Posts by OnTheWayOut

14

Life After Disassociation (or really leaving by any means)

by dubstepped in

i just wanted to take a minute to encourage any that are leaving that the world outside isn't as scary as it was made out to be.

my wife and i officially da'd at the beginning of last september.

i've battled social anxiety, depression, etc.

OnTheWayOut

Be open and honest with people in your life outside of the organization. Tell them what you're going through, what you're going toward, and be vulnerable. We were completely open with the people we clean houses for and they've been our biggest allies through all of this. They are our new friends and family, and we've branched out from there. Find those lost Witnesses that disappeared years ago and reach out to them. We've been reacquainted with several people that left years ago and made friends there again. People are generally good, and if you're leaving something like a cult then you have one of the more interesting stories that anyone could share. People love hearing about it and find it interesting, and they will become your cheerleaders as you escape something that is so destructive. They want to see you succeed. Open vulnerability begets open vulnerability. We've learned more about others around us as we've been open, and it builds real relationships, not surface level ones like the JWs.

I just saw this thread as it was linked from another.

This is awesome advice. I was totally open with my coworkers, something rare among macho firefighters. It was great, not a bad reaction among the bunch to what I was going through. That doesn't mean it would always be that way, but the good should outweigh the bad if you experience any negatives.

I gather with ex-JW's all the time and we support each other. That's awesome too.

63

New Spiritually Weak Label: Not Using Tablet/iPhone

by Doubtfully Yours in

with last night's meeting it became official: here in the states is a must to keep up with 'jehovah's org' that one fully jumps on board with this tablet/iphone crap.. so, now, all of us that up to this point have refused to follow the wtbts in their electronic/wireless revolution will deal with the browbeating from the 'spiritual' ones.. already receiving lots of grief from hubby and rest of the family/close friends when seen at the meetings with paper publications.

damn it!!!

am i alone in this resistance???!!!.

OnTheWayOut

I remember when it was the opposite. Having printouts of scriptures or WT iterature references was bad. I did it anyway and didn't say anything. I did it as the School Overseer, as it made my job easier.

I remember my wife typing out the interpretation from foreign language to English to help a "student" and some elder's wife complaining about the noise of her "banging" keys on a laptop. "You have to be sitting right in front of her to even hear it." The sister said she was right in front of her. "Well, MOVE! She's providing something valuable for someone trying to learn." Oh, the grief I received for not backing down. The elderette got her husband and I said, "If you are unable to move your wife to another seat, YOU GO TELL Mrs. OTWO she needs to stop."

So now it's flipped. Like most things JW. The internet was bad until it was inevitable, and even then it was resisted until printing was becoming expensive. Technology is only good if Watchtower says so. Nothing new under the sun.

5

Can a small child be taken out of state without the other parents permission?

by Crazyguy in

jw
friends

parents are still together not divorced.

one parent a jw wants to take a small child around age 7 out of state for a few months but other parents wants the child to stay home.

if the child is taken out of state can the parent that doesn't want him to go do anything?

OnTheWayOut

If the parents are together, they have shared custody similar to divorced parents with that custody stated in writing. So they probably do need the permission of the other parent. But since they are together, most legal jurisdictions would assume that without some order preventing such travel, the consent of the absent parent is implied.

In other words, a parent can probably prevent such travel. But just not stating consent won't be enough. Some legal entity would have to be contacted somehow. It would only be a violation of the law if a parent crosses state lines in violation of a written custody order.

If the parent not wanting to give permission wants to avoid legal fees and court orders, they can mention how they COULD get an injunction and that COULD be the beginning of divorce/separation proceedings and how such travel prior to any proceedings that is not unilaterally agreed upon COULD make a judge think that "we" won't be able to effectively co-parent the child[ren]. And throw in the thought that judges might rule against a JW on such matters.

But seek legal advice. I just think in legal-eeze.

15

WILL this be New Light? Is the Watchtower preparing to say out loud, Jesus is Jehovah?

by Terry in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk7ertncbsk

OnTheWayOut

Terry advances such a theory that Watchtower will join mainstream Christianity in telling members to believe in the trinity or some portion of the trinity doctrine. That's our "Prince" of JWN.

You might remember that WTS often speaks out of both sides of their mouth.

31

No historical evidence for bronze age men living to 500yrs old?

by purrpurr in

the bible tells us that noah etc lived to 500yrs old as did many other characters who lived apparently to incredible years.. yet archaeological research tells us from looking at skeletons that have been dug up that the average lifespan was very short.

if a man got to the age of 50 they would have considered that quite an achievement.

when i was in i always wondered about this?

OnTheWayOut

I heard at a convention that there was this "stone" or "sand melted into stone" or whatever, there was this "thing" that clearly was formed in the sand that could only have been formed by nuclear blast. And I read it in an older WTS publication.

Anyway, the location of the "thing" was proof that right there, the battle of Elijah and Jehovah versus Baal and his prophets took place. The very total destruction of their offering to Baal was "consumed" by Jehovah in a nuclear blast. There's no other explanation.

