Posts by dshields1

10

Another Crime By A Former JW Running Amok!

by dshields1 in

jw
friends

just another example of the watchtower mind control going haywire on someone who has been disfellowshipped.

if they aren't killing themselves then they are killing others!.

doug.

dshields1

Hi Fred,

I guess we can leave it up to you to make light of the sad consequences of life in the Watchtower. The wonderful thing about life is knowing that afterward there will be a judgement.

The fact is that while many of the uninformed might not realize it, ex Jehovah's Witnesses are merely carrying out the programming that has been pounded into their minds. Notice the following excerpt from a similar article:

"Authorities say that when police arrived at the school, teacher Jeff Harriman was standing between Pritchard and Hansell, who was lying on the floor bleeding. Harriman was using a student desk to keep Pritchard away from the boy.

"An officer helped the teacher and the boy flee the room. As the officers kept Pritchard at gunpoint, he was talking about sending ``his little brothers and sisters to Jehovah,'' according to the court documents."

Notice how well this fits in with the WT's own teachings about death and ressurection. He really thought he was going to help these children into paradise. While other people may commit crimes they usually don't have their religion as the root cause of doing so.

The Watchtower teaches us from a very early age that if we ever leave the org that we will be demonized, hooked on drugs, promiscuous, homosexual, <<insert whatever bad consequence you like here>> or even murderers. When JW's do leave it is almost a certainty that they will go off into these areas because they have been programmed by the good old WT to do so. This accomplishes a couple of things for the Watchtower.

1. It justifies the fact that the JW was disfellowshipped.
2. It discourages anyone observing the behavior of the ex-JW from ever leaving the organization.
3. Eventually the offending JW hits "rock bottom" and then comes crawling back to the org for forgiveness.

This is a common occurence and depression and suicide are usually the alternatives to coming back to the organization. Believe me I've been witness to a lot of that myself in my past twenty seven years as a JW.

This is not just my own observation either. This is borne out in the writings of both Steven Hassan and Margaret Singer (both experts on cults)that this type of programming does occur in many cults and not just the JW's. Notice that neither of these two authorities has any religious agenda.

Kind of makes you think doesn't it Fred? Or is that possible for people in the Watchtower?

Doug Shields

10

Another Crime By A Former JW Running Amok!

by dshields1 in

jw
friends

just another example of the watchtower mind control going haywire on someone who has been disfellowshipped.

if they aren't killing themselves then they are killing others!.

doug.

dshields1

Just another example of the Watchtower mind control going haywire on someone who has been disfellowshipped. If they aren't killing themselves then they are killing others!

Doug

Tuesday May 8 10:21 PM ET
Suspect in Alaskan School Stabbings Ignores Judge

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A man arrested for allegedly slashing the throats of four Anchorage children outside their school refused to answer a judge's questions at a court hearing on Tuesday, then urged onlookers to kill themselves and their children.

Jason Pritchard, 33, was arraigned in state Superior Court on four charges of attempted murder and four charges of first-degree assault.

He did not respond when addressed during his first court appearance after the attack, and court officers strapped him into his chair after he tried several times to stand up and walk away.

When he started shouting, they took him out of the room.

``Kill the young children. Kill yourself,'' he said as he was taken away. ``Kill the young children first, then kill yourself.''

Pritchard was arrested after an attack at Mountain View Elementary School before classes started Monday morning.

He is accused of attacking children who were in the playground and lining up for breakfast service offered to low-income families.

Four boys, 7 to 9 years old, received life-threatening stabs in the neck, the Anchorage Police Department said. They were sent to local hospitals and some were listed, at one point, in critical condition.

Pritchard was cornered in the school by teachers, and police using rubber bullets subdued him.

As of late Monday, two of the boys had been released from the hospital, one was listed in serious condition, and one was listed in fair condition, according to television reports.

Pritchard has a long history of psychiatric problems, according to the charging document filed by the state Department of Law.

He has a history of stalking and threatening children, with incidents reported in the Kenai Peninsula, according to the document. He also has a history of drunk and reckless driving, according to the document.

Pritchard has had religious delusions and tried to castrate himself to make himself more pure, according to the document.

He has argued repeatedly that children should be killed to protect them from sin.

According to the document, Pritchard had been a practicing member of the Jehovah's Witnesses but was excommunicated for visiting massage parlors.

Arizona Ex-JW's

by dshields1 in

jw
friends

hi folks,.

just wanted to let you know of our next ex-jw support group meeting coming up on may 31st here in phoenix, az.

if you or someone you know would be interested in attending please let me know by emailing me at [email protected].. warm regards,.

dshields1

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to let you know of our next Ex-JW support group meeting coming up on May 31st here in Phoenix, AZ. If you or someone you know would be interested in attending please let me know by emailing me at [email protected].

