Posts by Babylon the Great Employee

28

I thought you might enjoy (or puke) the daily text .....

by New light for you in

jw
friends

so ladies and gentlemen..... i was going to throw out my daily text, then just decided to read todays.

now i know i'm going to throw it out, but first, lets share in jehobahs (gb) spirit, shall we?.

wednesday june 18th.

Babylon the Great Employee

I tweaked it and made it better. Someone should publish these instead (yay, I've gone apostate):

"Make my eyes pass on from seeing what is worthless"

Dwelling on brainwashing propaganda can lead to a state of mind in which a person is willing to throw away his precious brain given to him by God in exchange for something to which he has no right (jas 1:14,15), a miserable existence filled with doom and gloom. On the other hand, if we fear Jehovah’s Witnesses, we will stay AWAY- even WALK AWAY- from those people, places, activities, and boredom they call meetings that could cause us to lower our moral guard by acting like mindless drones who throw away their lives and hate on others who don’t agree with them. Whatever embarrassment or sacrifice may be involved, it is MINOR compared to losing our minds. Fearing losing our minds certainly includes NEVER deliberately exposing ourselves to anything immoral, including Watchtower literature in any form, but instead making our eyes "pass on from seeing what is worthless". If we do so, we can trust in God to 'preserve us alive' and provide everything we really need. (Like our brains.)

5

2008 District Convention schedule?

by NanaR in

jw
friends

hey, does anyone out there know on which day the book for youth is released and on which day the new book of pharisaic rules is released?.

i seem to remember somebody (blondie?

) posting the dc program, but i can't find it right now.. .

Babylon the Great Employee

Just as an aside... are there actually "young people" out there lame enough to ask some of the stupid questions the GB so graciously answers in the "Young People Ask..."? Those always made me laugh hysterically. I wondered if people wrote them as a joke or something.

59

Worst Rules

by DoomVoyager in

what are the worst rules you've ever heard being dispensed from the platform?

"christians do not dance to ymca, as it promotes homosexuality.

"hairstyles that defy gravity also defy joe hoobie.

Babylon the Great Employee

We had a rule about no scented stuff in our congregation too. Sister Sneezy would practically go into anaphylactic shock if she even thought someone was wearing perfume or used scented soap when they showered. Then one time the DO's Wife (Sister Smells Like a French Whore) went out in service with us in the same car. She remembered Sister Sneezy's allergy and apologized profusely. Sister Sneezy was all, oh, no big deal, I'll be fine, we'll just crack the window a little. Nevermind her perfume was so strong, it was making me choke.

Oh, some of my favorite "no-no's"... yoga, watching sports, punk rock, romance novels (even the ones without sex) and my all-time favorite: wearing pants. What the crap is up with forbidding women from wearing pants? Well, I know the answer to my own question, it's blatant misogyny and a way to control women, not to mention being able to constantly scold them for wearing skirts that show a bit of knee. (Look, Brother Pervert, stop looking at my knees!)

23

playing along with the disfellowshipped game

by milligal in

my son has come to stay with me for the summer, and this morning i got a phone call which showed on the caller id as my son's grandparents (my jw ex's parents who are also jw).

i assumed it was my ex calling from their house and answered handing the phone to my son.

that's when i heard his grandma's voice on the phone.

Babylon the Great Employee

I'll never forget when I was 16, my DF aunt had been in town because of a family tragedy (the only time we were ever allowed to talk to her). I had seen her twice in my entire life, and this was only the second time. She hugged me as she was leaving, and her eyes welled up with tears and she choked out that she was sorry she'd missed me growing up.

I think that was the point when I realized exactly how horrible the practice of shunning is. My aunt isn't a bad person, she never was. I was robbed of having her in my life. Yet, all these years, I had her number, I could have called her, written her a letter, something, anything. But I had never even questioned it. From then on, I never shunned anyone else who was DF'd. It was one of the final "wake-up calls" that this organization is destructive.

8

Flashbacks

by Babylon the Great Employee in

has anyone else out for a significant amount of time had painful flashbacks many years later?

i was raised jw, and i've been out for over a decade.

in the weeks leading up to our state's primary, i volunteered for the obama campaign.

Babylon the Great Employee

Did Obama require you to write down "not at home's"

LOL! Yes, actually, and we were even supposed to leave tracts in the door! It was just too much, really. I needed a beer afterwards.

38

Ever fake ring a bell? Take a long time writing down not at homes?

by yourmomma in

my whole life, even when i pioneered, i dreaded field service.

i was always uncomfertable rolling up to peoples houses uninvited.

so i used to have this technique where i would pretend to ring the bell.

Babylon the Great Employee

Totally! Not just fake ringing the bell, but writing down the "not at homes" as "not interested" so I wouldn't have to go back and try again on a different day. That only worked if others were out of sight though!

31

Have u found friendships w/ worldy people be hard?

by blkblk13 in

so, i'm embarking on slow fade and i think it's time for me to start making friends w/ some non-jdubs so that i'll have a support network once i decide to be completely out and everyone ive ever known abandons me.

ive always gotten along much better w/ wordly people than jdubs so i'll haveno problem securing friends but im concerned about being to keep them.. i want out of the org for various reasons but i must admit i still believe many of the teachings.

i just think the leadership and organization itself is corrupt.

