Thought crime.
See a well endowed hottie at the meeting and wish you could motorboat her ta-tas?
Think to yourself that Elder Johnson is a real dick?
Evil sinner.
Its all part of controlling the thoughts of a JW. Cult 101.
as jw's we are constantly reminded that we sin each day due to imperfection.
but when bringing up the specifics, i have never gotten a good answer.. several times i have even mentioned to others of my getting up on a sunday morning, reading the daily text, studying the watchtower for the afternoon meeting, driving to the meeting (under the speed limit), answering at the meeting, (not using more than one towel in the restroom), going out in service later in the afternoon, coming home, having dinner, and then in the evening preparing for a part for the ministry school.. i didn't recall scheming in my heart about doing something bad or anything like that.. so, specifically, where does the "sin" come in?
and if what i did was sinful, how can i improve on it?
Thought crime.
See a well endowed hottie at the meeting and wish you could motorboat her ta-tas?
Think to yourself that Elder Johnson is a real dick?
Evil sinner.
Its all part of controlling the thoughts of a JW. Cult 101.
you would think that what they are exposed to more would wake up and leave, why not?
thoughts..
Becoming an elder can be a big ego-stroke. Suddenly you are participating in the secret back room meetings, appointed to serve on JCs, and getting your balls washed when you go out and visit congos by people you never met.
At the same time, you suddenly see the dark side of the org, the power hungry elders, the silly rules that have to be enforced, etc.
If an elder isn't woken up by the back room politics within a few years, it becomes 'comfortable' getting the adulation from everyone else. Then its very difficult to break through the cognative dissonance as you become extremely invested in the cult.
i've been out so long but many of my ex-jws friends have been telling me of a "new" donation/tithing arrangement the wts is using today.
when i was a jws we had "contribution" boxes at the back of the kh and the elders would give talks about contributing to the kingdom interest.
we were not forced to give but gave as we pleased.
Or you could use the search button.
my sister came to the society's defense on the issue of "pledged amounts" not being accurate because a realative stated that it didn't happen in her congregation.
so i said they were mistaken, and that i had access to the letters proving it.
she doubted that they were authentic.
You can lead a horse to water.
so we've seen as the current gb is getting more facetime in an effort to reach the hearts and minds of the rank and file.
this took a leap with video feeds at an open annual meeting.
the international conventions are taking this a step farther.. do you think that local speakers at kingdom halls could ever be replaced by headquarter approved video feeds?.
I hope so.
Seeing that doofus Lett on screen every seven weeks would certainly alert some of the troops that they are in a cult.
i continue to be stunned by posters reporting on the convention, lamenting the convention, complaining about going in serve-us and meetings, and yet continuing to participate in these activities.. a simple question.
how long have you done these things, fully knowing it is absolute bullshit?.
i couldn't handle it for more than six months before i basically outed myself.
@focus - I'll look that up. My opinion is that they are offering a product that is similar to other religions, everlating life. But theirs is especially appealing because as humans we all have an attachment to living, and a fear of dying. But they never have to deliver the product, just keep saying "Its coming, any day now, it'll be here. Annnnnyyy minute now."
@AnnOmaly - My God, that's a long time to wade through the bull.
@oneEyedJoe - Three months isn't too bad. Is it really starting to piss you off? Once you get real angry, or start drinking after (or before) meetings, you know its time to GTFO.
@oub - Agree with that, kinda the point of the thread. Once you get out there is always going to be some real shitty stuff immediately, but life gets so much better, and quickly. Just want those that feel "stuck" to realize there is so much more out there.
@bye bye - I can get the concept of fading for family, but these peeps are not your friends. You will realize that exactly one second after they know your true feelings about the WTBTS.
i continue to be stunned by posters reporting on the convention, lamenting the convention, complaining about going in serve-us and meetings, and yet continuing to participate in these activities.. a simple question.
how long have you done these things, fully knowing it is absolute bullshit?.
i couldn't handle it for more than six months before i basically outed myself.
@problemaddict- Planning is key, what I'm noticing though is lots of people simply stuck, going and going with no firm date to get out.
@factfinder - I find it fascinating that so many are physically out, but mentally captive for a time, while others are exactly opposite.
@howthebible - So are you still going? How did you get those families to stop without being outed yourself?
@razziel - Great post. Blowing everything up seems impossible, but I admire those that go all that route. There was a poster, alltimejeff that absolutely burned every bridge and started over. Myself, I couldn't leave my JW wife, and am still with her but it remains an annoyance to me thought its much better now than it has been. I'm not telling anyone to leave their family, but I think many would be surprised if they just took a stand and said that they weren't going to participate in cult activity. Having a strong offense puts the JWs on defense, instead of the other way around.
@overforme- now that is the kind of stuff I admire. Any regrets at all? It doesn't sound like it
@phizzy - Leaving cold turkey like that I now believe is better than strining out a fade. Why bother?
@TJ- Wow. Crazy story. Really shows the fear JWs have of the world at large.
@giordano - Congrats on your exit, I know it took lots of insight and some balls to leave on your own pre-internet
@joe - I thought the same initially, that I could sit on the fence. It really tore me up listening to that stuff knowing it was 100% false.
@tornapart - Hope things continue to progress for you.
hey guys, there's another thing i wanted to share with you.
i know this topic has been discussed over and over again, but it's just so fun to complain about it.
we're going to the district convention this weekend.
So can you explain to me why you are going?
it seems the watchtower staff have made a runaway train with the introduction of the mark jw.org.. the combination of using a gadget driven platform and the fact that the common jw is low educated and easely influenced.
by new occurrings in their religion makes the situation getting out of hand.. proof: gb members wearing jw.org buttons during their speech, gifts with jw.org are given away, umbrellas with the jw.org are available.
jw.org is more important then god, his son and the gospel.. it's the gadget and the jw.org mark that counts.. i am so happy my grandparents are not confronted with these idiots.. it's a runaway train heading to the end of the track.. gorby .
They've consulted someone outside the b0rg.
Of course being freakishly controlling, it handcuffs what can be done. Drilling the jw.org theme into the skulls of the rank and file over and over and over again is their way to try to control where they go on the internet. Of course they are dressing it up like the troops have this big part to play in sharing the website in their facebook and instagram profiles.
But it is working, for now. They were getting absolutely smacked around on the internet for the first two decades of its existence. They had no plan to control the information, and anyone with a half-dozen or so functioning brain cells got online and then got out of the religion.
They are reactionary, and always will be. Who knows what the next wave will be, but it will lead plenty more out before the WT realizes it and reacts to the problem.
just learn this from my son.
all hush, hush among the jw.
side of the family...she never forgave me for divorcing her mom... she have two kids...
Hopefully she reaches out to you jam. I can't imagine having no contact with my children for that long.