Warm regards,

Doug Shields

29

Did the elders keep secret files on us?

by XJWBill in

jw
friends

howdy all,.

i've recently discovered all the great ex-jw sites on the internet, and i've enjoyed reading other people's stories.

but a few passing comments in some stories have made me wonder: do or did the elders keep files on individuals in each congregation?

dshields1

I once wrote a letter to the society questioning them on their view of the intercession of Jesus Christ for the anointed as well as the great crowd. As is the usual case they sent a letter that didn't answer anything that I asked and tried to gloss over the glaring problems with their theology. I didn't realize it at the time but I believe (I have no proof.) that a note was put in the congregation on me to "watch me".

I was never used after that even though I was a regular auxiliary pioneer, made every meeting etc.

Just a thought.

Doug

23

Farewell to a friend.

by dshields1 in

jw
friends

dear friends,.

i wanted to take a moment to remember a friend.

he was a jehovah's witness and was raised in the same insane environment that i was.

dshields1

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for your kind words. They really mean alot.

I was in for twenty seven years and I know all too well the darkness that
the slaves of the WT walk in. You see my wife's father (a former circuit
overseer) committed suicide as well many years ago. My wife found him in their garage. He
was apparently having an affair with another woman and was so guilt ridden (besides
having severe depression) that he just couldn't cope. Of course the WT is
so good about letting us know that we are forgiven of all of our sins.
(NOT) I read his note that he left. It was so sad. He asked for his
family and Jehovah to forgive him as he could not forgive himself.

Very few of the brothers attended his funeral. Everyone said that since he
committed suicide that he wouldn't be in the resurrection etc. This man was
a good elder and a member of the congregation for years and these people
just cut him and his family loose! I couldn't believe their hypocrisy.

I know now how important the work of helping JW's is. I thought at first
that it might just be "sour grapes" on my part after coming out of the
organization and that maybe I should just "live and let live". (My mother's
words. She is still a JW.) However, when I see good people dying as a
direct result of what they believe I get really really angry.

I started a JW ministry recently and will continue my work. Even if I just
help one person out of the WT then I believe it will have been worth it.

Thank you all again for your comforting thoughts.

Friends are truly a gift from God.

Doug Shields

11

JW's in South Park

by SlayerLayer in

jw
friends

hey guys,.

yes i have too much time on my hands today, and created this website just for your entertainment.

please check it out and let me know what you think.

dshields1

Hey Man!

Two thumbs up...waaayyyy up. That was absolutely hilarious SL.

I would like to get a Circuit Servant involved on the next one telling the boys parents about the evils of roller skating.

Instead of doing fun normal things that kids should do, the boys get bored and go off and smoke pot and drink beer. That is a true story by the way from my home congregation.

I think that humor is a really healthy way of dealing with what has happened to a lot of us. You certainly made me smile!

Doug

23

Farewell to a friend.

by dshields1 in

jw
friends

dear friends,.

i wanted to take a moment to remember a friend.

he was a jehovah's witness and was raised in the same insane environment that i was.

dshields1

Dear Friends,

I wanted to take a moment to remember a friend. He was a Jehovah's Witness and was raised in the same insane environment that I was. He drifted out into the "world" after he got out of school. His name was Jonathan Smith. He had a wife, a daughter, and two stepchildren. No doubt he was toting around the same sack of guilt and self condemnation from the Watchtower that I did for so many years.

I wish that I had known what was going on with him. Perhaps I could have phoned him or sent him a letter or something. I found Jesus Christ on the first of this year and living in a different part of the country made me lose track of Jonathan and his family. I really wish I could have helped him to find Christ, but I didn't.

Jonathan Smith committed suicide on May 9, 2001 at home. He was twenty-six years old.

There are many more like Jonathan out there living lives of utter desperation just "waiting to die" because they still believe the error that they were taught as children. What they don't realize is that they and their loved ones have been the victims of a self-serving group of men who exercise mind control over their prey. Once the victims are able to see how they have been manipulated then they can usually get on with a positive lifestyle.

When I first started my ministry here in Arizona I wondered if there would be a need for an outreach ministry for victims of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. I have come to the realization that there is huge segment of hurting ex-Jehovah's Witnesses out there who really want and need our help.

May Jesus Christ bless each and every one of us in our goals to help those who have been traumatized emotionally, victimized needlessly, manipulated completely, and then, once they burn out, are tossed aside by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.

