Posts by StoneWall

2

Since freeing myself from Religion I've been trying to free myself from Government as much as possible also

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

i love freedom.

more than money,vacations material possessions etc.to be free of religion has been such a liberating experience.

i have to agree with one thing that j.rutherford (second president of the wt) said about religion being a snare and a racket.

StoneWall

I love freedom. More than money,vacations material possessions etc.
To be free of religion has been such a liberating experience. I have to agree with one thing that J.Rutherford (second president of the WT) said about religion being a snare and a racket. Too bad his organization turned out to be one of the worst to ensnare.
Along those same lines I've noticed a similar feeling with getting away from as much bureaucratic "red tape" as possible. We recently purchased some acreage outside of the Town/City limits out in the open countryside of the county we reside in and being out there has afforded me much time to meditate and contemplate about many things. Just the peacefulness and tranquility made the land well worth what we paid for it.
Yes we still have the county laws and regulations which we abide by but just being able to get rid of the town/City ordinances (rules/regulations) was so liberating.
Naturally we bought unrestricted land that had freshwater springs on it so that we had more options for what we wanted to do in the future and not have to worry with HOA's (Home owners association which is more people telling you what to do on your own land)
My family and I have really enjoyed being out there and can't wait until we are there full-time being that we currently live in our house that is close to the city limits.
Anyways have any of you been pursuing ways to lessen the grip that governments have on you or maybe even going off grid as much as possible?

11

Jehovah's Witness woman killed on the way to convention

by StoneWall in

just saw this news story that was shared by one of my family on facebook.sad that she lost her life to an attempted car jacking.https://abc7chicago.com/3773297/.

StoneWall

Just saw this news story that was shared by one of my family on Facebook.
Sad that she lost her life to an attempted car jacking.
https://abc7chicago.com/3773297/

16

A great article! Highly recommended!

by stuckinarut2 in

im not sure if anyone has posted this before?

(sorry if so).

http://exitwatchtower.weebly.com/.

StoneWall

That was a very interesting read.
So many parts in it that I could relate to and sure many others can as well.
The emotion that was conveyed as he went step by step through his process of discovery about the organization and even learning about himself was so raw and realistic.
I was only going to read a couple paragraphs and save for later but after getting into it I didn't stop until it was finished.
Very well written and articulated. I will have to give this two thumbs up as the saying goes and recommend to others. Thanks for the link to it.

12

Something that really ticked me off about seeing the video of New Head Quarters of J.W.s (Warwick)

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

when i was a jw it was always emphasized that we should trust in jehovah completely.

jah will protect his people do not trust in man, throw your burdens upon jehovah etc.ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be his world head quarters right?.

we were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in jehovah's hands and he would provide a means for escape etc.so as i'm watching some pro-wt vid's about the facilities in warwick i noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason i know about it was because of the w5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.they conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on jehovah to protect them.the guard house even has a "no trespassing" sign in the window.

StoneWall

Drearyweather,
I'm not sure where you're from but I was born and raised in the southeast USA and none of the churches (including Kingdom Halls) around here in my area (rural) have walls,fences or gates. I haven't been to a K.H. in over 10 years so maybe they've since built some walls around them. But all three of the congregations I had attended in my lifetime even had windows in them. It was much more welcoming than being like a compound surrounded by walls and gates without windows.
Today when I look at some of the videos posted about K.H. crashes it appears most of them are now without windows and have gates. Maybe that's just in the large urban areas but none of the three Halls I attended ever had a gate.
And it was not just one Elder but many brothers would incorporate in their parts about trusting in Jehovah for protection and would reference bible stories such as Rahab and the walls of Jericho and how Jah caused even those strong walls to come tumbling down and that those walls couldn't protect the inhabitants from God.
Then they would follow that up with something along the lines of "now brothers would we want to put our faith and trust in man made walls or in Jehovah."
Anyways that was my experience in this area growing up a J.W. your experience may be different I guess depending on where you grew up and how old you are. I'm over 50 and had to deal also with the 1975 fiasco, whereas a lot of the newer/younger J.W.'s never even got to hear or understand what all was said from the platform at Kingdom Halls and conventions that never made it into any WT publication to be cited.

114

The biggest news of the year for Mr. and Mrs. Totally ADD

by Still Totally ADD in

jw
friends

this is bigger than christmas and birthdays wrap into one.

thanks to the australian royal commission our youngest son has woke up.

we received a e-mail from him tonight where he apologized to us for shunning us all these years, how bad he felt for doing this.

