It took me about 7 years to get all of the "junk" out of my system. For years I would find myself reverting to the JW mindset when issues such as holidays or others religious beliefs. But in time I shed all religion and my mind has never been clearer.
Posts by donny
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12Where to go from here(new to TTHATT)
by Batman89 inas some of you know now im fairly new to ttatt so im still coming to grips with the fact that in my 24 years of life up to this point i have been in an organization that isnt the true religon that i believed.
im a very positve and optimistic person and have never been depressed while a youth in the "truth", but its still somewhat of a tough pill to swallow considering i gave up my dream of playing college basketball to get baptized when i was 18. and also the fact that armegeddon really isnt coming and i wont get to spend forever with my wonderful parents(who also know tthatt) and others close to me.. i also consider myself to have good social skills(that i developed during my rebelious years) although im somewhat of an introvert and always had "worldly" friends even when i was an ms but i im finding it tough to shake off the "all worldly people are bad" mentality that ive had for so long.
i guess my question is how long did it take you guys to get over everything and move on?
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58
Eccentric Jehovah's Witnesses
by snowbird inso as not to hijack logcon's thread about crazy things jw's have said to householders, i'd like to start one about just plain old odd jw's.. for example, i knew this dear, dear senior brother who would carry a small bag of peanuts in one pocket of his suit coat and a small plastic bag of brown sugar in the other.. during that time, we would stay out all day long because the territory was extensive.. can't you just picture that precious soul alternately tossing a few peanuts/crumbs of sugar into his mouth as he schlepped from house to trailer, from trailer to house?.
the householders would usually offer us water, lemonade, kool-aid, or soda pops, so no problem with finding something to quench our thirsts.. those were the days!.
sylvia.
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donny
I left an important detail regarding the same guy I mentioned earlier in the thread. His "apartment" was actually in a warehouse. He worked for this person who managed a small tool distribution center. His warehouse was located in an area where the rent was low but also a higher crime area. He let this brother (I'll call him Steve) to live there rent free because it allowed him to have 24 hour security.
Steve had a small office that had a desk, a phone and a dumb terminal hooked up to the companies inventory system. On the walls of this office were 6 or 7 calendars that had writing all over them. They had notes like "94.5, 7a.m. and every 2 hours till 5 p.m" and "10th caller when (insert song or artist) is played".
I asked Steve why he had so many calendars and he said "This is my hobby. I listen to all of these radio stations at different times and I try to win the contests and prizes." He then told me he had average winning about 2000 dollars a year for the past three years. He said it takes work but he enjoys it and it was "free" money.
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79
What Watchtower Belief/View Never Sat Right With You?
by minimus inbut their views on blood are just plain weird!
meat has blood in it even if it's bled.
still eating meat means consuming blood.
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donny
For me it was the 144,000 bit. I just could not make the number work. You had to believe that only 90,000 or so true Christians were chosen from 33 CE to 1935 CE? You just had to put that one on the back burner and go on to other things.
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Need an Life-How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation book
by donny ina friend of mine, an evolutionist, is asking me to acquire an lifehow did it get here?
by evolution or by creation book.
the edition is not important and the newer condition the better.
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donny
Thank you Mangum. That was fast!!!
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8
Need an Life-How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation book
by donny ina friend of mine, an evolutionist, is asking me to acquire an lifehow did it get here?
by evolution or by creation book.
the edition is not important and the newer condition the better.
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donny
A friend of mine, an evolutionist, is asking me to acquire an Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation book. The edition is not important and the newer condition the better. I will make the necessary "voluntary donation" including the postage/shipping costs. If anyone can help please let me know.
Donny
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9
A Time to Heal.....even when we caused the wound
by donny in1991 was the last full year i was an active jw.
when i formally resigned in september 1992 my now ex-wife had already pretty much took all of the bound volumes and other society literature.. .
the only thing i was left with was a few copies of the nwt and the 1991 bound volumes the watchtower and awake!
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donny
Good points all. I just find it appaling that virtually no consideration is given to the child affected by these monsters. The image is everything and the individual sacrificed on the altar of "We are truth and we must look great."
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9
A Time to Heal.....even when we caused the wound
by donny in1991 was the last full year i was an active jw.
when i formally resigned in september 1992 my now ex-wife had already pretty much took all of the bound volumes and other society literature.. .
the only thing i was left with was a few copies of the nwt and the 1991 bound volumes the watchtower and awake!
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donny
As an addendum to this post, I brought this Awake to a co-worker who is an active Witness and asked him to read it and to give his opinion. Two days later he said it was a well written article and it was still valid advice.
I asked him if there was anything missing from it in regards to action to be taken in the event of a report of child abuse. He could not think of anything so I said "Not one time does it suggest calling the police."
His reply?
"Why call the police when it is a congregational issue and should be handled by the brothers."
And some wonder why this problem continues to infest this organization.
