38 Years

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Posts by 38 Years

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  32

  how many insiders?

  by agent zero in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi everyone, i'm new here, been viewing the board for a while, decided to join yesterday.. so i'm about 95% convinced now the wts is bogus, but i'm still in coz as yall know leaving is the hardest part.

  i plan on doing a fade to avoid the complete disconnection, but first want to gradually help my gf to see things too.

  in the meantime, i'm just wondering how many of you are still "active" jdubs?

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  38 Years

  Welcome AO . I've been out for a few years and it's great to be free. You're going to love it. Just remember, they don't own you. I hope your girlfriend sees the light, but be careful. I still can't get my sister to quit and she doesn't really believe in it anymore either. The organization has a strong hold on some people. They put so much guilt and fear in the congregations, it takes a long time to make the decision to leave. Let us know how things a going for both of you.
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  7

  changing

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have realized lately that i have come to terms in a way regarding the beliefs of the jw's.

  for over thirty years, i did my best to be a productive, supporting member of the congregation.

  within the last three years there have been a number of deaths in my family.

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  38 Years

  I used to think I was just plain burnt out of being a Witness and going through the motions, but I really just didn't believe in it anymore. I got older and wiser. When you're a kid, everything is rainbows and paradise. When you get older, you start giving a lot more thought to your life. I really stopped believing the literature, the scripture twisting didn't make sense. They were going to great lengths just to prove the same point over and over again. I wanted out, but stayed in for my family. I knew my feelings had nothing to do with my belief or faith in God.

  Researching on the internet exposed what was really going on in Brooklyn. After reading "Crisis of Conscience", I happily quit without any guilt. My mom wasn't happy. My sister doesn't care, as long as I don't talk negatively about the organization. I was so inactive that the elders didn't bother with me. I didn't write a letter to quit, they didn't own me. I consider the whole organization to be "Fired".

  I've been attending different churches and finally feel that I am loved by God, not condemned. I know that God doesn't want any of us to fail or feel like failures. I didn't know what "grace" was. The word was taken out of the NWT and replaced with the negative words of "undeserved kindness".

  As time goes on, your freedom will lead you to peace and happiness.
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  10

  Critical Reading

  by megs in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most important things i learned in university was critical reading... when you read something, look at who's writing it, are they credible, do they have a known bias?

  if they are quoting, is the quote taken in context?

  the wts seem to be masters at trying to curtail critical thinking because then their bias, credibility and context would be shot.!

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  38 Years

  what made you start to look at the Watchtower publications critically?

  The 1975 experience and the denial from Brooklyn from any responsibility drained my trust completely. I still pushed myself to keep going, but it seemed like the literature was so basic and boring. They would use all kinds of twists and turns of Bible examples to prove the same points over and over again. I could never understand why Brooklyn couldn't see that the congregations were changing and didn't want to do anything about the problems and burn-out many were experiencing. They were just going to keep running everything the same for the rest of eternity. I was "weak" for many years but didn't care. Reading the magazines and literature was a big waste of time to me. It was always negative and it was the same message anyway, no matter how they sliced it. It took a couple more decades, but finally the information on the internet opened my eyes . I was happy to quit and be free.
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  18

  If the WT ever turned on Booze like they did Cigarettes....?

  by Open mind in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what percentage of jws would comply?

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  om

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  38 Years

  I had a co-worker tell me that sometimes she thought about becoming a JW because she could drink and her religion doesn't allow it.

  Being allowed to drink is the only fun thing witnesses are allowed to do. They use it to cope with all that's been taken away and they use drinking to have fun. I've been to some great parties at elder's houses! Getting drunk was not a problem in my congregation. But you'd better be careful about everything else because they would gladly follow you around town to get evidence for a good ole committee meeting.
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  10

  Major Milestone

  by Bobbi in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a couple of weeks ago i went on a school trip with my sons school.

  it was held in an sports arena.

  while sitting there looking at all the kids filing in and filling up the seats, my mind went to all the conventions i attended in similar venues.

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  38 Years
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  25

  The Watchtower Organization - A Toxic Parental Figure

  by Jeremy C in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  almost everyone who leaves the watchtower organization acknowledges the fact that the jehovahs witnesses leadership is quite masterful when it comes to using guilt as a means of motivation and coercion.

  throughout the watchtower articles, convention talks, and talks given by traveling overseers, there are often statements woven into the material that are designed to evoke feelings of guilt in those who are not robotically falling in line with all organizational programs and group-think.

  in addition to the many cliches, buzzwords, and catch-phrases used in watchtower material, the organization also makes comparisons between the field service activities of witnesses in one part of the world to another part of the world.

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  38 Years

  Well said
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  12

  How was marriage viewed in your congregation?

  by Alexia in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i ask because i see a lot of posts here about how the borg discourages marriage.

  my experience is quite the opposite.

  young people were pressured into getting married the minute someone from the cong.

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  38 Years

  You would think for a decision so permanent according to the Borg. they wouldn’t pressure a 19/20 year old into marriage.

  Brooklyn doesn't care, they keep themselves sheltered from the realities of life, but tell everyone else how to live. The congregations are so afraid paranoid that dating will result in sexual misconduct that they will pressure young kids to commit to marriage whether it's a good idea or not. They want to keep the congregation clean no matter who they throw under the bus.

  There were a lot of concerns about the guy I married, but no on bothered to pull me aside and tell me about them. I didn’t find out about this “talk” until after we were married.

  I saw this happen many times. Everyone knew the marriage would be miserable, but none of the "loving" brothers and sisters would say anything because of fear and the obligation to protect the congregation from wrongdoing. Of course, when the couple starts having problems, it is their own fault.

  It takes a few minutes to say "I do", but it's a long time afterward.
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  21

  2008-09 convention FULL PROGRAM

  by metajw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can someone please scan the program from the "guided by god's spirit" district convention?

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  38 Years

  Just seeing the word "Drama" on the program make me want to run around and scream
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  12

  How to understand the new "study edition" Watchtower

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is written in code.

  you need to apply a "substitution algorithm".. once you do that, it all makes perfect sense.. there are 2 primary substitutions: .

  1) whenever you read "the bible" in an article, substitute in "the watchtower".

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  38 Years

  grace = undeserved kindness

  ( I didn't know what "grace" was until I quit being a JW. Someone at work had to explain it to me. I found it odd that I had never heard it mentioned at the KH. So I compared scriptures from the NWT to a couple different bibles I had a home and learned that when the word "grace" was used in other bibles, it was replaced in the NWT by "undeserved kindness").
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  31

  How did the new light go down in your hall?

  by Mickey mouse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just curious.

  will share my experience later..

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  38 Years

  The new light is that the current day anointed are/is the "This Generation" that Jesus spoke about back in his day.

  I thought I heard this excuse new light sometime in the late 70's/ early 80's. Especially when they were trying to explain their end of the world, 1975 mistake misunderstanding. If I'm wrong, shame on me for not studying my Tower that week!