RR: It's a book that has words and music
Now that would be something...
DrJohnStMark
JoinedPosts by DrJohnStMark
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DrJohnStMark
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24
People dont get disfellowshipped anymore
by foolsparadise inthey are announced as no longer being one of jehovahs witnesses.
why then do people still shun them if they are not disfellowshipped.
witnesses talk to non jws all the time, so we should be allowed to talk to members who are announced as no longer one of jehovahs witnesses.
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DrJohnStMark
My no longer being a JW was never announced at the kingdom hall (officially I'm out after signing a form long time ago) but I'm shunned in any case. They know. Only a few members of the congregation say hello... some time ago a couple of pioneers even switched (in an illegal way) to the other side of the street in the city when they saw me coming.
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DrJohnStMark
I do miss a few JW friends of mine. Some of them were really intelligent, and probably still are even if in JWs. It is just that their brain is in an overhand knot.
In fact, I would like to be not an ex-JW. This does not mean that I would like to be a JW...
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What made you think?
by greenie ini know this topic has been covered, so feel free to ignore me or point me to another post for your response, but i'm just curious: what made you first think the jws didn't have it all?
what it a slow process or like a lightening strike?.
for me, a non-jw, it was like a lightening strike when i started reading about the blood issue..
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DrJohnStMark
About this secret smoking... My older sister told this and it has been confirmed by the younger one: When still JW, my younger sister had visited her at her home and at one point said that she needs a walk outside - for smoking which was the real reason but she could not tell, for obvious reason. Some time after that my older sister had done the same thing, leaving the younger sister to watch the babies. Needless to say, they had some serious fun afterwards, when they realized what had happened. This also might make you think...
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For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)
by Open mind indisclaimer: your mileage may vary.
if you are a married, "active, in good standing" (tm), jw male who has recently discovered that the .
watchtower is not what it claims to be, this thread is for you.
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DrJohnStMark
After I quit the organization, my wife (now ex-wife, I wish her all the best) stayed in and it was a hell, with kids and all that. Then I was offered a job opportunity in another country (another language) so we moved there. After one year she was out of JWs. Being in another environment, combined with some of my arguments, did the trick (one of my arguments is written in the "what-made-you-think" thread). It had helped to look at things from a different point of view and to break the mind control. One important thing in this was (she can tell more if she's here) that using a foreign language the WT stuff looks extremely simplistic and trivial and as intellectually empty as it really is.
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26
What made you think?
by greenie ini know this topic has been covered, so feel free to ignore me or point me to another post for your response, but i'm just curious: what made you first think the jws didn't have it all?
what it a slow process or like a lightening strike?.
for me, a non-jw, it was like a lightening strike when i started reading about the blood issue..
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Are there ANY Bible prophecies that indisputably came true?
by nicolaou in.
i mean a prophecy made before the event, with specific detail that can be verified in history books.
nothing vague like 'reports of wars'.. .
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DrJohnStMark
There are hundreds of prophecies in Bible so the odds are that at least one of them has come true. But which one has?
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What do most ex-JWs "believe" after leaving?
by EverAStudent inhas anyone done a survey to determine what faith system, religion, or set of religious beliefs ex-jws tend to settle into after leaving the organization?
if not, would you care to post what you presently consider to be your own personal religion (e.g.
protestant, catholic, baptist, jw but not in the organization, agnostic, atheist, ...) and especially what you presently believe about jesus (was he a real historical human, is he god, is he an angel, ...).. thank you!.
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DrJohnStMark
I am a non-believer. With respect to the God of Jehovah's Witnesses I can call myself also an atheist. In my opinion, it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that such a God does not exist.
After I quit JWs, for many years I tried to avoid any contact with religion in any form. I recognize now that, because of my background, the question (even if solved) is still of interest to me and I just cannot be indifferent. How about a religious-minded atheist? Just kidding...
Nowadays I like to talk with priests and theologians and I frequently read literature on the subject, christian and non-christian. I also go to church (buildings) quite often, because I happen to like church music (in the wide meaning of the word). Sometimes during a concert in a church it flashes in my mind that long time ago I used to be afraid of becoming attacked by demons in those places... and I relax.
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26
What made you think?
by greenie ini know this topic has been covered, so feel free to ignore me or point me to another post for your response, but i'm just curious: what made you first think the jws didn't have it all?
what it a slow process or like a lightening strike?.
for me, a non-jw, it was like a lightening strike when i started reading about the blood issue..
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DrJohnStMark
I started to think a lot after my children were born and also, for the first time in many years, I got some time to. Seeing them grow and learn, so open and good, I just could no more accept the WT concept of sin. More important, I could no more accept the plans the God of JW was supposed to have for most children now living on earth or what he was said to have done in the past.
Just go and watch small children running and smiling in the school yard or kindergarten playground. Look carefully, take your time. Then imagine someone would come and have them drowned one by one in a nearby pond. That is what the God of JW has done. As an act of God, Noah's flood that we were taught to believe in, is so out of all proportions.
I need to note that already before that, I knew for sure that from the scientific point of view the flood could not have happened in the way described e.g. in the WTBTS book Is the Bible Really Word of God? However, that knowledge alone had not been enough for me... the emotional intelligence, when given the chance, was the key. I would expect it to be in many cases more effective in making a JW think than just knowledge they have been programmed to disregard. -
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To Current and Former Elders
by Styxx ini wanted to say a few things to current and former elders.
it was really a post by alltimejeff on 10/1/2009 that got me thinking about this and i address a few things that he says here.
but i dont want to single him out because i really think that he is typical of many, and he did in fact apologize for his actions at the end of his post.
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DrJohnStMark
I was to become an elder, but fortunately quit before that. I remember I did enjoy polishing and giving speeches... but what would you expect, after being pushed down by the organization all your life and now on stage? Did I really want to become an elder? I do know somebody else close to me wanted it to happen. I hope I did not. It's hard to tell, though, since I was somebody else. I do not recognize the guy, yet I feel something may be left of that externally imposed ambition... not really an ambition at all as pointed out by Styxx... it pops up at times.