i was baptized at the age of 15, my father was very opposed.
i loved god and wanted to be a spiritual person.
so, anything in the literature which told one how to be a spiritual person was of great interest to me.. i remember hearing and reading this phrase over and over and over again "put jehovah first".. don't get an education - "put jehovah first".. don't take that emt certification course that meets on tue and thursday for 6 weeks - "put jehovah first".. don't get a real career, be a janitor and "put jehovah first".. don't spend time with your "worldly" parents on the weekends, instead abandon them and fill your time up with field service and meetings and "put jehovah first".. .
It's all a marketing ploy which capitalizes on suckers.
I guess I was a sucker then because the reason I had a shipwreck of faith was the guilt. And my "sins" were spotty meeting attendance due to my work schedule and stress.
I just couldn't take feeling so guilty all the time any more.
i was baptized at the age of 15, my father was very opposed.
i loved god and wanted to be a spiritual person.
so, anything in the literature which told one how to be a spiritual person was of great interest to me.. i remember hearing and reading this phrase over and over and over again "put jehovah first".. don't get an education - "put jehovah first".. don't take that emt certification course that meets on tue and thursday for 6 weeks - "put jehovah first".. don't get a real career, be a janitor and "put jehovah first".. don't spend time with your "worldly" parents on the weekends, instead abandon them and fill your time up with field service and meetings and "put jehovah first".. .
I was baptized at the age of 15, my father was very opposed. I loved god and wanted to be a spiritual person. So, anything in the literature which told one how to be a spiritual person was of great interest to me.
I remember hearing and reading this phrase over and over and over again "Put Jehovah First".
Don't get an education - "PUt Jehovah First".
Don't take that EMT certification course that meets on Tue and Thursday for 6 weeks - "Put Jehovah First".
Don't get a real career, be a janitor and "Put Jehovah First".
Don't spend time with your "worldly" parents on the weekends, instead abandon them and fill your time up with field service and meetings and "Put Jehovah FIrst".
on and on it goes.
But WHAT IN THE FUCK DOES IT MEAN?????
the ones where the witch doctor surcomes to his own spell that he put on the brothers, or when the 5 drs physicaly force the sister to have the blood transplant?
etc etc where the person was praying and ... ding dong!
there appear the jw's..... can we belive it??
what i remember most about the yearbooks were the constant stories giving praise for the career of being a janitor. EVERY "and he put Jehovah first" story had a brother giving up a real career to be a fucking janitor. What in the fuck is wrong with those senile idiots on the governing body? I mean COME ON. The only career that lets me say "I"M PUTTING JEHOVAH FIRST" (Whatever the FUCK that means) is being a janitor?
There is something REALLY wrong with people who would write such trash.
there are some shows, past and present that i've always watched.
my all time fav is the sopranos.. i enjoy two men and a half and law & order svu..
I dont know what this sport is called.
Tall, long legged, beautiful ladies with high heels and teeny eenie meenie bikinis riding big wheels.
AWWWWWWWWWWW PARADISE
having read ray franz's " crisis of conscience " 3 years ago -before i read steve hassan's 2 books on mind control - my wife and i thought it would be good to re-read ray's " crisis " book again now that we know more about the workings of " cult mind control".
we just finished chapter 2 and i noticed striking similarities i thought i would share.. notice this quote in " crisis of conscience " on pg.
28 & 29 by franz , " thus numerous factors that are relatively common knowledge in many religious organizations are known only vaguely , if at all, by the vast majority of jehovah's witnesses.
At what point do you personally draw the line, Happy Guy? Who is responsible for your cult experience? How far up the ranks does a "Brother" have to go until you consider him to be completely without redemption?
BabyYaga:
I thought I made myself pretty clear. Franz was a member of the body which orchestrates the brain washing. I am skeptical that what he says now is the truth because he willingly told lies for so long.
I am responsible for my own cult experience, not that it is any of your damm business. I didn't say I was blaming anyone, so don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say Franz was "without redemption". I said I don't trust him just because he says so.
I don't know what you are talking about with this "up the ranks" business. I have said nothing about anyone else.
You are twisting what I said to make it look like I have accused everyone on this board and I didn't say that. You are being dishonest to make me look bad because you disagree with my point of view. That's fine, I'm a big boy, I can take it.
having read ray franz's " crisis of conscience " 3 years ago -before i read steve hassan's 2 books on mind control - my wife and i thought it would be good to re-read ray's " crisis " book again now that we know more about the workings of " cult mind control".
we just finished chapter 2 and i noticed striking similarities i thought i would share.. notice this quote in " crisis of conscience " on pg.
28 & 29 by franz , " thus numerous factors that are relatively common knowledge in many religious organizations are known only vaguely , if at all, by the vast majority of jehovah's witnesses.
Happy Guy, were you a Witness? Did you believe it to be true when you were immersed in it?
Big difference between being one of the brainwashed and Franz being one of the ones doing the brainwashing.
having read ray franz's " crisis of conscience " 3 years ago -before i read steve hassan's 2 books on mind control - my wife and i thought it would be good to re-read ray's " crisis " book again now that we know more about the workings of " cult mind control".
we just finished chapter 2 and i noticed striking similarities i thought i would share.. notice this quote in " crisis of conscience " on pg.
28 & 29 by franz , " thus numerous factors that are relatively common knowledge in many religious organizations are known only vaguely , if at all, by the vast majority of jehovah's witnesses.
All I'm saying is that some people put a lot of stock in everything this Franz character says when he was part of a conspiracy for many years, a conspiracy which controls people through lies.
NOW he claims that we can believe what he says.
I'm not claiming to be an expert on Franz I'm just skeptical that someone who was part of the conspiracy for so long can now be trusted to be telling the truth just because he says so.
i know that the elders and all jws have stupid "conscience" decisions to make from time to time, but this topped it for me.. my brother's gay and that's why he left the religion a few years ago.
now my mum wants to get re-married to another brother but the elder that she asked to marry them both declined.
he says that it would bother his conscience too much "because of luke living with you, because he's...ya know...gay!".
I always found it ridiculous that the consciences of these "strong men of faith" are so easily offended, and they are so easily "stumbled".
three years ago, my wife's jw sister of 55 became seriously mentally ill. hallucinations, hearing voices, acute paranoia, physically acting almost like a child.
her and her husband, both have a masters in education, while he also serves as an elder.. why the background?
because its their belief, even with their education, the demons are causing her problems and we, my wife and i, were the ones bringing the demons into her life.. for three years, she goes undiagnosed, while he refuses to get her medical help.
I am not a Christian any more. I have been around a lot of religious people of different faiths since leaving the WTBTS organization.
I compare how my friends of other faiths talk and behave to how JWs I have known talked and behaved.
I have heard MANY JWs blame something on demon influence. THe only other people I have ever heard do that were practicers of black magic. Some of my (former) friends practice Santeria, others are practicers of witchcraft (real witchcraft, not that wicca nonsense).
The southern Bible thumpers that I know praise Jesus all the time and give Jesus credit for everything good that happens to them, but I don't remember them blaiming demon attack or demon influence for everything that befalls them.
The JWs also credit angels for looking out for them and for protecting them. So, when things go wrong, there has to also be a supernatural reason.
In my opinion JWs are superstitious to the extreme of it being almost a mental disorder.
i would be interested in your opinion of the following:.
a friend told me about an incident that had happened in a neighbouring congregation.
she told me that a sister from the congregation needed to get back to work after a meeting but discovered that she was boxed in.
Give me the elder's name and phone number and I will go explain it to him in person. I guarantee you he will be very anxious to ease his concsience.
