Welcome!
It can be very disorienting to leave that world that we used to live in. But I've found the adjustments to be worth it.
Billy the Ex-Bethelite
JoinedPosts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite
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15
Trying to figure things out!
by RecoveringISFJ inwell, i made comments on a couple of post already, but i guess i should somehow introduce myself.
i choose the user name to hopefully try and identify my past while working for future changes in myself.
ive been in and out since i was a kid.
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125
WTS leader rants against higher education
by hoser inon jw tv.
anthony morris is ranting against higher education.
he is blaming parents for enrolling their kids in college.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
After having some more time to think about the things stated as objections to university education, 3 points have lingered with me.
1) The example of the guy that went to university and decided he believed in evolution. I suspect this to be something that has been reported frequently. Looking at some examples close to me, and myself included, evolution was just one of the issues, besides all the false prophecies, the futile works, the flip-flopping troothz, etc. Perhaps it's since WT has printed books and brochures that they think are so convincing against evolution, but are completely full of holes and illogical. Why would god create thousands of species of blood-sucking and disease-spreading mosquitoes as a "marvel of creative design"? If evolution doesn't happen, who carried ebola and AIDS on the ark? Speaking of the ark, how could the millions of species fit on the ark? WT says that there were a limited number of 'kinds' on the ark that descended into the millions of species today... isn't that evolution? And the way that kangaroos evolved from possums in just a few hundred years is a far more radical evolutionary belief by a religion than any evolutionary biology presented by science. Yet, when such facts are expressed by a college student, ToMo can only say, "He believes in evolution. Shouldn't have let him go to university where he learns FACTS." Since WT teachings completely crumple against the force of real truth, their only solution is to keep the kids away from learning real truth that can be acquired outside the walls of WT.
2) They seem to think that going to university is all about making money and gaining status. Well, isn't WT about asking for money and the GB themselves about grasping for greater status and adoration? So they ascribe those same motives to university students and label it "evil" and "worldly". Ironic, eh? In my case, if we say that Billy went to university to get a degree to make money and gain status, would we say "That's terrible! Billy should struggle to find any job that pays almost no money... and then find the worst job possible that he'd be ashamed to talk about publicly!"? Well, nobody's ever told me that to my face. Who would say that to anybody's face? My job now is both physically and mentally challenging, but it is so much better to be out of bethel and have a degree to my name and working in the real world... words cannot describe how much better my life is now. I don't have that much money, nor do I have "status", but for me it goes very far beyond that.
3) As I recall (and I'm not going to watch it again to confirm), ToMo states that an objection to attending university isn't the expense. Well, in realistic terms I'd say that it is one of the major obstacles as far as I would be concerned. If someone isn't a particularly good student, have a desire to attend, or have a plan for where their education is taking them, it can be very expensive to attend university and leave without a degree or a career path. But when someone has a plan, the aptitude, and the desire, why object? For me, I finished with debt... but I'm on my way to having that paid back within just a few years. (It's suggested that the student debt be less than the first year's salary. My debt is less than half.) As a side note: taking classes at community colleges can be much cheaper and can be either a way to pursue a degree or just learn something new... like evolutionary biology or neo-Babylonian chronology!
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Freedom Post # 1 - First Timer
by 7Starz insynchronicity - the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.
today is the first day of the rest of my life.
freedom.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
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No longer an MS! Hooray...finally!
by stuckinarut2 inwell, it's finally happened!.
im no longer an ms.. as many would know from our chats via this forum, i've seen it coming for a while....and while the way it was done stinks, i'm really happy to finally be free!.
(would love to share more details...i will do in time...or perhaps a pm would be best).
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Congrats!
while the way it was done stinks, I'm really happy to finally be free!
I remember that feeling. After all the work that I'd done slaving for the org and that pathetic congregation, I was removed in such a way as to try to humiliate me. There was a sting, but it has been replaced by happiness many times over. This is another evening that I didn't have to waste trudging out in the cold to sit in a windowless hall listening to the same recycled rubbish.
