Posts by rebel8

28

I would like to rant about how I get really upset when I get some weak invitation back to the cult.

by schnell in

jw
friends

my mother wanted me to know that the co gave a talk that kinda-sorta reprimanded an elder in her hall.

he is not the reason i left at all, and this does not address anything to do with me or our family.. my mother-in-law sent me texts which i ignored and now she has sent a picture to my wife on facebook just for me, and it's a prodigal son meme that says, "you see the signs, come back it's not too late".. yeah, it's not too late to accept a global flood in 2370 bce, or that man was created in 4026 bce from a golem spell, or that an us-and-them cult mentality is at all healthy or loving, or that religion is going to be banned by the un, or that i should expect anyone else at the door to accept these stupid ideas in the information age.. what am i supposed to say?

i usually just ignore them, but before i do that, i see that shit and i storm into this weird internalized rage where i start writing a response and deleting it.

rebel8

What am I supposed to say?

What I said to all of those dumb invitations is a very truthful answer.

Surprise, surprise--I haven't received one in years.

"When are you coming back?"

"NEVER EVER EVER."

"Oh, you say that now, but so many have returned to jehulu. They see what it's like in the world and realize we are in Thee End Times. You will too."

"I am so much happier now that I left, and so much healthier too. World events show life has gotten so much better over the millennia. I am absolutely certain I will never return. I have known this since the day I left. It is such a horrible, depressing way to live, with no future. I would rather kill myself."

This pretty much puts an end to the discussion.

This is what's right for me, in my situation.YMMV

7

Old Watchtower Literature

by biblexaminer in

somewhere, somewhen, a dubb died.... waiting for the end no doubt.

when they died, they left their precious watchtower literature to somebody else, another dubb.. and that dubb also waiting for the end, living some austere life as they hovered over their precious and aging watchtower library, eventually died.. and again.

and again.. eventually, the last dubb to die left their bound 'salvation' to the congregation, who put it on a shelf, never to be read again.. and that's where i came in.. watchtower bound volume originals from the 1800's and others.. very old.. the watchtower .

rebel8

[email protected]

78

Did you know that J.F. Rutherford was part of the Knights of Pythias? There's PROOF for this!

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

wow.

wow.someone just sent me a scan of the boonville advertiser newspaper in which it mentions j.f.

rebel8

This stuff is interesting, and maybe there are some people who would be moved to leave the cult based on this info. I wouldn't have been one of them, but it's plausible somebody, somewhere, would be.

I knew the org was full of "pagan" stuff back in the day. I always knew that even when I was (trying to be) a faithful jw. It is not difficult for a jw to come across that info. Golden Age era publications are available in print. I can only imagine how exponentially this availability has increased now that the Internet has arrived.

It was always explained as proof the org was fulfilling scripture about old light and new light--if anything, faith strengthening. (As crazy as that sounds.)

Back then, the average jw knew they celebrated Christmas at Bethel and had a cross as their symbol.

Masons were very common back then. Even if thee Rutherford was one, it has never struck me as important, for the reason I described.

19

Back again to say hi! Life update after walking away from the cult.

by Darkknight757 in

i hope all is well.

my last post over a month ago was going to be the last considering i wanted to get away from all things jw but this place is much harder to ignore than previously thought.

life has taken some very interesting turns since late last year.

rebel8

great story!

but you have me worried by quoting Osteen.

21

Serpent in the Garden of Eden is not Satan

by anointed1 in

many interpret serpent in the garden of eden as the satan hence miss the whole point because satan himself does not exist.

he is a fictional character [for example, in the temptation account, satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (mathew 4:8, 9) the fact that jesus did not correct the mistaken view of satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical.

further, jesus knew that satan was only a personification of evil (mathew 16:23; john 6:70) and categorically declared that “all evil thoughts proceed from one’s heart,” not from satan.

rebel8

Satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking Jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (Mathew 4:8, 9) The fact that Jesus did not correct the mistaken view of Satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical.

The conclusion you drew (bolded)--think about that some more.

What are all other possible reasons for Jesus not correcting Satan's statements implying Earth is flat?

Out of all of those other possible reasons, what made you conclude only the reason you gave is the correct one?

2

precise and specific

by Jerryh in

*** insight on the scriptures vol.1 page 1007 ***.

greek.

vocabulary.

rebel8

The bible is fiction, honey.

