Posts by MrMonroe

40

Hi, Newbie Here

by Iseenow in

jw
friends

well i have been lurking for the past couple of weeks and have finally decided to create an account.

just wanted to introduce myself and relate my life story in the borg, specifically from the past few weeks- which i think has been a lot easier than many on the board.

anyway, my mum began to study when i was 10 (2005) and since then has been babtized; she strongly believes it is the truth.

Hi Iseenow, thanks for your story. I would be very interested to hear from this elder which predictions the WTS did get right. Ask him for a list, because I can't think of any they could claim to be correct. They always throw the "revival of the United Nations" into the ring, but to me that's more like people applying Nostradamus' predictions .... now and then you'll get something that's vaguely correct if you squint your eyes.

They often claim that Russell predicted world upheaval in 1914, which is an out and out distortion of facts, because as varioius websites including this one point out, he expected Jesus would be ruling the earth by then and there would be no more human governments or churches by then. So that was clearly wrong.

The problem is that on one hand they say they are God's mouthpiece, so you better believe and obey them or you'll die .... and then when they get it wrong (as they have repeatedly, just like Harold Camping) they say, "Well, hey, we're only human!" You can't have it both ways.

42

Becoming of the anointed & seeing the light

by discreetslave in

i was recently born again and thus am anointed because of this i have come to realize that though there are sincere people who are jw, some teachings are fine but the wt organization is a fraud.

here is my story sorry if it's a bit long but i need to tell it.. 16 years ago today i was baptized as one of jw's.

i was 17 years old the only one in my family.

MrMonroe

The WTS is fixated with the notion that there is one religious truth only, and that they have it. Good on you for thinking deeper about it and coming to your own conclusions.

The Franz books made such a difference for many of us here at JWN, including my wife and I. It rips the veil away from the mystique surrounding the organisation, the "faithful slave class" and the Governing Body, exposing them as a high-control religion based on human interpretations of the Bible and nothing more.

I found it rewarding to delve into the origins of the WTS beliefs on Bible chronology. A book called "Counting the Days to Armageddon" by Richard Crompton dissects the belief, looking at how, piece by piece, it was assembled -- and once you see it broken down like that, the sheer nonsense of it all is plain to see. Yet 99 per cent of JWs never stop to examine it. They just accept it as a truth. Just as I did while I was "in".

I think being a JW adds to depression and mental illness, and thinking back to the people in the congregations I was in, I recognise deep depression in so many of them, much of it rooted in feelings of low self-esteem, worthlessness and failure. As well as a (possibly unconscious?) feeling that they have no control over their lives and are trapped in a lifestyle.

Once I left the organisation, I thought less and less about religion, and I know the same thing has happened to several other ex-JWs I've met (some of them through JWN). While "in" we think our lives are centered around God and the Bible, but once we stop going to meetings we realise how little we actually are interested in either. I still believe in God, though the concept is now a lot hazier, because the Bible creates a lot of confusing and contradictory images. And if there is a God, maybe that's the way he wants it.

All the best with your life. It is so sad to think of how you were planning to end your life. I'm so happy you're still here.

140

The effect we are having on the Watchtower is HUGE

by jwfacts in

i was inspired by a recent thread i know i aint gunna crumble the wt, but a girl can dream to look at the effect we as individuals are having on the watchtower society.. 3dogs1husband quoted a story to show that even helping only one person is worth it.. it is encouraging to note that the one person you may have helped has lead to millions being helped, due to the power of compounding growth.. compounding growth is well illustrated by the rice on a chessboard problem.

if you start with 1 grain of rice on square one, and double it to 2 on the second, 4 on the third, 8 on the fourth, by the last (64th) square there would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains of rice.. likewise, if you help one person out of the grip of the watchtower this year, then next year you help one more and they help one, in a few years that is going to have a formidable result on the number of jehovahs witnesses.

look at the following statistics.

MrMonroe

JWN and JWFacts are among the sites that contain some of the best facts about the WTS that can open the eyes of wavering JWs.

I think it's also heartening that the Jehovah's Witnesses page at Wikipedia (probably perceived as a reasonably trustworthy site) gets between 4000 and 5000 visits a day; the Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses article gets between 180 and 200 visits a day, probably all of them coming directly from the links within the parent article.

Witnesses have tried very hard to remove and water down the criticisms section of the main article; I think it may help to round out the knowledge of anyone considering immersing themselves deeper into the religion.

41

80% of all web sites are pornagraphic

by Sour Grapes in

during today's witchtower study there was so much wisdom.

coming forth from the conductor and those in attendance that.

i could only say to myself "can't they hear what they are saying?".

MrMonroe

It's the whole scenario from the movie "The Village" all over again.

It's scary out there. Stay with us. Only by doing exactly what we tell you will you be safe.

I used to listen to the same sort of crap at meetings and wonder, "Do people really believe this stuff, or are they just trying to sound more righteous than the previous speaker?"

Wherever JWs gather -- at Kingdom Halls, conventions and at Bethels, invisible intellectual bubbles form. Whatever goes on in the outside world just has no impact on them. If they say it's so .... it's so. It's an imaginary, make-believe world that forms every time they gather, filled with talk about angelic direction, threats of demons, dangers of apostates, promises of a new system .... a make-believe world. And they all go along with the pretence.

