Posts by CandleSurgeon

20

Ex-Circuit Overseers Write Books about Jehovah's Witnesses

by cabasilas in

some of our new members may find these online books of interest.

two former circuit overseers (both of whom "served" in the uk) have published books about jehovah's witnesses.. the first was a circuit overseer in the early 1960s by the name of william stevenson.

he published his book shortly after the watchtower society started promoting 1975 as the date for the end of 6,000 years of mankind's existence.

Unconfirmed Issues at WT HQ and Chicago

by yadda yadda 2 in

jw
friends

saw this on the paradise cafe forum.

anyone know if there is any substance to these rumours?:.

unconfirmed issues at wt hq and chicago.

CandleSurgeon

Interesting. I would love to find out if there is any truth to this as well.

CS

119

Watchtower is kicking people out again, in the name of LOVE?

by Bethelite Elder in

jw
friends

right now at bethel, they are laying off and reassigning again.

if you have cancer or some other illness, you are a liability and it's time to pack.

i remember the night when we had the special talk about there being a great need in the field and some would be sent out.

CandleSurgeon

15 years of dedicated service and then kicked out.

What a loving organization!

CS

31

Atheists - Please answer this

by Nellie in

jw
friends

i guess i lean more towards an agnostic point of view; though if asked, i will still identify myself as a christian.

why, i'm not really sure if i'm honest with myself.

it all boils down to how i feel about the earth and all of the inhabitants thereon.

CandleSurgeon

Rent a Movie called "What the "Bleep" do we know?" (2004)

Director(s): William Arntz, Mark Vicente, Betsy Chasse

It is more a documentary than a movie, it revolves around quantum physics. But it is very interesting and there is a segment that offers a very unique perspective on what "God" is. I think you would enjoy it.

CandleS

30

Hello

by CandleSurgeon in

jw
friends

hello, some of you may know me by my screen name others probably don't.

so a friendly hello and a quick bio for those who don't know me.. .

i am 25, d/a'd when i was 22. i was a born-in, my family shuns me because of my d/a'ing.

CandleSurgeon

As one who was "in" for over thirty years, I can tell you that this will make them happy. Just the fact that you are there will suggest to them that you are jealous and must show off your friends. They will also look at you and feel that you have not improved yourself and feel vindicated.

Just a thought.

These people have no idea who I am. I d/a'd when I was in NC. I now live in MA. We are going because my g/f wanted to see what it was like for me growing up. My story will be that my uncle is a JW and encouraged me to come or something like that. Of course if there are any JW's watching my post every KH in MA may be alerted to a guy coming in a Bob Marley shirt. Either way I am not worried, I feel no need to tell these people I am d/a'd or give them any facts about me at all. But while I am there if anyone offers me and my g/f a bible study I am going to hit them with questions about covering up pedophelia, the blood issue, or do you really believe god will murder innocent children at armageddon? As far as they will know I am just a guy who's uncle is a JW and I did a lot of research into it. But like I said it is more because my g/f just wants to see what it was like, but since I am going I am want to have some fun with it.

CandleS

9

Does staying in touch with family depend upon you?

by compound complex in

jw
friends

if you didn't initiate contact with children or other relatives, would there be no communication whatsoever?

i realize that estrangement over jw-related issues is a huge factor.. i have friends whose grown children call daily.. does other's failure to stay in touch indicate indifference or simply sheer busyness, in your humble opinion?.

coco .

CandleSurgeon

My sister will ocossionaly talk with me, but it has gotten to the point I only hear from her every other month. My mother will not speak to me at all. I called yesturday as a matter of fact just to tell her I love her, my grandmother picked up. I usually leave a message that just says, "Hi this is your unwanted son, just wanted to call and say I love you and hope you guys are doing well. I am doing well and I just wanted you to know. Take care, I love even though you won't speak to me." Usually they don't pick up at all, but as I said my grandmother (in-law) picked up the phone and the conversation went like this:

GM: "Hello"

CS: "Hi is this ****?"

GM: "Yes"

CS: "I know you don't want to speak to me, but this is ******** and I was just calling my mom to say hi"

GM: "Your mother doesn't want you calling anymore"

CS: "Well I am still her son and I'm still here, I am going to keep calling"

GM: "You know it is making things very hard on her when you call"

CS: "You know its hard on me that my whole family wont speak to me, you know I have feelings I am still a human being..." and with that she hung up on me.

