i haven't posted here for about 5 or 6 months.
i've looked through previous threads in an attempt to find out about the sort of stuff issued at the das this year, but without success.. my wife still attends some jw meetings.
at present she's in attendance at the big da in perth, scotland.. can anyone on this board comment on any talks, demonstrations, experiences, etc.
Thanks fokyc for sending this link, and thanks also to Yknot for providing the full programme! I really appreciate this consideration! I'll listen to a few minutes each day and then I'll, hopefully, have a few new angles to try and assist my wife to escape.
lifelong humanist
i haven't posted here for about 5 or 6 months.
i've looked through previous threads in an attempt to find out about the sort of stuff issued at the das this year, but without success.. my wife still attends some jw meetings.
at present she's in attendance at the big da in perth, scotland.. can anyone on this board comment on any talks, demonstrations, experiences, etc.
I haven't posted here for about 5 or 6 months. I've looked through previous threads in an attempt to find out about the sort of stuff issued at the DAs this year, but without success.
My wife still attends some JW meetings. At present she's in attendance at the big DA in Perth, Scotland.
Can anyone on this board comment on any talks, demonstrations, experiences, etc. that might help me continue my uphill struggle to 'open her eyes' and start to realize that she's in a nasty cult?
Many thanks in anticipation for any gems uncovered.
lifelong humanist
i have just gotten out and am free at last!
my brother did so a few years ago and has been such an amazing help to me these last few weeks.
i was raised a jw, disfellowshipped when i was 17, married a non believer and then dragged back in by my family.
ange2.0
A warm Scottish welcome to you and your wee boy! Thank you for posting your 'good news'. Best of luck as you move on in your life and make plans for the future - that's pretty exciting isn't it!
lifelong huamist
i'm a believe in non-floridation because i believe that the introduction of toxins into our bodies does nothing but harm us in the long run.
fluoride has shown up in the blood of newborn babies and given that it affects the neurological systems, and given the fact that parents are warned not to mix formula with tap water in some areas or allow children under the age of 6 to use fluoridated toothpaste, you have to wonder who is making all the money on the product.
i watched a report on this just the other day where a dentist was saying that cavities are down in the popuation but what she didn't point out was all the casualities showing up now with tooth enaml wore off, tooth discolouration, bone loss and some cancer links.
sammielee24
Just noticed your interesting thread, and read the comments made in reply.
My youngest son is in his fourth year at Dundee University, training to be a Dental Surgeon. Last time he was staying at our home, I received a bit of a rant from him over the fact that the tube of toothpaste in our upstairs bathroom had NO fluoride in it. He did compliment my wife and I that the tube in the downstairs shower room did have fluoride.
According to their teachers/lecturers and professors, some fluoride will do you no harm, and actively discourages tooth decay.
I buy fluoride toothpaste all the time now, as a result.
lifelong humanist
ask a dub acquaintance this and see if they have anything resembling a rational answer:.
you: when you're at a public event and the announcer says, "please rise for the playing/singing of the national anthem," you refuse to stand because that would be considered an act of nationalistic worship, correct?.
dub: correct.. you: why then, when a jw is in a courtroom and the baliff says, "all rise for the honorable judge whatsherface, court is now in session," do jws stand up?
Mad Sweeney
Most JWs remain seated for the NA, as to stand, to their minds, constitutes taking part in an act of worship.
To stand in a court of law for the judge, is seen as just showing respect for their position. Were the JW being presented to the queen in some formal setting, the JW would stand out of respect for her status as queen.
It is really very silly, but that's my understanding.
What I used to find incredibly stupid, was that if you were already standing up and the NA was playing, it wasn't necessary to promptly sit down. I think the reason given was that sitting down would draw attention to oneself. Yet, surely not standing would have the same effect?
Totally crazy!
lifelong humanist
hi everyone ,.
there are many new folk joining here everyday , and i thought it may be interesting and fun to just see how many people have left the congregation that you have attended in the past 5 years .
i dont mean of course people who are active jw's moving to another cong , but people that have left the wt religion , faded , da'd or df'd .. so , i will start off with my own cong .there have been 9 leave , 8 completely gone , myself hardly ever there and ' inactive ' .. leo999.
leo999
It isn't easy to state accurately how many have quit the cult that attended my last KW, which had around 90 publishers I think.
I DAd in 2003. That led to 3 other immediate family members following suit (another son was DFd earlier the same year I quit).
I know of just one other prominent family that took action to quit. They account for another 5 truly decent individuals. I suspect that there are others, but my wife (who's still active) hasn't informed me of any.
Given the opportunity, I'd always seize it to do my best in trying to enlighten JWs with the express hope of freeing others them from the incredibly damaging mind-control. My efforts are currently solely dedicated to freeing my wife.
lifelong humanist
if you are one of the posters on here who has got to the point where you do not believe in god to any great extent, do you miss "him".
i find that i rarely used to ask god for anything, or load him up with my problems, everybody elses were far more urgent, but i did used to feel moved to praise him when i saw the beauties of creation, a sunset etc.. i now feel an urge to still do that, but do not believe anyone is listening, do you get moments like that ?.
love.
wobble
I can say with total certainty that I no longer do.
