At the time, I had fully decided to leave the WTS. Only that I needed space to figure out why I was attending meetings and if it was worth it. I was having doubts about it being the one, true religion, but hadn't made up my mind yet. The pressure actually accelerated my "deconversion" because I got tired of not knowing what to say.
IsaacJ22
JoinedPosts by IsaacJ22
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28
Okay I just got back from the Police department
by troubled mind inthe officer was very understanding and helpful .
he said you would be surprised how many citizens they have come in and ask how to stop the jehovahs from coming to their doors .. .
i told him my whole story about leaving the jw's after 44 yrs and just wanting peace and freedom .
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Meeting experience
by gutted inthis weeks service meeting was typical.. "where were you?
" "i'm concerned about you".
then the typical song and dance of the parts/talks, all recycled notions of doing better in the service.
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IsaacJ22
That's what they always say to me when they bump into me at the store or at work. "Haven't seen you in a while." If I don't have a snappy come back ready, they sometimes take that as a sign of weakness and attack. Right there. In public.
Awesome.
So glad I'm done with that too.
It's especially weird now because I haven't been to a meeting in 14-15 years.
I got away, guys. Deal with it.
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What causes the authority complex the WTS has? Or even common JWs? What drives the need to control others?
by miseryloveselders inhttp://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/194364/1/witnesses-cant-take-the-heat.
in the thread above, several posters made the point that if xjws could walk away from the religion without losing their family and close friends, then they wouldn't even bother worrying about the wts afterwards.
they would simply move on in life.
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IsaacJ22
Rules and regulations: great questions!
Sounds like another winning thread to me. :)
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IsaacJ22
The Hitch AND Jon Stewart? I'm in for the evening.
He's been TDS on before, but all in all, I like the Hitch ... even if he comes off as a condescending know it all sometimes.
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What causes the authority complex the WTS has? Or even common JWs? What drives the need to control others?
by miseryloveselders inhttp://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/194364/1/witnesses-cant-take-the-heat.
in the thread above, several posters made the point that if xjws could walk away from the religion without losing their family and close friends, then they wouldn't even bother worrying about the wts afterwards.
they would simply move on in life.
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IsaacJ22
I have to agree with VoidEater when it comes to individual JWs.
As for the organization's leaders, I wouldn't hazard a guess anymore. There was a time when I felt that the WTS knew what it was doing and that it was using people. I'm not as sure that this is the whole picture now. I've "met" a couple of Witnesses online who actually agreed with all my criticisms with regard to the Society's use of social engineering (what many exxers call mind control). They said that this was how the Society protected JWs and that it was a loving and necessary evil.
In other words, they admit that the Society was guilty of using "cult-like" techniques to control people and to keep them from leaving, but this was just to keep them loyal to God. It never really occured to them that the Society could be wrong or even just lying to them. In this same vein, I suspect it is possible that the Society's leaders could be sincere, though royally screwed up. If this is the case, they may--on some level--be victims of their own unyielding world view. A world view they are now empowered to change if they wished.
Without more knowledge of those leaders, I hesitate to form a strong opinion about them.
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Ray's Office
by watson inthis may have been commented on already, hard to keep up on, but i hope that arrangements have been made to look after the research papers, notes, letters, etc, of ray franz.
preservation of his office/works is pretty important, in my opinion.
when reading the tributes to ray on randy's site, barbara anderson described ray's home and office and it just got me thinking... .
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How old were you when you got baptized...was it your own decision?
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IsaacJ22
I was 21. Pretty young for a convert, but not as young as those raised in the org. It was my decision alright. You couldn't have stopped me.
Since then, I've considered getting DAed (I'm not clear on whether they still do that these days) just so they'd leave me alone. Go fig.
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Okay I just got back from the Police department
by troubled mind inthe officer was very understanding and helpful .
he said you would be surprised how many citizens they have come in and ask how to stop the jehovahs from coming to their doors .. .
i told him my whole story about leaving the jw's after 44 yrs and just wanting peace and freedom .
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IsaacJ22
I was harassed badly by my congregation when I left. The first couple of years were rough. I live in a small town and went to a big congregation, so I couldn't even go shopping without bumping into a JW who'd proceed to let me have it in public. Not cool.
Best of luck with this. I saw your other post about the letter as well. Looking forward to seeing what happens next. If it works out, I'll add it to my list of suggestions for XJW who want to live in peace.
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Here is the Letter I am thinking of sending ,give me your input
by troubled mind inattention to the elder body of the *******congregation of jehovahs witnesses .
criminal harassment is defined as "engag(ing) in intentional conduct which the actor [harasser] knows or has reason to know would cause the victim, under the circumstances, to feel frightened, threatened, oppressed, persecuted, or intimidated; and causes this reaction on the part of the victim.
609.749, subd.
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IsaacJ22
I'm inclined to agree with AllTimeJeff. If you mention anything about disassociation or DFing, restrict it to the fact that this is their reason for harassing you and that they have no legal authority to compel you to do it.
Or you could write two letters, one filed with the police and another, more personal letter that explains you aren't prepared to sever all ties with the WTS for their convenience. You could add that you wrote this 2nd letter to keep internal matters out of the hands of "the worldly authorities." That's a position they would have to respect, at least a little.
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Pics of the Socialist Utopia: Look familiar?
by IsaacJ22 inthought this was interesting.
it's called blinded by the bright colors of the socialist utopia.
check out the pics.
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IsaacJ22
One of my in-laws once took one of those magazine covers and shoved it under my face. She pointed to an open spot in the corner and said: "How would you like to be here?"
There was a flood at our home and we'd been living there for a few days waiting for power to be restored. It sucked. She kept blurting out: "You know Isaac, Armageddon's coming," like every half hour on the dot. Finally, she couldn't stand it any more and pulled this crap on me.
For those who face this sort of aggressive pushiness, you could keep good old pic#2 and go: "I prefer this one. So I'm off to North Korea!" When they look at you, go: "But the picture makes it look so nice there! Just like your picture. And we know they're both true because here's the photo, right in front of us. Right?"
It's a thought.