Posts by hybridous

14

Magic moment

by Phil in

jw
friends

for all the persons that have been lured into the jw organization i was wondering if there is a magic age level or maximum exposure time where such a person comes to the realization that what he /she has been filled with information and doctrine that only hurts families and is the major cause of their breakup with their families.

i have seen some people that have come to the realizationaround the age of 40. would this be the age of realization?

is it something else?

hybridous

It was probably at the age of 10 or 11 for me. I had lived long enough to know the extent of the JW routine, and how nothing meaningful would ever change to allow some level of comfort or normality.

Having all the experience of my 10 or 11 years behind me, I would repeatedly try to extrapolate my future. What would my life be like? What would I make of myself? Would I ever be able to convince myself to buy into this crazy religion enough to believe that I was doing the right thing? Would I ever have ONE GODDAMNED MORSEL of FUN before I DIE?!

So, you can see my line of thinking, and how at such an early age, I just knew I would leave. Everything I saw around me led me to conclude that staying in would just result in a lifetime of bitter misery and regret. Fortunately, I never got baptised, and this allowed me to have the best possible relationship with family, given my non-participation in the religion.

32

Is There Truly Any "Underground Reform" Going On?

by minimus in

jw
friends

not an organized type, at least.

as an elder, i would try to bend the organization's rules so as to be more moderate and give the "sheep" a little more comfort.

but no elder or group of people could organize such a group and stay within the watchtower's (kingdom hall's) walls.

hybridous

I think that the orgainzation will continue to suffer, but...

If the WT is going to play the 'cooling off' card, then that implies that they have given up expectations of growing the organization. Growing the organization is what the leadership is about. Like any business, the religions goal is to protect what it has and improve its share of whatever market there is.

I think there remains a strong sentiment from the 1950s to the 1980, when the service reports would come in and all you'd hear was growth all over, and how that proved the Jah was blessing this organization. People got very used to the idea that this organization would grow indefinately. I think in the minds of many, many JWs, this organization cannot and will not falter. The WT playing that 'cooling off' card will be like pulling the rug out from under those people.

The WT can fall back on that explanation any time it wants, but there is a flipside to it. The flipside to cooling off is: negative growth, negative dollars, and you're on board a sinking ship. You think JWs fake their ministry hours now?! Wait until the WT acknowledges that no one is coming in - go ahead and fake, what's the point?

And as for reform, metatron is correct. There is no reform, there is only fracture. So be it.

23

Part 1: How Would You Answer This Issue?

by Amazing1914 in

jw
friends

part 1:

when we were faced with tough issues as jws, we used one or more of a few ways to find answers.

we either searched the publications, consulted with an elder, or in some cases, wrote to the society.

hybridous

Interesting that as a Hindu, he had his own belief system, yet he sought to be validated by yours.

I would have told him that he had to answer to his own God(s) for whatever his decision was made, so make your decision in light of your own religion and beliefs - not mine.

That said, Elsewhere's story about a broken family hits hard. My wife had something like that happen in her family, a while back. Nobody survives that well, they just survive...and are forever altered, if not altogether ruined. An entire family, for the sake of one? Not if it was my choice.

55

birthdays

by cr1234 in

does anyone know where the article is in the awake that says birthdays are a conscience matter?

hybridous

As far as the Jewish holidays go...

Seems kind of unfair and arbitrary of Paul to allow Jewish Christians to celebrate/observe those holidays of their old religion while denying the same comfort to Roman and Greek Christians.

I guess my question is: why wouldn't this allowance extend to all Christians of all origins?

It's not a meaningless issue...allowing Jewish Christians to keep their old observances might have allowed them to keep close to their families despite their new faith. For a Christian, once Jesus Christ was executed, Judaism was from that point on a 'false religion'. Why the allowance for Jews, but no allowance for those of other nations? After all, once Jesus died, the Jews enjoyed no more of a special relationship with God than any other nation, right?

1

enjoying suffering

by stillajwexelder in

men enjoy others' misfortune more than women -study by patricia reaney .

london (reuters) - germans have a word for it -- schadenfreude -- and when it comes to getting pleasure from someone else's misfortune, men seem to enjoy it more than women.

such is the conclusion reached by scientists at university college london in what they say is the first neuroscientific evidence of schadenfreude.using brain-imaging techniques, they compared how men and women reacted when watching other people suffer pain.. if the sufferer was someone they liked, areas of the brain linked to empathy and pain were activated in both sexes.

hybridous

I thought that the title here is a bit misleading...

Men enjoy others' misfortune more than women -study makes it sound like the study found that men like seeing others suffer for no reason at all, when the article clearly qualifies that the suffering is only enjoyable when the victims do their part to earn it.

55

birthdays

by cr1234 in

does anyone know where the article is in the awake that says birthdays are a conscience matter?

hybridous

On another note, I smell a trial balloon being floated.

