Posts by OnTheWayOut

45

What's preventing YOU from stopping meeting attendance?

by nicolaou in

we all 'exit' in our own way and at our own pace but i'm curious, why carry on stuffing yourself into that stiff suit and tie or meeting dress years after you realised the truth about 'the truth'?.

they kept you a prisoner, what's stopping you from leaving now that you have the key to your own cell?.

loved ones?

OnTheWayOut

I have strong opinions like everyone else about this subject. My thoughts drove me to quickly fade. Some would say I am still living a lie if I am not openly opposed to Watchtower.

I had strong opinions about homosexuals and revealing outfits on women, and abortion, and tobacco and all kinds of things when I was a JW. I have since learned that no matter what my opinion is, I have no right to impose my way of thinking on others.

It's fine to ask others why they still attend meetings. It's fine to have opinions about it. But I was so wrong about so many things before, and I have learned to just let people lead their lives. Even beyond this forum and a little bit on facebook, I don't even try to influence religious people to wake up to reality unless I am asked for my opinion.

I think you all meeting attenders should find a way to seek more personal peace through less meeting attendance, but who am I to decide that your peace comes ahead of a delicately achieved happy relationship with family?

6

Question (and answer): What does it mean to believe in someone?

by schnell in

"do you believe in jesus?".

yes.. "do you believe in jehovah?".

yes.. "do you believe in the grand man of the universe?".

OnTheWayOut

So I understand that you believe in the Santa-Claus-type of Jesus. For the naive, they can be coaxed into a morality via stories of that Jesus.

I don't like when older children haven't been taught the truth of how a Santa Claus would be more fair to poor people, so Santa Claus must be their parents. There's a time to grow up and realize you have to do good works for the sake of the good works instead of for the sake of Christmas presents.

Very few sane adult people continue to believe that Spider Man, Darth Vader, or Santa Claus are real people.

I think the same should be true of Jesus. It's time that mankind stops "believing" in him and grows up.

50

If turned off by the GB's latest bloopers- do you still have faith in God and Christ?

by the-Question in

some go back to churchianity!.

and that, to me, indicates they never had real faith in god- but it was in men.....

OnTheWayOut

The GB are flawed men.
The Bible was written by flawed men.
All the gods were created by flawed men.
Churches/Religions were all created by flawed men.

The God of the Bible can be anything readers want him to be- a god of love, war, justice, injustice, peace, slavery, macho standards, yadda yadda yadda.

40

Wife is Awake

by freemindfade in

following the news of stuckinarut2, over the past few months my wife has completely mentally woken up.

i've been meaning to post but haven't had the time.

i saw stuckins post and i figured i'd add my news too.

OnTheWayOut

63

Life is changing for me: no pioneering, got a job!

by Skepsis in

jw
friends

a month ago i decided to register in this board.

i had decided to step down pioneering but was frightened about the consequences.

i had finished my university degree some months before (despite disaproval from brothers in my congregation) and i had to choose: continue pioneering and working in jobs with no future or starting a career, working full-time.. i was thinking to postpone the decisiton but... i was fed up with preaching.

OnTheWayOut

Hey, great that you have a career-oriented future. Congratulations on leaving pioneering.

If it were me where you are now, I would tell the brothers that so many well-intentioned people have said such negative things about my resigning that I insist that I can no longer be an MS....then refuse to remain no matter what they say.

35

How long did people like Methuselah really live?

by dubstepped in

i was working today and my brain was working in circles like it often does and i started wondering about what i was always told about people like methuselah in bible times, and their incredibly claims of longevity.

i've tried researching things but have a hard time getting through all of the bible thumpers to some real evidence, and figured that some here may be more informed or have done the research previously.

so, did people really live longer way back when?

OnTheWayOut

I believe that the writer of Genesis tried to bolster the thought found in Psalm 90:10 (both Genesis and that Psalm alledged to be written by Moses who supposedly lived over 120 years) that our lives can only reach 70 to 80 years unless God blessed us with extra life. And then the writer shows that God did that for the men of their fictional history. That way, such men could be viewed as "larger than life." But because it was fiction that could not be matched in the days of the reader, those lives were shown to be getting shorter and shorter.

There is no way the stories are based on real people counting years in a different manner. Everyone knows what a year is- going thru one summer and one winter, or going from one fall harvest to the next fall harvest.

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

OnTheWayOut

I haven't read the other answers, but I can say that I did not choose to be an atheist like one might choose the beef over the chicken at a restaurant.

Jehovah's Witnesses were wrong. I finally figured that out via investigation. I did not stop investigating until I figured out that the Bible was wrong also. That led to so much more until it was inescapable to realize that none of the gods of man's beliefs exist.

Jehovah's Witnesses were taught to reject mythologies, so many ex-JW's are just doing that.

14

elders are leaving me alone. what to make of this?

by nowwhat? in

i am a born in that goes back to the 1960's i am in a very zealous congregation with super dub elders.

i have been inactive for 3 years and only go to about 2 meetings a month.

i made my displeasure known about the overlapping generation b.s.

OnTheWayOut

You do what you need to un your situation, but I managed a complete fade with no contact from the elders in something like 8 years, and that is with absolutely no meeting attendance while my wife is still very active.

My point is, they still see you, they still assume you are a loyal (but douting) minion. And as mentioned, they have no good answers for you. I suppose luck plays in most cases whether the elders let someone leave in peace or not, but to see if you are lucky, you might try dropping the twice-a-month meetings.

5

The pen is sharper than the sword.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

and when as a family we celebrated my first ex j.w birthday, my sons present to me was a " pen".

that pen i am now searching for.

i had it 2 hours ago and for the hundredth time i have lost it again, but i always find it.

OnTheWayOut

I celebrated birthdays before becoming a JW, but my first ex-JW birthday was special, too.

In my family, only my dad and his wife (never JW) were aware of my fade that year. They sent me a sweatshirt. It could have been a rock and it still would have been the best ever. I had my birthday back.

32

Irregular to meetings, can I partake in memorial?

by Squekylive in

hi friends .

i don't believe in jw doctrines anymore but because of family i have to be a jw for now.. i am not regular to meetings, and don't answer in meeting, but i report some hours so i remain as active jw now.. .

congregation knows that i am not spiritual and i don't talk to people and i don't care what they think about me.. now, i believe it's important to observe lord's supper as a christian as per john 6:53, so in the coming memorial if i attend i want to partake in the communion,.. i believe it is a sin to pass the bread and wine inspite of knowing it's flesh and blood of jesus.. it's like rejecting jesus.. so i want to partake.. but i dont consider i am anointed etc.

OnTheWayOut

You have to be a JW for now???????

You believe it is a sin to pass the bread and wine???????

Okay. Answering the best I can while taking your thoughts into consideration:
You are only there for family apparently. You do not believe their nonsense. So consider their entire Memorial as invalid and do not partake. You are only skipping an invalid observance.

If you must insist that passing on the bread and wine is a sin, then make sure you are not in the seats during both parts. Go to the washroom or just stand in the back. When offered the glass or the plate, don't even touch it, just shake your head no. You have not passed. You just did not participate in their invalid observance. Even better would be to be seen at the beginning of the meeting and then slip out the door and go home before the passing of emblems. If you must be a JW, JW's will see you in attendance. Then you were covered. Or tell your people that you went to a different Memorial- and don't mention that you slipped out the door.

So many options beyond partaking and being labeled for that. Because if you must be a JW for someone else, partaking when that someone else thinks you should not- that is not helping your cause.