Posts by Meeting Junkie No More

I think mainstreaming is a pretty good word - you can hardly tell who the Witnesses are these days. I see very few out in the service - mostly diehards/fanatics, those that have no access to information (computer). The meetings for service were pretty poorly attended when I was still in (a year ago). Holidays (birthdays) also seem to be secretly memorialized (still NOT CELEBRATED) but acknowledged, especially by the young (from what I am seeing)...with the fraction loophole, I venture to say that any INFORMED Witness (if they are still a Witness) will be taking a hard look at what is allowed and making their own PERSONAL DECISION which is what mainstream religions are all about - church attendance on the weekends, but mostly personal decisions the rest of the week!

26

Name one thing the WTS did for you and your family!

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

i was just thinking of all the things i did for the wts (a group of old men that live in new york whom i've never seen and never will) and what they gave me in return.. .

what i did for the wts :.

studied the ''truth book'' for 6 months just to get baptized.

Meeting Junkie No More

I got a belief system (BS) that gave me great confidence and conviction as a youngster, and more or less served me for 43+ years. However, as I now find out, much to my chagrin, it was all just BS.

Oh, well, time to move on...(the initial shock is wearing off and I actually think that realization is the best thing that has happened to me)

31

Is everyone sick of me and Cameo'd being "Armagedon Junkies"?

by Witness 007 in

me and my friend cameo'd have a condition known as "armagedon junky".....we enjoy speculating on catastrophies ending the world...yes we are ex-witnesses with a problem, we love the thrill of doom.

it was taught to us as kids and we still do it now.. the last few months we brought you "yellowstone park is about to blow"......."foxnews = solar flare will end life"..."mass desease epidemics".....sorry my friend cameo but me and you need to check into a clinic to stop scaring people....but i have to say it was fun for some reason, the thought of throwing it out there to accidentally predict something apeals to me..

Meeting Junkie No More

Not at all! I think I may just be an Armageddon junkie as well...always looking for dire headlines to prepare myself for what is COMING...and especially appreciate any heads up about anything I'm unaware of.

I think it must be the result of being the progeny of Great Depression and World War II survivors - growing up, I had the whole depression era scenario, run-away hyperinflation thingie drummed into my head so I've lived with the doom and gloom threats for 50+ years. However, the new DEPRESSION that I was consistently warned about has FINALLY ARRIVED so in that sense, it's been good prep!

Thank God I don't live on the West Coast of North America, because I've just learned about the Cascadia subduction zone - something else to worry about but something at least I can ignore.

KEEP KEEPING US INFORMED! If it weren't for you, I would never have heard of Tesla! Thanks again.

47

Jehovahs Witnesses - Mainstreaming, Like It Or Not

by metatron in

jw
friends

it used to be that pioneers supported themselves with free literature and magazines and put in 100+ hours a month.

then 90, then 70.. a publisher had to put in at least an hour a month to be counted.

now 15 minutes.. they used to hand out a written review and collect it and grade it!

Meeting Junkie No More

Spot on! I'm thinking of making photocopies of your post and placing a single sheet on each chair at the upcoming Memorial - give the folks something to read while they watch the overbeers counting heads and making sure the tablecloth for the emblems in on the table straight.

Always love your insightful posts.

17

WHAT WOULD BE THE JW VIEW ON DINO-CHICKENS?

by badboy in

jw
friends

scientists are hoping to activate genes in chickens that were active in dinosaurs.

Meeting Junkie No More

Hoping? From what I saw on a recent scientific program, which actually blew me away, scientists have already been able to 'turn on' these genes and the 'tail' of the chick embryo starts developing to be much longer (dinosaur like). I was floored (not being too scientific to begin with and then seeing what is actually being done at this very moment).

Of course, it will be a cold day in hell when any of this will be discussed in a Kingdom Hall because witness brains 'just don't go there' for the most part. With all the talks being 30 minutes or less, how can you intelligently discuss anything of any complexity without just giving pat answers and generic information. Of course, I am sure JWs will have a 'view' on it - a view born of ignorance, as usual...

14

Tarot & Rapid Brain Change When Getting Out of JWs

by og in

about six years ago, when self-extricating myself from jehovah's witnesses, i decided to follow robert anton wilson's advice in cosmic trigger, a life changing book for me, and explore taboos as a way to rapidly deprogram myself.

tarot was a great way to do that, as few things are more odious in the jw world.

i wrote up my remarkable experiences in an essay on my blog, tarot & rapid brain change which will probably be interesting to jw forum readers.. .

Meeting Junkie No More

Wow - wildly interesting! I loved the Tarot & Rapid Brain Change and am very intrigued about your Belief Systems and Other BS book - GREAT TITLE by the way - thanks for sharing!

35

Did there ever come a time where the meetings became unbearable?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

i try to attend about 3 sunday meetings per month just to keep my whole family from disowning me.

every week the meetings become more difficult to attend.. the singing is awful,the prayers are all about the ''faithful and discreet slave''.the talks are boring and repetative.the watchtower study reminds of trained seals at the zoo where they do the same tricks over and over just so they can get their treat of fresh fish.

the answers are short and read off the watchtower magazine word for word.

Meeting Junkie No More

Oh, and Scarred for life - I should add that I really hate the fact that our attendance will add to their inflated Memorial attendance numbers which the org parades around as million of 'interested ones' - we all know most of the extra attenders are dfd, da'd and inactive Witlesses! I'm well aware that we'll be discussed as the submarine type - that only surface once a year - but hey, I used to say the same myself about others. Now, I see it all from the other side!

35

Did there ever come a time where the meetings became unbearable?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

i try to attend about 3 sunday meetings per month just to keep my whole family from disowning me.

every week the meetings become more difficult to attend.. the singing is awful,the prayers are all about the ''faithful and discreet slave''.the talks are boring and repetative.the watchtower study reminds of trained seals at the zoo where they do the same tricks over and over just so they can get their treat of fresh fish.

the answers are short and read off the watchtower magazine word for word.

Meeting Junkie No More

Significant other has family still in and wouldn't dream of not being there on their account (I could care less!)

There are a very few 'discouraged ones' in our old hall, who will be GLAD to see us and for them, I guess it is worth it - we still see these folks off and on for dinner and some of them are now elderly and frail (we do wonder whether they are awakening as well as they seem very discouraged and dwindling in their own meeting attendance as there seems to be no joy for them. (This is all good news to us but painful to watch) - so for the sake of re-connecting at least in some small way with those select few, I almost am looking forward to that part only - we may go out with them for coffee after we meet in the parking lot! Hope that explains it better.