Reefton Jack

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Posts by Reefton Jack

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  10

  Do you want to know the truth? WT's new campain...

  by justhuman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has anyone see the new wt's campain

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  Reefton Jack

  I found one such leaflet jammed under my door when I got home this evening.
  Although I didn't waste much time over the thing, it seemed to fit in the usual
  "Sierra Squared, Delta Squared" category:
  - so it got consigned to the good old "Round File."
  
  
  Jack.
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  407

  Is it the JW's or the God of the bible you no longer believe?

  by reniaa in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a question for the ex-jw's on this forum after months of reading the forum..... many say how good it is to be free of the oppressiveness of the jw's that they can now enjoy the freedom to... have sex, celebrate christmas, gamble, embrace politics etc.

  there are still biblical scriptures and principles in place that if you still followed the bible would mean you avoid these things and yet these are now embraced as one of the perks of no longer being a jw so in my confusion i ask.... if these are what you want, isn't it more correct to say you no longer follow the bible as apposed to just the jw's?.

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  Reefton Jack

  Is it the JWs, or is it the god of the bible I no longer believe in?
  - like, are these two the only possible alternatives?
  
  From my experience with the lot of them (i.e. including JWs - but not just limited to them), I have got absolutely no use for religion in any of its forms.
  
  
  Jack.
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  23

  How old were you?

  by DJK in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you first started to learn about the bible, god and jesus?

  preschool or school age?.

  who were you learning from?

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  Reefton Jack

  I have always been an avid reader - in this case, rather unfortunately.
  When I was 11 years old, my JW grandmother gave the family a gift subscription for the Watchtower and Awake.
  These were primarily intended for her son (i.e. my father), but I was the one who read the things.
  
  By the time I was first contacted by the "brothers" three years later, I was already well and truly taken in by the spiel.
  
  
  Jack.
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  14

  What is Destructive Mind Control ? Points from "Releasing the Bonds "

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in getting out of the jehovah's witnesses cult - are we all aware of what was totally involved in the mind control they used ?

  in steve hassan's " releasing the bonds " he gets into some variables of mind control in detail.

  i thought you would enjoy a few of these main points.

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  Reefton Jack

  Further to Warlock's remarks about mind control, "Cults" are not limited to just religion:
  
  - some of the more extreme political groups show all the signs of cult behaviour,too.
  
  Allied prisoners of war taken in Korea were subjected to mind control - including the destruction of the individual's identity, and its replacement with one of the cult's (in this case, Communism)choosing.
  
  
  
  
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  25

  Anyone know Hands Hubler the D.O Missionary {a.k.a The Terminator}

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hands hubler was the rudest most arrogant man "jehovah" ever made.

  he was famous for kicking out sisters with crying babies during his talks.

  he went to a bible study as a sister asked him to come along, he saw the christmas decorations were up so he excused them and said they would not be coming back, "terminating" the sisters study, no discussion, no nothing.

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  Reefton Jack

  I remember him all-right!
  
  They sent him our way as District Overseer, to give us all a bit of a shake up around 25 years ago.
  He gave a Special Talk at our hall, following the Circuit Assembly late in 1983.
  I have known others who at least matched him for arrogance:
  - but there was definitely something strange there, just the same!
  
  Hans Hubler was originally from Switzerland.
  Shortly after his appointment as D.O. in New Zealand, he travelled to French Polynesia on a short-term visit
  (I think it was to attend the dedication of the WT Branch Facilities in Tahiti).
  While there, he contracted dengue fever - which, typically, requires a long convalescent period to recover from.
  We never heard anymore about him after that.
  
  
  
  
  
  PS: As for a*s^-kicking Circuit Overseers, do any of you in Australia remember "Cyclone Rex" Mannering?
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  132

  What Is Your Present Status In The Organization?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are you disfellowshipped?

  disassociated?

  a fader?

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  Reefton Jack

  Well and truly "sent to Coventry", as the saying goes.
  
  Jack
• 
  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.