Posts by humbled

54

What was the most rebellious thing you did while you were a devout jw?

by DuvanMuvan in

jw
friends

i was just thinking about how humans being imperfect and satan's influence was the root of everything bad that anyone has ever done.

well i know that apparently everyone is vulnerable which got me thinking about what "bad" things people have done while they were a jw.

i'll start it off.

humbled

I was not rebellious. But I did try to do something that I learned was not done--ever---because I was asked by a family friend to participate in a panel discussion as the U.S. prepared to make war with Iraq. He knew I was a JW and he had a group of representatives from various area churches who were to explain their faith's traditions for peace. It was the very subject that had enticed me into a home bible study(and subsequent baptism.)

I had no idea how rebellious was. Because I lived in an isolated rural situation --no running water and 5 children still at home with their father at that time absent--I could have no IDEA until the panel's organizer called me with some exasperation and concern that he had been receiving emails and messages that I could not possibly be a JW in good standing--certainly a person unfit/unqualified for representing the Society!

Later I found that it was the sharp eyes on this website that busted me out.

I learned that though I was to know the Truth and teach the Truth--that no women and only special permits let you say anything about the Truth except in a very narrow setting.

It was a shit-storm-feeding-frenzy on the board here. And I never knew it til I was "out" and started putting 2+2 together.

The old s**t-storm thread is on archive here titled: New JW Interfaith Meeting

It still makes me sick to remember it. My old avatar then was "not a captive" at the time I figured out all the back room drama.

Maeve

It's a cult!

6

somebody woke shamas

by darth frosty in

jw
friends

.

humbled

I have wondered that, too....?

17

took a break, I'm back. how has everyone been?

by unstopableravens in

i had to take time away, missed everyone.

humbled

Welcome back.

We all survived the winter, hey?

148

Any seniors looking for association?

by cultBgone in

life is tough when you've spent your best years in the borg...how do you reconnect when kids are grown and you're close to retirement age?.

humbled

Listen to Lois!

Hey---she used to be the go-to-ear on the Pacific side if you were having insomnia from the mid-west to the east---waiting for the Brits to wake up.....

But she really has gotten busy on the OUTSIDE of the cult and touches down not quite as often.

I am happy for you, Lois!

I'm having a slower crawl out of things than I thought--there are layers of stuff to clear off. But I'm moving on, moving on...

All the best, friends..wish I lived closer

Maeve

13

Should Passive Resistance Be The Weapon Of Choice For Those Stuck In The Watchtower Corporation Cult?

by frankiespeakin in

what can a person do who is stuck in the watchtower cult movement but don't want to be shunned or disfellowshipped but want to follow a course of passive resistants, like ghandi did to the brits to get them out of control over india?.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nonviolent_resistance.

humbled

I recall that it was necessary for the oppressor to possess a basic sense of decency for Ghandi's approach to work (thus ruling out the Nazi regime or Pol Pot) . The Brit's were sickened by their own aggressions to suppress the Indian's effort's to self rule.

It would either require a polarizing event that the WT/GB could not suppress and/or organizationas BOTR mentioned. The GB would remain unmoved, I am convinced by any suffering among r&f members. But the rank and file might move if the outrages were so public as to be viewed without secrecy. they might talk and think.

I personally don't think passive(if by that we are talking about "secret") resistence will bring the WTSTS to account for its corruption. Those secret things we might do on principle, fine. But I do not see it helping expose the extaordinary lies of the Corporation.

But if that is all at your disposal--passive means--until there is a better plan to rally 'round----Go for it!

68

Breaking the law under the guise of religion / getting away with slavery

by wasblind in

in the past i've compared the wts to slavery, but this book validates what i've come to know about this organization.. .

'cuz slavery ain't sweet, no matter how faithful and discreet.

jesus states: "....the truth will set you free.

humbled

band on the run,

Southern slavery was monumentally vile, criminal, and any other ( inadequate) descriptor we can find.

But the value of the OP is not in making point for point parallels between the two. But the comparison dramatises a critical truth: people who long accept a institution that regards slaves and masters as a holy arrangement from god destroy the inner man long before the slave dies.

Also, a slave that feels they have intrinsic value is a threat to that system. A person who desires to exercise their free will cannot long survive slavery-- any who deny that the slavery structure can be maintained except through the most coercive means is deluded. The penalties must be severe. To accept the premises that underpin the operation of a master slave relationship corrupts not only the mind of the master, but of the slave as well. It's a living death of a person.

It reminds me of women who are subjected to powerful and long term verbal/psychological abuse who say they might have left sooner if their men had simply beat them--but their minds and self concept had been so distorted that they had no power to leave--so they thought--and so it was true.

As a side note: I am always glad when there is outrage that anything can be compared to slavery--Too often I have been around people who shrug slavery off as though it is no big deal--times being tough, wasn't it fine to have food and covering? etc...

Also--we are comparing U.S. style slavery. There were customs for slaves in various cultures that were not identical to the mode of work and status that existed here. Slavery in ancient Israel (if we can believe that jubilee years were observed) granted more than monetary value to the slave/servant.

ps. Did I mention that I hate the WTBTS?

9

I Am Captive

by compound complex in

jw
friends

i am captive in both heart and body, .

walled in by mahogany panels and .

useless fears of too long standing.

humbled

Good afternoon, Coco. (paint this yellow, please)

I am waiting for my forsythia to bloom still.

I am glad to see that two years on--- a door has opened in your cell.

Better.

I hope we live just long enough.....

to walk into the midst of bright fragrant blooms.

Maeve

68

Breaking the law under the guise of religion / getting away with slavery

by wasblind in

in the past i've compared the wts to slavery, but this book validates what i've come to know about this organization.. .

'cuz slavery ain't sweet, no matter how faithful and discreet.

jesus states: "....the truth will set you free.

humbled

I've read the thread, wasblind.

For people like Sulla (who objected to the comparison of pre-Civil War slavery in the U.S.) "where there is life there's hope" is a simple idea that makes them reject the comparison of WT slavery to the "classic" slavery of Africans.

For some, the horror of death or bloody beatings for bucking slavery is not mirrored by the penalties of the WT for those who buck against their chains. If you can walk away in your skin intact, there is life.

I ask--but is there hope?

I fall on the side of the two slaveries being very much the same --only the effect of the WT being far more insidious than the threat of beatings or of death. I hate the WTBTS.

I have to get ready for work now or I'd write more. But thanks for reviving the post.

BTW, I've been missing Mrs. Jones for a while. I hope she and the fam are okay. She not scuttled like happened like happened to Tammy?

17

Might Get to See My Grandchildren Today

by mrquik in

jw
friends

my oldest daughter is still in the cult.

i haven't seen my grandchildren in 5 yrs.

my son-in-law's father died this week & the funeral is today.

humbled

This sounds like a visit in a jail. Only shorter, with less talking.

You are a champ for going.

Live well, enjoy life, mr.quik.

I hope they come around.

2

Have you noticed how MISERABLE the trolley and other public preachers look?

by hamsterbait in

saw three "public preachers" standing in a triangle facing people as they approach.

they all looked so depressed, that i almost went up to them to ask:.

"where is your kingdumb smile - i thought jws are the happiest people in the world.".

humbled

Maybe it's a way to build enthusiasm in(or punish?) in those who hate going door-to-door.