Posts by OnTheWayOut

posted

36
How do stop myself getting too Bitter?
by stuckinarut2 in
1. jw
2. friends
you know, i always maintained that during this fading process, and while learning ttatt, i would not let myself get "bitter twisted and angry".... but, in all honesty, if i examine myself, i have become quite bitter toward the org, toward the false friends and the gb.. i have become angry as i see the extent of damage i feel being raised in "the truth" has done.... i feel hurt towards the lost opportunities in life etc.... how do i not allow myself to get too swallowed up by such bitterness?.

i have always been a very happy, positive, selfless person.

i can put people at ease, i am someone people feel comfortable chatting to.
OnTheWayOut

I had to go to counseling to realize why I embraced the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and why I probably would have been dead had I not done so. I had to read quite a bit of Zen and Tao philosophy to let it go. Still, I sound bitter in many discussions about Watchtower.

I guess I am not the person to give you advice. I try to focus my bitterness toward the organization and accept that even a-hole circuit overseers are just victims like me, and I try to recognize the good in any members I know or knew. When my best friend abandoned me, I try to remember what a great guy he is and how he is just trying to be faithful to God in his ignorance. (Does that sound bitter? Sorry.)
75
Having Faith in the Bible
by william draper in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i know many on here have lost faith in the bible , is it possible that is because ones do not have the right perspective regarding it .

we have usually been taught by bad teachers , or ignorant .

i believe if we take an honest look at the bible , we will see that it gives us the best answers to crucial matters , it gives us some amount of bearings ( understanding ) , which without having such knowledge we would all be more like walking zombies in amanner of speaking , we would be lacking hope in something better , for surely something better is to come , how can we be sure , .
OnTheWayOut

Many spoke of the earth being flat , or supportedby Elephants , but in the scriptures we find what science also revealed years later , now of course a wise man could reason that the earth was round , but to say that it hung upon nothing , where else does one find such wisdom , God revealed it to certain ones to have such understanding . Many other wise men had no grasp of such knowledge .
I will just comment on this single example of re-inventing what the Bible says to sound more palatable to modern man who has a better understanding. The roundness of the earth described in the Bible was more in line with a flat coin with round edges. If God wanted to avoid so much trouble in the dark ages and wanted to help Man understand the universe, He could have seen to it that the Bible described the earth as a ball that goes around the sun (not the center of the universe) and that stars are not little tiny lights that orbit the earth but are other "suns" bigger than the earth, just far away.
You seem to do this with other points, just as the JW's do- try to say what the Bible doesn't say and re-invent what it meant to indicate that it was different from current beliefs. It was not radically different and left out so much.
75
Having Faith in the Bible
by william draper in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i know many on here have lost faith in the bible , is it possible that is because ones do not have the right perspective regarding it .

we have usually been taught by bad teachers , or ignorant .

i believe if we take an honest look at the bible , we will see that it gives us the best answers to crucial matters , it gives us some amount of bearings ( understanding ) , which without having such knowledge we would all be more like walking zombies in amanner of speaking , we would be lacking hope in something better , for surely something better is to come , how can we be sure , .
OnTheWayOut

Some, like myself, have not "lost faith in the Bible," but have grown beyond faith in the Bible.
I think that belief that the Bible "gives us the best answers to crucial matters" is ignoring it's answers as far as women, slavery, exclusionism, etc.
If a man rapes a woman, pay 50 sheckels to her father and marry her.
The husband is to rule over his wife. Man was not created for woman but woman for man.
A man who refuses to impregnate his widowed sister-in-law is put to death.

I could go on and on.
If we followed the letter of the Bible, then we really would be closer to your "walking zombies in a manner of speaking."
You could sell your daughter into permanent slavery to pay a debt.
You could beat your slave severely, as long as he doesn't die that very day, but the next day is okay.
If you can't find a wife, you could take the virgin daughter of your enemy in battle that you just killed and shave her head and imprison her for life, but call her your wife.
Is there any other book that gives us a better understanding of where we came from , and what may be / is to be our future .
I won't bother with that except to say that man is much older than 6 or 7 thousand years old and that real progress with our future comes from excepting real science about how it all started. Otherwise, we could remain ignorant and not bother to understand our universe because "God" will tell us what we need. So don't bother to cure disease or invent better products for mankind.
91
Setback
by EdenOne in
1. jw
2. experiences
i saw this coming since my mother-in-law's funeral .... the congregation's "love-bombing" over my wife had its impact.

i watched her drawing closer and closer to her friends in the congregation.

then she decided she would attend the memorial.
OnTheWayOut

Sorry to read your woes.
She said it won't happen again, but given what the cult mentallity does to people, I'm not so sure I can trust her.
Watch your back. I don't have kids, my wife and I are otherwise in a similar position. I trust her, but don't tell her all I do because she might one day feel compelled to report it. The other day, we were talking about our recent Mayoral election and she asked, "Did you vote?" I said "No, if I vote, someone will tell my mother to never speak to me again." Her reply was, "You don't have to tell anyone that you voted." "Yeah, but YOU just asked. Should I lie to you or say it's none of your business?" Her reply was "I guess I did ask. You will have to say 'None of my business.'"
Hopefully, your wife will one day tire of the life she returned to.
9
ATL Teachers Sentenced to Prison in Cheating Scandal: Can the same charges be used against leaders of the WTBTS?
by Wild_Thing in
1. social
2. current
first of all, i stand in support of the teachers ... sort of.

