Posts by passwordprotected

9

Is Jesus just an "escape" for ex-jws and Born Agains to hide their unhappiness?

by booker-t in

jw
friends

it is amazing how clear everything is when you just except yourself for whoever you are and not try to live up to a certain expectation.

since i have been out i have received my ba in psychology and now i am in grad school working on my ma in counseling therapy.

and one of the things i have learned since being in school is that i believe people try to use jesus as an escape for unhappiness.

im turning in my letter friday,

by unstopableravens in

passwordprotected

Unstop, what about seikhs, Muslims etc who claim to have felt the spirit of their god'S?

BTW, I disassociated and was baptised in a Christian church in 2010. Once I studied the historicity of Jesus and and the bible I realised what quite a few new revelations.

26

My struggle in leaving WTBTS - What is yours- if you want to share?

by Junebuggie in

my struggle- my journey finding salvationoctober 16, 2013 at 8:03pm"anyone who believes in the son of god has this testimony: god has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son.

he who has the son has life; he who does not have the son of god does not have life.

i write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of god so that you may know that you have eternal life.

passwordprotected

I left the WTBTS in July 2008. Around a month later I started going to a local evangelical church, and as a result was deemed as disassociated by my former congregation.

I did the whole "finding Jesus" thing, had a "conversion" experience, talked in tongues, felt filled by the "holy spirit" etc etc.

However, when I realised that many people of many difference religions at times experience similar things I concluded that "Jesus" and the "holy spirit" have nothing to do with it.

Since then I've lost all notions of faith and have never been happier, freer, more confident and more optimistic.

Replacing one all-consuming religion for another is common. But it's best to move into a place where your faith and trust is in yourself.

Enjoy life.

17

What Happens at Judicial Committee Meeting on Apostasy

by passwordprotected in

this was a famous case here in the uk, based around the experiences of matt barrie (aka hobo ken).

we've uploaded the audio recording of his judicial committee meeting with the glasgow bishopbriggs congregation elders and you can listen/download the (long) unedited file here:.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1pajlf7duc5zgh/matt%20judicial%20raw.mp3.

passwordprotected

We're all getting on with our lives. I haven't seen Ninja for a while, but I know he's moved on from the ex-JW stuff, as have I for the most part. I'm agnostic to the point of atheism these days.

I see Hobo Ken and Lorraine fairly regularly.

17

What Happens at Judicial Committee Meeting on Apostasy

by passwordprotected in

this was a famous case here in the uk, based around the experiences of matt barrie (aka hobo ken).

we've uploaded the audio recording of his judicial committee meeting with the glasgow bishopbriggs congregation elders and you can listen/download the (long) unedited file here:.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1pajlf7duc5zgh/matt%20judicial%20raw.mp3.

This was a famous case here in the UK, based around the experiences of Matt Barrie (aka Hobo Ken). We've uploaded the audio recording of his judicial committee meeting with the Glasgow Bishopbriggs Congregation elders and you can listen/download the (long) unedited file here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1pajlf7duc5zgh/Matt%20Judicial%20RAW.MP3

Matt appealled the decision, and his appeal committee meeting hearing can be downloaded here (again unedted):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0058vb4sz896ff9/Matt%20Judicial%20Appeal%20RAW.MP3

8

Burglars posing as JWs, will WTS change D2D

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/burglars-pose-jehovahs-witness/nblnt/.

in georgia, u.s. burglars are posing as jws, canvassing and breaking into homes.

something similar happened a couple months ago in nevada.

passwordprotected

I'm seeing more and more JWs hanging around "ministry carts" in city centres. Is there already a move afoot to do less actual door-to-door (in your face) witnessing, and be more like wallpaper, merely in the background?

35

Anticipating future changes in the organisation - crystal ball gazing

by yadda yadda 2 in

i posted the comment below on another thread on elders stepping down.

although i left the jw's years ago, i still hold a fascination for the evolution of the religion and am curious on what future trends and developments may occur.

so i thought i would start a thread on what future changes you think will occur in the organisation as the years go by, either doctrinally or organisationally:.

passwordprotected

I left the Org in 2008, a few months after the letter re. the abolishment of home book studies was read. Back then the Org was riding a cusp, particularly locally in the Glasgow, UK area; many foreign language groups had been started (I was part of the Farsi one in Glasgow for a while), a few foreign language congregations had been started.

But now I know that behind closed doors the WTBTS was starting to fight fires in terms of the child abuse cases.

How much of a toll have they really had on the resources of the corporation? And with no end to them in sight, I can only imagine further claw backs sanctioned.

Is the WTBTS moving more "mainstream", as high-control religious groups go? Are they trying to draw their head back in, what with no more tract campaigns denouncing all other religions and attacked big politics?

Does the Governing Body intend to keep flexing its control over the R&F, while minimising the religion's already tiny footprint, keeping it out of the news - below the radar, so to speak- all the while gradually lightening the expectations of works on the R&F (ie. numerous meeting attendance and double-digit ministry hours), reinventing themselves as a religion for families who just want a secure, moral framework to bring their kids up in (from the outside, at least)?

The foreign language field, I'd have to imagine, is shrinking, and I'm seeing more and more "ministry carts" popping up in big cities; is the emphasis moving away from actually speaking to people at their doors to just standing on a street, hoping "interested ones" will approach? Such a tactic lessens the public's consciousness of the religion; they aren't at the doors on a Saturday morning, they just blend in with the street architecture in city centres?

6

Talk with my parents!

by Kool Jo in

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hey folks...had a skype conversation with my parents (hard-core, extremist jws)...and the cult still has a tight grip on them....like others on here, youre perhaps just watching your parents, growing older, giving to the cult more and more....with nothing in return.. they were happy to tell me how theyre enjoying their new bibles and how this provision is fantastic and show jehovahs blessings blah blah blah.. we then spoke about how their congregation will be getting a new khall, although many persons in the congregation didnt agree with its location.

passwordprotected

Beautiful post, hopefully your parents see sense and happiness soon.

36

Videos of a few key moments from the Annual Meeting

by cedars in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imfuiaeg820.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkjbvfpjpje.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iezhj13pun4.

passwordprotected

What a lot of shite Pierce talks, if the summaries of the AGM I've read are to be believed; "new light", "questions answered", "new Bible truths". Bollocks.

42

A question for elders and former elders who have served on JCs

by slimboyfat in

based on your experience of judicial committees, how would you advise someone who is due to meet with the elders and has asked for the best way to avoid being disfellowshipped?

is denying everything ever a successful strategy?

does addressing a letter to the elders threatening legal action if they disfellowship ever work?

passwordprotected

They were given a private reproof, IIRC.