Posts by exwhyzee

66

If you were to protest an Assembly what would you put on your placard ?

by Finkelstein in

since this topic of protesting assemblies recently came up, i was wondering .

what would be the some of the most proficient and perhaps strongest message.

to place on a placard to show as the people arrived at the venue.

exwhyzee

I would enlarge the cover of this Watchtower, put it on a placard with a long pole and let their own picture say a thousand words.

14

please tell my thirty-six year old niece what you would tell all your loved ones if they were to go back to the cult because they wanted to see their loved ones again.. she was df'd at sixteen for being a teenager with an anxiety disorder, her dad had walked out on her and her family(2 other sisters) when they were young and never supported them or the mother.

all of them had to live with their grandmother.

after the last child left home, their father has their mother move back in with him.

exwhyzee

Just based on the information you have given, it sounds like April isn't going back to the Witnesses because she thinks it's "the truth" but because she only wants to be with her family. (completely understandable) She's remembering them and her life as a Witness from memories that are 20 years old and is likely seeing things through rose colored galsses, which tends to happen with the passage of time. Who knows, maybe after 20 years, her parents have improved, they are the only ones she has and sometimes you have to take what you can get. If she is able to go back and have her sisters in her life again, yet keep her perspective about this religion and glean what she can from it, maybe it will help her through this difficult time. I know people who are on what I call the "JW My Way" plan. They decide what they do and don't beleive of the JW doctrine. They decide how much or how little they participate. They choose to be in it because it provides a means for them to feel a part of a group of for some other personal reason but not because they think JW's are the absolute universal truth out there. They are not sentimental about it, it simply serves a need they have. Their relationship is with God, and are only JW's because they happened to be the religion they were raised in or happened to become involved with at some point.

After one's life is tangled up in this religion, they sort of have to navigate their way to some sort of normal, any way they can. If April can't see her family any other way, maybe she can fight fire with fire until she makes what she deserves to have happen, come to pass.

One thing is for sure, she is not alone. It's unbeleivable how many lives and whole family lineages have been disrupted or permanently altered by this organization. I've been out for about 4 years, I swear not a month goes by where I don't hear about another JW acquaintance who is leaving, has left or is being shunned. I just happened again today. I don't know how they can survive as an organization if this is happening everywhere.

29

If you're happy and THEY know it all HELL breaks loose!!!!!

by SophieG in

jw
friends

hi guys...is it me...i am beginning to wonder: is a happy ex-jw a target?

i have had a few run ins this week on fb with random jws trying to check me for things that have absolutely nothing to do with the org.

(please dont ask me why they have not un-friended me!

exwhyzee

People like that are generally one reality check away from completly "falling out of the truth" and the lecture they give you is actually intended to reassure themselves. They think they are showing concern for your spiritual welfare but the reality is they are afraid for their own. They are afraid of looking too deep into anything lest they see what they already know, is in fact true. Bottom line, they don't trust that "Jehovahs Holy Spirit" is strong enough to protect them from Satan's supposed influence.

50

Satan must have directed me here

by Miss.Fit in

i was telling my jw friend about the condi law suit.

the first thing she asked was how did i even hear about it because it was news to her .

( i was 't expecting that reaction.

exwhyzee

Hi Miss.Fit,

No, I wasn't suggesting that you ask your friend these things. Yes....you're right, she'd head for the hills for sure. When I hear the JW reasonings that are so full of holes, it really irks . She can tell you, without any proof, that you are under Satan's influence. (what an insult) Yet if you point out something in the public news media that sheds JW's in a unfaborable lignt, you become the "Mrs O'leary's cow", of the situation.

I think the only way around this kind of thing is to realize what you are up against and triangulate and tip toe your way through every conversation without bringing up anything controversial. I've found that sometimes the less you say, the better. No appologies, no excuses, no explainations. Just listen to what she is saying and try to understand that she, in her own way, is trying to help you. The whole thing is set up so that unless you recite the party line, you are suspect.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I think I'd just say "Wow...I hope I'm not being guided by Satan but I suppose he could be causing me to see more in these things than others do, but I can't imagine he is altering the news media to make a point with me. No, it's always been like that for me. Anytime I hear Jehovah's Witnesses mentioned anywhere, for whatever reason, it sort of jumps out at me and catches my attention. I mean, everyone knows about Kim Kardashian's latest daily media exploits two minutes after they happen. This was such a big case and such a large settlement and I was surprised I hadn't heard anyone I know talking about it.

29

My August Update

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

i don't really have a purpose in this thread, but wanted to share my thoughts and updates.. fading has, at least for now, totally stabilized.

my jw wife doesn't discuss jw things and, as difficult for me as it is, i haven't been discussing anything directly against jw policy.

oh, i slip in comments when she tries to judge people or groups based on her jw training- things like gay marriage, medical marijuana, pedophile news stories.

exwhyzee

OTWO...Hi J.

The fact that she didn't want to go to the Assembly without company is very "telling" and is indication of how much the social aspect of the religion is really what is keeping her "in". From what you say, it seems like she is satisfied with her circle of friends and the details of the doctrine don't seem to matter that much . It seems like she only cares that the "big chunks" make sense and that her circle of friends remains constant for the momemt.

50

Satan must have directed me here

by Miss.Fit in

i was telling my jw friend about the condi law suit.

the first thing she asked was how did i even hear about it because it was news to her .

( i was 't expecting that reaction.

exwhyzee

Xyz: Good point. But in order for Jeovah to protect me I need his spirit which is found at the meetings. Which why she was concerned. And if I am not following Jehovah's direction through the f&ds , then I can't expect his protection. I was warned to stay away from the internet and I didn't. So there for I exposed myself to satan and the demons.See how that works?

