before we get into bodily fluids and crappy real estate, let?s talk about some goofy bible stuff.. goofy stuff #1. we begin with satan?s challenge to god over that poor guy named job.
job wasn?t even a jew.
couldn?t god find any righteous jews to pick on?
Some excellent points Farkel...
I find some non-Witnesses have the courage and strength to question their former religion, but not as many have the courage and strength to question the Bible itself...I think most people want to be able to "hang on" to something that they do want to believe and that gives them hope, but the truth is there is even more problems with the Bible than with the Watchtower Organization itself!
Thanks for speaking truth...
toronto_guy
i know i come on here a lot and laugh at the crazy stuff i used to believe.. it's a terrific place to vent my frustration at the org.
and share experiences with people who understand.
but i find that when some people trash talk witnesses who were never part of it i end up sort of defending them usually.
Its a very good question...
After I was df'd I met with one of my former Bible Studies, and she was quite surprised that I had changed my tune so much! lol...I explained to her why I no longer believed what I did before, but I did it in a diplomatic way. I tried to help her to see why I used to believe it, and why others like my parents still believe it.
I do believe that alot of non-Witnesses have misconceptions and strange ideas about Witnesses that are not always necessarily true. I try to be balanced with people. I tell them the things I felt were good, or the aspects of being a Witness that I enjoyed, but ultimately I show them why it can't be the Truth the Witnesses say it is.
toronto_guy
ever notice how the "happiest people on earth" are also the most class-oriented?
to say that jesus said his followers should all be on equal footing, it's incredible how much the r&f witness is not on equal footing.
the social structure in the congregation is more complex than the blueprints of a nuclear warhead, but just so that you "remember your place", see if you can find where your niche was/is:
Very interesting and funny!
I was probably somewhere close to #3...lol
I agree with some of your points, although I can say I was fortunate enough to be in some pretty decent congs growing up and before I was df'd. While I can see now its not the truth, I can't say that my congs were as bad as you portrayed, at least not from what I experienced! But as I say, I can relate to some of your points, and its a pretty funny description.
toronto_guy
what i've noticed, is that there seems to be a lot of recent jw parents who make sure to name their kids by some hebrew/biblical name.
so now you have kids running around w/names like ezekiel, reuben, isaiah, etc.
there were also a few strange names that i'm sure some of these kids would've been made fun of because of it.. have any of you noticed this?
I knew of a Witness who's first name was "Nimrod", but I think he became a Witness as an adult. Not sure what his parents were thinking.
Both my brother and I have very unusal, although short, names, are both were chosen from the Old Testament. My Father apparently wanted to name me Elijah, he loved that name...thank god my mom didn't allow him! lol
toronto_guy
what would you think if i told you "last thursday i went to the service meeting at the kingdom hall to hear the presiding overseer give a talk from the platform.
most of us here know that to mean "last thursday i went to church to hear the head pastor give a sermon on the door to door ministry from the pulpit", a pretty common and straight forward event for a jehovah's witness.
i asked my pennicostal wife what she thought the phrase meant and she guessed it had something to do with slavery and human sacrifice.
Its definitely an interesting question...
I doubt that Witnesses or Witness leadership have thought that deeply about these terms, trying to make ex-Witnesses look bad, etc, but you never know.
Growing up as a Witness, these terms seemed so normal and natural, and even now I find that I have to think consciously that these terms are really complete foreign to all non-Witnesses.
toronto_guy
i was df'd last february, a year ago now, from my cong.
in toronto.
just wondering if anyone on this board is from toronto or the gta?
Muslima,
I sent you a PM but not sure if you saw it...
Yes, I know Thomas and Randy and Marian quite well when I was growing up...last I heard Randy and Marian are missionaries now in Peru and Thomas is married and an Elder in Scarborough...
I'm wondering if I know you?
