Posts by traveb

70

Someone anonymously tipped the elders?

by raven in

so here an update on my current situation, in a nutshell i've been trying to quietly fade for the past 5 months.. well, my mom somehow found out that i am currently fading and that i live with my boyfriend (for more info on this check my previous posts) i told her yes i live with him and yes i no longer want to be a jw.

anyways, yesterday she met my boyfriend.. awkward.

and after lunch she pulled me aside to tell me that the po came up to her (he was part of my jc when i was reproved) he said to her "someone came to me and said - i cannot say who so they will remain anonymous- but that your daughter is living with someone" my mom confirmed and apparently he told her that i have one week to confess this, and if i don't my parents are obligated to tell them everything.. what kind of nonsense is that?

traveb

This is why it's in your best interests to change congregations before or during your fade. If you get your publisher card moved to a new congregation where the elders don't know you, it's way easier to fade because your former elders no longer have any reason to go after you.

85

jw.org cart days numbered?

by jookbeard in

reading a report of an elder in a friends cong has been hiding and spying on the pioneers who seem to have a practise of dumping the cart and finding a local coffee shop, i've noticed that they do this in my local high street as well but this week they seemed to be all huddled around the cart, they've clearly been warned, a vast percentage of the time i see they seem to be more interested in fiddling with their mobile phones and gossiping, is just seems these carts are a means for the pioneers to turn in "easy time" i wonder what sort of figures show how much literature is being taken by the public?

i bet its very minimal.

naturally the gb would say they are a phenomenal success , we clearly know they are not.

traveb

I assume many JWs feel like I used to. We all know that "putting in time" is the most important thing to a JW, and the cart system seems like any easy to accomplish that. Who the hell cares whether it's successful or not? It's all about appearances and getting your photo taken with cart, so you can post it on Instagram with a cool filter and a funny caption. Look mom, I'm spiritual!

85

jw.org cart days numbered?

by jookbeard in

reading a report of an elder in a friends cong has been hiding and spying on the pioneers who seem to have a practise of dumping the cart and finding a local coffee shop, i've noticed that they do this in my local high street as well but this week they seemed to be all huddled around the cart, they've clearly been warned, a vast percentage of the time i see they seem to be more interested in fiddling with their mobile phones and gossiping, is just seems these carts are a means for the pioneers to turn in "easy time" i wonder what sort of figures show how much literature is being taken by the public?

i bet its very minimal.

naturally the gb would say they are a phenomenal success , we clearly know they are not.

traveb

If I was still an active JW, I would much rather man a cart than bug people at their homes. I absolutely hated going door to door.

34

Actively Fading and The Memorial

by All for show in

jw
friends

those of you fading- with the memorial approaching are you going to appease family?

not going and making up an excuse?

acting like your going but not really?.

traveb

My second paragraph got cut off, anyway...

Not going sends a strong message to people that you're serious about your fade. JWs consider inactive ones who still attend as potential returnees. You'll hear comments such as, "Oh, they must still believe it's the truth!", or variations on that. I also believe that it could also demonstrate that the religion is still an authority in your life, making you you more susceptible to elder visits or judicial actions.

34

Actively Fading and The Memorial

by All for show in

jw
friends

those of you fading- with the memorial approaching are you going to appease family?

not going and making up an excuse?

acting like your going but not really?.

traveb

When I was in the process of fading, I attended one last memorial to keep up appearances. Once I completely faded and stopped going to meetings entirely, I stopped going to the Memorial, family be damned.

13

Fading tactic that worked well for me

by traveb in

jw
friends

if you read some of my past posts you’ll know that i’ve successfully faded while being able to keep contact with my immediate family, who are still very devout jws.

when i did finally completely stop attending meetings, my family, and especially my parents (elder father and pioneer mom), were of course very interested to know the reasons why.

at first i deflected their questions, stating that i had personal reasons and did not want to explain myself.

traveb

If you read some of my past posts you’ll know that I’ve successfully faded while being able to keep contact with my immediate family, who are still very devout JWs. When I did finally completely stop attending meetings, my family, and especially my parents (elder father and pioneer mom), were of course very interested to know the reasons why. At first I deflected their questions, stating that I had personal reasons and did not want to explain myself. I had learned early on in the fading process that it’s best to keep your mouth shut to avoid raising any alarms (harder said than done!). This worked for a while, but I could tell my family increasingly were not satisfied with this.

