i lurked for 2 years on this site before i joined in july 2013. what a roller coaster ride it has been.. first of all, i was a very active jw for those unfamilar with my story having been a longtime elder(21 years), regular pioneer (14 years), convention & assembly speaker, etc.
i am still an active witness because i am older now, with close to 40 years in the borg with some longtime friends.
boy how i have changed!
The thing is ... Once you see the real truth about the organization, it is hard to see them as anything else but a corrupt, false religion.
Like they sat, you can't unring a bell.
And even though you are still going to meetings, think of how much freedom you now than before. They may still have your time right now, but they don't have your mind.
i have often laughed at public outpourings of emotion.
just google mike schmidt"s retirement speech in which he loses it and blithers on about his career.
completely douche chilling.. but to be honest, i had a moment recently when i literally balled my eyes out.
Okayyy... that's not how I remembered it.....
You're right! Now stop giving me that look! The drama was about Korah and ended with Korah being swallowed up by the Earth, along with a lot of other people. All for disobeying God's "organization".
i have often laughed at public outpourings of emotion.
just google mike schmidt"s retirement speech in which he loses it and blithers on about his career.
completely douche chilling.. but to be honest, i had a moment recently when i literally balled my eyes out.
Blondie ... I love that! You have no idea how many times I have wanted to tell an elder to sit down and shut up!
in playing around on facebook one day i discovered the page of the son of the ministerial servant who comes to my house.
i glanced through his posts and there were many instances of people wishing him a happy birthday and two instances of people wishing him a merry christmas eve.
i thought that last one was particularly strange (why eve?).
I am guessing they are worldly work buddies who do not know he is a JW. If you enter your birthday into Facebook, it sends email reminders when your birthday is getting close. Some of my mom's work friends did the same on her Facebook page. She didn't respond to any of them, which probably appears rather rude.
i have often laughed at public outpourings of emotion.
just google mike schmidt"s retirement speech in which he loses it and blithers on about his career.
completely douche chilling.. but to be honest, i had a moment recently when i literally balled my eyes out.
I had three that I remember.
1. I have not had good experiences with Elders. My dad was one, to begin with, and the rest of the elders in the congregation we grew up in were no better. Fast forward to when I was around 20 or 21. I am sitting in the Kingdom Hall and they announce from the stage that my brother in law had been appointed an elder. I balled like a baby. Everyone there thought they were tears of joy, except my family knew better. I loved my brother in law and I knew it would ruin him. I begged him to not let it harden his heart, or let the power go to his head. He is still a good guy from what I can tell, but since I am not in the borg anymore, I have no idea how he is as an elder.
2. The last district convention I ever attended. The bible drama was about how when Moses went into the mountains, they built a god out of gold and Aaron disobeyed Moses, so the Earth opened up and swallowed Aaron. And just Aaron, we need to listen and obey what God's organization has to say or we will end up like Aaron. I left and cried. I knew I could never go back to any meeting or anything again, and I didn't.
3. When I told my mother I will not be a witness anymore. She told that Jehovah would destroy me and she stopped talking to me. I cried. Really hard. I was in my early 20s, which to me now, seems like a baby. I actually cried for months. I thought the shunning would be forever, but it only 6 months. Since I was never disfellowshipped, I guess she realized she could have something to do with me if she wanted. And she really did! She was hurting herself by trying to give me the silent treatment.
has anyone seen the film called god loves uganda?
i just watched it on netflix, and i highly recommend it!
it's a recent documentary that premiered at the sundance film festival last year.. it shows how the american evangelical right wing christian groups has changed the face of uganda by sending missionaries there, setting up churches, and indoctrinating ugandans with their brand of christianity.
Let me know what you think after you watch it, dazed. There are many parts that remind me of the JWs.
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are there any more examples like this?
pictures changed because a person was disfellowshipped?.
They are champs at rewriting history, aren't they? They remind me of my grandmother. One time, we were going through her pictures and there were so many photgraphs that were cut in half or had part of it cut out. We asked what happened? That's when we found out that for years, when she got mad at someone, she would go through her pictures and cut them out of every picture they were in! And yes, she was a JW. smh
i've been given permission to post news of our friend.. kate hasn't been very well.
not well at all.
i think much of it has been a delayed reaction to her df'ing, the general fallout when leaving the wtbs and family issues.. i just wanted to give you guys the heads up and give you a chance to show how much we care about her.. thanks for listening..
So sorry, Kate! Don't let them get you down! A new chapter of your life is just beginning and it will be great!
the organization is shifting away from printed literature in favor of their new jw.org website.
the website contains content that is not printed in literature.
kiosks, trolleys, and storefronts are being used to showcase the website.
Good point, Blondie. I think the push for digital content will be mostly implemented in the developed countries, and they will still use printed literature for the 3rd world countries.
I think the reason they are shifting to more digital content is not just to save money. I think someone up there got smart and realized they needed to do something to appeal to the younger generation of Witnesses. For almost 40 years, kids have been entranced with digitial or electronic content, and they are just now starting to take advantage of it. (A bit late, I might add.) They are bleeding members in the developed countries. Kids raised in the troof are leaving! I think this is their latest attempt to plug the hole. It won't work.
hello, i am focus.. yes, that focus.. is there anyone here who remembers me from the "good" old days?.
my sig may provide a jog to the memory.. my vision is undimmed, my views unchanged and my claws are sharper than ever.
the filthy old whore is to be taken down with maximum prejudice.. focus.
This board has changed a lot since you were here, and honestly, I feel it is for the better. A lot of the former posters had great insight and contributed A LOT of information we surely would not have had without them (yes, including you.) But many have moved on, some stomped out after a lot of drama, and sadly some have passed away or are in poor health.
But, things need to evolve and change. The reason that I was drawn back to this website recently is because I noticed the drama, fighting, and angry, hate rethoric have diminished A LOT. We all have reasons to be angry at the Watchtower Society, but I am not of the mindset that (1) they should be taken down, or (2) I am the one to do it. They are a religion. Are there aspects of the JWs that are cultish? Yes! But, really, they are JUST ANOTHER DESTRUCTIVE RELIGION. Nothing special. Not like they think they are. If you compare them to other crazy religions, the JWs definitely win, but not by much. I think exposing that is what is what will be most damaging to them.
Their lies and destructive ways should definitely be exposed, but your methods seem a bit too extreme ... calling the Elders rapists, telling us you're going to clean out this temple, implying we're not apostate enough for you. Your kinds of posts are exactly the kind that scare people away and back to the Kingdom Hall. I'm guessing this is the opposite of your intent.
I tip my hat to you for your contributions in the past, but it stops there. I am guessing you are back to help revive Hourglass2? I notice it is trying to make a comeback. It that's the case, just say it! I don't mind if you give them a plug. But copying and pasting URLs to their threads for us to read is going to get real old, real quick.
Come to think of it, copying and pasting URLs to old posts here on this board is going to get real old, real quick, too. There is definitely good stuff there to find, but too much of it is a bit off-putting. Let's see if you can contribute without referring us to threads that are more than 10 years old, OR by reviving them.