I can't find that "thing" mentioned on the internet from any credible sources. But we could go on and on listing things that are proofs, some may actually exist. But it's all in the interpretation.

Sorry, I don't believe any of it. Not anymore. I will sooner believe there are immortals living among humans, be they aliens from another world or be they superior humans with some kind of magic.

21

Why haven't you been to the meetings?

by Zana in

jw
friends

some cong-member asked my wife this question (in the street, stopping her on her bicycle) in a rather police-like fashion.

i wasn't there so i don't know her immediate reaction and response, but she got very upset afterwards and one day later this still occupies her mind.

i believe it's an emotional mix of anger, sadness, shame and guilt.. she doesn't like this intrusion in her privacy from some jws and on the next occasion she will try to make this person respect her boundaries (or just ignore her).

OnTheWayOut

You might focus on the fact that they didn't stick to being friendly and concerned in a "How can we help you?" way.

14

Would you have done what Adam did?

by thinker11 in

every religious group know the story of adam & eve.

for me, i understood what they did was wrong but i never felt they were bad people and considering that they never murdered anyone and seemed to live normal lives after being kicked out, i found it hard to accept that they deserved to die forever and that we would be responsible for suffering for their mistakes.

i personally feel like i might have done the same thing adam did when eve offered him the fruit.

OnTheWayOut

My take on the Garden story is that the writer was trying to convey the thought that God was actually withholding something from the pair and the snake did not lie to Eve. That makes Eve right to partake. Why would God want humans to remain ignorant of "good and bad" unless He wanted them to be slaves or puppets?

They did not die that day, they gained a knowledge.

6

Why are the Scientologists Getting All of the Attention?

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

there are more jws than scientologists.

jws shun their ex-members, too, and have beliefs just as weird.

we also have had our celebrities .... michael jackson, prince.

OnTheWayOut

I know, right?
It bugs me that we were sort of in the third place cult of America.
Mormons are huge, practically own Utah. They have that Tabernacle Choir and all the fringe break away groups with polygamy still existing.
Scientology is batshit crazy and has all those current Hollywood types.

With JW's, someone's gotta die to even get a mention.

Hey, don't forget that the JW's are loaded with pedophiles. That ought to get them into the news more.

51

A New Words With Friends Player Just Told Me That She Was a Jehovah's Witness And That's Why She's So Smart!

by minimus in

jw
friends

i saw she went under the handle of lovejahforever.....she said she is very smart and had cleaning jobs and was going in the ministry this morning.. when she told me she looked forward to beating me (she won the first game) she sid she was smart because she's a jehovah's witness.

my response was we will see how smart she is.. what next?

any suggestions??

OnTheWayOut

I only read the OP, so I don't know if something changed.
BUT.....there's a website somewhere that allows you to cheat at WORDS WITH FRIENDS.
Do a little research and you will find it. It will allow you to enter your letters and find the best words that can be made with those letters, and you can add the blank for additional letters and search for that open letter to play.

In short, beat the crap out of this JW so she doesn't feel so smart. Tell her that reading at a higher level than WTS literature would expose her to the words you are playing.

This might not be the best cheat site, but it took 20 seconds to find it: http://www.wordfind.com/words-with-friends-cheat/

15

Higher Education - is it really the end of the WT?

by OutsiderLookingIn in

as a non-jw, before i started looking into things, i must say i only encountered intelligent jws.

so i was quite surprised to read here and in the pew report about their low overall educational achievement.

granted, my exposure was limited (less than a handful of people over a lifetime) but i met two of them in post-college education (graduate school) at a very good school.

OnTheWayOut

I say all that to ask, why do people believe that higher education is a sign of trouble ahead for the WT? Is it because they’re going against official stance on education? If they still hold up the party line (no birthdays, pride in being a JW, even field service), then what is the excitement about? It’s a great personal achievement for sure, but in my experience, it doesn’t mean they’re moving from the WT. I’ll add that this was all within the last 10 years in case that makes a difference to your analysis.

In many cases, a good education will not wake someone up to the fact that Watchtower is a doomsday cult. But the statistics suggest those will be the minority as the level of good education increases.

First of all, properly educated people learn that man really did evolve from lower life forms, and they learn that the earth could not have had a global flood thousands of years ago, let alone that a small group survived that. Going beyond learning that the Bible is a fairytale, properly educated people learn to question everything. EVERYTHING. The only stronghold Watchtower has over that is lifelong training to tell it's members to question everything EXCEPT THEM. So smug JW's getting an education will fool themselves into believing that they do question everything, and they will allow God to be the exception and they will allow Watchtower to be God's mouthpiece.

The reason that often doesn't hold up is because most JW's are not smug, many who get an education value the education over strict obedience to the letter of Watchtower's commands, and education teaches them that there exists flawed thinking. When members discover that flawed thinking, they see some of it within the pages of Watchtower magazines.

Philosophy can destroy a faithful JW also. Philosophy will help them understand that if God wants to aid strangers to the "truth," God can do better than sending goofy people to their door on Saturday morning. And philosophy will further teach them that God should not see people as inherently bad because they don't become JW's. Philosophy is a huge part of a proper education.