Posts by thecarpenter

19

What impact did the internet have on your decision to leave the JW's?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

on another thread, a co says that sites like these don't have much impact on their numbers.. personally i didn't leave because of this site or any other xjw site.. i was unhappy and felt that something was wrong and this site confirmed what i felt.. how about you?

thecarpenter

I had growing doubts about the organization for a long time. It seemed to me that a large part of our faith was manmade and speculative and this bothered me greatly for a long time. The internet was instrumental in helping me solidify those doubts by exposing the history and errors of the past and in time would have gotten me to step out. But it was Raymond Franz's book which was the final nail in the figurative coffin. Once I read that book, everything I suspected fell into place; heck, there was things going on that I wouldn't have suspected in the first place such as the depth of the societies duplicity .

The internet and JWD helps me to do continuing maintenance on myself when the doubts come. I also continue to read books about the witnesses and cults in general.

56

Another Deceitful Tactic by the WTBTS.

by gumby in

as most informed jehovah's witnesses know, the wtbts is very good at painting a pretty picture of themselves by cleverly wording things to outsiders, yet not revealing the specifics of their beliefs.. below is an example from their official website regarding whether or not they shun members who choose to leave them.

they do not tell the public of the interogation they impose on members who wish to quietly leave ( fade ).. notice they mention how they are more than happy to restore those who exit, but fail to mention the types of questions they ask to those who leave them.. while they admit they shun those who verbally express they no longer wish to be a jehovahs witness, they do not tell the public they coerce that very statement from those who try to leave peacefully and quietly.

quote: .

thecarpenter

I say we confront the witness bastards in person, yeah....

I remember there used to be this guy who would stand in front of bethel in the early 1980's and hurl insults at them in the morning, at lunch time and at the end of the workday. It would be cool to get a large plasma tv and play recorded messages exposing the watchtower everyday, dem bastards...

thecarpenter of the name calling bastard class

35

Moving on...

by Zico in

jw
friends

i've been reading this board regularly since it was introduced to me in march of this year.

at first, i was finding it pretty difficult coming to terms with the fact that my whole life had been a lie, but really, i suppose there's not much point in worrying about this now, what's done is done, and i'm still easily young enough to make a life in 'the world' despite a slow start.

the problem is that i have no idea how to go about.

thecarpenter

At this point, it may be to your advantage to fade slowly. Start making friends on the outside so that when you go, you are not in a void. Take a dance class so that you will meet nonwitness women and maybe join a gym. You might also attend school at night or the weekends to further your education and expand your social circle. You probably still attend meetings so I would continue to go but use the time to do research (such as bible reading and start using the hall library during the meetings to check up the society bullsh*t in the past. Don't le t the elders or your parents know that you don't believe this is the truth (the elders could view you as a threat and df you) If any thing, mention you have some doubts and will wait on Jehovah to clear it up. If they ask you whether you believe this is jehovah's channel, say you would like to think so. Good luck thecarpenter of the would like to think so class

10

Extro or Intro? and Why do you think that is?

by Crumpet in

jw
friends

i've noticed a few people on here saying that they don't mix well or prefer not to - there's a particular bird avatar i have in mind and its not the emu but the name escapes me (w?).

i'm interested to know if since you left the borg you find yourself extrovert or introvert?

what effect did your upbrining have?

thecarpenter

I find myself just the opposite. I became much more outward going as I started leaving the jdubs. The reason for this is that I decided I am not going to let this cult move me to self-destructive behavior. I guess several years ago I started slowly developing my exit plan and as I moved away from the dubs, I started doing more interesting stuff (sometimes in a big and visible way). This really peeved the elders but there was nothing they could do scripturally because I wasn't breaking any laws.

I am making lots of contacts and getting in touch with old friends and making new ones. I still feel a little anxious at times but if it doesn't kill me will make me stronger.

I'm looking forward to attending my first apostfest in the northeast, do they do them up here?

