Posts by tjlibre

25

I've Got An Idea: Sue An Elder!

by minimus in

jw
friends

i honestly think that if individual elders thought they personally might get sued, they would back off from talking to you or trying to hunt you down.

i know i always was nervous that i'd havv=e to hire a lawyer and pay $$$ out of my own pocket.. what do you think?

might that not discourage elders from violating your rights or harrassing you?

tjlibre

I’m preparing my self. I won’t allow any of them to DF me without a fight; I’ll quit on my own terms.

I’m thinking that if that time comes for me, that’ll threat to sue each one of them individually for slandering and defamation of character. I’ll tell them that’ll go to the public and publish stories about their mistreatment of the sheep, their hypocrisy and faults as individuals.

I’m actually doing research about legally revoking my baptism as a JW….(that’ll make me a “worldly” person right? ;) I think is worth investigating this option because I was under 18 when I got baptized, and I can say that they never asked me the question regarding loyalty to the Organization, (the burden of proof will be on them).

I think that'll make them go away....

21

How Many Elders Are Here?

by tjlibre in

jw
friends

how many elders are here?.

i dont know if this topic has been posted before.

but after realizing that i sort of resurrected an old post from outofthebox, i thought of starting a new one with the topic above.

tjlibre

Hello cattails,

No, I’m not those “guys” ;). It is my first time joining an online forum of any kind. I’ve been lurking, looking, and reading “apostate” material for a about a year or so.

I wanted to wait to be appointed as an elder before making my decision to stay or leave the JW, I needed to confirm on my own that things were not what I thought they were (you know what I mean).

I serve in a Spanish speaking congregation, and I’m planning to launch a website a la freemind.org in Spanish to help the Spanish speaking JW community. I feel that the bulk of the information that helped me to see the truth about the “truth” was in English, the ones available in Spanish I felt were poorly presented or not easily available (researchable).

I feel that the WT org will mostly be supported by the Spanish Cong in the US and perhaps world wide. The reason is that culturally the JW religion appeal to the Hispanic community and I’ve seen tremendous growth in that field. For example, in the KH where my cong. meets there are a couple of English speaking cong with about 40 to 70 publisher (which by the way are 60 to 70 % Hispanic descendants) and the rest of the cong are Spanish speaking with about 85 to 135 publishers (and many, many, “bible students”, pioneers, elders etc). Culturally, the Hispanic community tends to be submissive, religious, less educated and not inclined to do research. What I’m trying to convey is that the WT is finding fresh blood in that field that’ll allow them to continue their policies for many years to come. And is because of that reason that I’m planning to do my inside job for the Spanish speaking JW community, with the hope that some will see the WT Org for what it is.

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: 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.

tjlibre

Yesterday after service my wife started a conversation about how she feels that some bro/sis are close-minded. I stayed balance, did not take the opportunity to “open her eyes” by laying everything out…instead, I just asked her why she felt that, what does she thinks contribute to some being that way, etc. in other words I kept my cool.

Then later in the afternoon in a conversation that we were having about our marriage in general, she expressed to me that she sees no difference between the marriages of her non-jw family, co-workers and those of JWs. That she has notices that JW are divorcing, separating or living in a loveless marriage at an alarming rate. Again, I kept my cool, didn’t take the opportunity to be too harsh on the quality of the “food” dispensed by the SL. One of the things I said was that people in general are under a lot of pressure, and that we, (the JW) are not immune to those pressures, but that I feel that some of us (I included myself) sometimes don’t do anything to improve our lives NOW because we are waiting for the “end” to fix all of our problems. And that is why (I told her) many of our bro/sis are having so many problems, some of them are under a lot of pressure but not facing the problem.

21

How Many Elders Are Here?

by tjlibre in

jw
friends

how many elders are here?.

i dont know if this topic has been posted before.

but after realizing that i sort of resurrected an old post from outofthebox, i thought of starting a new one with the topic above.

tjlibre

I wonder how can we identify an awaken JW…by its fruitage? By the words out of the abundance of his/her heart? Secret handshake…LOL? special codes?

8

Wife Went to the Library Today

by cantleave in

whilst i was out enjoying myself , looking at very expensive cars, in london, this afternoon.

my wife went to the library and got a out a some books including, combatting cult mind control by steven hassan (hooray!!!

