Posts by Deacon

132

100 Good Samaritans needed

by Trilobite in

jw
friends

two of this board's, and h2o's before it,long time and well known participants have fallen on desperately hard times.

if they could set up pay pal accounts and enough of us could contribute say $20 - $50 per month it would help them though their hardship.. these two people have helped many escape from the wts and i know for sure have given money and other material help to those in need, even when they could not afford it.. if you can help, send an email to: [email protected].

you need not include any particulars of who you are etc, just an indication that you could support this and how much you could send.

Deacon

If I may just take a moment of your time.

Trilobite. The main problem here is that no one has done anything.

Go open a bank account. Give us the number. We will send contributions.

I give you my money and my trust.

If you prefer, send us your own bank account code and we will send money..you still have my trust.

Then write a cheque for whovever needs it, cash to Doug, cheque to the others...

You have my trust.

Ladies and gentlemen. Please stop with the fighting. Either we help or we dont. Either way it doesnt matter except to those who need it. DOnt tell me who contributes and who doesnt for it really doesnt matter, we all do what we can. Some of us are scraping by too.

I expect to hear from you trilo today so I can send some money immediately, that way it STARTS.

Deacon, who knows the legalities of charities, but also the neccesity of getting on with things..

[email protected]

6

Ruminations..whatever that means....

by Deacon in

jw
friends

i read with interest java;s post re: a therapists view of leaving a restrictive religion.. using my own experiences, and those of others on the board, it would appear that there are only two ways to go, and one path that has to be taken in order to make sense or order of the situation.. i had to ask myself and do some heavy research as to what i no longer believe and why.. this is my present understanding on the matter.. shunning is a defence mechanism for the protection of the wtbts in order to keep members in and neutralise bad press.. 1914 would seem to be in serious error as a correct date in the chronology.. dichotomies exist within the organisation as to the anointed of god, the governing body and rulership thereof.. continual guessing and speculation of dates throughout its brief history, is unscriptural, unbalanced and just plain deceitful.. the elder arrangement is not working.

it is run on a set of cast in stone rulings from the governing body and proves no function other than to keep dissedents in check.... there is no real human love in any of the arrangements despite the usage of the words.. disfellowshipping destroys families regardless of the public message promoted by the wtbts.. disfellowshipping utilises, grief, sorrow, unworthiness, shame, hurt, physical seperation and unjust means to whip someone to their senses..or return with a broken spirit to be in servitude forever.. being a member of the wtbts is seriously ijurious to personal mental health.. i no longer believe that the wtbts has a clear direction from the creator, i no longer believe that the message of urgency is based on accuracy or common sense.

i no longer believe that there is a common goal anymore, it has been surpassed by maintaining and increasing material possessons.

Deacon

I read with interest Java;s post re: a therapists view of leaving a restrictive religion.

Using my own experiences, and those of others on the board, it would appear that there are only two ways to go, and one path that has to be taken in order to make sense or order of the situation.

I had to ask myself and do some heavy research as to what I no longer believe and why.

This is my present understanding on the matter.

Shunning is a defence mechanism for the protection of the WTBTS in order to keep members in and neutralise bad press.

1914 would seem to be in serious error as a correct date in the chronology.

Dichotomies exist within the organisation as to the anointed of God, the Governing body and rulership thereof.

Continual guessing and speculation of dates throughout its brief history, is unscriptural, unbalanced and just plain deceitful.

The elder arrangement is not working. It is run on a set of cast in stone rulings from the Governing Body and proves no function other than to keep dissedents in check...

There is no real human love in any of the arrangements despite the usage of the words.

Disfellowshipping destroys families regardless of the public message promoted by the WTBTS.

Disfellowshipping utilises, grief, sorrow, unworthiness, shame, hurt, physical seperation and unjust means to whip someone to their senses..or return with a broken spirit to be in servitude forever.

Being a member of the WTBTS is seriously ijurious to personal mental health.

I no longer believe that the WTBTS has a clear direction from the creator, I no longer believe that the message of urgency is based on accuracy or common sense. I no longer believe that there is a common goal anymore, it has been surpassed by maintaining and increasing material possessons. I have to ask ..why? to what end? What good does another branch office do?
Recently I was in another country where they had just built a branch..sveral millions of dollars..in the middle of no where, has no function for printing or for anything really. 3 families live there..answer the phone and....do nothing. It takes hours to visit and no one has seen the reason for it being in that location. Im sure that later on. due to an event.. the brothers will exclaim " that is why it is there!"

I have lost faith in the whole system, from the reality of the love displayed, to disfellowshipping to information dissemination to ..well just honesty about everything..

The one path we all have to take, is to be honest with ourselves. We have to look real hard at the evidence that the internet has brought to the forefront and weigh that up carefully.

