Posts by Meeting Junkie No More

37

New study shows JWs have the lowest retention rate of US religions

by M.J. in

the pew forum has put out a report called the "us religious landscape survey.

", as reported in the boston globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/02/more_americans_2.html .

of note is this quote from the actual report summary: .

If it wasn't for "....................." I'd still be in the "Truth".......

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

for me i think if it wasn't for the fact i'm gay, i'd still be an active witness.

this year, even my mum has said that it wouldn't be "appropriate" if i was to go to the memorial.

now the memorial is something i've never missed, so that kind of stings a bit.

1 - lack of freedom of thought and expression; calling their talks 'discussions' when there NEVER ever was a discussion about anything in the hall - it was all LECTURES and 2 - taking the Bible literally

When I heard about the pedophile scandal, the UN thing, Mexico and Malawi, all I had were questions - not allowed to ask them
When I read about the 18(?) or so Christs before Jesus, all I had were questions - not allowed to ask them
When I began to understand that the Bible is an allegory and not to be taken literally - not allowed to say so, not even allowed to think it!

Oh, and No. 3 - the US and THEM mentality - way past that now - people everywhere are some good/some bad - none of that BLACK and WHITE stuff for me anymore

So I am out of there

27

Which bible translation do you prefer?

by digderidoo in

i have decided to buy myself a bible.. i have a new world translation but the large print version, so i tend not to use it.

after reading crisis of conscience i have decided to discard this translation anyway, but at a loss as to what translation to use.

i also have a few old king james bibles but the language is unreadable to me.

Meeting Junkie No More

St. Ann:

Just saw your reply today...OHMYGAWD! $100.00? I think I paid $2!!! but my edition is a softcover - (what a steal!) Really, you must check out the charity shops and book sales, flea markets, etc. I have found the most amazing old and even out-of-print books at these places, or church book bazaars, library clear-outs, etc. - even picked up a Swedenborgian book (stuff I never knew existed) for about $3.

Another absolute MUST READ I forgot to mention is The Woman's Bible - and I see that it is now completely ON-LINE. What an eye-opener that one is - and it's 100 years old! Required Bible reading for men and women alike!

I really enjoyed your comments!

15

Notes from the Sunday assembly: apostates, doubts, deficit

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

for your viewing pleasure:.

i only have the notes for sunday.. .

2007-2008 circuit assembly .

Meeting Junkie No More

11:40 - Giving Attention to the Needs of the Circuit - NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE

ROFLMAO - how succinct! Love your review - 3 words sum up the whole blasted 20 minutes or whatever slot was allotted...just a whole lot of hot air. Who needs it? Glad I no longer waste my Sunday mornings on this mindless drivel. Thanks for taking one for the team!

30

Forced Seating

by Tired of the Hypocrisy in

anyone else have to deal with being herded to the front of the hall before a meeting?.

i recall one cong in particular...west sacramento was notorious for this crap.

i was a large individual and today i am even larger....lol 6'2" and around 250 lbs back then.

Meeting Junkie No More

So true about the elders up and down all meeting long; also little pow wows in the vestibule - they would close the door between the vestibule and the main hall and gab/chit chat, then get up and give a part about not being distracted at meetings....what a joke. The other thing that used to annoy me no end was elders sitting at the front, bending over to a fellow elder in the aisle on their way out in the middle of a part, then the two of them getting up to discuss something at the back of the hall, in front of the bulletin board, all the while whispering loud enough that any of the folks at the back would actually be distracted. This would go on all meeting long. And they would complain about the kids being fidgety...

2

WTPersonalityTest

by R.Crusoe in

i recall a pesonality test being posted a while ago which enabled each person to find out their own persona.. it came up that i was largely an empath plus a few other traits of intuitive, perceiving and introverted.. my gut feeling was in this way back when i attended meetings!

personalities i saw all around me were all hooking up slightly differently to the wtbts.

it made me wonder if a judging persona actually survives better in the borg?.

Meeting Junkie No More

Yes you are so right about the most empathic ones and the most giving ones ending up being the most burnt out. I have seen that a few times...the poor suckers just get used until they're all used up. Give, give, give until there's nothing left. But if you need any help whatsoever, you're on your own. Just pray more, do more, blah blah....the Watchtower machine eats its own. But for as long as the drones can be kept recruiting more sheeple to feed the monster corporation masquerading as a religion, the show will go on!

