Posts by NYCkid

22

Big day for me tomorrow

by iamfreenow in

hello everyone, i haven't been on here for a while, though i have read a few posts from time to time when i've been visiting my friends linda and trevor.

i would like to be here more, but i am retired now, and can't really afford a pc or the internet, being on a somewhat limited income.. since i left the watchtower society in august, i have kept myself reasonably busy.

i attend a couple of evening classes, help my non jw son and his wife out by babysitting when needed, and manage to see my jw sons' children as often as possible.

NYCkid

Marion,

That's great, congratulations! I'm so happy for you! I hope you celebrate afterwards with a dinner out or something!

A former ex-JW friend of mine joined an Episcopalian church a few years ago with his partner and although he was a baptized JW, he decided to be confirmed and got re-baptized. Interestingly, his pastor told him that when he was baptized as a JW, he baptized himself to God and the Church considered it valid, but it was up to him. I thought that was really nice of her to say that. I would say however that conservative Catholic and Orthodox religions would require a former JW to be rebaptized in order to take communion.

Personally, I'm agnostic, but I'm considering studying in the Anglican and Orthodox faiths to understand their points of views. I do attend both kinds of services on occasion and have to say that the services are beautiful and I've learned some very interesting things about the Bible that I never knew being raised as a JW.

Anyway, again I congratulate you. What an occasion to celebrate!

Best regards,

NYCkid

37

How Well Does the Watchtower Educate?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

how well does the watchtower educate?admittedly, my opinion about the watchtower is that it trained.

and educated individuals wellin particular when it came .

to reading and public speaking.. education or propaganda?

NYCkid

I really must comment on this one. I've had ex-JW friends of mine say that they did benefit from the TMS in their ability to speak publically. Not the same in reading however. For us who were raised as JWs, we were not allowed much reading outside of JW literature. I'm sure you can agree that JW literature is very theme and solution orientated.

The JW writers present a problem, a public or JW reaction and then a solution. All of these (especially the WT and books) that have the Q & A format present the material in a way where the problem, reaction and solution are implied in each paragraph and to answer the questions listed in each paragraph. The questions only serve to locate answers in said paragraph. The questions are presented in each article and answered in each article. With the Bible aside, there is really no need to search for the answers outside of each article or book.

In my experience, this training in reading has made college-level reading very difficult (and which probably accounts partly for my mediocre high school scores). I'm unable to focus and comprehend what I'm reading unless I know what the theme and question are and what the author's solution is. Non-JW academic reading requires the reader to comprehend, assimilate and reach a conclusion on one's own perspective and experience, and I find this method extremely difficult in my studies.

With reading and speaking aside, I'm unsure of what other education you are referring to given that many active JWs are only high school graduates and very rarely will you find a JW who is a physician, scientist, professor/teacher, etc, professions that require secular eduction that the Society largely discourages.

Even my friends who served at Bethel are rarely able to use the skills they've learned there in their post-Bethel work and for those who served (at Bethel) any length of time, leave without any savings, pensions, 401k plans or social security contributions.

Best regards,

Learning to read and comprhend all over again in NYC

44

John Denver v Jay Leno

by pobthespazz in

i 've heard snippets of this absurd urban myth about jay leno asking j denver to leave his show because he hated jw's.

but why on earth on a prime time slot would j leno start asking j denver about jw's?

and i don't think j leno is a particularly spiritual guy or wt supporter is he?

NYCkid

I believe it's an urban legend, such as the demonized smurfs, etc. I grew up as a JW in the Northwest and the John Denver story was popular, so much so that my parents threw out their JD records. The other day I met up with a former JW in NYC who grew up in the Northeast and it was Eartha Kitt who asked JW audience members to leave (she hadn't heard it was John Denver). The anti-JW protagonist appears to be regional.

Best,

NYCkid

51

At This Point, Would You Care If You Are or Were Disfellowshipped???

by minimus in

jw
friends

at this stage of "coming out" of the "truth", would it faze you if you were disfellowshipped?

NYCkid

I'm already df'd but I'd like the option to annul my baptism. Contrary to what JWs teach, I chose to baptize myself to God not to an organization, but just to wipe the slate clean, I'd like to erase any evidence of my involvement with that cult.

Best,

NYCkid

41

Snippet of a JW letter.

by jeeprube in

here's a snippet from a letter my sister in law recently wrote my wife.

enjoy:.

hope you two are doing well!.

NYCkid

Blondie,

You beat me to it, Yugoslavia is no more since 1992 I believe.

Guys, maybe if we close our eyes really hard and say "Armegeddon is here" three times while clicking our heels, it will happen.

In all honesty, my heart goes out to my family and all those misled. It's so sad.

Best,

NYCkid

30

YouTube video: On Shunning

by seattleniceguy in

jw
friends

i'm starting to get the hang of this video thing.

i'm really happy with this video on the practice of shunning, as experienced by me on both sides of the fence.

i'm not angry - i'm just letting the facts be known.

NYCkid

Great job, you are very sincere and courageous! I especially related to the point you made about how shunning doesn't convince a person that something is true. In my own experience, I was more inclined to consider reinstatement when my family was welcoming and warm to me. When they decided to shun me, I found their behavior (and of those in the cong) revolting and began to really take a close look at the religion.