28

Dont player hate... player appreciate.

by IP_SEC in

whas yo pimp name?.

http://www.playerappreciate.com/pimphandle.asp.

sincerely,.

thecarpenter

Hey, I'm Magic Tickle, don't you be taking my name.... weez gunna be haaven ganz war wit mi boyz

68

What Did You LOVE About Being a Jehovah's Witness?

by Seeker4 in

jw
friends

ok. minimus had his 'what did you hate about being a jw' thread, so i want to take a different tack on this.

i'll even start it.

i loved some of the get-togethers we had.

thecarpenter

that's also what people say about the mormons

56

Another Deceitful Tactic by the WTBTS.

by gumby in

as most informed jehovah's witnesses know, the wtbts is very good at painting a pretty picture of themselves by cleverly wording things to outsiders, yet not revealing the specifics of their beliefs.. below is an example from their official website regarding whether or not they shun members who choose to leave them.

they do not tell the public of the interogation they impose on members who wish to quietly leave ( fade ).. notice they mention how they are more than happy to restore those who exit, but fail to mention the types of questions they ask to those who leave them.. while they admit they shun those who verbally express they no longer wish to be a jehovahs witness, they do not tell the public they coerce that very statement from those who try to leave peacefully and quietly.

quote: .

thecarpenter

you know, I really am indebted to this site for all the experiences you folks have been through and shared. Recently, I had some elders visit me because of rumors about my apostate ways . By reading many of the experiences many of you posted, I knew exactly how I needed to answer them without outing myself. I even got the '...do you think the FDS is god channel question. I really danced around that one (I couched my answer carefully... theocratic tactics you, hehehehehe....

It was a close call but interestingly, I got some of them to relate some of the problems they have with the society. I was actually kind of surprised that some of them have the same frustrations that we do except they hide it better and still try to rationalize the societies behavior.

56

Another Deceitful Tactic by the WTBTS.

by gumby in

as most informed jehovah's witnesses know, the wtbts is very good at painting a pretty picture of themselves by cleverly wording things to outsiders, yet not revealing the specifics of their beliefs.. below is an example from their official website regarding whether or not they shun members who choose to leave them.

they do not tell the public of the interogation they impose on members who wish to quietly leave ( fade ).. notice they mention how they are more than happy to restore those who exit, but fail to mention the types of questions they ask to those who leave them.. while they admit they shun those who verbally express they no longer wish to be a jehovahs witness, they do not tell the public they coerce that very statement from those who try to leave peacefully and quietly.

quote: .

thecarpenter

Personally, I find that some shun me (or mark me) while others say hello when they see me. I don't really care if they want to talk to me anyway because they weren't my friends even when I was quite active in the congregation. I don't miss them at all. Since I left, I have joined several different non religious groups and started making more friends and have a busier social life. I only miss maybe one or two jdubs a little but my close friends in the jdubs have exited as well. (we all read CoC and some other books and some are members on this forum) Funny thing is we are all inactive, none df'ed although I am sure we would all be df'ed pronto if we were discovered.

21

I was turned down by the Mormons.....lol

by whyamihere in

yeah, they are not coming back anymore......lol.

i guess as they told me, i bashed their beliefs and their religion - i don't accept the gospel of jesus and joseph smith in to my heart....lol.

dammit, i was having fun with them too.

thecarpenter

Yes, you are a bad girl in need of a spanking

thecarpenter of the volunteer to spank class.

46

As An Ex or Fading Witness, Do You Have Any Goals?

by minimus in

jw
friends

do you hope to accomplish anything at this point in your life?

thecarpenter

I have lots of goals, both short term and long term. I already accomplished some goals while in the organization (I went against counsel and improved my financial situation considerably, it was a huge emotional struggle though). At this point, I want to finish my degree just for the fun of it and then try some stuff that I always wanted to do like skydiving at least once, a little hand gliding, scuba diving, some more traveling, etc... I would love to start a family and from there, who knows.

I also would like to research evolution a little more (I still believe in a creator and I think science can be reconciled with a creator) and read the bible again. I plan on going to a non denominational church in the future, I feel attending church helps one achieve contentment and balance, reminding us that love is really important and helping our fellowman.

I am interested in the stockmarket, filmmaking, writing and so many things. I plan to pursue all these things over time. whew!!!