26

My Story

by WeatherLover in

jw
friends

i'm a 4th generation jw.

i started to realize it wasn't the truth over 2 years ago in late october/early november 2014. i don't know how exactly it happened.

i remember i had just heard about confirmation bias, and it hit me: i realized that i would be guilty of confirmation bias if i didn't look at the other side.

rebel8

I really can't stand the thought of bringing my mom to tears.

No healthy, normal mother would be sad about her child being honest, using his intelligence and logic, and doing the right thing.

If she is brought to tears over this, it is because her chosen religion has misled her to believe falsehoods about nonbelievers.

Therefore: Not your fault.

Imagine if we were talking about a person who believes in Thor, doesn't believe in going to college, dating, having careers, and insists everyone skip medical care, holidays, and many other normal/healthy things to serve Thor. Are you supposed to go along with this just because she might cry if you don't?

to stop preaching a message that I don't agree with

Yes, and more. The message destroys and actually ends lives. I nearly bled to death many times during childhood because of it--no exaggeration. And think of all those who have committed suicide or done other deeply self-destructive things because of the teachings and shunning. You can't preach a message that could result in someone's death. It's not right. (You know this.)

19

Evolution knowledge prevailing over a Jehovah’s Witness!

by anointed1 in

yesterday i had an interesting visitor—my long-time school friend.

we both studied with jws together, and he progressed to dedication and baptism whereas i stopped before the final step and got transferred to another place.

after the routine conversations, he said: “you know how much your family members long to see you take up the truth ….. before it is too late, i would suggest you start tasting jehovah.”.

rebel8

I can't believe nobody is mocking this comment:

I would suggest you start tasting Jehovah.

Let's generate some comebacks:

So you mean I should become a Catholic so I can take communion and eat the body of god?

I did taste him once but I didn't like him. I kept trying him, because I thought maybe he was an acquired taste, like beer. I just never learned to like the taste.

I did and he left a bad taste in my mouth.

Does he come in salted caramel mocha latte flavor?

62

What have been some of the funniest local needs talks that you have heard?

by DaPriest in

i remember once in berlin south germany there was a local needs part for the men only, and how they should use the toilet.

in all seriousness for ten minutes a retarded nigerian was going on about how men need to sit down when using the toilet.

no mention of anything else.. it transpired that some little kraut boy from an "interested" family would aim for the side of the toilet and leave a great big puddle for others to clean up.

rebel8

Back in the early 1980s when they were disfellowshipping unbaptized people (which they called disassociating), we had a lot of special needs talks. Most of the 12-18 year olds in the congregation were disassociated within a few months' time.

The announcements back then would be followed by a scripture reading about what they had done wrong. Imagine the sick &*(%$#@ing cultists announcing a 13 year old being ritually shunned for fornication!!! OMG! Then these were followed by a special needs talk about how girls needed to control themselves because they are like cows in heat and it is up to them to prevent sex blah blah blah.

There were others about clothes, makeup and hairstyles. Boys who shaved their sideburns, wore skinny ties or spiked their hair were not allowed to carry the mikes. (This was the 1980s.)

Girls who wore black pantyhose, straight skirts, skirts with slits, skirts that did not fully cover the kneecap--god they were focused on skirts!--lipstick, spiked hair, yadda yadda were unspiritual and bad association.

Then there were the anti-college talks. The only acceptable future plans were full time service. Planning for anything less is not putting the imaginary bearded sky daddy first.

22

Does the Jehovah's Witnesses religoius cult create people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder ?

by Finkelstein in

the american psychiatry association lists nine symptoms – if someone ticks five of these, they could have narcissistic personality disorder.

the nine points of narcissism.

has a grandiose sense of self-importance.. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.. believes that he or she is ‘special’ and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people.. requires excessive admiration.. has a sense of entitlement.. is inter-personally exploitative (takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).. lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.. .

rebel8

xian fundies tend to be this way. It attracts people who have an immature emotional need to be better than everyone else. And they get that need met in fundamentalist settings.

Fundamentalism also disregards the importance of intellect, logic, learning and critical thinking. Possessing those things tends to eliminate egotism.

Once you learn and understand the fact that there is no god and we are all equal products of an indifferent universe, it's more difficult to be narcissistic.

most personality issues are attributed to exposure. If you are surrounded by narcissists, then it is easy for you to become one

Yes, and possibly genetics as well, which is an issue for jws because many are born in or bred from >1 family of jws.