Posts by OnTheWayOut

22

Went to the assembly..some.personal thoughts on it.

by integ in

jw
friends

i've been as honest as i can on this forum throughout my time bouncing in and out..and been jumped on for saying anything positive about the "truth" or my experiences at the hall, but it's been a few years now since i have been attending meetings.

i go to the memorial for family reasons and went to the assembly today for the same reason...but one observation i have to make is most of us have all dealt with years of hearing how gawd awful "the world" is and how the only happiness is going to meetings and out in service.

now that is total bs.

OnTheWayOut

In all honesty "the world" may not be as great as a repressed witness on the way out may think it is. There's a ton of bad...and negativity. Financial problems...people problems...crime etc etc etc. a heck of a lot of despair. THAT is all true.

The world, including Jehovah's Witnesses, does have plenty of bad and problems. But it's not Spiritual Paradise vs. Satan's evil world. If people jump all over you for defending, it may have to do with just laying such statements out there. While your statement about "the world" is generally true, I will take a fighting chance in the world over just letting 8 to 12 men in New York dictate everything while they steal members' money and ignore the plight of children victims of pedophiles in an effort to hide the evils within.

I get what you said- it's nice to get away from "worldly" stresses and just vegetate. Could you do that on a weekend getaway, though? Why feed poison into your mind, or attempt to block it out? Just avoid it.
And if I went to see a lot of "old friends," they would just whisper about me afterward- "He stopped all spiritual activity." "He's let pride ruin his morality."

I am going to the beaches of Hawaii this April. Just me, a good book, a chair, a few hours of snorkeling each day, nice cold drinks and healthy snacks until it's time to head back to the hotel every day. I would rather fill my mind with that, so that I can have great nostalgic memories of that when I get old.

12

Need Information on San Miguel,Cuba Kingdom Halls

by Ephraim Jamin Vasquez Jr in

jw
friends

greetings fellow brothers and sisters,.

i'm looking to visit cuba and was thinking of traveling to san miguel, cuba and i was wondering if anyone has kingdom hall addresses (phone/address/location) want to visit my brothers there.

i do hope someone can help me, i'm out of options :).

OnTheWayOut

From what I gathered here and from trying to do the search on the JW site, you must log in as an elder or servant to find a Kingdom Hall in Cuba. I don't know that you would find it even then.

Catholicism is the predominate belief, Santeria has survived but is mostly blended with Catholicism. Protestants and a few others are there. Jehovah's Witnesses are there. But because the government banned open religion for so long, groups are cautious.

I would suggest enjoying Cuba without the Kingdom Hall. If you visit during the Memorial, you are only required to attend if you you are "anointed" and need to eat the crackers and sip the wine, but isn't that something someone so spiritual knows how to do on their own?

.....or just go and hope to run into the JW's with their cart. I mean- preaching the word is so important. Of course you will find them doing that work. They will tell you where the Hall is.

17

Wish me all the best

by LevelThePlayingField in

jw
friends

so i called in to my local walgreens pharmacy to get my blood pressure medicine refilled.

i go to the pharmacy to pick it up and they tell me that the doctor has denied filling it saying to them, "prescription refill not appropriate".

i asked them what that means and they say you'll have to contact your doctor on that, sorry.

OnTheWayOut

Level, you do need to see your doctor and have him run current tests on blood pressure or whatever, so that he can properly prescribe meds for you.

As to not drinking ANYMORE EVER, it may be a lofty goal. It's a good one, but I can tell you that, as an alcoholic, my goal is to refrain from alcohol TODAY. Tomorrow, I hope to have that same goal again, and again the next day, and so on. But to just say "now I am determined not to touch the bottle again" when you have touched it within the last half day of saying that- it's a goal where you are almost predicting your failure.

I was already sober for a long time when I learned TTATT and I also fell off the sobriety wagon at that time. So, I didn't reach my goal to refrain from alcohol several times. But then another morning came and I set my goal again to stay sober THAT DAY, and I have done so for each day since that day. Instead of lofty goals of years or "forever," I plan to stay sober today as I have done so for maybe 10 years now.

And that is not a sell-out, so I can fail and start again. Each daily goal has been important to me. I know that one day's failure could lead down the path of not setting that goal ever again. But I hope that is not the case. Just in case, I better try hard to stay sober today.

Be fully honest with a doctor. If you were only sober for a day or a week, tell him. If you won't take your meds or won't do what the doctor wants you to do, tell him. It's your money or your insurance paying him to help you the best he can to keep you alive under the conditions that you will abide by. Don't hide a "drinking problem" from him and don't skip seeing him because you haven't stayed away from drink.

18

PUT YOUR THINKING CAPS ON...AGAIN! (Zeb's thread regarding 1914)

by redpilltwice in

23 days ago, zeb posted this familiar but ever intriguing thread regarding 1914, the mother of all topics.. put youir [sic] thinking caps on.zeb 23 days ago this was sent to me from doug shields blog.

for those who like stats and numbers may find this of interest.1914 – recognizing the ”the elephant in the room”.

the problem with the date ”1914 ad” lays with the two calendars that are involved – jewish and gregorian.

OnTheWayOut

This was all very interesting when people came up with their various doomsday dates, but it is quite easy for a JW in later times to simply think that "a year is a year" and just as the Jewish calendar allowed a variance in the year once in a while to correct for errors, so a cult member would accept the theories that allowed for a proper year to be used.