StoneWall

Great news!
Very happy for you,your wife and son.
Hopefully your son has good results with his wife as well.

12

Something that really ticked me off about seeing the video of New Head Quarters of J.W.s (Warwick)

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

when i was a jw it was always emphasized that we should trust in jehovah completely.

jah will protect his people do not trust in man, throw your burdens upon jehovah etc.ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be his world head quarters right?.

we were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in jehovah's hands and he would provide a means for escape etc.so as i'm watching some pro-wt vid's about the facilities in warwick i noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason i know about it was because of the w5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.they conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on jehovah to protect them.the guard house even has a "no trespassing" sign in the window.

StoneWall

When I was a JW it was always emphasized that we should trust in Jehovah completely. Jah will protect his people Do not trust in man, Throw your burdens upon Jehovah etc.
Ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if Jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be His world head quarters right?

We were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in Jehovah's hands and HE would provide a means for escape etc.
So as I'm watching some pro-WT vid's about the facilities in Warwick I noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason I know about it was because of the W5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.
They conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on Jehovah to protect them.The guard house even has a "No Trespassing" sign in the window.(Guess they don't like people showing up on them unannounced and uninvited like they do to others in the field)
Where is their confidence and trust in Jehovah's protection like they told us to have?

46

What is the most troubling or disturbing biblical passage you ever had to rationalise when a Jw?

by stuckinarut2 in

now that we have stepped away from the jw faith, how do you feel about the bible itself?.

what about those awkward sections of scripture?

how did you rationalise or justify those sections?.

StoneWall

Genesis 3:22 (KJV)
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

This would nullify all that stuff about needing a savior/redeemer/ransom just by Adam reaching out and grabbing the fruit of the Tree of life and living forever.

42

hall crash

by intrigue169 in

i live in the des moines iowa area , i would be interested in doing a kingdom hall crash after watching some on youtube, i would love to do that with a group of people.

i haven't meet any other ex jw around here.

i was never baptized, i always knew i could never live up to jehovah's standard so i never did even consider baptizing.

StoneWall

I've got mixed feelings about this because I used to think it had no positive impact of helping any that are in to leave.
Then I watched the following newscast from Canada and most (not all) of the ones featured have did some form of Hall crash and got their name and cause known and in this sense it got word out to the general public about what was happening. So even if it don't help any that are currently in the Org maybe just maybe all this being in the news will prevent other people from even giving the J.W.'s the time of day and keeping any new ones from joining. Notice in the clip that some of it actually shows some Hall crashes that were recorded and broadcast for many outsiders to see.
Odds are if they had remained silent the News agency would not even bothered to do a segment on Jehovah's Witnesses.
So I do think there can be a time and place for different types of strategies to work and help and then in other extreme cases to cause more harm than good.
For any that hasn't seen the CTV W5 Newscast from a couple months ago I'll link it below from their own youtube site.
https://youtu.be/13ja8dMEmPY

47

I Ain't Got No Religion No More ... (But I Like to Get Myself Some Gospel Music)

by Simon in

i love gospel music.

i don't feel like i need to believe in "jebus" to appreciate the music.

i can't go into a gospel church because i might just get religion again - that or i'll be grabbing the mic on be on the stage waving my hands and praising the lord.. i particularly like dylan's gospel period.

StoneWall

Think about it....one of the greatest songs of all time was a "religious" connotation about what the bible said from dust you are and to dust you will return.

Que the band and sing it Kansas "Dust in the wind"
https://youtu.be/tH2w6Oxx0kQ

19

"Confessions of a teenage Jesus jerk"

by stuckinarut2 in

has anyone else seen the movie "confessions of a teenage jesus jerk"?.

im still processing it, and trying to work out my thoughts..... i would be interested in others thoughts..

StoneWall

I really liked it because it showed what personal,imposing,stupid and irritating questions that Elders can and will ask during a Judicial Committee.
Also him going to the convention and having a part/demonstration at it was so realistic and true to form for back then in 1983.
I give this movie 2 thumbs up for daring to go where no one has had the balls to go before in public and talking about stuff that many have issues with or embarrassment to admit that they either did or know someone that did.
The Sears catalog in the movie made me chuckle because it made me think of another "brother" (JW) that I knew that seemed to like those Catalogs undergarments section a bit too much.
Here is a 1 minute short vid of the man behind the book and movie himself if anyone wants to know how he feels about being raised a JW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=311DrbBB0M4