Doug Shields

8

Letters from Society Re: JW Blood Review.org?

by Pathofthorns in

just wondering if anyone has submitted the jw-bloodreview.org research paper to the society for a response has actually recieved one and if so, what it was.. does anyone know if the society has attempted to refute the information contained?.

.

path

dshields1

Oh come off it!

Either you have no experience in the organization or you are lacking in some serious gray matter. If you or any member of the JW's were to write that letter to the society you would receive a visit from two elders and you would either have to act like you were "readjusted" or you would be disfellowshipped for "apostasy".

I just have a really hard time dealing with people who choose to live a life of denial in JW fantasy land.

Doug

Ex-JW Support Group Forming In Arizona

by dshields1 in

jw
friends

hi guys,.

i am heading up a new group of ex-jw's who will be meeting at the end of may in the phoenix area.

the group will address the manipulative practices of the watchtower and will be open to many different points of view.

dshields1

Hi Guys,

I am heading up a new group of Ex-JW's who will be meeting at the end of May in the Phoenix area. The group will address the manipulative practices of the Watchtower and will be open to many different points of view.

If you or someone you know is interested in attending our meeting please let me know asap.

My email is: [email protected].

Best regards,

Doug Shields

102

In there no good in the WTBTS??? or ourselves??

by jst2laws in

jw
friends

we hopefully all agree it is wrong to reject an entire race because we have found one of its member to be flawed, or to reject an entire concept an the basis of finding a flaw in its argument.

would not fair people look for a way to accept the good in the concept, modify the flawed portion and rejoice in what was gained from the refined concept?

it would also be wrong, as the wt does, to reject an entire institution because some of its precepts are flawed.

dshields1

It sounds to me like you are starting to understand the "double speak" used in the Watchtower organization. The society is very good at this type of yoyo effect. The only thing that I can compare it to would be the fact that while JW's in the 70's were being persecuted in Malawi for their beliefs (not buying a twenty-five cent political card) the same organization was allowing (and there is documentation to this effect) it's followers to bribe local officials in Mexico to show that they had already fulfilled their MANDATORY military service at the age of eighteen! The message being that duplicitious bribery is ok to shirk military duties but PUBLIC support of a political entity should be fought with our very lives. Not the governing body's of course but ours...the rank and file JW's. Of course a full press campaign resulted with all JW's fearing that persecution was coming and so everyone worked even harder than before to maintain their "spirituality".

One such recent display was the reference when being publicly "stoned" by the media for their stand on keeping a child molesting case secret (which resulted in some really serious problems as well as the resignation of a presiding overseer in Kentucky because he disagreed with the society's stance) the society made a reference to the Catholic priest and confession as being a sacred trust and likening that to a commitee's stance on privacy. In any other context they would be boiling this religion in oil for its own cover up of its pedophilic problems but because it suited the situation they used the Catholic example to their own ends.

"The ends justify the means." seems to be the motto of this group.

Do you remember when in 1975 Armageddon was being predicted and then it didn't come? Do you remember what was said as to why? The basic reasoning was that there was a difference in time between when Adam was created and the time that Eve was. That was designed to buy some time. HOWEVER, did you know that C.T. Russell used that very same argument to diffuse the failed predictions of 1914? I have documents to prove this.

I have only one questions to ask you: What does light have to do with darkness? All you need is your Bible and a willing heart and you will be fine. If you find other christian-minded ones along the way then that is great. The true mark of a christian is that of independence. Paul praised the Bereans for their being "more noble minded than others" because they didn't blindly accept what HE said as truth. They searched the scriptures to prove out whether it was truth or not. If it wasn't truth do you think that they would have said "Well lets wait on Jehovah to bring in New Light."? NO! They would have immediately expelled Paul from the christian congregation as an apostate.

Do you think it would be possible for a congregation to expel an elder from its midst for misconduct? No it isn't possible. He must be removed by another body or by the Governing Body itself.

First century christians were AUTONOMOUS! They didn't have to follow orders. Even Paul didn't command or bark orders but appealed to their senses as christians when he reproved them. There were times when steps had to be taken to preserve the cleanliness of the congregation but these were done so by the whole group and not by one or two.

There's an old saying and its true: The only thing worse than a lie is a half truth. Why? Because its harder to distinguish from the whole truth. Satan loves half truths. He loves to sow weeds among wheat because you can't tell the difference. Expose the fire of reason and logic to your religion and you will find what source it is from.

I trust you will make the right decision.

Yours in Christ,

Doug