There was a time when I thought that there must be something wrong with me:
After all:
- everyone said that meetings; and particularly assemblies; were "upbuilding."
- everyone said that the only worthwhile activity on this whole planet was hawking WT literature door to door(and that nothing else could remotely approach it in giving a person such a sense of satisfaction
and so forth and so forth and so forth!!!)
For a long time, I thought that there must have been a point somewhere that I was missing - as I felt none of those things.
(There was, in fact, a point I was missing all-right; just not the one I imagined, and it took me 28 years to catch onto that one!)
So, no - I enjoyed none of it.
Jack
Reefton Jack
JoinedPosts by Reefton Jack
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Reefton Jack
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47
embarrassed about having been a witness?
by purplesofa inlast weekend witnesses came to where i work....i work at a barbque restuarant (hey it's fun!
) i recognized two elders before they came in and freaked!!!!!.
the elder obnoxious was at the register and i was sure he did not recognize me.
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Reefton Jack
I agree with those who have observed that "having been a JW makes them what they are now."
- However, this is the very thing that bothers me!
Particularly during my formative years, I was an avid reader of everything the WTS printed.
Not surprisingly - given the complete lack of scholarship amongst the JWs - this hardly gives a person a balanced outlook on matters
(The term "skewed" readily comes to mind here.)
It has now been 14 years since I broke with them - and I have spent much of that time in the process of de-programming myself.
(I actually made little headway with that; until I got back in touch with the person I was before the Watchtower Madness took hold).
So, yes, I am not proud of having once been a JW:
- and in particular, I am extremely embarrassed about how easily I fell for it!
Jack. -
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Does Someone Have to be Religious to Be a Good Person?
by flipper inthis is something my wife and i were discussing the other day .
in a general view of religious people - most religious people feel it makes them holier, better, or on a higher moral plane claiming to worship god in an organized religion.
in the jehovah's witnesses view - the outside world is evil, and they claim that if you get away from their religion , and " fall away" a person is doomed to go astray, doing various sundry things like murder, adultery, stealing, orgies, because " they claim " that they have fallen " out of " god's favor.
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Reefton Jack
Being rather wrung out on this particular Friday evening, I m not inclined to be verbose about this matter!
I will just repeat what I have said on several previous occasions:
i.e religion and ethics are two totally things.
You can name some religious people whom you would not want to know (I certainly can, anyway!)
- then you could name some non-believers who are entirely harmless.
As to what constitutes ethics, I regard Stephen Covey's description in "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" to be close to the mark:
- namely, just imagine what the opposite would be - then figure it out for yourself.
(You don't 12 old f%^&ts in Brooklyn, some bloke on the Papal Throne in Rome - or his equivalent in Canterbury - to define that for you)
My approach to this matter, anyway.
Jack. -
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All Scientists Believe Global Warming is a Fact
by Farkel inabout 32,000 of them (and counting) have apparently slipped through the crackpot cracks:.
http://www.petitionproject.org/.
farkel.
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Reefton Jack
www.surfacestations.org;
- I reckon know exactly where they are coming from with that one.
It is scarcely rocket science (one would think!) that a thermometer is going to read higher when set out in direct sunlight, than if it was positioned in the shade.
Having been involved with industrial measurements for over 20 years, I can state with some authority that standards are laid down for the taking of measurements - so that one lot of results can be compared with another lot of results, and still mean something.
Regarding air temperature, the standard is supposed to be that the thermometer is located in an enclosure known as a "Stevenson Screen", painted white, mounted four feet above the ground, and located in an open area.
Yet, these requirements seem to be all too often lost:
- I myself have seen a thermometer placed above the iron roof of a building, exposed to the full force of the tropical sun - and in the direct line of the exhaust gas from a 10 000 hp Gas Turbine Engine.
(Exhaust temperatures in the vicinity of 745 degrees Celsius).
- The output from that "Weather Station" fed directly back into the computer database of a large mine, operated by the biggest gold mining company in the world.
