Posts by Tornintwo

37

Stepping out of the shadows

by contramundum in

i have been lurking on the site for a few months and thought it about time i plucked up the courage to step out of the shadows and say hello.. i am in the process of fading after realizing all is not right with the organization i had trusted implicitly for over 40 years.

there have always been 'truths' i have struggled to accept entirely, even as a child, but was confident that trusting in jehovah, building my faith and remaining patient would be enough to settle any nagging doubts that remained, so i pushed any inconsistencies to the back of my mind and concentrated on being the best witness that i could be.. over the last few years, however, i have been preoccupied with a number of crises in my family and stepping back slightly from 'theocratic' activity has allowed me to re evaluate a number of concerns and research sources other than the sanitized wt publications.. my eyes are now wide open - i found things which have appalled me and left me feeling extremely let down and disappointed by people i had really trusted.. i tried gently raising a few subjects with my mum (who was baptized early '70s and still remains a staunch wt supporter) but she will hear no criticism of the organization.

i understand this because the best part of her life has been invested in the religion and to acknowledge it may have got things wrong would be to recognize the last 40 years have been a vain waste.

Tornintwo

Welcome contra, great to have you here.

I woke up last year after over 22 years a zealous jw, it's a painful process. I think most of us had doubts and niggles the whole time but it takes something painful or shocking for us to finally listen to those doubts and research them independently. Congratulations on your strong mind.

Like most here, I gave up so many opportunities for the 'truth' and it turned out to be 'BS', it's hard not to feel bitter at what might have been, but it's not helpful, best now to enjoy life and look forward. For a start enjoy the free time when you skip meetings and service and do what you want to do for a change!

2

Youths who leave

by Tornintwo in

jw
friends

having 2 teenagers myself the plight of young people leaving the organisation is close to my heart, shunning of young ones and destruction of families is what triggered my awakening.. ive just heard about a friend of my daughters who is df'd and being shunned by his family, apparently he is part of a campaign to take the shunning issue to the echr, i'm trying to find out more but does anyone else know about this?.

another friend of hers is also being shunned, he's is being allowed to stay at home for now because he can't afford to leave but he isn't allowed to speak to his sister at all and is limited to short greetings with his parents, after which he has to stay in his room.

poor boy has tried to commit suicide.

Tornintwo

Having 2 teenagers myself the plight of young people leaving the organisation is close to my heart, shunning of young ones and destruction of families is what triggered my awakening.

ive just heard about a friend of my daughters who is df'd and being shunned by his family, apparently he is part of a campaign to take the shunning issue to the ECHR, I'm trying to find out more but does anyone else know about this?

Another friend of hers is also being shunned, he's is being allowed to stay at home for now because he can't afford to leave but he isn't allowed to speak to his sister at all and is limited to short greetings with his parents, after which he has to stay in his room. Poor boy has tried to commit suicide. He had no family or friends outside the org. Thankfully my kids have welcomed him into their group so he has more friends now and is doing better and is saving up to be able to leave home.

The whole thing is just a tragedy and I hate the witnesses for this destructive policy. Does anyone know if there is a special forum for exJW youths to give comfort and support?

22

Daily Mirror article about JWs destroying evidence

by Tornintwo in

i can't see another thread but maybe i missed it:.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jehovahs-witnesses-paedophile-sex-abuse-7278824#comments-section.

Tornintwo

I can't see another thread but maybe I missed it:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jehovahs-witnesses-paedophile-sex-abuse-7278824#comments-section

121

Hey ya'll! My first post. Please help. In need of advice/comfort.

by Stepford Wife in

jw
friends

hey ya'll!

i have been lurking for years on this site and others but never had the courage to post anything.

actually i was afraid of posting on an apostate site in the event i was wrong.

Tornintwo

Hi SW and welcome... I've faded and survived the c.o. and elders visiting me. I came off as confused and doubting, upset by things in the cong, I was careful not to sound rebellious or argumentative. 6 months after my last meeting, my husbands still in, my son left before me and my daughters left too now. It's great to know they'll go to college and live free of guilt and cult mind control. Well done for getting this far, you have to have a strong mind to think clearly amidst such indoctrination.

47

Thought control - sexual fantasizing is wrong - May 2016 Watchtower

by Listener in

>>the bible reveals that jehovah issaddened when people pursue a wick-ed course and ‘the inclination of theirthoughts is only bad all the time.’ (readgenesis 6:5, 6.

) from this we can per-ceive that sexual fantasizing is wrongbecause it can lead to serious sin that isforbidden in the scriptures and is out ofharmony with jehovah’s way of think-ing.the disciple james wrote: “the wis-dom from above is first of all pure, thenpeaceable, reasonable, ready to obey,full of mercy and good fruits, impar-tial, not hypocritical.” (jas.

