Posts by LostGeneration

38

Is this normal witness behavior?

by confusedstudent in

jw
friends

i quit my bible study a couple days ago after taking a month or two to work up the guts.

have been getting harassing emails/phone calls blah blah blah.

but i got an email today telling me that an unbelieving spouse can be "sanctified" by his believing mate.

LostGeneration

Yeah this level of harassment/guilt is way out of line. Involve the police if it keeps up, what you are describing is unacceptable.

68

June 15th WT - WT Society Pressures JW Parents to Indoctrinate Children

by flipper in

jw
friends

in a non-study article in the jw only watchtower is an article titled " should youths get baptized ?

" the wt society is losing young people in very large numbers - so how else to try stemming the exodus than putting pressure on jw parents to indoctrinate and instill mind control into their children ?

in one section here in this article it almost sounds like a version of " 20 questions " that the wt society asks parents to determine if their children are making " spiritual progress " as they phrase it.

LostGeneration

Welcome to the forum Elorm. Are you a JW?

There are all kinds on here, many do not believe that the bible is the word of God. Many do not believe in God at all.

The problem most of us have with JWs is their twisting of their scriptures to fit their own agenda, and the pain and suffering they cause on people.

68

June 15th WT - WT Society Pressures JW Parents to Indoctrinate Children

by flipper in

jw
friends

in a non-study article in the jw only watchtower is an article titled " should youths get baptized ?

" the wt society is losing young people in very large numbers - so how else to try stemming the exodus than putting pressure on jw parents to indoctrinate and instill mind control into their children ?

in one section here in this article it almost sounds like a version of " 20 questions " that the wt society asks parents to determine if their children are making " spiritual progress " as they phrase it.

LostGeneration

Hey Flipper, thanks for starting another thread on this, it really needs to be exposed. If you missed it, I started one on it a while back which shows some of the pictures from the magazine

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/207436/1/June-15th-WT-Trap-Your-Kids-in-the-Cult

The thing that pisses me off so much about this mag is the age of the kid they show. There is no way that he is older than 12, and he is door knocking, praying, giving comments, oh and of course getting baptized. So when does this kid get to act his own age? I guess never, he just gets to be a mini-JW because of the religion he was born into. Oh, and his life turns to hell if he decides to leave once he becomes an adult.

When I left the WT, I gave the leaders of the GB the benefit of the doubt, thinking they were "captives of a concept." Between this WT and the disgusting 7/15 edition I think I have moved into the camp of those that think they are just an evil cult.

29

I would describe the Watchtower's Disfellowshipping as truly merciless

by sabastious in

thoughout my life i have seen many take the walk of shame that is disfellowshipping.

i have never been df'ed, but i have had many experiences reading the faces of newly df'ed ones.. their faces are always the same.

defeated by a foe that they never had a chance with in the beggining; a raping so-to-speak.

LostGeneration

For those captive to the doctrine, it is a truly horrific fate. Being cast out, shunned, and despised by what you love has to be one of the lowest places mentally and emotionally.

The term "cruel and unusual punishment" comes to mind. Does the punishment fit the crime for an 18 year old that goes out and has sex with their girlfriend/boyfriend? If they don't shed the right amount of tears in the JC, then they are out. Come off with an attitude that isn't just right in the eyes of three elders, and you are out. It is basically a life sentence if you don't bow down at the KH altar to get back in. How is a life sentence fair for someone who commits a petty crime?

The only redeeming factor I find in it is that it wakes some up. That of course is my own selfish motive in seeing more leave the tower permanently, but the cost is high. If these who are cast out end up waking up, then they probably have lost their family for the rest of their lives, and they have virtually no chance of getting them out.

2

Memorial

by _Atlas in

jw
friends

the org boasts about the 18 million in attendance to the annual commemoration... in virtue of the fact that there are 7 million active publishers, there are perhaps several million children in attendance without mentioning the visit from former members (disfellowships, walkouts and faders) who pay annual hommage to the org due to their families and loved ones.... .

judging by your experience on your congregations weighting in the ratio of children, regular visitors and such...how much will you estimate the number of real 'visitors' to the commemoration?.

LostGeneration

I'd say the real bible studies are the only true visitors. Its hard figure out how many of those there are when you take out all off the "kid bible studies" that are in that number. I would say a generous estimate is 1 million of that number.

The rest are there because they are arm-twisted into it

23

What is the best thing to say to a JW

by I quit! in

jw
friends

i you run into a jw on the street handing out magazines and have a brief encounter with them what do you think the one best thing to leave them with in the hope of getting them to start thinking for themself.

do you think it is best to tell them about a website?

a false prophecy or what?.