30

Forced Seating

by Tired of the Hypocrisy in

anyone else have to deal with being herded to the front of the hall before a meeting?.

i recall one cong in particular...west sacramento was notorious for this crap.

i was a large individual and today i am even larger....lol 6'2" and around 250 lbs back then.

Meeting Junkie No More

Not herded to the front, but just as bad.

This happened at the annual assembly. Went with an aged relative who needed to have her feet elevated due to swelling ankles (doctor's orders). We merely requested that she be allowed to have her feet put up on a chair in the aisle in front (this would be in the elderly section right on the floor of the auditorium), but in such a way so as not to interfere with anyone else's ability to get to and from their seats. The attendant, who looked to be all of 19, said in no uncertain terms that fire regulations would prohibit this - he didn't seem to care one iota about providing alternate seating or recommending an alternative. Even hinted that there was perhaps no place available to acommodate an individual with this requirement. To this day, I don't know why we just didn't take the hint and exit the whole venue. Oh, well...the more attendants that take this approach, the sooner more of the captives will wake up! It certainly got us shaking our heads and wondering what kind of loving organization we were a part of ...

23

Big time watchtower art dept. jest

by cultswatter in

look at the following nonsense.

look at this link http://www.word-sunday.com/files/b/passion-b/a-passion2-b.html.

mark stated the crucifixion almost as an aside, since his audience already knew the fate of jesus, and since the methods of crucifixion were well known at the time.

Meeting Junkie No More

What a horrible, horrible picture. And this is on a Watchtower cover? This is one sick religion. Is the caption a joke? I just can't believe that this is a real cover ... can someone confirm? I thought the one a few months' back with kids in a playground and some guy creeping up on them with a gun in his hand was in really poor taste, but this beats even that...

I think the inmates really are running the asylum.

15

Did you get tired of waiting for Armageddon

by karter in

i was around in 1975 then it was the generation that saw 1914 .. armageddon was always just about there ............... i got tired of waiting.

Meeting Junkie No More

Long Hair Gal

Amen to everything you say! Unfortunately, I was more or less raised in this religion, so didn't even have much of a normal childhood. When I was raising my child, I had a difficult time instilling the Armageddon fear and maybe that was actually the start of a semi-awakening, that unfortunately took far too long to bear fruit! It was only through God's providence that we even had a child, because we were of the mindset "not in this sytem". When I look back at that, I thank God again for the miracle of unplanned pregnancy! Even with my efforts at not instilling too much of an Armageddon fear, my child has confided that they got plenty of that just from the meetings alone, to the point of sleepless nights, which they never told me about and suffered through silently ... wow, was that an eye-opener to me about how this religion can mentally wreak havoc on a child's mind. The slow beginning of the end for us...

So, yeah, we got TIRED with a capital T of waiting for Armageddon. All the hoopla and continued harping on about it won't bring it one iota closer and frankly, I couldn't give a damn!

You would think from the Witnesses' constant Armageddon yammering that the whole point of the Bible is Armageddon preparedness - yech! But they must be wising up to the fact that this is counter-productive because in a recent Kingdom Misery, I chanced to read that the latest 'suggestions' for the field ministry were not to go on too long about Armageddon and current world conditions...DO YA THINK??

Heaven help them!

15

Did you get tired of waiting for Armageddon

by karter in

i was around in 1975 then it was the generation that saw 1914 .. armageddon was always just about there ............... i got tired of waiting.

Meeting Junkie No More

WT Wizard, you hit the nail on the head! "Living in a state of emergency" is about the gist of it - a never-ending state of emergency - that alone can tire anyone out. Yes, after 40+ years of living in that mind state, or actually half-living, truth be told, myself (and luckily my family also) all decided the never-ending panic state wasn't WORTH IT! Headquarters isn't living in that panic state, they are perpetually busy planning for their future assemblies, meetings ad nauseum, etc. etc. so we decided we might as well start planning for our futures as well, IN THIS SYTEM! And we're feeling a ton of serenity since.

More time, more space, more breathing room, more plans. The only thing we dread now is interrogations from the GESTAPO. They no longer see us at the meetings and I think they actually get the fact that WE DON'T EVEN WANT TO BE THERE - and they are puzzled. They think we're 'weak', 'stumbled', or whatever, and I actually don't even care what they think. I dread running into any of them at the local mall, because they are all so 'concerned'. My concern factor about the end is now ZERO. HURRAY!

I leave everything in God's hands - myself, my future, the future of this earth. If he exists, he is more than capable...in the words of Alfred E. Neumann, "What me worry?"