3:17) beingaware of this, we should be moved toreject entertainment that fuels impurethoughts and inclinations.

Tornintwo

I've known of more than one marriage in the org. Where the sister is so paranoid about sex being wrong that she won't do it all because she feels guilty. Of course this problem inevitably leads to adultery by one or the other.

The borg goes totally overboard on the anti sex stuff and create problems for themselves:

horny foolish kids who get married too young, totally unsuited, but can't divorce, leading to adultery and divorce anyway (just messier than it should have been)

frigid people who are scared of sexual thoughts, never enjoy sex, leading to frustrated marriages, adultery and divorce.

and arguably this kind of sexual repression can lead to perversion and Child abuse.

33

whats so bad about believing people go to heaven?

by sowhatnow in

it occurred to me today, that so often, my mother will make the comment that .

"those false religions teach that everyone is going to heaven when they die, oh sure, .

all you have to do is be a good person, and off you go to heaven.

Tornintwo

I haven't decided what I believe yet since exiting the cult. Although the the teachings and example of Jesus appeal to me and when I read them without jw influence, they seem to point to a heaven, some Christian Faith's believe heaven is the place his people go to until the time at some point in the future earth will be restored in some way and the resurrection will take place.

They can point to scriptures to support their viewpoint,so can witnesses, so can others who believe something else entirely. The bible is a big book and can be used to support multiple hypotheses.

The irritating thing about jws in particular is this 'were right everyone else is wrong' 'We'll live, everyone else will die', 'our beliefs our precious and inspired, your beliefs are nonsense' , it is the thing that irritates me most about them since I left. Now my prayers are meaningless, unheard, my faith worthless, according to them, because I'm not inline with what their self appointed human leaders say I should believe.

28

There are some real beauties posted here!

by stillin in

jw
friends

this one is worth repeating.

it was buried in a thread and u've been thinking about it all day.. a quote from mark twain, one of my all-time heroes.. "it's easier to fool a man than it is to convince him that he has been fooled.".

isn't that the truth....

Tornintwo

Re the child abuse cover ups:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

44

Is there evidence for networks of abuse?

by slimboyfat in

i tend to avoid the subject because it's too depressing, so i've probably missed lots of discussion about this issue.

but i read a comment on youtube yesterday that shocked me and made me wonder.

the person claimed that many years ago abusers in society generally identified jws as a safe haven for abusers and joined en masse order to exploit the situation.

Tornintwo

I find it difficult to believe it would happen in a network, but I do find it totally believable that a pedo would target this organisation: trust amongst members, access to families & kids, 2 witness rule, secrecy and confidentiality. I've seen fraudsters target the congregation because members have trust in eachother and won't take eachother to court.

What I found disturbing though, is that a few years ago elders proudly told me that someone who had been a child abuser in the past could NEVER be used for privileges again. But the Oct 2012 BOE changed that and added a loophole that 'it's not necessarily the case' that a former abuser wouldn't ever quality for privileges. Now you have to ask yourself WHY, why the loophole? Why not exclude those who committed this horrific crime from privileges. In my opinion there are only 2 answers to that question:

1. There are so many men with privileges who have sexually abused children in the past that it would be untenable for the org. to remove/exclude them all from serving as elders.

2. There are some very high up who have abused children in the past and it would be untenable for the organisation to remove them from their positions.

Scary thought.

16

Are G.B. Members Too Scared to Visit the U.K. ?

by The Searcher in

... in case the u.k. charities commission summons them - like the australian royal commission snared mr. jackson?

why else would they be sending two of their personal boot-lickers?.

credit to wifibandit for this post.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5658621048258560/boe-2016-01-13-britain-branch-visit-2016-01-18-correct-use-jw-org-inboxes.

Tornintwo

The Charities Commission investigation into the JWs is separate to the National Institutional enquiry

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/charity-commission-investigates-jehovahs-witnesses-charities

does anyone know how this is progressing?

40

WT Study 1/10/16 Encouraging Child Baptism And More Nonsense

by JW_Rogue in

i've noticed that each wt lesson really only has one or two points they want remembered.

normally they build up to these by about the third subheading.

this week's lesson though was different, the main point was insidiously made through an experience in the first paragraph:.

Tornintwo

Ive noticed that each WT study and talk seems to have the SAME basic points they want you to remember, can't believe I never noticed it before.

1. Do more in 'serv-us'. Spend as much time as humanly possible in field service, or volunteering to support our aims. Feel like crap until you do.

2. Don't get involved with friends, activities, news or education which is outside our organisation.

3. Don't complain when our hierarchy treats you like crap. You are supposed to be miserable, its the time of the end.

4. Put your own needs last, put our needs first (They say God's needs but we know what they mean)

4. Get your kids to follow all the above too. If they won't, shun them until they will.