It has been like losing all my family. It IS like losing all my family, my heritage, my history my legacies, my future and my past life.

But..if it wasnt real to start with..the only thing I have lost is human contacts..and if they can not see how hard I tried to make the pieces fit..then shame on them.

I have been put on the outside, I have been made to feel worthless and valueless, or rather that has been the intention from the whole disfellowshipping fiasco...and it will only work if I let it..

It still has the chance to destroy relationships with family members still in..they dont come round, they dont call, trying to do the right thing..and that sucks....

But Im never going back.

and for those of you who had a hand in the gossip and the hypocrisy..and you know who you are, and you are here reading this despite knowing that you shouldnt.. I want you to be aware that I know about your lapses of judements, your darkest secrets....things which you would have to do a lot of repenting for...
and Im going to keep that information to myself...because you have to live within your skin and mind and deal with your own twistedness daily...and that is worse than anything I can do to you..because your God has no provision for hypocrisy when you know you are practicing it.You cannot clean enough toilets to gain the self respect that you need in order to have a quality of life that is biblical..so stay in and live the lie and suffer...because you choose that path..and you cant even do that with honesty.

I dont know anymore about religion, or God, or Jesus, its all a mess of disgusting emotional turmoil..but I keep reading the bible, reading history, reading religious writings....and keep searching..

If the answer is that there is no God...then that is the answer. If tha answer is that this is not the time for his involvement in earth.. then that is the answer...if the answer is being a Moslem.. then that is the answer..

But till then, we just carry on..

20

State of My Faith

by Amazing in

jw
friends

some have wondered about where i come from on the topic of faith.

and, as we all ponder our past jw religion, and the events of the day, i need to take some time to address matters of my faith, as i look for some answers.. when adam was created, god did not wait for adam to play a guessing game and start praying.

rather, god reached out to adam.

Deacon

And I have to admit that this was the first post that I found in me an empathy for the situation and for you.

God! either Im softening or your getting better.

either way, its better than being irritated with each other.

60

Raymond Franz Never A Member of GB/Fathers Email

by ladonna in

jw
friends

yep, that's right!!.

i called my mother tonight to say a friendly hello.

you guessed it.

Deacon

Ana,
The words written were from a man weary of life. I guess in his adopting you as a child, he was doing you a favour...or doing the right thing.

In the real world, the world of acceptance, we raise a child the best we can and hope that the morals that are taugh from us to them will guide them through whatever path that they..the child, chooses to follow..and we watch from the sidelines.

Being priveleged to know a little of your growing years and the twists and turns therin...he should be proud that you turned into a reasonably sane and together adult and a decent human being...and if you chose, as you did, to turn your back on a religion that did nothing but cause you pain and upset....then so be it...

Well little sister..your are cared for by those who do care, and who do understand..and you know that. email me for the words you need when times get crappy
deacs+npy

102

Jon passed away this morning

by jonjonsimons in

jw
friends

my name is kevin and i am jon's partner.

jon gave me his password a few weeks ago and asked me to post to the board if something happened to him.

as some of you know jon had been undergoing cancer treatment since the end of july.

Deacon

Aw Kev,

The man touched a lot of lives....
I hope the bigger answer out there makes us all happy..

In the meantime, keep strong fella and remember the sharing, its memories that we keep forever.

much love
deacs

21

Im not tough

by joelbear in

jw
friends

about a week after the september 11th thing when i was feeling devastated and in total despair, i went through an "i give up" phase.. i came out of that phase (or thought i did) with a new gung ho, i ain't gonna take no crap concept of myself.

you probably saw my post about marshall arts.

this was gonna all be part of this new tough, ready to fight, kind of guy.. well, i'm not tough.

Deacon

Joel,
If I may.

The only real definition of true love is enhancing the spiritual awareness of another person.

It took me a long time to realise what this means. It took me even longer to realise that courage and strength and patience and willingness to wait...are the true criteria for what being tough is all about..

Most of us fail in this....but we keep trying...

And you have proved that you are tough.

28

Is this site JW or what?

by Ephesians6 in

jw
friends

i have been on this site for a bite.

reading posts and where are all the jw's?

we have people who have gotten out of the watchtower, good for all of you.

Deacon

Jw or What?

Definitely What!

15

a new religion?

by Deacon in

jw
friends

ok. i finally went and got myself well and truly immersed in the lawful side of being ordained as a religious minister...yes folk, all the legals have been truly investigated and complied with and i can now well and truly start my own church and take weddings and funerals etc.... now...i dont want to be a "reverend".. but i do want to well and truly investigate the entire bible to see what the real message is..and i want to see where i/we go from here.... if any one is serious about pursuing some serious bible discussion...then email me.... thats all the well and trulys for this evening lol

Deacon

methinks SS and others you misunderstand..

