Posts by hybridous

19

Pull the Plug Already...

by megaboy in

after reading and seeing so many detailings of the dealings with people in this religion, i have to wonder how to get people who are just extremely asleep.

reasoning doesn't seem like it works, there needs to be some kind of plug pull event, like the leaders doing something so uterly stupid that it causes the immediate downfall of the entire religion.

but because i am naturally curious i want to know from people who have more experience with jw structure why they seem to have a resistance to an event like this?

hybridous

I have a friend who I maybe have a yearly convo with from another country (in Asia) who is one and it just doesn't seem like any of these barrages of negative occurences are effecting their perception of the org. I mean I see so many bethel HQ stories where its pretty obvious there is no super natural force guiding the place, but still they chug along.

I have the same experience. Remember that if you are not a JW, your family/friends that are in are obliged to put up a front for you. As frustrating as it can be, there's no way my JW relatives can express any doubt or fatigue - come what may...

Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't silently carry the burden of doubts raised by the poor optics of WT in the news. They can't express their doubts to outsiders, and they don't DARE express them to other JWs...

They literally have nowhere to go.

I'm not particularly sure how they are still able to manage a slow death into irrelevance rather than a complete wipe out.

I think the religion demands comparatively less from its members now, as opposed to what JWs used to have to do a generation ago.

No separate book study night. Shorter assemblies. Steps taken in the direction of becoming more of a 'phone-it-in' religion. Not enough for my tastes, though.

20

Just Got Dubbed..

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

so there i was earlier today, enjoying a spot of lunch in a pleasant little cafe whilst out shopping, when up came a fella i vaguely recognised from the dim and distant past just as i was tucking into my highland soup with bread roll and butter..

"i would never ignore you you know".. "eh?

what" i ventured wondering wtf is this all about.

hybridous

Better late than never.

Maybe the sentiment expressed is no real solace to the OP, (and maybe his absence from your life no real loss, either!)

Nevertheless, I have come to view every act of rebellion and disobedience to the Tower as good signs.

May there be many more to follow...

28

Baptism statistics from CO

by neat blue dog in

just went to the assembly yesterday and during the final talk the circuit overseer said:.

'sure, there are some adults baptised here and there, but do you want to know something wonderful?

the vast majority of those getting baptized are teens and preteens!

hybridous

Well dropping the reports is a one-time event. One cut of the knife, by basically admitting that the numbers are (and will continue to) look REALLY BAD...

But then it's over and done with.

To keep publishing the reports is to open the ORG up to a continual humiliation, and the longer bad numbers are published, the less damage Option #1 saves them.

I reckon they will opt to keep publishing but lie as needed to support their narratives.

117

Why the NFL Protest Is a Massive and Insulting Failure

by freemindfade in

i think everyone has the freedom to protest, they also have freedom of speech, these are two fundamental things that make america amazing.

but thinking rationally about what is going on with the nfl, therefore, i have an unfavorable opinion of the league, and the players, not their right to free speech, but their motive and execution of it.

constitutional freedom to protest ends at the workplace door too.

hybridous

There exists an old adage, that 'you don't shit where you eat'.

There's a good chance that these protests are a tactical error, and this will bear itself out before too long.

Putting aside the merits of the protesters assertions, average working-class people resent being preached at during their entertainment - by millionaires, to boot!

I know that heavy-handed moralizing about wrongs I've never committed failed to be a selling point for the JW religion...might not sell so well for the NFL players.

22

Parents who try to make you feel guilty.

by NJ501 in

when parents say all the things we've done for you and your not doing anything for us in return like going to meetings, witnessing, answering up etc... how do you respond to parents?.

hybridous

Sorry to hear about the situation. Yes, they will try any angle to strong-arm you back into the 'religion'. That's how I knew it was the right choice to leave. The religion is so wonderful for you, it must be shoved down your throat.

When met with similar tactics, I said (to paraphrase), 'I simply don't believe (some/all) of the doctrines. What would you have me do? Profess belief in things I don't believe? I could lie to the elders and the congregation; I could fool them. Shall I lie to Jehovah? Fool Him?'

(Silence)

It is simply amazing just how little critical thought and analysis goes into a thing that wields so much control over their lives.