Babylon the Great Employee

The first lesson is to stop thinking of people who aren't JW's as "worldly people." It seems like a simple and obvious thing, but truly, getting that idea out of your head is harder than you think. But it will break down the barriers necessary to form lasting friendships.

I think the second lesson is understanding that not every friend you make will be a lasting friendship, so don't be discouraged if friendships come and go. You are in a state of transition at this point in your life. You are moving from a stifling, brainwashing organization that has defined you for x number of years, to building a new life for yourself. Who are you? What do you believe? What do you want out of life? Those are things you will have to figure out, and different people might get you through that. Sometimes you outgrow friends, sometimes you find that you don't have things in common with people anymore, but I can assure you, that the people who get you through this transition will be people who change your life and you'll never forget.

Personally, I celebrate the holidays now. At first it was a novelty, but now holidays are a time for celebration and reflection for my own personal reasons, not buying into all the commercialized hype. You should do what feels right to you, and if the holidays don't feel right to you, then respectfully decline celebrations with friends and don't be afraid to tell them why (just avoid trying to convince them they shouldn't celebrate holidays either... old habits are hard to break). However, I would recommend taking the time to examine and reflect on why exactly you feel celebrating holidays is wrong. Breaking the indoctrinization is lengthy process of rethinking every "truth" you ever believed, and reaching your own independent conclusions. While real friends won't judge you for not celebrating holidays (or for celebrating holidays!), you might very well find that, for instance, counting down and toasting the New Year with good friends and a nice bottle of champagne is a wonderful experience.

Good luck with your transition, and I hope you find wonderful people to help you through. I am so grateful for the friends I have, it more than makes up for the false friends I used to have.

28

growing up witness

by milligal in

i grew up a witness and i never felt bad about my lack of material belongings a.k.a.

not having nice clothes in school, it didn't bother me that the other first graders were stuffing their faces with birthday cupcakes and i was in the school library researching fossils; but what did bother me?

my cool cousins.

Babylon the Great Employee

I think the worst thing is finding yourself truly ill-prepared for life in the real world. While I feel I have done a remarkable job of overcoming the limitations from my upbringing, I still fell short of a lot of my goals and got off to a really rough start because of the struggles I had from getting out in the beginning. That adversity certainly isn't limited to being raised as a JW, but it is definitely an aspect of being raised one. I'm proud of my accomplishments, but wish I knew then what I know now. I wish I'd had someone there as a mentor or a friend to guide me, instead of starting out alone.

My heart goes out to all of those JW kids, whose parents are "talking them out of" going to college. Those kids whose parents think Armageddon is any day now, and never saved a penny for them for college anyway. Those kids who will suddenly find themselves homeless when they send in their college applications, so Dad the Elder can save face with the congregation. Those kids who go out into the world at 17 or 18, ostracized, friendless, without the benefit of the guidance of their parents and other family members.

I know adversity in life makes us stronger, but I often wished I'd had a lot less of it. Thinking of so many kids going through the same pain I did, it saddens me.

8

Flashbacks

by Babylon the Great Employee in

has anyone else out for a significant amount of time had painful flashbacks many years later?

i was raised jw, and i've been out for over a decade.

in the weeks leading up to our state's primary, i volunteered for the obama campaign.

Babylon the Great Employee

Has anyone else out for a significant amount of time had painful flashbacks many years later? I was raised JW, and I've been out for over a decade. In the weeks leading up to our state's primary, I volunteered for the Obama campaign. They needed volunteers to canvass, so I agreed to do it, even though the idea of knocking on doors was pretty repulsive. Actually doing it though, I had an overwhelmingly sick feeling in my stomach, a knot in my throat, my heart raced and I was short of breath, knocking on those first few doors. After the first few doors, I would be okay. It eventually got a little better each time out, but the whole experience left me pretty shook up. I believed I was "over" the trauma of the JW experience, but sometimes it just sneaks up on you. I'm hoping if I continue to do political canvassing, or someday take my daughter out to sell Girl Scout Cookies or something, I can rid myself of the bad memories and replace them with good ones. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

74

News Flash !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by TooBad TooSad in

my wife excitedly told me that she talked to the wife of an elder that just came back from.

the special training for elders in upper state new york and that the elders are being told .

to go back to their congregations and to get them ready for the great tribulation.. i said to her that is great news !!!!

Babylon the Great Employee

I disagree that the WTBTS is sinking. Even though JW's have one of the lowest rates of retention among religious groups, including evangelical/more "extreme" religions, they still don't have a problem recruiting new members. The recruitment in areas of poverty/underdeveloped nations is especially notable, considering the lure of an end to suffering, coupled with some charity, goes a long way to aid recruitment. While there might be a mass exodus because of the pedophile scandals and the new crackdown on college, there will always be new members to replace the old. Remember what Barnum said about suckers...?