LostGeneration

I've been trying to formulate a "one best response" as well over the past few weeks.

You just never know what will set off the trigger, someone posted the video here a few weeks back of the JW who was trying to explain who God is, I noticed the trigger was the phrase "governing body" As soon as the guy said that she just replied "apostate, apostate" and started walking away. I found that pretty amazing, you question the bible, Jesus, God, etc with them, but when you say GB she shut down immediately.

I'd say it should be more personalized, not just one response for each JW. A young JW should be informed about 1975, they may have no clue. Something as simple as "I found the JWs to be an interesting group until I found out about their end-of-the-world 1975 prophecy"

I'd love to ask one of them to pull out their reasoning book and have them turn to page 97 where it has this gem

*** rs p. 97 pars. 2-3 Dates ***
In the meantime, the very difficult conditions foretold for "the last days" would prevail. As shown under the heading "Last Days," those events have been clearly in evidence since 1914. Before the last members of the generation that was alive in 1914 will have passed off the scene, all the things foretold will occur, including the "great tribulation" in which the present wicked world will end.—Matt. 24:21, 22, 34.

They will stammer, hem and haw, and basically get the heck out of there, but maybe someday they will think it over.

7

Just found my fourth memorial invitation.

by FifthOfNovember in

it seems like i was really wanted at the memorial this year.. .

first invite: saw a jw in a gas station while i was eating some food with my friend.

he invited me to the memorial orally.. second invite: it was a saturday morning, i was in the shower when a jw came, mom answered the door and talked with him, he left a memorial tract and some magazines.. third invite: found a somewhat crumpled memorial tract with a few small tears on my porch.

LostGeneration

Thats pretty funny.

And they crow on and on about how because 17 or 18 million show up, there is "so much interest" out there that needs to be developed. No doubt those 10-11 million who ended up there that night had their arms twisted behind their backs by friends/family.

Arm twisting, another sign of a spiritual paradise.

84

In general, what is the ethically correct response if a minor tells you someone is molesting him/her?

by InterestedOne in

i was thinking about what the elders are trained to do versus what i personally would do if a minor confided in me that someone was molesting him/her.

i'm not sure what the ethically correct first response should be.

my first thought is to contact some kind of law enforcement that specializes in investigating situations like this with people experienced in getting to the truth of the matter.

LostGeneration

Oh and I forgot if you are in a mandatory state, you are told you can report it anonymously, like from a pay phone. Because you don't want the elders having to answer all of those pesky detective questions like "Why is this going on in your kingdom hall?"

84

In general, what is the ethically correct response if a minor tells you someone is molesting him/her?

by InterestedOne in

i was thinking about what the elders are trained to do versus what i personally would do if a minor confided in me that someone was molesting him/her.

i'm not sure what the ethically correct first response should be.

my first thought is to contact some kind of law enforcement that specializes in investigating situations like this with people experienced in getting to the truth of the matter.

LostGeneration

Most elders cowardly follow the WT instructions to a T. I believe they are told to do this: (in the USA)

1. Call bethel (legal) and report. Gotta cover the Org before you help a 10 year old getting sodomized.

2. Do whatever legal tells you to do. I believe this means reporting to the cops in mandatory "reporting states" or "You are finished with your reponsibility" in non-reporting states. I think that is code for "You don't have to report this to the cops if you really dont' want to"

3. Start the intimidation and threats against the victim and/or their family to keep things quiet.

Disgusting.

2

$6 gas by summer?

by NeckBeard in

$6 gas?

could happen if dollar keeps getting weakera dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions.. .

with the greenback coming under increased pressure from federal reserve policies and investor appetite for more risk, there seems little direction but up for commodity prices, in particular energy and metals.. weakness in the us currency feeds upward pressure on commodities, which are priced in dollars and thus come at a discount on the foreign markets.. one result has been a surge higher in gasoline prices to nearly $4 a gallon before the summer driving season even starts, a trend that economists say will be aggravated as demand increases and the summer storm season threatens to disrupt oil supplies.. "all we have to have is a couple badly placed hurricanes which could constrain some of the refinery output capacity in some key locations," says richard hastings, strategist at global hunter securities in charlotte, n.c. "if you get weakness in the dollar concurrent with the strong driving season concurrent with the impact of one or two hurricanes in the wrong place, prices could go up in a quasi-exponential manner.".

LostGeneration

Another gasoline thread? I thought I was the only one obsessed with prices. Well, I actually don't care too much now that my gas consumption has been cut down significantly.

I'm willing to pay more if this starts to significantly hurt the recruiting work. I mean most of these pioneers that have the "gift of singleness" are already struggling to rub two wooden nickels together. Gas prices go higher=Less on the pioneer list