As cofty said, having preconceived ideas can be quite comforting to life's many uncertainties. When you no longer accept this erroneous view, you have to grow up quickly, realize that we all have to do our best to be as happy as we can and do as much good to others as we can, for this life is all there is. It takes a bit of time before you become entirely comfortable with this point of view.
lifelong humanist
i don't wish to offend any that are teaching their kids at home, but today i was again confronted by a situation where a jw family were home schooling.
the kids had little structure to their routine and without putting the mum down, she was no teacher in an academic sense.. the subject is close to my heart because my parents who are witnesses, took my younger brothers out of school and home tutored them.
the were subjected to below standard education and limited in social skills, particularly as my parents are crap at these skills themselves.. i have grown to hate home schooling except in the situation of medical or logistical situations.. what are your comments good or bad and do you think the option to home school is abused by the witness community?.
semelcred
Here in Scotland, the state education system provides an above-average education, delivered totally free of charge. Most UK citizens reckon that we Scots have one of the the best education systems - some argue that our system is world-class.
My wife and I opted out of the state system, and paid for our 4 boys to be educated in a private school - very expensive, but in our view, worth every penny. We value education highly. Sadly, most Jws do not.
When I was a cult JW member it became quite popular - fashionable, even - among JWs of below-average (but hard to quantify) intellect to opt out of the state system and teach their children at home. This has always made me seriously question the wisdom of the governmental and school authorities that permit inadequately schooled parents to attempt what is possibly one of the more difficult things in life - to captivate, motivate and inspire children to excel and be the best they can be...
I know of several youngsters that were dragged out in FS as 'part of their education'. Reading 'bible stories' was viewed as a sound grounding in English! The parents, with few exceptions, almost always thought that they were doing a fantastic job, compared to the educated professionals. These parents thought that their stance would prevent 'bad associations' for their youngsters, etc. I suspect that their motives were somewhat different, even excessively selfish. In some cases, even downright dishonest - claiming state benefits to 'teach' their children at home.
There are possibly some children that have done well with home schooling, but, I cannot recall a single home-schooled JW child turning out well, from even the most liberal person's viewpoint. Most were merely mirror images of their maladjusted parents. The single-parent JW family heads (usually the woman) that attempted home-schooling were, in my experience, the worst home-teachers.
I think that the governmental agencies should investigate this area more thoroughly, and take action to prevent under-qualified adults attempting to educate children. The consequences for society in genaral are very poor. The potential damage to the child is immeasurable.
lifelong humanist
hey all,.
i'm really keen to hear from anyone who was or still is in my old kh at st.andrews in scotland.
if anyone is still in and wants to chat without the risk of being identified thats fine, we can talk anonymously.... failing that, i'm keen to speak to anyone from scotland who knew/knows the jws at st.andrews kh.. .
bulgogiboy
My wife, Joy, daughter, Joanna (died in 1976, aged 4) and I (John Tait) were in St Andrews in 1972/3 and attended the hall. I was a third generation born-in. DAd in 2003. Now an active Scottish Humanist
We were friendly with the late Jimmy Boyd and his wife Betty and their 2 boys. I studied with Graham Leitch, who was a clever guy, studying Biochemistry at the uni. He married a Swiss fellow student who was deaf. They have at least one child. I believe he's still in the cultl. There was a 'nutter' family - the Williamsons. I remember the Nellyers.
I helped run the John Smith & Son University bookshop in South Street during our stay - we lived in the flat above the shop at first, before buying a house on the outskirts of town. Several JWs ridiculed me for working in a bookshop, as we sold textbooks about evolution, geological facts that denied the Noachian flood, etc. I was just 21 at the time and didn't know how best to handle the opposition!
We all enjoyed living there, and still like to visit on a weekend with one of our 3 grandchildren - flying kites on the beach and putting in the Old Course putting green.
I'm interested in finding out more about your stay in Turkey - one of our favourite holiday destinations. I recall that you posted on a thread I started about relocating there towards the end of 2009. I'm still semi-serious about that, so any info you have would be warmly received, especially Aegean or Mediterranean Turkey. The only way this is likely to happen is if we live reasonably near a KH, as my wife is still in the cult. My efforts, to date, to educate her to reject cult mind-control have still to bear fruit.
lifelong humanist
lifelong humanist
for many jw's, they point to the gb as wonderful examples of zealous, humble, older men that are only serving jg for right and correct reasons.. unlike many of the preachers we see on tv, they are, and this is the important point, 'not in it for the money'.. of course we see them differently on this site, exposed many times over, as being self-serving hypocrites.. but if you want to win-over a jw doubter, this is one of the questions you have to answer.
"what's in it for the gb member?
why are they doing this if not for the money?".
dissed
You pose an interesting question that I've considered previously.
In my opinion, the GB staff feel 'special' and really 'proud' to have been 'selected' by 'holy spirit' for the sole purpose of leading their followers in pursuing their unique version of 'spirituality'. I think that they genuinely believe that they can be a 'force for good' and 'speak for god' to their membership. Some maybe understand that the whole thing is just a sham, but I doubt this is the majority view.
The goal to serve for money, I doubt exists - although, having said that, the comfortable life style and status that comes with the position must boost their ego to some extent. I suspect that most, if not all, lack common sense and are probably diagnosably mentally unstable to varying degrees. Possibly, some are just trying to 'get their own back' so to speak, on some of the teachings that they were forced to swallow by previous GB members. I used to wonder how they ever got to sleep at night - I suspect that their conscience must be troubling the ones that still have mental capacity.
The whole thing is really rather sad - sad, mostly poorly educated, tired-out men leading an organization into whatever disaster awaits them as they follow whatever dictate they think is 'the next big thing' for them to buy into. I think they are really just 'acting out' a role that they've 'earned', so to speak, from many years of servitude.
The saddest part of all is the fact that most JWs don't appreciate that they are members of a doomsday cult. No wonder JWs are so gloomy and depressed!
lifelong humanist