If Jehovah's spirit is at the meetings, how is it that these Pedophiles not only were able to find their vicitms among the attendees of those meetings but had their doings covered up by those in charge of those meetings ? These aren't just isolated incidents, rather they are happening world wide and the victims were often abused repeatedly over long stretches of time.

How is it that Jehovah's spirit allowed misinformation to be taught at these meetings, throughout the world and why did he wait decades to shed " New Light" on the erroneous information people were basing their whole lives upon ?

50

Satan must have directed me here

by Miss.Fit in

i was telling my jw friend about the condi law suit.

the first thing she asked was how did i even hear about it because it was news to her .

( i was 't expecting that reaction.

exwhyzee

I think the real issue isn't whether Satan led you to find out about Candace Conti and others but why Satan was able to control the Governing Body into covering up the whole Pedophile situation well enough that no mention of it was heard among JW's themselves. The cover up was so thorough, JW's had to find out about it from outside sources.

Why does you friend have such little confidence in Jehovah's ability to protect you from Satan? Isn't Jehovah's Holy Spirit the most powerful force out there?

21

Wow! My brother is just too dumb for words....

by Witness My Fury in

ok we know it's a stupid mind control cult but sometimes to see it in the flesh is just a slap in the face.... i lent my brother karen armstrongs the bible - the biography, which is a great book to help understand the bible, i have read it twice and it was very informative.

i had hoped my brother may find it likewise and actually learn something.. not a frickin chance.

he gave the book back today with an agitated tone and told me it was crap and that he didnt want me to show him any other books, he had got to page 21, so had only managed the introduction and 12 pages of chapter 1 of a book with 229 pages (300+ if you include glossary and appendix).. inside were some postit noted with notations he'd written about dates quoting from insight volumes and scripture inspired to "correct" the dates in the book for events and dates of reigns like manassahs and hezekiahs.. basically he got mad that the book disagreed with what his drone cult brain read in the wts volumes and refused to read any further.. ffs he didnt even look at another outside source at all, just assumed the book was making error after error on dates and got annoyed.. i am shocked he could be just that dumb.

exwhyzee

Not dumb....just afraid. He couldn't handle the fear that arose when he read something that caused him to wonder if his current beliefs are based in accuracy. Be patient with him. He's had a peek behind the curtain and didn't like the implications of what he saw.

35

How would YOU explain cognitive disonance to a Jehovahs Witness on your doorstep

by smiddy in

seriously , in plain simple language that the most thick headed jw would understand.. and what examples would you use.. smiddy.

exwhyzee

An example of someone engaging in cognitive disonance would be when a smoker, despite all the research that proves smoking is deadly, continues to smoke even though on some level he knows smoking is harming him. He truly wants to keep smoking especially since the idea of giving it up overwhelms him and despite of the possibility that he might get lung cancer, which frightens him. In order to ease the discomfort he feels, he reasons that Dr's don't always know what they are talking about, he reasons that at least he doesn't smoke Cigars and he certainly doesn't smoke as much as his Grandfather who smoked 3 packs a day since he was 13 and lived to be 80. The disonance sets in and his discomfort is releived.

JW's who are troubled by the past history of the orgainzation and are frustrated with some of the new light, or the way things are being handled by the Elders, engage in the same kind of behavior. The idea that their beleifs could be based on something that isn't true is so frightening, they go to great lengths to ease the fear this possibility creates. They might reason that maybe their leaders have made mistakes in the past, but at least they don't go to war...and I don't understand the new Blood Fractions reasoning but look at how abstaining from blood protected us from AIDS. What about the growth in the organization, surely 7 million people can't be wrong? They often go as far as to villify anyone who points out the past errors or presents evidence of wrongdoings or flaws in the current teachings. Although undereducated or never having done any research themselves, they mock scientific studies that cast doubt upon their own understanding of man's origin for example, even though nothing they believe in can be backed up by any physical evidence or reliable data but is based solely on anecdotal information that has been bent to fit around acutal historical events.

Of course they can say that Apostates do the same thing. They say Apostates just want to do what they like and they look for flaws in the organization and use human imperfection as means to justify leaving God's people and to ease their guilty consciences.

16

Our DC is on now and I...

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

...was just in the yard playing with my cat.

spent ages with my beautiful cat, watching her roll on the lawn and purr.

her fur is unbelievably soft.. we slept in, got up, had a leisurely breakfast knowing we can go at our own pace, tended the chickens, i called my brother; hubby and i did some housework, played with the cat, and we're off to a lunch date down the local pizza place, knowing we won't have any jws pass by and snub us or look askance at hubby's beard because they're all in brisbane.. it feels a bit funny missing something i've been going to since i was 18, but it also feels good.

exwhyzee

I cringe when I think of the hours spent after a long day at work and wanting nothing more than to be at home with my 2 little boys only to have to rush home, wolf down dinner, put them in their suits and go sit through a dull meeting on a long winter night. And the days they sat through assemblies staring off into space. What was the point of putting toddlers or small boys in a suit and tie? How did I buy into all of that? I wish they'd have done away with at least one of the midweek meetings when my boys were little. It would have been a big releif. Instead we were made to feel that missing a meeting was spiritual suicide. Now it's not as important even thought the Bible says to gather together all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.

To this day, I feel a certain giddiness on former "meeting nights" at the thought that I no longer am on that tredmill.

(P.S.) I'm from the west coast U.S but was in Brisbane and Mooloolaba a few months ago...loved it....didn't see any K.Halls though. Where do they hold the D.C. ?