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58
Eccentric Jehovah's Witnesses
by snowbird inso as not to hijack logcon's thread about crazy things jw's have said to householders, i'd like to start one about just plain old odd jw's.. for example, i knew this dear, dear senior brother who would carry a small bag of peanuts in one pocket of his suit coat and a small plastic bag of brown sugar in the other.. during that time, we would stay out all day long because the territory was extensive.. can't you just picture that precious soul alternately tossing a few peanuts/crumbs of sugar into his mouth as he schlepped from house to trailer, from trailer to house?.
the householders would usually offer us water, lemonade, kool-aid, or soda pops, so no problem with finding something to quench our thirsts.. those were the days!.
sylvia.
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donny
One of the strangest ones I knew was a guy who was a ministerial servant in the first congregation i was associated with after becoming a JW. He was a ministerial servant and looked like a stereotypical nerd, i.e. goofy expression on his face and oversized glasses.
One day on field service I was assigned to him as a partner and we went an knocked on a few doors and then went to dump older magazines in the areas laundry mats. After a couple of hours of this, we went by his place for lunch.
As I walked into his apartment I noticed life-sized cutouts of C3PO and Indiana Jones in his living room. As I sat down in the living room I noticed a stack of National Geographic magazines on the end table to my right. As Leo prepared some ham sandwiches, I went through the National Geographic and noticed that they were from several different years.
What was interesting is that all of them featured articles that included pictures of various native cultures where the women went topless. I was still perusing his collection when he came back in.
I am not sure why he decided to share some TMI (too much info), but he looked at me and said with a nervous laugh, "I am a single brother and those magazines have kept me from committing fornication on many an occasion."
I was totally shocked when he said that and had no real reply other than "Well different strokes for different folks," and I changed the topic of discussion to what was coming up at next week’s Quick Build project.
I never told anyone else about it because I kind of felt sorry for him because he was so strange that I figured he would never hook up with anyone. About 2 years later he quit coming to meetings but I never found out the reason.
I was totally shocked when he said that and had no real reply other than "Well different strokes for different folks," and I changed the topic of discussion to what was coming up at next weeks Quick Build project.
I never told anyone else about it because I kind of felt sorry for him because he was so strange that I figured he would never hook up with anyone. About 2 years later he quit coming to meetings but I never found out the reason.
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Jesus was a False Prophet - But was he deluded or deceitful?
by cofty inany objective reading of the gospels makes it plain that jesus believed his parousia would happen within the lifetime of his generation.. his followers believed in his imminent return until the day of their deaths.. his false prophecy damaged the lives of his disciples in a similar way to that done by the lies of modern cults like the watchtower.
peter and others walked out on their wives, children and businesses to follow him around palestine.
jesus taught them to put their families and other normal concerns in second place to their task of spreading his message - which turned out to be false.. the question is what he was up to?.
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donny
As much as I tried to hold on to my belief that the Jesus story, or for that matter the whole Bible, was true, the more I read the Scriptures without anyone coloring them for me, the more I realized that it was not what is presented in today’s American version of Christianity.
First, it is clear to me that Jesus and his followers expected "all things" to occur within their lifetimes. According to the story, these were times of urgency in getting the message out that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Even Peter had to remind those of his day that Jesus was not slow in keeping his promise as some consider slowness, but was waiting so as many as possible could be saved.
If that delay was a few weeks, years, or decades, it is clear from the Bible that they were not referring to centuries much less millennia. But as human nature has clearly shown throughout history, people resist change. Leaving ones cultural or born-into religion is not practiced by the majority and once a religion is established the adherents usually hang on to it.
About a century after Jesus died, Christianity began shifting from a religion with an urgent message about a soon-to-be return, to one that was looking at a long future ahead of it. As a result it slowly became intermeshed with the political element of the day (Rome) and eventually became indistinguishable from it.
As a result, like most government agencies, it became full of greed and corruption leading to some of the most offensive atrocities ever assigned to mankind.
What I found interesting is that for about 75% of the history of “the church”, only a relatively few schisms and breaks occurred after it became part of the government machine. The Bible was not readily accessible during this time.
But once the Bible became easier to access, the divisions of the church multiplied greatly and continues to do so today leading to 40,000+ different ideas of what a Christian is.
I could start my own church today and with just a little bit of flamboyancy and clever “reasoning” it may even grown into one of the larger ones and go on for centuries.
I no longer believe any of it anymore and assign it to just another one of the many stories about beings of divine origin that have developed over the history of man.
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First Post...Hi everyone! Thanks for all of your help over the years!
by stuckinarut2 inwell... as they say on talk back radio "i'm a long time listener, first time caller"(poster in this case!).
i have been a "lurker" for several years, but never had the courage to take the step and join up...until now.. i really want to thank everyone for their insights and comments throughout the forum.
although i have not contibuted to discussions, i have benefitted very much from all of your comments and observations on all topics.
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donny
Thank you Stuckinarit2. I have been here for 9 years and I am still fascinated with reading others perpectives about how they first begin to question the machine. Back when I was in everytime I heard "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd, it reminded me that I was one of those bricks in the Society's wall. Well aboard and I look forward to your future posts.
Donny
Facebook: DonnyRayReed