The whole thing sucks, and I am at a loss as to how to create even just a little communication. I would give anything to be able to give my mom a hug and hear her laugh, it has been three years and we have only spoken on the phone once in those years. She told me to never call again, at the time I said I would respect that request but later decided I would not. By not calling I make it easy for her to forget me and I figure by calling I am reminding her that I exist and maybe it will make her think about cult issues. Maybe not, either way nothing is going to stop me from calling my mom every now and then and telling her I love her.

CandleS

18

Building new friendships

by troubled mind in

jw
friends

on the thread about 'moving on after leaving the witnesses', it brought to mind how hard it is to build new friendships .. for me i have been out for a little over three years .

i knew before i quit that it would be important to fill the void that would be left when old "friends" began dropping us .

lucky for me i worked with some very fun out going people at my job .

CandleSurgeon

I left about three years ago as well. At the time I did not know what to expect of "worldly" people, my parents had always taught me that any worldly person was just pretending to be my friend and would use me and eventually stab me in the back. This of course created some trepidation with trusting people when I left the JW's at 22. I worked at a nursing home and I slowly began to develop friendships at work, my first real friend was named Carl. By the time I moved from NC to MA we had become like family.

In MA it took me some time to open up and make friends, part of me felt I would be socially retarded forever. I didn't seem to connect with people after a certain point. Slowly but surely I have been developing more and more friendships, I now rarely spend a Friday night alone, the past St. Patties I went out with some friends I met through people I knew at work and we had an absolute blast.

The only thing I can say is friendships can't be rushed, when you leave the JW's it is devastating because every friend you ever had all of the sudden will not even acknowledge that you exist. It was lonely at first, but in time and with patience I have been developing new friendships with people. The two major advantages of my current friendships are:

1.) I get to pick my friends based on who I enjoy spending time with. I don't HAVE to be someone’s friend just because they are my "spiritual brother/sister"

2.) My current friends will not abandon me because I make a major life change. If I decide tomorrow I want to be Buddhist my friends will accept that, they do not try to control my individuality.

It may take time, but the friendships I have developed over the last three years are far better than any friendships I had with JW's. Those were conditional friendships based on lies and guilt.

CandleS

57

Does a Cult Background Assist Atheists?

by Perry in

the march 2009 american religious identification survey from trinity college and the march 7, 2009, national journal article on "rise of the godless" present the following data: .

when asked for their religious affiliation, 15 percent of americans say none, but only 0.7 percent say atheist ..... .

i present the above info just as a reminder that very, very few people consider themselves atheist despite decades of "scientific" propaganda suggesting otherwise.

CandleSurgeon

I'll even overlook the fact that in atheism it is impossible to know right from wrong.

You insult yourself with this statement.

CandleS

30

Hello

by CandleSurgeon in

jw
friends

hello, some of you may know me by my screen name others probably don't.

so a friendly hello and a quick bio for those who don't know me.. .

i am 25, d/a'd when i was 22. i was a born-in, my family shuns me because of my d/a'ing.

CandleSurgeon

It's good to see some familiar faces and to see some new ones. Thanks for the friendly welcome everyone :D

Jamie- I am looking forward to the 4th as well. I kind of have a busy weekend, I was finally able to get my weekends switched and I am meeting Megan's sister tomorrow and her parents on Sunday :P We are also going to a KH this weekend for kicks, and because she is interested to see what it was like for me growing up. I am wearing my big Bog Marley shirt and skull pants, she is wearing a boondocks shirt with two guns on it, and I am SO gonna smoke a cigarette in the KH parking lot. Should be lots of fun, I am afraid I won't be able to keep my apostate tongue in check. I am going to raise my hand during the WT study, if they actually give me the mike they might cut it off because I will probably just ask the conductor some embarrassing questions. I can see myself being asked to never come back, but its ok I don't plan on it. But I will try to give you a call this coming Tuesday or Thursday (my days off)

I have to get back to work. Thanks again, looking forward to getting to know you all.

CandleS

30

Hello

by CandleSurgeon in

jw
friends

hello, some of you may know me by my screen name others probably don't.

so a friendly hello and a quick bio for those who don't know me.. .

i am 25, d/a'd when i was 22. i was a born-in, my family shuns me because of my d/a'ing.

CandleSurgeon

Hello, some of you may know me by my screen name others probably don't. So a friendly hello and a quick bio for those who don't know me.

I am 25, d/a'd when I was 22. I was a born-in, my family shuns me because of my d/a'ing. I came in contact with apostates about 8 months or so back, before that I still had the armageddon phobias in the back of my mind. All I know is my freedom of mind is preciouse to me! I am currently in college and have an otherwise demanding schedule so my posts are sporadic. But I hope to get to know you guys and when I have more time on another day I will spend some time looking through the various threads.

CandleS