Toronto_guy
i recently read an article about jw's that, if had the choice, would probably leave because of the deceptions, lies, etc., but don't because of family, friends, prestige, whatever, and instead lead a make-believe life going through the motions of being a loyal and believing follower of the watchtower organization.
most of those purported to be part of this non-believing/participating, but attending, jw population, are folks that have been associated with the jw's for a number of years, but, as many have, decided that the lies and constant changes (new light) just don't make sense anymore.
i would suspect that identifying those who just "go through the motions" of being a good jw would be difficult.
I also agree that the majority of JWs sincerely believe that it is the truth. Even when I started having doubts, I still believed overall that it was the truth. Part of the reason is what psychologists call "Social Proof". When you are always with people who believe certain things to be absolute facts, we consciously and subconsciously accept it as fact as well.
One thing I did notice though, was that many Witnesses I knew did not seem to be happy. Some were of course. But others, although they put on a show and would never admit to being unhappy, did not seem genuinely joyful. Of course this would be a tough thing for a wtiness to admit, as they are supposed to be the "happiest people in the world."
i know that there's a lot of people here who have been deeply hurt by the jehovah's witnesses (i have as well).
i also know that the gb are a bunch of lying bastards.
still i have also met a lot of people who have made their lives much better by becoming jehovah's witnesses.
I grew up a very zealous Witness, in a very zealous Witness family, and was df'd last year at age 24 (while serving as a regular pioneer at the time). In doing research on the Internet and sites like this, my eyes have truly been opened. I also feel some anger, shock and bitterness at what I have found. My parents and brother and sisters have not talked to me or seen me since I was df'd, as they are truly "hardcore" Witnesses. This is sad, especially since we were always a very close family.
As much as I'd love to talk to my family again, however, I do tend to think that even if they were ever willing to know the real truth (which I doubt they ever would be), it might just be too much for them to handle. I've even questioned whether it would be loving on my part to try to share it with them. Most likely they would just hang up the phone on me. But even if they did let me talk, I think hearing me sound like an "apostate" (as opposed to just someone living a "worldly" life) would be too much for them to bear. It would hurt them even more.
My parents, although they never talked about 1975 (I wonder why!), gave up so much of their life to be good, loyal Witnesses. They never bought a house, even though they had a chance in their younger years. My mother was a missionary and my father regular pioneered and was a elder with 4 young children, for a time. At least in my case, I am only 25 now. I have a future ahead. But for people like my parents, I think it would be so devastating for them to really know the truth. In their case, maybe ignorance really is bliss...
I think that those who are truly happy as Witnesses should be allowed to live the lie...the ones who really need help are the ones who know its not the truth, but feel trapped with no way out. In my experience as a Witness, I knew many very happy Witnesses, and others, who although they would never admit it, were certainly not happy.
Toronto_Guy.
i was df'd last february, a year ago now, from my cong.
in toronto.
just wondering if anyone on this board is from toronto or the gta?
Hello all,
I was df'd last February, a year ago now, from my cong. in Toronto. Just wondering if anyone on this board is from Toronto or the GTA? It would be nice to here from other former members in the area...
Toronto_Guy.
i was just watching an old rerun of "the nanny" where frans mom talks about trying to put spice into her marriage by meeting her husband at the door naked.
fran makes a face and her mother says "meanwhile you'll never see jehovah's witnesses in the building again".
i remember hearing funny stories about people coming to the door naked etc, but nothing quite that interesting happened to me.
Regular pioneering for 2.5 years, plus always being active in service from a young age, I've had quite a few humourous experiences over the years.
I remember one older sister, she was very zealous, and would stop at no ends to reach someone she thought was hiding in the house. Once, she opened the guy's pickup truck and starting honking on the horn when it seemed he wouldn't answer the door. Another time she walked right into the house, saying she had known the person for years. On another occasion, at an senior's home, she gave an older, timid gentleman some magazines and then demanded that he donate. She had known this man for many years as well. The man didn't seem to want to donate, so he searched around his pockets and pulled out some change, but in the process also pulled out a $5 bill. As soon as she saw it, the older sister reached for it, and said, "here, donate this $5." The man obviously didn't want too, but the older sister insisted, saying, "you live in this old age home, what do you need this money for?". And thats how she got the $5 donation...lol.