95

Top Ten Pickup Lines at This Year's Convention

by JimmyPage in

10. if i said you had a nice governing body would you hold it against me?.

9. let's overlap our generations if you know what i mean.. 8. what do you say we lose this great crowd?.

7. i want to be your faithful slave.. 6. tonight we're gonna party like it's 1974.. 7. your breasts are like towers.. 6. would you welcome a shepherding call?.

MrMonroe

"I'm not so keen on male headship. I've always preferred women on top."

"Maybe we could go to my motel and work on the fruits of the spirit. If I give you some love, how's your self-control?"

95

Top Ten Pickup Lines at This Year's Convention

by JimmyPage in

10. if i said you had a nice governing body would you hold it against me?.

9. let's overlap our generations if you know what i mean.. 8. what do you say we lose this great crowd?.

7. i want to be your faithful slave.. 6. tonight we're gonna party like it's 1974.. 7. your breasts are like towers.. 6. would you welcome a shepherding call?.

MrMonroe

"Maybe it's the Devil to blame, but when I look at you there's only one thing on my mind ... 6, 6, 6."

10

'Silent Witnesses' - JW Pedophilia (Australia) VIDEO

by 3Mozzies in

thanks to mr monroe, i was able to upload this video from 2002.. .

http://vimeo.com/25581273.

'sunday' reveals the extraordinary story of how the jehovahs witnesses in australia routinely cover up cases of child abuse in their ranks and obstruct police investigations.

MrMonroe

Very grateful to 3Mozzies for uploading this.

Interestingly, a couple of years later Channel 9's Sunday program did a follow-up, finding some of those people in better spirits, but other victims ... and an organisation just as smug and arrogant.

Youtube link

11

September 15 WT Same old, Same old.

by Slidin Fast in

startfragment.

these paragraphs once again promote the gb/writing commitee to the status of god.

they also blatantly reverse the meaning of acts 17:11 by selectively quoting it, missing out completely the phrase 'as to whether these things were so".

MrMonroe

Luna2, I know what you mean. An elder's daughter, who'd always been a bit rebellious in her younger days, had a baby and was discussing with my wife the challenges that would arise eventually over birthdays and Easter etc. My wife said, "Well, it's a decision we all have to make about whether we pull our kids out of the room when they're singing 'Happy Birthday' (we didn't). She replied, indignantly: "No way. There's no question. If the organisation says we shouldn't do it, then we don't! If the organisation told us to jump off a cliff, we'd do it, wouldn't we!"

My wife didn't quite know what to say. Scary people, some of them. Really worrying.

11

September 15 WT Same old, Same old.

by Slidin Fast in

startfragment.

these paragraphs once again promote the gb/writing commitee to the status of god.

they also blatantly reverse the meaning of acts 17:11 by selectively quoting it, missing out completely the phrase 'as to whether these things were so".

MrMonroe

Probably discussed elsewhere, but another couple of points:

Page 29: Although in Korah’s eyes it was aged Moses who was making day-to-day decisions, it was really Jehovah who was directing the nation. Korah lost sight of that fact and consequently failed to show loyalty to those whom God was using. How much wiser it would have been for Korah to wait on Jehovah for a clearer understanding or for adjustments if those were really needed. So in the end, Korah destroyed his record of faithful
service by his prideful actions! That account provides a serious warning for elders and others in the congregation today. Waiting on Jehovah and following directions from those appointed to take the lead requires humility.

The Jews in the wilderness had a few subtle signs that God was with them and using Moses (parting of the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, turning bitter water into sweet, water from a rock, budding staff, manna from heaven ....) the Governing Body has ... anyone? anyone? anyone? Oh, that's right, they just tell JWs God is using them. So therefore they must be obeyed.

Page 22: In addition to “everyweight,” Paul mentioned putting off “the sin that easily entangles us.” What might that be? The Greek word translated “easily entangles” appears only once in the Bible, in this verse. Scholar Albert Barnes observed: “As a runner would be careful not to encumber himself with a garment which would be apt to wind around his legs in running, and hinder him, so it should be with the Christian, who especially ought to lay aside everything which resembles this.”

Just a thought here: could the "sin that easily entangles us" also involve pride and the demand to lord it over others? Could it be that the Governing Body has fallen into the human trap of wanting to dominate the faith of others, telling them they can only please God by first pleasing them?

40

When You Left The "Truth" Were People Shocked?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i faded and when witnesses realized i had abandoned the faith, they were shocked!

no one would've ever believed that i would've left!

no one!!

MrMonroe

Friends of ours in Brisbane were shocked and dismayed when we stopped going to meetings. No one here in Melbourne seemed to show any interest. A friend met one of the closest friends of my wife's at a DC in Brisbane and gave her the bad news ... and she cried! Did that "close friend" pick up the phone and ring my wife to ask her what's going on, do we have any problems? Weirdly, we've never heard a word from her. Not a thing. Another of my wife's close friends (her bridesmaid at our wedding) would also obviously been told ... and again, not a word.