I dont want to be the "leader of a new religion"..I have merely complied with the legalities as did the WTBTS for putting in place a structure for gaining all the tax breaks and other facilities given to religious corporations should it ever go that far.

The influence of being a JW for 40 years has been so deeply ingrained in me that the thought of anyone being paid for religious duties is an abhorrence...for those that know me, and a lot do..they know my total concern is for finding out the truth of the Bible...

I was pretty much shocked in my research in the US to find that each elder appointed in the WTBTS, is placed on a register at the HQ, and listed as a States approved minister, with the accompanying priveleges.
They can perform marriages, funerals, baptisms and ordain others into their religion.
They can if they wish, carry clergy badges and park in clergy car parks in hospitals and public car parks.
They get discounts on health insurance, travel and accomodation.
Usually though, in keeping free from the world, The WTBS does not encourage this practice among elders, indeed not even telling them of the benefits...except where it benefits them, ie missionaries, getting into ground zero in NY and prisons..Im sure the relevent documentations and badges are printed post haste when required.

It became so obvious during this researh why elders get away with so much in the USA. They are protected in law by Clergy Privelege, that is, they can refuse to testify by virtue of their position..though glad to say, more and more States are overturning that stance. This is why it is so difficult to get information from elders or prosecute elders for not helping in cases of child abuse and other atrocities...

For those that still believe in the Bible after freeing themselves from the shackles of the emotional bondage that held them for a period of time...the first couple of years in the worldis often a painful and spiritually hard time...for Comf, 6 of 9 and Kent and Janh...they found total freedom in not having a belief anymore in a God, this not being a choice made, but a very real acceptance of no longer having a belief....

I am on the verge of not being able to believe any more. I spend hours in prayer, hours researching both the WTBTS and the Bible. The very detailed work presented on this board by Alan F, Farkel, Kent. JAn H and other has really opened my eyes to the culpability of the WTBTS, and the manipulations utilised by the gang of 1914..albeit that has changed somewhat....1914 not the culpability..

I also am extremely grateful to those who have openly and with great sensitivity researched the Bible and placed their findings on the various boards of the internet.

I had hoped that if enough people wanted to meet and talk together, then perhaps a legal shell would offset all our expenses by making them tax deductible..but I guess the reality is that the corporations that use this facility...are in effect money making machines....and therefore any genuine facility would be tainted by the shadow it casts...and that has to include the WTBTS...

So here are the questions I would like to discuss. If anyone is interested in a real discussion, with self moderation in terms of just present their viewpoint, findings and opinion without attacking others...and doing it in a spirit of cooperation without rancour, then Im all for it.

Is the Bible the word of God?
Does the Bible record tally with dates and times historically?
What is the Bibles message?
Is there a heavenly hope for all or is the earthly hope real?
Are there anointed persons on earth today, and is the number limited to 144000?
What or who is Gods channel today?
Is the practice of shunning scriptural?
What medical practices are acceptable to Bible believers?
Is armageddon real and around the corner?
Is the holy spirit active in our day?

and lots of other questions...

So if anyone is interested...I would love to discuss each issue in depth..and eventually put into a booklet the conclusion of the discussions...

Im not into bashing the past...but I am into looking to my future..

15

a new religion?

by Deacon in

jw
friends

ok. i finally went and got myself well and truly immersed in the lawful side of being ordained as a religious minister...yes folk, all the legals have been truly investigated and complied with and i can now well and truly start my own church and take weddings and funerals etc.... now...i dont want to be a "reverend".. but i do want to well and truly investigate the entire bible to see what the real message is..and i want to see where i/we go from here.... if any one is serious about pursuing some serious bible discussion...then email me.... thats all the well and trulys for this evening lol

Deacon

interesting...
A poll might prove the assumption that most people who leave the WTS no longer believe in a God..
But I have 2 emails from people who do want to have a look in depth at the Bible and discuss things..
Anyone else interested?

15

a new religion?

by Deacon in

jw
friends

ok. i finally went and got myself well and truly immersed in the lawful side of being ordained as a religious minister...yes folk, all the legals have been truly investigated and complied with and i can now well and truly start my own church and take weddings and funerals etc.... now...i dont want to be a "reverend".. but i do want to well and truly investigate the entire bible to see what the real message is..and i want to see where i/we go from here.... if any one is serious about pursuing some serious bible discussion...then email me.... thats all the well and trulys for this evening lol

Deacon

Mommy..
In USA, ordination is a legal thing..I did everything as according to the law, and have confirmation that I am permitted to be a church reverend and start my own church as long as I comply with the IRS code for non profit organisations..

Weird

I do however, need to put in place for the starting of a church, A policy, and criteria for doctrinal worship...and have a 3 man board for the legal side of things...