Neat GIM, your book is on my list. If you go into Amazon I find that they mostly all come up. Ray Franz's books are a must read as well as Don Cameron's Captives of a Concept. But I agree the first person biographies are great, better than going to the movies ! I enjoyed Journey to God's House by Brock Talon as well as New Boy's Bethel stories on Freeminds. Pretty cool that you post here thanks !
Introvert 2
JoinedPosts by Introvert 2
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Books by Former Witnesses
by GiftsinMen ini am interested in reading books published by former jws which detail personal experiences of their time with the organisation.
i know of coc, exiting the jw cult, mamas club, 30yrs a wt slave, and told ones were written by otwo, punk and terry.
i'd like to spend some time making my way through them so titles, authors and links would be really useful.
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"Crises of Conscience"
by Olivia Wilde ini just finished reading chapters 11-12 of raymond franz, crises of conscience & i must admit, i am pretty strong person, however the way ed dunlap & ray franz were treated left me crying, i had tears rolling done my eyes driving home from work on friday... & how ed was kicked out by wt, left me feel soo disgusted & outraged.... it was very obvious he needed to stay at bethel because of his age & medical conditions but i admired he didn't compromise his conscious, it's sickening to me how cold & callous these men can treat a christian after all his service.... & of course ray franz situation was no exception either, the witch hunt they did to get him out was, well, there's just isnt enough adjectives to describe their disgusting motives against him... he was 59 yrs old trying to make a honest living with his wife & for them to go after him was devious & demon like.... i'm soo grateful i came across this book & i wished i had much much sooner.... i know god will reward both ed dunlap & franz plus many many more who have been unjustly & unchristian like treated during that time & this time, sooo sickening.....i still feel very much upset & emotional over the whole thing .... i never met any of them & then yet i feel deep christian love for them......
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Introvert 2
I once read that someone ( a Bethelite ) addressed Nathan Knorr on a first name basis in front of a tour group and was sent packing for insubordination. How wonderful.. -
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What Convinced you to Leave?
by LaurenM ini've been posting here a lot, but these last few weeks have been very difficult for me.
anyways, lately, i've been thinking about confessing everything i've done to the elders and going back, but deep down, i don't really think it's the truth...so my question is, what convinced you it wasn't the truth and that leaving wasn't a horrible decision that everyone in the truth makes it out to be?
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Introvert 2
Lauren, you might want to check out this guy's material here :
http://www.churchofgodandchrist.com/
His name is Arne and he's based out of Norway and was a Lutheran, studied with the JW's and the Adventists then learnt to translate Greek on his own. He's been at it 25 years now and does this simply because it's right, wants no praise and think he's now able to subsist off his publications alone. I've been reading some of his material and ordered a couple of commentaries, they are logical and plainspoken in laymen's terms. Easy to read and understand. In my case most of my beliefs are still intact and are Kingdom based but not dependent on any particular organization. It's been mentioned on this site that the JW religion is a 10-15 deal and I agree with this as I started with near zero Bible knowledge and am now ready for something better than what is presented by the society.
And Don Cameron author of the book Captives of a Concept answers very well the question of to whom shall we go to. : Christ Jesus ! As JW's we are conditioned to think we need to belong to a group or an organization, it's not so !
Some others I like are :
http://www.reasoningwithjehovahswitnesses.com/
As for myself I attempted to DA earlier this year but wasn't ready. I went back to meetings a few times, went to the summer assembly and almost had a panic attack listening to the WT drone part and having to look at huge screens with talking heads in my face. The last meeting I went to was a symposium type Sunday talk and one of the brothers was directing our worship to the GB and FDS in his talk. I knew then that I'd had enough and started to look for something better. Getting out isn't the same for everyone and there will be days where we'll awonder if we are making the right decision to leave. Takes time, prayer and research. I actually asked Jehovah to let me see the truth of the matter and one of the points in Don Cameron's book is the need for divine help in many cases.
Reading Ray Franz's COC and ISOCF was also a big help as were all the Bethelite stories coming out of Freeminds and Brock Talon's Journey to God's house. Look up New Boy's stories as well they are a hoot ! He used to post here a few years back and the links are all there. The power tripping and politics of the organization are mind blowing. I'll be ordering the book Four Presidents of the Watchtower society shortly, and there are many others as well. As is often said you can't make this stuff up !
