Posts by hybridous

19

Share Your Favorite Shakespeare

by compound complex in

jw
friends

give me my romeo; and, when he shall die,take him and cut him out in little stars,and he will make the face of heaven so finethat all the world will be in love with nightand pay no worship to the garish sun.. -- romeo and juliet 3 ii.

hybridous

If love be rough with you, be rough with love.

Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.—

Give me a case to put my visage in!

A visor for a visor.—What care I

What curious eye doth cote deformities?

Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.

Mercutio was always my favorite. I have forever wished that Romeo stayed out of the fight and let Mercutio finish Tybalt off right then & there, but of course, that scenario preempts the tragic finish.

13

Active JWs celebrating birthdays

by neat blue dog in

i remember hearing parents say they're going out to eat for their child's birthday some years ago, and recently i see a lot of active jws wishing each other as well as worldly people on facebook a happy birthday, including emoticons related to partying.

is this a judicial offence, or have you seen anything similar?.

hybridous

To the OPs point, I haven't seen the 'Happy Birthday' messages on Facebook, but I have heard credible stories of small groups of JW friends having a 'get-together' or going out to dinner for someone's 'NOT-Birthday'...

If they're willing to toe that line (and in some cases deliberately step over it), it tells me that they know the prohibition is bunk. It's all about maintaining appearances. Small steps, but still positive ones.

60

Are they either leaving or going full on 'cult mode'? No quarter.

by punkofnice in

it might just be me imagining things.. i hear things from my jw spies.. from all that's being said, it seems to me that the rank and file(tm), are either waking up to the scam and fading/leaving.

they are going full on 'cult mode' and acting like 'spiritual police'.. is it just me and my imagination?

have others noticed this?.

hybridous

One has to wonder, then, what does WT leadership see for itself, if this is the general strategy taken...

This course of action is pretty much a backhanded admission that the days of growing the org are over. Can't march forward. Time to circle the wagons and hold on to what we've got.

Time is not on their side, and they know it. If they were sincerely deluded, wouldn't they be rolling the dice and betting the house that YHVH was going to make it all right? Is the hand of Jehovah short?

These are the actions of people who know better than to expect divine intervention on their behalf. These are the actions of people who don't believe their own bull****.

I hope lurkers read this and realize that the JW ORG doesn't even believe what they're selling...so why should you?

36

How long can this cult remain with only kids becoming members?

by Crazyguy in

it's become clear that very few from outside the religion are joining anymore.

if only the kids of the people that are already in are the one replacing the members as they die off and 50% let's say of the kids leave then how long can they realistically last before the downturn becomes obvious?.

hybridous

Quote: 'The increased details on what is involved in shunning disfellowshipped persons suggests that the rank and file are still not fully getting what is required of them.'

Hi Steve, when you say 'not fully getting', do you mean innocent oversight in not understanding official policy/doctrine, or perhaps in an intentional, passive-aggressive rebellious kind of way?

I ask because sometimes I can see certain lines and boundaries being tested within the family, that would've never been dared in previous years. Who knows, maybe the summer assemblies will reign them in, again...

95

Supreme Court Of Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses as an 'extremist organization'

by EdenOne in

read the news here.

the jehovah's witnesses lost their appeal to the supreme court of russia.

bethel to be liquidated.. i bet the gb saw this coming ... here comes the persecution complex paranoia.

hybridous

You have stated the "blame the victim" mantra quite well.
Flag Dislike LikeCharacterize it as you will. I didn't offer any defense of the indefensible.

95

Supreme Court Of Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses as an 'extremist organization'

by EdenOne in

read the news here.

the jehovah's witnesses lost their appeal to the supreme court of russia.

bethel to be liquidated.. i bet the gb saw this coming ... here comes the persecution complex paranoia.

hybridous

Even tho people can be individual members, the members themselves do not have input into the directives that control their lives.
I will point out that, unless were talking about children, people choose to be JWs in the first place, and in doing so, they willfully abdicate all/most of their self-direction.

Adults have the right to do this.

15

WILL this be New Light? Is the Watchtower preparing to say out loud, Jesus is Jehovah?

by Terry in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk7ertncbsk

hybridous

Then again, part of me wonders if this is not exactly the type of compromise the WT will find itself having to make for the sake of political necessity...

What I mean is, right now, the WT doesn't have seem to have much in the way of religious or political allies.

Maybe they will find themselves in the position of having to make doctrinal compromises to find common ground with the American Evangelical bunch? Maybe this is how they survive?

15

WILL this be New Light? Is the Watchtower preparing to say out loud, Jesus is Jehovah?

by Terry in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk7ertncbsk

hybridous

Terry, I love your posts

and I absolutely pine for the day the WT backtracks on doctrines like THESE, because proceeding from THESE are schisms that will lay waste to, and likely end the JW religion as we have come to know it...

But, I don't think we there yet. They can pay the bills that keep the lights on, so...on we go.

22

A big thanks to all you good good people

by aboveusonlysky in

jw
friends

"when the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies" jefferson airplane.

until that is you find websites like this!

i want to say a big thank you to all of you for everything i've learned here, as well as jwfacts, jwsurvey, coc, isocf etc.. i'm a born in and i spent more than two decades of my adult life in full time 'service' for the (b)org.

hybridous

Good stuff. Glad to have you in the mix.

72

Waking up - introduction

by Dreamerdude in

i am a male, born into the jw cult(ure), baptized as a teen, now mid fifties.

most of my life i dreamed of hugging pandas and lions, punctuated at times by nightmares of armageddon or jw drama and politics.

still going through the motions for still-in wife.

hybridous

Hi, DDude -

Glad to have you here and thanks for stepping out of the shadows to talk.

You seem to have laid some solid groundwork for yourself. Please, do not allow yourself to feel rushed, and do not put your wife (or yourself) under pressure to renounce the JW religion and just leave. As you know, a person must reach the satisfaction of their own conclusions regarding these matters. Tread lightly and feed your relationship.

I am glad to hear you mention Farkel. He had really taken some time to indulge me in conversation that was very valuable to me. He was instrumental in helping me stay on the rails, even as I left the JW cult in an abrupt and furious manner. He was extraordinarily kind to this dumb kid, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Look forward to hearing what you have to say.