just began doing a lot of deep thinking and trying to come to the most logical conclusion based on the facts that i had before me.. as a result, i have taken the agnostic path because it makes the most sense to me.

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  Reefton Jack

  For the first few years, it was like having been cast adrift somewhere.
  The only thing I was definite about was feeling extremely distrustful of religion - in any of its forms.
  
  After that,I figured that I had best get in touch with the person I had been before the WT Madness took hold
  - then work forward from that point.
  The whole process has felt very much like case of rebuilding ones life.
  I guess that,though, could largely be determined by the age a person was when they got ensnared by the JWs.
  While not actually born into "The Truth", I did get involved at an age when most young persons are extremely impressionable (I certainly was).
  
  The only major thing I still have in common now with what when I first broke the JWs 14 years ago is the distrust toward any form of religion.
  I very much identify with the others on this thread who find it extremely hard to believe in the existence of a master intelligence / supreme being, or whatever!
  
  Jack.
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  14

  Letting the JWs Hold You Back

  by FreudianSlip in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have seen several people make comments that insinuated that their being a jw is the reason for all that is wrong in their lives.

  i find this simply unacceptable.

  even if you could reasonably blame your religious experience on the past.. what is stopping you from growing as a person now?.

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  Reefton Jack

  Certainly, you can only work with what you have got, and try and do the best with that.
  
  The best time for learning, though, is when you are straight out of high school.
  
  I know this from first hand experience:
  - going into a trade apprenticeship eight years after leaving school.
  (In those years, the JWs in this part of the world were so fanatical that they were even jumping on
  young people for entering an apprenticeship).
  - having to turn down the opportunity of doing the diploma course after that, because of family
  commitments.
  - this year, battling my way through the course to obtain an electrical contractor's licence
  (just one more exam to go, on the 22nd of this month).
  
  People can say what they like, it is hard trying to squeeze in academic studies of an evening, after having just worked a 12 hour shift!
  
  
  Jack.
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  65

  The year the end finally came: the YEAR OF THE BIG LIE

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  you have to understand three things to comprehend the significance of 1975.. 1975 was the end of the watchtower society as we who lived in the 50's and 60's once knew it.

  it would forever change because it was exposed for all the world to see as a group of liars and deceived dupes.. it all began with a baptist farmer named william miller who sat down with only his bible and a concordance and a crackpot idea that a .

  a "day for a year" and the gentile times meant something profound which would effect his own day and time.

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  Reefton Jack

  A particular lot of hype about 1975 was printed in the Awake during 1968.
  - from memory, it may have been the October 8 issue that year
  (all my WT publications are long gone, courtesy of a box of matches and some kerosene!).
  In this article, the WTS actually went as far as to caution us about "hiding behind" those scriptures
  - such as Matthew 24:44 - that state no one knows "the day or the hour."
  
  In the years since, there are those who have come forward and stated that they never at any time believed 1975 to be a significant date.
  However, I do not recall ever hearing anybody say that in the years leading up to 1975!
  To do so would have got one branded as "immature" - a JW swearword in those times.
  
  
  
  
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  65

  The year the end finally came: the YEAR OF THE BIG LIE

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  you have to understand three things to comprehend the significance of 1975.. 1975 was the end of the watchtower society as we who lived in the 50's and 60's once knew it.

  it would forever change because it was exposed for all the world to see as a group of liars and deceived dupes.. it all began with a baptist farmer named william miller who sat down with only his bible and a concordance and a crackpot idea that a .

  a "day for a year" and the gentile times meant something profound which would effect his own day and time.

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  Reefton Jack

  1975 was a turning point in the world history. In 1975 began an epoch of shortage of crude oil (peak oil 2010?) and inexorably rising state indebtedness. There is no way out, as you can see. This situation leads into a new war for oil and other raw materials. Read the works of important economy scientists, please.
  fly
  
  I would have to go with the school of thought that "absolutely #%^*ing nothing"happened in 1975.
  The first Oil Crisis actually hit in late 1973 - early 1974, in the wake of the 1973 Middle East war
  (Called at the time the "Yom Kippur War")
  
  By 1975, there was actually a glut of oil around.
  This had come about for a number of reasons:
  - Amongst them being that oil importing countries had learned to make do with less oil,and new oil fields (such as the North Sea) came into production.
  
  By the way, Terry - an excellent post!
  
  Jack.
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  48

  Do you hate elders and ex-elders?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think they all ended up being elders because they were ambitious and loved to exercise authority over others?.

  or do you realize that each elder has his own story and that some became elders under great pressure?.

  do you really think that all of the elders enjoyed participating in judicial committees?.

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  Reefton Jack

  I can't say that I have any particular grudge against elders / ex elders as such.
  
  Certainly, some were egotistical types (I recall a brother who affected a noticeable peacock-strut following his appointment), but there were also many who were not.
  Of all the ones I had dealings with, the ratio of egotists to others probably matched that of the population in general.
  
  These days, I am most inclined to view the elders as I do JWs in general
  i.e. more as victims than anything else.
  
  
  Jack.
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  50

  Do You Still Believe In Anything JWs Taught You?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are there any beliefs that you learned from the witnesses that you still believe in?

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  Reefton Jack

  I would be deeply suspicious of anything that I learned from the JWs.
  
  The only things that I still am in agreement with them about are ones that I actually learned elsewhere
  - i.e. the basic, so-called "Christian" principles (that are in fact common to most of the world's major religions).
  
  The JWs don't have the monopoly on these - anymore than other religions don't have the monopoly on failing to practice what they preach!
  
  
  Jack.
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  9

  How many people did you bring into the j.ws & how many to jwd?

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  cant remember how many i brought in , so far 1 to jwd.

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  Reefton Jack

  My tally is zero to both.
  
  I reckon, though, I probably repelled a few from any interest in the "Truth" by some of the things I told them early on.
  - mind you, I was only repeating what the WTS was saying in those years leading up to 1975.
  
  
  Jack.