I eventually decided that I needed to give them something. What worked best for me was to straight up tell them I didn’t believe in god or in the Bible. I explained that I didn’t have anything against JWs specifically, but it was a more general disbelief in religion and god, which in my case is really true. Of course I still personally think that JWs are cult-like with dangerous beliefs, but what’s the point of bringing that up? All that would accomplish is setting off their apostate alarms, and then they would probably start shunning me. It’s not like I’m going to convince them of anything.

I also went into the whole freedom of choice thing, and how we need to make up our own minds and make our own decisions. I told my parents that I had been faking it for years, and that it wasn’t healthy for me to continue practicing something I didn’t believe in. I mentioned how it would have been very easy on my part to continue pretending, but that I made the harder decision to stop because it was the right choice. This tactic went over surprisingly well. Of course they weren’t happy about it, but I could tell their JW defense mechanisms didn’t go up. Instead of viewing me as a dangerous apostate, they now see me as someone who’s “lost their faith”. They even agreed with me that we all need to make our own choices in life, and shouldn’t be pressured into doing things we don’t believe.

In my opinion, getting into discussions or debates regarding teachings or doctrines with JWs, even family members, is a huge waste of time for the most part. Instead, I reassured my parents that I respected their religion and the way they raised me. I also expressed to them that I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and will continue to be there for them no matter what.

Believe me, it feels good to rise above the JW mindset! I’m being the dutiful son, and killing them with kindness.

45

It's official - JWs have least common sense of any religious group in US

by slimboyfat in

some fascinating results in the latest pew research.

(how did i miss this before?

) including that jws rely on their religion the most of any group to tell right from wrong and rely on common sense the least.

traveb

Thanks for the link SBF, some very interesting trends. At this rate, the existing GB members will soon have to consider promoting a Hispanic woman to their ranks! :)

31

EPIC!#%* NOVEMBER 2015 WT VIDEO "Welcome Home My Friend, Now Your Life Can Start Again"

by NoMoreHustle in

well i just watched this "epic" video, i would have to say this is probably the most disturbing video yet.

there campaign to get people back is just pathetic in the most mind-manipulating way.

"welcome home" or "come back home" are they serious?

traveb

That was my first time watching Sanderson speak. At least he comes across as somewhat normal and caring, compared to the other GB members who are patronizing and condescending. Perhaps he's playing the good cop role.

52

CO Comes Up With A New Way To Be Judgemental...

by JW_Rogue in

at the latest co visit something very strange happened.

during the meeting with the elders and servants he passed out a copy of a hypothetical publisher card and asked us what we could learn from it.

upon receiving it i saw that the average hours were pretty good, it had return visits and quite a few bible studies.

traveb

The OP's experience should not be surprising whatsoever. Anyone familiar with the JW religion should know by now that's it's all about keeping up appearances.

It's just not about putting in hours, it's putting in "visible" hours.

Having your WT underlined.

Getting to the meetings early and staying afterward.

And so on. True spirituality has nothing to do with it. Remember, keeping up appearances!

16

Japan closed 638 Congregations lost 6,000 Publishers in 10 years!!! WHY?

by Witness 007 in

japan had a massive increase in publishers from 1950-1998. then in 1998 something happened and jehovah's blessing switched off!!!.

1998 -222,912 publishers 3,802 congregations.

2006 -217,519 publishers 3,164 congregations.

traveb

The demographics and culture of Japan make for an interesting topic. It's a very homogeneous society, with hardly any immigration to speak of. Plus, the population in general is aging and experiencing a decline. This article states that the population is expected to be 86 million by 2060, down from 127 million currently:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan

These factors, coupled with the overall slowdown of JW growth in first-world countries, has probably contributed to the JW decline in Japan.