34

Thinking about the end of the Watchtower

by JeffT in

jw
friends

first, a word about the watchtower’s financial position: nobody (outside the watchtower organization) knows.

the wtbs is not required to disclose its finances, and doesn’t.

we can speculate, but that is all we are doing.

hybridous

I wonder if the EOTWT speculation is, at least in part, fueled by that which us 'disaffected' or former JWs hope to gain by such a scenario.

In my own case, I find myself hoping for a future where former relationships with family and friends are restored...except this time we're all rational and carry on with an understanding that there was a high-control cult formerly running/ruining our lives. la-dee-da. I am a dolt for indulging this stuff.

I think the OP is astute in pointing out the real costs; the likelihood that any EOTWT scenario (while applauded near & far) will have a catastrophic psychological/emotional fallout on these very same people that I am hoping to reunite with! There is simply no 'End of WT' scenario that would leave these true-believers intact as the people I remember them to be.

This is a done deal. Even if the WT closes shop tomorrow, the costs are sunk. I (we) will likely never have our relationships back with the WTs adherents, even after the master is gone.

Perhaps it's better to root for EOTWT, not on the basis of a past that cannot be recovered, but on the basis of the future, where this garbage isn't out there, lurking, waiting to ruin lives and inflict pain on all it can touch.

34

Will Watchtower target the inactive?

by ToesUp in

jw
friends

if watchtower has no reason to df ones.

they have just become inactive.

do you all think wt will begin a witch hunt (df'ing) for these inactive ones?

hybridous

I don't think it's necessary for them to go after "inactive" JWs. The cult mind control is so strong that indoctrinated JWs pre-emptively shun any who are less "spiritual" than they are, even if there was no announcement.

Yes, this is a good observation. The JWs 'shoot their wounded'...the attrition losses must be staggering. How long could this go on?

40

How Many Here EVER Considered Going Back To Meetings?

by minimus in

jw
friends

once i left ,i was done.

in over 10 years i didn't return except for my mother's funeral.

did you ever re enter the kh after you left?.

hybridous

I tried a couple of memorials and assemblies after I formally 'left'. I'm sure I only did so because it made people happy to hold onto 'hope' for me.

When I realized that I really didn't believe any of this shit, it was just impossible to sit there anymore.

After all, why should I bear the burden of living a lie just to make people happy...when these people didn't really give a toss about me (apart of me being a witness)?

I know there are folks mentally 'out' but physically 'in', and I offer no judgement of the decisions of anyone else...but when I realized that I had no meaningful relationships within the cult that could stand on their own, well then, I guess my happiness and my life are too valuable to squander for the sake of someone else's delusions...

The years have gone by, and only verified my decision to break cleanly from the cult.

12

What is the watchtower going to do when

by pepperheart in

all the old magazines that are on the carts now have gone ?.

hybridous

I would imagine that, before too long, more 'new' magazines, tracts, whatever...will be there...

Printed out at the 'publishers' expense...

7

What could Jw church do to enhance their shunning regime?

by Chook in

if they controlled a nation they would stone their kids to death , which seems harsh but its nothing compared to the solitary confinement they emotionally and physically bestow on their own children.

i think they have ticked every box as to the rejection of their children except killing them, they leave that for god ..

hybridous

Even that last part they leave to God...begrudgingly.

They're screwing themselves, though it will take a long time to bear itself out.

So we know that the majority of kids raised in the cult eventually leave (I've heard anywhere from 2/3 to 80% - but the precise number doesn't matter, only that it's LARGE!)

Many dubs have meager educations, meager careers, meager earnings, and therefore meager retirement.

It'd be a real shame if the State wasn't up to the task in taking care of elderly dubs in their golden years. Further shame if these very same needy folks done chased away most of their progeny, on account of a hokey religious cult, after all...

...and spent their old age alone and in poverty of both coin and spirit...

This is the hand the JW religion is dealing out to it's strident believers.

I suppose they could further narrow the definition of 'necessary family business'...and enthusiastically enforce it. But I suppose there might be a natural limit to this approach, because it may hit home for too many families of elders and therefore be unenforceable beyond that which is done, now...