One of the remarks I've used with my dub family is that my university degree isn't something that would be taken away from me with an announcement. Also, with a degree finished and for keeps, I don't have to continually go back to classes week after week indefinitely in order to stay in good standing.
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New song 136
by sir82 inthis week's service meeting, the whole 30 minutes, is devoted to the "new songs" foisted upon jws.. note this from paragraph 8 of the km article that is to be considered:.
we will conclude our meeting today with the new song entitled the kingdom is in placelet it come!
this song, which was featured at the recent annual meeting, was specially composed to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the kingdom.. .
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Not only is the song 'blah', the wording really highlights the contradiction: "The kingdom is in place" vs. "Let the kingdom come". Which is it? If it is "in place" where would it need to "come"? If it still needs to "come", how can it be said to be "in place"? And "he rules" vs. "his rulership will", which is it? Is he ruling or will he be ruling?
The song would have been much more interesting if it somehow would have included warnings about tight pants and higher education.
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Experience in a talk
by Da.Furious inlast week we had an elder giving a talk, cant remember the title.. the thing that was of interest is the experience he gave:.
"a brother who was working in a hospital had to leave his job which was paying him good money because the nurses wanted to sleep with him and they kept putting notes for him on his desk!".
this is not the first time i hear similar experience.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
"A brother who was working in a hospital had to leave his job which was paying him good money because the nurses wanted to sleep with him and they kept putting notes for him on his desk!"
More likely, he got fired from this job because he wasn't keeping up with the work requisitions that the nurses were putting on his desk. All he had to do was change the story a little and he was interviewed at the District Convention and treated like a hero by the dubs.
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WTS leader rants against higher education
by hoser inon jw tv.
anthony morris is ranting against higher education.
he is blaming parents for enrolling their kids in college.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Okay, I kinda watched the video mess. I left bethel about 10 years ago... but all these guys look about 20 years older! I'm assuming they dolled them up to look good for the camera, but they look tired and sad. And it looks to me like Tony has put on a lot of weight.
The drama of the squabbling sisters is very slow, and superficial. That was one empty KH. 20 dubs in a hall for 100?
Watching this, the WT org really needs to be afraid of "higher education." The material and delivery is so old, tired, monotone, and non-engaging, they make my most boring university classes look like a party.
Keep the kids dependent and stupid, maybe that will keep them enslaved to the cult. Struggling to make ends meet at a low-paying job will leave them with little time and energy to really stop and think.
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How posting limits now work
by Simon inanyone who's posted on both the original site and this new one will notice that you no longer get the notice of how many posts you have left.
there are a few reasons for this.. one reason is scalability - every time you viewed a topic and got the reply at the bottom the server needed to look at your account, count the number of posts in the last 24 hours and work out what to display.
caching at various places meant this number would sometimes be wrong and there's nothing worse than posting something and it failing.. i went back to basics and thought about what the limits were for and how they could be improved to still protect the site but also give a better user experience.. limits are there for several reasons: to protect against spammers and blabbermouths.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
...when a post has been submitted...
Actually, thanks for the "Post Reply" button rather than the "Submit" button.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/174618/just-me-dont-like-submission?page=1
I've had issues with "Submit" for years! "Post Reply" is suitable, but "Enlighten Them" or "Let 'er Rip" would have been cool.
While it does seem to take a bit longer for comments to be posted, I like to think of it as the Internet gazing in momentary wonder at my latest contribution!
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Feb Kingdom Ministry 2015: Irate Householders - why so angry?
by Trailer Park Pioneer infeb kingdom ministry 2015, irate householders, "we don't apologize for our work", "did they hear rumors about jws"?
why so angry?
blood or disfellowshipping?.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
perhaps regarding disfellowshipping or blood?
Like a JW is going to be able to explain WT's crazy blood fraction policy at the door? Explain how a dub would be DFd for getting red blood cells but not for getting hemoglobin? Albumin is okay, but getting platelets would convene a judicial committee?
