I suppose it is not in the plan to advertise a 24 hour recorded message in the local paper and appear on the front page of the local daily paper exposing blood medical treatment irregularities huh? Or sending the elders registered letters inviting them to a public debate covered by media?
I sort of took the red flag approach. I spoke my mind and anybody who snubbed or shunned me was out of my life. This way I am in control and don't have to wait or wonder. After I quit associating regularly, the only time the JW's contacted me was to use me or my equipment. I am not sad that is over.
Initially I labored under the delusion that my relatives were different, but they were not, and it is good to know that. For me, dealing with rejection has had an end. The *fear* of rejection had none.
Exiting from a high control group is always a good topic for a thread. Thanks for starting it.
gb
garybuss
JoinedPosts by garybuss
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110
On The Art Of Fading
by expatbrit inin october of 2000, i faded away from the watchtower.
like most people, i have family and friends who are jw's (including my wife and parents).
fading is generally the best method for people in that situation.
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garybuss
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32
even if the "new system" never comes
by ConnieLynn inlast night i called to do the "check-in" thing on my mom.
she had just been to the assembly and she was all fired up and decided to give me an earful.
apparently, at the assembly all in attendance were told that "this is it" the end is nigh and they should do all they can to prepare for the impending destruction about to befall everyone.
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garybuss
Thanks for the post Connie,
When I asked my father about the possibility that he was wrong about the idea that Armageddon would save him from death, he said, "Even if I was wrong, I couldn't have had a better life (as a JW)".
His great life was my hell. He forced me to perform like a JW puppet so he could look good and advance up the hierarchy.
He is now 82 and I am taking all bets that he will not be immortal, but will die like everybody ever born before him. It's nice to dream and hope for the impossible but his delusion was at my expense. That's not right.
When I objected to it all, he rejected me in a blink of his eye.
It was discouraging at first, but their fear covered by their ignorance is mostly impenetrable. They defend their right and wrong with equal vigor and dedication. The Watch Tower has become their god and all their trust and hope is tied up in it. They believe their salvation is tied to their loyalty to the Corporation, right or wrong. If the Corporation is right, it a sign God is using them. If the Corporation is wrong, it is seen as a loyalty test. Either way they are bound.
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34
A Return to the Basics - Part I
by Farkel inevery so often we get so stuck with specifics and the latest wt scandals or doctrinal nuances that it's good to get back to the basics.
that is the purpose of this thread.
i cannot count the times that, when dubs arguments are demolished with quotes from their own literature and practices, they resort to this statement in sheer desperation: well, at least weve got the basics right.
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garybuss
Good post, Thanks!
To present dis-beliefs as beliefs is a fallacy. The claimed consistent beliefs consisting of dis-belief in the Trinity, dis-belief in a burning hell, and dis-belief in immortality of the soul is only a diversion tactic.
Here's how it works: My beliefs have never changed, I don't believe my skin is purple, I don't believe gravity makes objects fall up, and I don't believe in unicorns.
See, I am consistent in my beliefs.
Great job!
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37
Baptism - The Issue of Consent - for children
by Lady Lee inthe issue of consent .
the issue of whether a person has consented to a particular action is a core part of our social relationships whether they be personal or group interactions.
to participate in any social relationship a person must on some level consent to that participation.
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garybuss
Thanks for the thread Lady Lee
The doctrine requiring adolescent commitment to the group leaders by ritual bathing, aka baptism, is called *family merit* and can be easily researched by doing a word search on the Watch Tower Publishing Company's CD.
According to the Corporation writings, family merit expires at puberty and must be replaced by individual commitment to avoid the threat of being killed by Jehovah.
Your article was nicely written and I appreciated your and other poster's emphasis on the lack of disclosure. In business and ethics, disclosure is elementary. My own experience involved coerced involvement with the Watch Tower Corporation without disclosures at all. My parents were the real incompetent perpetrators and were willfully ignorant and criminally inconsiderate. The Corporation benefits from ignorant, superstitious theists like my parents and directs those to do it's dirty work.
We were tricked and trapped and there is no honorable escape with impunity.
Thanks to all for being here. Best wishes always,
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Bill Bowen Disfellowshipped
by silentlambs inas of 8:30 pm this evening the appeal hearing decided to uphold the decision.
i spoke to them for over an hour and tried to reason with them as to the validity of their decision.
frankly, they were not interested.
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garybuss
Bill wrote:
As you all know, there is no reasoning, no logic, no fairness, no justice, when it comes to the directions the Governing Body has mandated for all who try to speak out on abuse.
Or any other issue . . . .
gb
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IS There a Bigfoot/Sasquatch?
by TR inreading the "man on the moon" thread made me wonder about "bigfoot"(yes, men did go to the moon).
anyhoo, what are your thoughts?
i've seen countless tv specials and movies about the big stinky dude, and have read several books in the past.
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garybuss
Yes, I used to date his sister, Bigsquatch . . .
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I Screwed Up Today!!
by Undecided inmy wife and i, along with her sister and friend went on a picnic today to the mountains of va. about an hour and half drive.
on the way someone asked what day of the month is it?
i looked at my watch and said the 10th.
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garybuss
I was married in the basement of a dilapidated hotel by a Chevy auto mechanic. He gave us some good advise. Change your oil every 3,000 miles and rotate your tires every 6, 000 miles. I will never forget my marriage and I think of it every time I pass a broken down Chevy and every time I look at a dipstick.
We were married September 11, 1971. Plus thirty years = 9/11/01
I was born 30 years after Jesus returned to set up his publishing company on earth 1914 - 1944. The numerologists know the importance of the number 30.
My wife's mother died thirty years to the day that my first wife died.
Mt. St. Helens blew up on May 18, 1980 . . . my wife's birthday. This was exactly 30 years after the barber shop was set up at tent city for the 1950 New York District Assembly. All foretold in the Bible.
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New York Times article online
by Dogpatch inhere it is online!.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/national/11witn.html.
randy watters.
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garybuss
bttt
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Dealing With Witness Relatives
by metatron ina simple point but well worth repeating is that just as it took.
many gradual steps to 'come in the truth', so also it takes many.
gradual adjustments to leave it!.
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garybuss
I have just put the burden of initiation of contact on them and leave them alone. They never contact me. After all these years they do not interest me.
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I finally got my CoC book in the mail
by truthseeker1 ini finally got it in the mail.
i looked in local bookstores and couldn't find it and resorted to purchasing it online...i hate doing that.
it took weeks because i am a cheapskate and didn't want to pay for rush delivery.
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