I would not at all be surprised if the data collected from that site is finding its way into the stats. that "prove" Global Warming / Climate Change or whatever.
(Incidentally, the instigator of the location of this particular thermometer was completely unconcerned when we tried to point out these facts).
From what I have seen, this particular website may well have a point.
Jack. -
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How many people did you "bring into the truth"?
by song19 ini am happy to say that i wasn't great with rvs and i never had a study.
hopefully me fluffing my way through presentations didn't plant any seeds that got watered and grew.
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Reefton Jack
I tried my damnedest to "convert" people I was close to at the time.
- Fortunately, they saw through it for what it is.
More remarkably now, these same people still count me as a friend - even though at the time, they must have thought that I had short-circuited a few brain cells!
So, yes, my tally is zero. -
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sex before marriage in the borg
by heyfea in(i don't know if i posted this already, since i got errors every time i tried) .
do you think that a lot of engaged jws have sex before getting married?
i think so, only a few fall into the guilt trip after they're married, and ultimately confess.
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Reefton Jack
After reading through this post, I would have to conclude that all the JWs that I knew where either straight-laced or boring.
(Liars ------ maybe. But if so, they must have been bloody good at hiding things - enough to qualify for the Invisible Man award!)
In all seriousness, I can't recall a single instance in my 28 years involvement with the Borg.
(Even myself - came perilously close, but the brakes locked on at the right moment!)
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Looking Back, Was Being A Witness A Worthless Experience To You?
by minimus inwas there anything positive about being a jehovah's witness?
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Reefton Jack
I am hard-put to find any benefits from ever having been a JW.
For a time, I was considered to be a good public speaker - courtesy of the Ministry School, but I would be well out of practice now (a case of "use it or lose it.")
Even then, as I have said on previous posts about this subject,it proved to be a bloody expensive course in public speaking:
- the human, as well as the monetary cost.
When I was at my most fanatical, I was an ardent believer in the idea the the "Truth" was keeping me out of trouble. What it actually did was create a time bomb - that went off later on.
I don't have much difficulty in coming to the conclusion that I would have been better off if I had never heard of the JWs - to the extent that I regard them as a hazard in the community.
Jack. -
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Any actually embarrased to admit they were Witnesses?
by Robert7 inwhen i was active, i was always (usually) proud to talk about being a jw, our faith, reasons for our stupid beliefs on birthdays, x-mas, etc.
now with everything i'm going through, given how much of an impact this is to my life, i want to talk to others about it, like coworkers, and other friends.
but thinking about how i would explain how it's a mind-controlling cult, i feel stupid for falling for it.
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Reefton Jack
I don't exactly broadcast the fact that I was once one of Them!
- it is a phase of my life that I would rather forget about.
I have told this to very few people who did not know me while I was a JW.
As for the ones who knew me when I was, I am very quick to point out that I no longer in "That Religion."
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Ever have a paranormal event in your life, please share?
by free2beme ini am one who believes strongly in the spirit realm, paranormal activity, etc.
even with such a strong belief, i am often told by skeptics that such things are foolish and nonsense.
while i accept people have the right to feel however they want, i have often shared stories with people that are hard to explain with logic and find others have events like this too.
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Reefton Jack
During my 17 years working in Papua New Guinea, I saw numerous events that could not be explained by science.
These mainly had to do with the uncanny ability of many Papua New Guineans to find items that had been misplaced.
The most notable incident happened one Friday afternoon, when I discovered that my set of keys was missing.
A security guard at one of the power stations instantly knew where my set of keys was
- the moment he heard the message over the radio telephone, that I was coming back looking for a set of keys.
As soon as I drove into the parking lot at the power station, he immediately opened a back door of the vehicle and recovered my keys - from underneath the back seat, where they had become lodged.
I hardly knew where to start looking (I could have lost the things just about anywhere!)
Yet, this person knew where to find them, the moment he heard that they were missing.
There were many other similar occurrences during that 17 year period. -
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Reefton Jack
I am happy to be able to say that it is now that long ago, that I cannot remember!
Jack.