Posts by done4good

13

Born Ins Vs Converts

by JW_Rogue in

did you ever feel like born ins were looked at differently than those that were converted?

i always felt that there was a level of suspicion around those "raised in the truth".

that we were always suspected of being jws to make our family happy.

done4good

Born-ins and converts are fundamentally different.

A child who is forced to accept what their parent(s) believe is never going to look at that information the same way as an adult who identifies with that information for one reason or another, and makes the life changes required to live up to that identity. It is just not possible.

Those differences take different forms throughout a person's life, which I believe even includes differences after a person leaves. A convert probably has a much easier time adjusting to becoming a real person again, not necessarily so with a born-in.

Apathy does tend to run stronger in born-ins overall. They didn't ask for the miserable existence their parents forced on them, but they are stuck. So apathy becomes the order of the day. This should be no surprise.

Being a born-in sucks. I was lucky I had help in certain areas by other born-ins who were intelligent enough to know when to ignore the WT's counsel, and get an education, career, etc. Many others don't fare that well. Converts know absolutely nothing of that life.

d4g

67

My Issue: How To Step Down As A MS Without Getting Noticed

by JW_Rogue in

so that other thread was fun but now i need some help with something.

i was born in the truth most of my family is in.

although they aren't outwardly super spiritual i doubt any of them would ever leave.

done4good

No clean way. Some are more of a "soft landing" than others, (such as Cappytan and _Morpheus mention), but all of those methods involve at least some playing of the game. Thank god I was not an MS at the time I left, as I could not stomach the charade.

An alternative to that level of charade is to just miss some assignments, stop FS, and miss more meetings than usual. This will draw attention, but not so much along the lines of them suspecting you knowing TTATT. Rather, they will be pressured to remove you, since their own rules require you participate in FS, attendance, and are reliable of handling assignments. Yes, they will try to do everything possible to prevent that, but eventually they will have no choice than to force you to step down. MS/Elders that don't know TTATT do this all the time.

d4g

48

Candace Conti Case

by truthseekeriam in

jw
friends

filed:.

letter dated june 22, 2015, notifying the court that petitioners, watchtower and fremont congregation have reached a settlement with respondent, conti.. .

click here to request automatic e-mail notifications about this case..

done4good

They settled over the fact that elders assigned her to work in field service knowing Kendrick was a pedophile.

That in of itself is a big deal. It will force change in how the WT conducts its business, if it has not already started in the background. I think much of the recent upheaval of policy, finances, etc. points to the fact that this outcome is shaking things up a bit.

d4g

23

Has there been new counsel about Facebook recently?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

i've noticed increasing amounts of jw's are coming off fb and deactivating completely.

all with the same reason which they post about at lenght which is that they wwant to focus more on their spiritual life and not have the distraction of fb.. have i missed something or is this just a coincidence?.

done4good

Just another cog in the wheel that is social evolution. WT is ill equipped to deal with it. Too bad, WT...

d4g

31

What the Governing Body found out when they ' did the math'

by Esse quam videri in

stephen lett may 2015 broadcast.

14:45 ... the governing body very much feels the urgency of accomplishing as much as we possibly can, in behalf of kingdom interests, knowing that the great day of jehovah is near....

... in an effort to inform you of the support that is needed for this great work, i have the following information to share.

done4good

Splash, nice succinct list of quotes.

I know I could not have sat through that.

d4g

9

Interesting RC Experience

by Blackfalcon98 in

i recently attended the rc for my area.

while there, i encountered a old family "friend" who recently lost her jw husband.

as the interaction proceeds she relates that her grand daughter, who's around my age (early twenties) has "left jehovah".

done4good

Many who leave, don't get an adequate education on not only in WT history/policy but other topics (e.g. science, critical thinking).

While very much a topic in of itself, learning critical thinking is really about learning a process. Once mastered, all other topics/subjects become much easier to think clearly through. One can fill their head with all of the science they want, but if they did not learn to critically analyze the information first, what is learned can be easily forgotten, and/or replaced with something far less logical. Many well educated people, (at least in the past), still became converts because they never really learned critical thinking to begin with.

Thankfully, most universities today teach classes in logic and critical thinking, and many majors require it as core classwork.

Edit: Many anti-science groups, (not just the JWs), are aware of the above and pushing very hard to remove critical thinking from core curriculums at both the high school and university level. I wonder why???

d4g

47

Songs celebrating leaving the faith? Not being a puppet, mind controlled, living life, etc etc

by aley63 in

i am looking for some songs that are in ref to celebrating leaving, seeing the light, realizing what you were told wasnt right, being happy w your life, etc etc.

all those emotions about being controlled and repressed, being told what you can feel or think or how to live, blindly following the "brotherhood ".

done4good

Vienna - Billy Joel

The entire American Idiot album by Green Day, (BIG one being played very loudly and often when I left in late 2005).

God - John Lennon

Imagine - John Lennon

Dear God - XTC

One of Us - Joan Osborne

Trespass, (the entire album) - Genesis, (early Gabriel era, 1970).

Jesus, etc. - Wilco

Drink of Water - Ambrosia

The Soft Parade - Doors

In the Light - Led Zeppelin

If I think of more, I will post later.

d4g

109

The Confederate Flag

by Simon in

the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

done4good

But on what lines? Is it race? Political/religious ideals? Support for gun control?

Political leanings that may affect one's views on race, gun control, etc.

At the core, it probably has more to do with personality types, (in the scientific sense), that are being amplified and extrapolated by the dynamics of our politics in context.

Ok, I really need to get back to work.

d4g

14

Normalcy bias keeps JWs from leaving

by zimunzucz in

i have been frustrated by the inability of most jws to escape their bondage to the kh, despite repeated exposure to negative information about their religion and belief system.

perhaps it's due in part to something called normalcy bias- a definition i have found is:.

normalcy bias is part of human nature and, to some extent, we are all guilty of participating in it.

done4good

JWs, IMO need to somehow drop their no-blood transfusion dogma and the direct shunning of former members- that has to stop. No more breaking up families and killing their kids from lack of blood transfusions.

Yep, and if they do that, they will effectively no longer be the authoritarian organization that they currently are. So far, nothing they have done indicates they will let go of these draconian practices.

They are not evolving socially, just trying to survive by making changes to their outward appearance, (i.e. adaptation of internet, cartoons, music videos, "parties" in the KH, etc.). If they keep this up, and refuse to change anything of substance, they will go extinct in time. Even the Catholic Church is getting the message and relaxing its position on long held draconian concepts, since society will not tolerate otherwise. I don't see this happening in WT land at all.

d4g

43

Change to dress and grooming rules for JWs in USA soon?

by RayPublisher in

my guy with the lurk account on jwtalk (where all the kool-aid drinking jws go to talk about how wonderful 'the twoof' is) sent me some more interesting threads, here's one:.

spoiler: starting new the new service year september.

"there will be new directives from the branch through the circuit overseer on dress and grooming that will disqualify one to be a congregation publisher.

done4good

No chance this is anything but rumor.

Although if true, this would make for a believable scene..

Yeah, I can imagine some poor guy getting called out on his skinny pants and the congregation erupting into a chorus of "take it off..." well the sisters anyway.

Based on last summer's KH "parties" for the international delegates, (specifically the one in Texas where sisters were cat calling the goofy dancing brothers on stage),you might not be too far off the mark there, Sparrow.

d4g