I've suspected for some time that when the WT is getting ready to loosen up the chains on the whole birthday thang, this is how it'll be done.

They'll print an article stating that some True Christians have quietly and respectfully observed family member's birthdays, in good conscience. This will be contrasted to a WORLDLY birthday celebration with rowdy music, and drinking and such. Then the article will end by saying that what each Christian or Christian family decides to do is up to them, and nobody in the congregation should judge them.

55

birthdays

by cr1234 in

does anyone know where the article is in the awake that says birthdays are a conscience matter?

hybridous

A Watchtower apologist will spare no expense in keeping the Org free from tarnish. Observe here as the choice is between having the Bible sound stupid, and having the Org sound stupid. We know which will be defended at all costs.

Is there any explanation of Romans 14:5,6, other than the obvious one, namely that each Christian has the explicit right to observe/refrain from observing ANY days that carry meaning for him/her, as long as those days are not used to promote some other God?

There seems to be a distinction being made between a birthday 'celebration' and a birthday 'observence'. If we can define the terms of our discussion, it can progress to some useful degree.

42

Minimus Is Demonized

by minimus in

jw
friends

i posted this on a different thread regarding my mother but her sister (my aunt) told her that because i left the "truth" and am living my life outside of bible principles, that the "demons" are affecting her.

she told my mom that twice last week, "the demons pushed her" and caused her to fall.

because my mother associates with me and my mom associates with her sister----therefore the "contact" is made thru my mother to her.

hybridous

Minimus:

Sorry to hear about the friction in your family. It's the same story for all (or most) of us. Names and places differ, but the issues are all too familiar.

One point - doesn't the WT law concerning DFd or DAd people make allowance for contact concerning family matters? My family skates by all the time on that one. What I mean is, they basically do what they want with DFd or DAd family, and no one in the Hall can call them out on it, because they say 'Well, this is a family matter.' And that's the end of it.

I guess my point is, for family disposed to the notion, there remains a WT legal loophole of sorts for family contact. Maybe you could do the research for her, provide the quotes from the literature that proves this point, and let her have that ammo against hostile sis. I mean, your aunt would have to respect the fact that these words came from the Tower, right?!

Let us know how this goes for you. In a way, I envy those who left this cult and who were ultimately strong enough to do what they had to, and move on totally without the people that they loved. In the end, maybe it's easier that way then for the rest of us who try to pitifully hold on to whatever sense of normal that wicked cult allows for our families within.

This is a nightmare, and I used to be so scared. As time moves on, I become less scared and more and more angry. These days, I'm angry as hell. Religion is poison.

24

King has become Jehovah... oops

by proplog2 in

jw
friends

king has become jehovah .... .

pardon me i guess the book is "jehovah himself has become king.".

like many in this forum i engaged the persona "you know" on many occasions back on h20.. .

hybridous

he gives us a glimpse at the embryonic stage of an organization like the one Russell started (and Jim Jones).

I was hoping that you could go a bit farther into what you mean by this.

31

did you escape BEFORE baptism?

by kid-A in

jw
friends

.

i am of the "born into it but got out of it before baptism class"......listening to so many of the horror stories on this site, i often feel like we are the 'lucky ones'..... we realized at a very young age how wrong and absurd this belief system was and ran away before making the psychological investment of baptism while simultaneously avoided the disastrous consequences of getting df'd......are we the minority here???

just curious!

hybridous

From the age of 10 or 11 years old, I knew that something was seriously wrong with this 'religion'. I tried to extrapolate and figure out what my life would be like if I did what was expected of me (got baptized).

For the life of me, I just could not visualize a nomal happy life for myself if I continued down that JW path. I knew that something was very wrong here, and that something would eventually make my life intolerable until I eventually killed myself.

When I was alone, I would pray to God and beg Him to help me sort it all out. If this is the right religion and way of life, why does it all feel so damn WRONG? I just asked that He show me whatever it was I needed.

I never did get that confirmation from above. I went through my teen years always knowing that I was playing a part; always knowing that eventually I would have to leave this miserable cult. And I was a model JW teen, too. Ministry school, field service, quick builds, etc. I did it all. Right up through high school.

Then the cognitive dissonance reached critical mass, and I broke the news that I was done with Bible study, would not be baptized, and would not attend meetings. I had postponed baptism, presumably because I knew all along that I would leave, and I wanted to be able to have a relationship with my family that was as normal as possible. Leaving before baptism allowed me to avoid certain labels.

Yeah, those of us who left prior to baptism dodged a bullet of sorts, for now. I would not be surprised if the WT soon invents a new category for us and instructs JW family to shun us as well. Until then, I will try to have my family be a part of my life.

I could go on about this forever, but I don't want to bore people......