Best wishes from the Introvert
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What woke you up?
by Israel Ricky Gonzales inin march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.
so what woke me up?
an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.
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Introvert 2
Also wanted to add the egomaniacs in the org, from top down at all levels : Strut
Lack of healthy lifestyle, many are sick and portly.
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What woke you up?
by Israel Ricky Gonzales inin march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.
so what woke me up?
an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.
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Introvert 2
Endless treadmill of busy work that led to a major panic attack / suicidal depression. WTBTS preys on neurotic conscientious naïve people such as myself. It was fun at first but was short lived although on the positive side at least I got to learn the Bible. Add in the Revelation book, constant self elevation and writing themselves in to the Bible, plus recent most events and I'm now totally out with no desire to go back unlike even 6 - 8 months ago. I'm now looking elsewhere or may just read and study the Bible on my own. Bye bye Russell, Rutherford, Knorr, Crazy Freddie and your GB !! -
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Anyone seen this new "Bad Association" video at the Convention yet?
by WingCommander ini read on another thread (on another forum) where someone mentioned a truly guilt-inducing, cringe-worthy, "bad association" video that was played at this summers rc's.
here is how that person described it:.
"the video about "bad association" was really weird.
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Having One Of Those "Pondering Disassociation" Days :(
by freemindfade inthere are a lot of things that make me have days like this, the utter embarrassment of being are part of a cult that protects child abusers, that enforces emotional brutality through shunning, and that lies constantly.
the lying i can tolerate, the world is built on bullshit, i have a high lie tolerance.
i can ignore it if it has no effect on me etc.
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Introvert 2
Haha Haiku that a good observation !
I think Jackson's recent appearance on the RC ( the would be presumptuous of us line ) + the KH money grab including the selling off of some facilities in Europe fiasco ( Spain bethel comes to mind ) , the March 15 WT on the GB's aggressive self serving stance and the May broadcast has sent me over the edge. That and the Roman Catholic structure defense in a Cali court on the third party hall renovation savings account there. This all came together just when I was getting interested again. I went to the assembly this summer, promptly had a panic attack during the Sunday WT and felt ill the rest of the week. There is just no use continuing after having read COC, ISOCF, COaC and all the very entertaining Bethelite stories. That and the four kings : R, R, K and Crazy Freddie
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Having One Of Those "Pondering Disassociation" Days :(
by freemindfade inthere are a lot of things that make me have days like this, the utter embarrassment of being are part of a cult that protects child abusers, that enforces emotional brutality through shunning, and that lies constantly.
the lying i can tolerate, the world is built on bullshit, i have a high lie tolerance.
i can ignore it if it has no effect on me etc.
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Introvert 2
Right on Dub well done ! -
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Anyone seen this new "Bad Association" video at the Convention yet?
by WingCommander ini read on another thread (on another forum) where someone mentioned a truly guilt-inducing, cringe-worthy, "bad association" video that was played at this summers rc's.
here is how that person described it:.
"the video about "bad association" was really weird.
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Introvert 2
How about a vid of the old NY Bethelites that would do the dangerous night watch walking through the dark streets of Brooklyn ? Now that would be cool to see, those poor guys put their lives in their hands back then. I think a couple got mugged in and around town anyhow. Nut house it was, those of you new here do a search on 'new boys' adventures or read Brock Talon's book. Sorry I got a little off track but related to the post in a way. -
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Having One Of Those "Pondering Disassociation" Days :(
by freemindfade inthere are a lot of things that make me have days like this, the utter embarrassment of being are part of a cult that protects child abusers, that enforces emotional brutality through shunning, and that lies constantly.
the lying i can tolerate, the world is built on bullshit, i have a high lie tolerance.
i can ignore it if it has no effect on me etc.
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Introvert 2
I'm going through this daily brother and wonder if I should go out with a BANG or a whimper. The very reason I want out is the hypocrisy so why beat around the bush eh ? I'm single and it wouldn't affect me that much, have no family JW connections what so ever but a buddy of mine reminds me that fading lets me talk to those still in. But then again it's not my goal to hurt or pull people out unless they come to me for support. Decisions.
Hope it works out for you one day at a time. Start fast walking then slow jog if you can, every other day to being with, really helped me burn off the stress, I'm the emotional type.