I know that isn't really an answer, but it is easier to demonstrate that 607 BCE was wrong and that Watchtower predicted so much for 1914 CE that did not happen, and even easier to demonstrate that Watchtower and its predecessors has said the sky is falling so many times when it didn't.

This stuff is important to only a handful of us- most of whom are OUT of Watchtower. As for the rest, they already KNOW that C.T.Russell was right even though he was wrong. So further complicating the dates doesn't seem like a way to help them wake up.

Here's some simple math- Russell believed that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874, and that he had been ruling from heaven since that date. He believed and stated that the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and that Christ would take power of Earth's affairs at that time. That was ONE GENERATION of 40 years past 1874. The only reason 1914 is held onto within Jehovah's Witnesses to this day is because World War I broke out that year. But that was not the thing they were looking for, and if it was, it should have led to Armageddon instead of peace afterward.

102

Any atheists here? Have you come to terms with your new reality?

by kpop in

jw
friends

alone, without my safety net of "god" being there to remember me when i die.

after much consideration, examining science, history and using logic, i have come to the conclusion that there is no "god" at least certainly no loving, personal "god.

" shortly before my final conclusion was reached, i read an excerpt from an expression attributed to marcus aurelius, .

OnTheWayOut

Figuring out that God isn't there was almost as mind-blowing as figuring out that "The Truth" was all lies.

But processing the facts and the philosophies helped. Live as if this life is all there is, because it is.

Enjoy people in your life.

36

Sample Disassociation Letter please?

by LifesNotOver in

i want to send a disassociation letter to the elders at my old congregation.

how do i address it and what wording do i use?

i know it's not something i have to do, it's symbolic for me.

OnTheWayOut

I don't need to get anything off my chest, particularly. Just want to "formally" get my name off any lists or anything.

Then this one from that link might be best, but feel free to leave out the optional part on information, and any elder's name if you mail it to the "XXX Congregation" at their Kingdom Hall address. Be sure to sign it or they will call you.

Date

Elders name
Congregation Address

To Whom it May Concern:

Information on reason for the decision to disassociate. (optional)

This letter represents my formal disassociation from the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and from Watchtower.

I do not wish to be contacted over this decision. (optional)

Salutation

Signature

Full Name

80

Lots Of Whining And Complaining About Us JW's

by Deaconblues1914 in

in reading these posts, it sounds like a lot of you are very jealous of the wt.

society’s annual income and the money they/we have in the bank.

jehovah has indeed blessed us.

OnTheWayOut

In reading these posts, it sounds like a lot of you are very jealous of the Wt. Society’s annual income and the money they/we have in the bank.

You really aren't doing a good job reading these posts, then. Not the case from what I read.

What other religious organization on earth has been able accomplish what we have?

What other man has accomplished what Adolf Hitler accomplished? NONE.
....or better, what organization has become more focused on self preservation than on aiding their own children, so it hides ugly truths about pedophiles in their midst?

And if you left the "truth," come back to the truth before it's too late. Time is running out folks.

I won't bother with "the truth" part, because if you truly read this forum, you will know more about that. But "time is running out." We hear that from the beginning. Why does Watchtower doctrine keep changing? Because the sky didn't fall. It didn't fall in 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, the 20th century, within one generation of any Watchtower marker.

26

Observations from an Ex-Elder Part 1

by doubtfull1799 in

i was thinking about the fog model this morning, particularly about the "obligation" part.

my mind went back to the last elders school i went to.

one of the parts in the section on appointments was discussing how we should not place too high a bar (human standards) for brothers to try and jump over when we are considering them for appointment as a ministerial servant.

OnTheWayOut

He coldly and unmercifully suggested that all the work this man did for the congregation and the brothers meant nothing if his hours were not at the bar the Society (unofficially but in all reality) set. That this brother should be encouraged to do less other stuff and spend longer out in the ministry, the other stuff (practical and charitable things like helping brothers move house, working on hall maintenance, helping with IT issues at the hall etc).

Ray Franz tried to point out that doing good for each other was part of our ministry. He was shot down.
Sad, all the brother had to do was put down a fictional number and he was golden. Heck, it didn't even have to be fictional- he could just learn a better way to "count time" like many pioneers and others have done. He could attempt to hand a tract to someone before a drive and at the end of the drive, while driving for some other reason. Now he has the whole time of that drive to count. I could go on, but I think we understand.

36

Sample Disassociation Letter please?

by LifesNotOver in

i want to send a disassociation letter to the elders at my old congregation.

how do i address it and what wording do i use?

i know it's not something i have to do, it's symbolic for me.

OnTheWayOut

You are free to say what you want. The long wordy letter will just be searched through for "I disassociate." So be short and get one or two zingers in there.

If you must try to make a point, here is a great link that includes some "sample letters" and some thoughts on disassociating. http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/blog/disassociation-letters.php

35

February 26, 2017 TO ALL BODIES OF ELDERS Re: Witnessing in Public Places

by wifibandit in

february 26, 2017 to all bodies of elders re: witnessing in public places.

and.

february 25, 2017 to all congregations re: magnetic boards and posters for public witnessing.

OnTheWayOut

Let me get some things straight.

They are in their own personal public ministry, not one sponsored in any way by Watchtower.
They are to know, on their own, about what kind of liability they have in doing so.
If they block a public way to any degree (and they do), they are on their own for doing so.

I will say, however, that any court would recognize that the cart or table is a set-up prescribed by their mother corporation and that members, whether on their own personal ministry or not, are required to get out there and do this by their mother corporation.