), the definitive bible commentary by owen collins and another book called before the flood by ian wilson which she currently reading upstairs in bed.

tjlibre

Congrats cantleave that looks like progress.

Pat1060

I particularly enjoyed reading the foreword and afterword of the “In Search…” book. It’s an excellent book that helps to really understand the weakness in many of the WT unique doctrines and practices. I feel that the biblical support and logic that R.F used in explaining the flaws in the WT’s doctrines are solid and strong.

Also, if you are planning stay (or become a real) Christian, you’ll find the material in the chapter titled The Challenge to Christian Freedom very beneficial and encouraging.

4

What if Ron Paul ran the WH and R. Franz the WT? Imagine the possibilities

by tjlibre in

jw
friends

just wondering.....

tjlibre

Just wondering....

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: 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.

tjlibre

This slow-drip method will be EXTREMELY trying on your patience and sanity. Vent your frustrations here. Not to your spouse.

I agree with that. And I appreciate your advice. You gave me something to think about, like being fully prepared for the meetings.

My wife and I are both in our early 30’s and we don’t have kids yet. So I guess that makes it a bit easier. We have a very stable middle-class life style. Unlike some of my fellow cong. mates I did get a college education, ironically those who didn’t have all faded (almos 95% of them).

You are the second person who has recommended Hassan’s book today. I think that’ll be my next book after reading R.F In Search…(I’m on Chap 13).

Thanks for the advice, I’ll save this on my favorite for reference whenever I’m about to loose my cool… LOL

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: 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.

tjlibre

By all means Open Mind, that's what we are here for. Go ahead.

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: 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.

tjlibre

At one point, I used to think that people where uninformed when they say that the JW are a sect or a cult. My thoughts were, I have friends, we have fun, we socialize and we don’t do the weird things that cults do. But now that I’m facing this dilemma, that I see things for what they really are…I realize how naïve I was to think that we were a “congregation of free people”. I know for sure that if they drop the shunning many many will run for their lives outside the Org. (I still want to believe that the JW are not a cult, just a religion with cult like characteristics and mode of operation).

Sometimes I think I should just wait for the GB to loosen the grip, but I see that as a pathetic hope, because it only means that I’m still surrendering my freedom to them. Other times I think I should just stay to help the ones in, help bring some kind of balance. But I know the people I care for are only conditional friends, they won’t stick by me, they’ll shun me and if they legally could, some won’t think twice -upon command- to spit on my face and stone me to death.

Sorry if I sound a bit upset. I only whish I had listened to my non-JW father when he used to tell me, don’t get involve with those people.

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: 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.

tjlibre

When I started to discover “the truth about the truth” the only regret I had was being married. Not that I have a bad wife, I have a very good wife, a wife “a la Jehovah’s Witness”. I love that woman to death, but I feel that she loves the Org more than she loves me as a person. Isn’t that terrible? To be in love with your wife knowing that she could turn against you with a snap of a finger?

Everyday that passes by, every meeting I go to, every self-righteousness comment I hear form a fellow JW only serve as a confirmation I don’t want to continue supporting this religion, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to deal this. Again, one of the things holding me back (there are others) is that I know that I’ll loose my wife in the process.

This week was a good week for spreading the “seed”, two things allowed me to take the opportunity to subtly bring some interesting subjects to her attention. One, the weekly bible reading assignment of Deut 18:21-22 - You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?”22If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him . (NIV) .

I’ll assume you’ll know what I talked about.

The second thing that helped me to spread the seed is that the service meeting was terrible, the same ol same ol boring thing, she noticed that many bro/sis were “just there”, she left the meeting very dissatisfied and looking bored. I took the opportunity to say that the meetings are not so uplifting because they are not designed to be conducive of real expression, spontaneity; and are not addressing the real emotional needs of many of us. I told her, that the school/service meeting is more like “sales training sessions” than a religious gathering, I said notice how everything is about how to place the magazines, how to offer bible studies, how to preach by phone and letter, how to distribute literature, etc, etc. I asked, why is it that the only two portions of the meeting that allow for some level of personal expression are curtailed and tightly monitored, the book study only 25 min, and the bible highlights 4 min talk and 6 min for 30 sec comments. She made some mild “JW apologists” comments and listened without defending the Org. But I noticed the distant look in her eyes, like saying “I agree with you…but where else can we go?”.