this system of over testing in america, connecting test scores to monetary rewards or punishments, and threatening teachers with their job over test scores is directly to blame for the environment created where teachers and administrators felt pressure to cheat.

but at the same time, they lost their integrity and cheated.
OnTheWayOut

I followed with interest at one time. I get that there was huge pressure upon the teachers. I also disagree with criminal jail time.
So, yes. I can say that many at Watchtower are cheating. There is pressure on them to misuse quotes and data and to manipulate the members into giving more money. I would also lump these people in with the teachers, caving in to pressure, and disagree with jail time. But as I would expect "Banned from Teaching" for the one group, I would expect "Banned from Preaching/Recruiting" for the other.
48
How many here gave up having a family for the sake of the "truth"?
by stuckinarut2 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
this is a sensitive topic for many of us i know, but i am wondering how many here actually gave up the idea of having a family "in this system" for the sake of "kingdom activity or service"??.

start the count here with my wife and i.
OnTheWayOut

ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!
My wife and I decided it was far too late in this system of things to be having kids. She got a bit rocky in her decision just after I faded. By then, I knew there was no way we would raise a child together with our differences about "the truth." I told her we had decided not to have children and we are going to stay with that.
It's far enough past that now and I don't need to worry.
9
New Avatar
by mrquik in
1. jw
2. friends
i can't help but think how many committee meetings this photo would have generated.

this is on the caribbean side of cozumel at a quaint bar called mezcalito's.

this side of the island is virtually deserted.
OnTheWayOut

MISTER QUIK, I don't think the ladies are admiring TATTOOS. They probably notice the well-defined man.
24
Conn. Firefighter Who Is Jehovah's Witness Files Federal Discrimination Lawsuit
by Bangalore in
1. jw
2. friends
conn. firefighter who is jehovah's witness files federal discrimination lawsuit.

http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202722980377/conn-firefighter-who-is-jehovahs-witness-files-federal-discrimination-lawsuit#ixzz3xhkbpznt.
OnTheWayOut

I hate to side with a JW but an individual firefighter doesn't need to be involved in raising or lowering the flag at the station. He can go clean toilets or windows or tools while someone else gets that part done. It's really that simple.
Some smaller municipalities will insist that a member participate in parades, afterall- if they all had a choice, they probably would not have anyone in the parade. It could be mandatory to march but not to participate in any other way. A court may rule that religious objection is a good enough reason to sit it out, so such a person could be left to monitor radios or the station house or something essential while others are marching.
45
Hold Me, Thrill Me
by Hold Me-Thrill Me in
1. jw
2. friends
i'm going to be honest and from the heart when i say that for 40 years in the jw religion i was very happy in my ignorance!

man, what a trip it was.

i loved every minute of it but then i was absent the bad in my religion.
OnTheWayOut

Greetings to you, HMTM. People are free to do as they see fit, including going to Jehovah's Witnesses even when they know it's not the absolute truth that it says it is. And I am certainly not one to advocate other churches, but non-trinitarians, according to Wiki include: Modern nontrinitarian Christian groups or denominations include Christadelphians, Christian Scientists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dawn Bible Students, Friends General Conference, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses, Living Church of God, Oneness Pentecostals, Members Church of God International, Unitarian Universalist Christians, The Way International, The Church of God International and the United Church of God.
I think you might serve yourself to read the Steve Hassan books that Flipper mentioned. Also, consider what kind of reception you would get from Jehovah's Witness members in the congregation if they heard some of your radical thinking (radical to them) against the teachings or the Governing Body. While I cannot recommend other churches, there are some on that list that allow you to think/speak/feel as you like. Also, Buddhism and Taoism allow you to do the same.
If you want "Jesus," you can't really follow Buddha, but you could go to the way Buddhism was meant to be and still is when advocates follow their own private path of enlightenment. They really were not supposed to follow anyone, but to become their own Buddha. In other words, you can meditate and apply any part of your Jesus belief to your life without some organized religion to visit on weekends.
I can't quite claim the title of "Non-Christian, Non-Buddhist, Atheist Zen" but that's pretty close.
Here's some commonalities between Jesus and Buddha:
Be humble
Be compassionate (a possible translation of sympathy through mourning)
Live simply (a possible translation of meek)
Be ethical (a possible translation of righteous)
Be merciful
Be pure of heart
Be a peacemaker
Do not live in fear to do what is right
Be an example to others (“the light of the world”)
Do not murder (the Buddhist First Precept)
Do not commit adultery (The Buddhist Third Precept)
Sin is not only found in action but in intention (the Buddhist concept of volitional action creating karma)
Keep your promises (The Buddhist Fourth Precept)
Turn the other cheek (The Buddhist concept of compassion or karuna)
Do charity because it is in your heart to do so (the concept of dana)
Do not judge ( The Buddhist concept of the three poisons: hatred, greed and delusion)
Always be seeking and questioning ( “seek and you will find .. “)
Beware of false prophets and judge them by the fruit they bare (the sutta of the Kalamas)