If you haven't attended college already, I strongly urge you to apply. You seem very intelligent.

Just one suggestion tho for aesthetic reasons. Consider a backdrop of a solid wall or throw up a sheet. The light in the upper right corner and multiple doors was a bit distracting but otherwise great job!

Best,

NYCkid

91

What I Learned at the at the 2 Day Assembly...

by becca1 in

jw
friends

1- "jehovah does not want us to be rich".

other religions teach that god helps us to become prosperous.

jehovah does not do that.

NYCkid

As one who was raised a JW, this is nothing new (like Juni pointed out). Being raised a JW is also the reason why I'm now finally attending college at age 35 while most normal people are at the peak of their careers. Anyway, my comments are below:

1- "Jehovah does not want us to be rich". Other religions teach that God helps us to become prosperous. Jehovah does not do that. The CO - Blah Blah Blah - Here, I wish that JWs who aspire to be "Jewish" or God's chosen people, would be more Jewish in the sense that Jews believe that wealth is a sign of God's blessing. (Remember early in JW history, JW officials attempted to court Jews to merge the two religions??) Anyway, the Society's constant harping on being poor is why many JWs are trapped in the lower income brackets and why many in my parents generation do not have sufficient retirement plans/savings and will live out their remaining days without financial security. It's ironic that the Society wants more money from it's members but then wishes them to be poor, it's very "Wal-Mart" of them...I love it, the "Wal-Martizition of Religion" ha ha ha.

2- 0% of our young ones who go to college remain witnesses. The DO said he was told this by fellow DO's at a DO meeting. - This is why you'll never find (or is very rare) a JW who is a medical doctor, professor, scientist, CEO, teacher, computer developer, politician, novelist, journalist, nobel peace/pulitzer prize winner, human right activist, etc. etc. etc. Some smart JWs own businesses such as car detailing, construction or service-type businesses, the rest are laborers, clerks and administrative personnel and the like (most of the JWs I know rarely keep a job more than a few years due to lay-offs or personality and schedule conflicts).

3- We do not contribute enough to the World Wide Work. Example: If you are going to put something in the contribution box and you look in your wallet and have a five dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill, what will you do? You may think the twenty is a fortune and put in the five. Then you go to Wallmart and see a new DVD for 18.95 and you pull out that twenty and purchase the DVD. "But we are not milking you for money". The DO - Typical guilt marketing but it's tragic that they are bleeding their members for every penny while requesting them to be poor (see #1 about the Wal-Martizing religion). As a side point, it's quite sad that the WWW does not include hospitals and schools for the poor, food and financial assistance for the homeless and poor, etc. It's really about amassing REAL ESTATE.

4- We take too many nice vacations. Years ago a couple would take a nice trip or cruise to celebrate their 25th anniversarry and it would be a big treat. Today it's no big deal because we are "always" going on nice trips. The DO said this after talking about contributions. - Just another example of how the Society intrudes on the personal lives of its members and requires them to avoid enjoying life as little as possible. Show me any passage in the Bible where "nice vacations" are prohibited.

5- If you do not dress modestly you will not survive Armaggedon. The CO. - This is their old stand-by. Can't have our members looking like the rest of the people, now can we? And Jehovah-forbid that anyone likes to be fashionable. No Prada for you...after all, since most make $5.15 (USD) per hour as a stock boy at Wal-Mart or a bank teller, who can afford nice clothes anyway? I remember shopping at 2nd hand stores to get those used Armani suits, usually with a cigarette burn in the crotch or a stain somewhere.

I'm so glad to be free from that control crap, I just mourn for my family still enslaved....if only....

Best,

NYCkid

17

Insert your 2007 JW Calendar Theme

by JH in

jw
friends

what should be written on the 2007 jw calendar as "theme" for the new year?.

i would write, "who would have thought we would still be here?.

NYCkid

"The 2007 Calendar of Jehovah's Witnesses, If You're Not With Us, You're Against Us."

Best,
NYCkid

133

What state are you from?

by Junction-Guy in

this is for the us crowd, what state do you live in?

or from?----i live in tennessee, but from ohio and kentucky.

NYCkid

Hoboken, New Jersey although a native of Montana.

You New Jerseyites have to come to Hoboken, we'll sip on beer and listen to music at Maxwell's.

Best,

NYCkid

20

Was C.T. Russell all that bad?

by Sad emo in

disclaimer: this is a question purely about russell's bible teaching, not about his personal life, whether he was a freemason or whatever else.. ok, russell set himself up as a bible teacher, a lot of his theology was borrowed from groups such as the adventists and certain pyramidologists of his time, and i agree that a lot of his conclusions were plain crazy.

my question is this - was the movement he started simply another misguided christian denomination with genuine motives as opposed to what happened after rutherford took over and added all the dogmas?

does russell bear any of the blame for what the wbts has become?.

NYCkid

From what I've read, Pastor Russell was probably sincere in his beliefs if not a little too zealous in them. However I find it extremely hard to believe that out of all humans in the world existing around 1800 years after Jesus is believed to have died, God (Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Jesus - whomever you prefer) chose this man in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. to organize and lead the "true religion."

It's a cute notion but not at all plausible.

Best,

NYCkid