Reopened Mind

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Posts by Reopened Mind

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  33

  When Someone You Love Is Removed As An Elder!

  by Bubblegum Apotheosis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last week we lost a wonderful elder (removed, stepped down is what i will believe) , this man was as real, as you can get.

  he loved the sheep,.

  his eternal optimism of humanity is a rare quality in the jw religion.

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  Reopened Mind

  Nugget, what you said really resonates with TotallyADD and me. We experienced similar when he decideda to resign as an elder. There were those who wanted him to remain an elder, but I suspect it was because he was one who would willingly take parts when others were sick, spearhead the remodeling of a woefully neglected hall, help with repair of elderly sisters' houses, serve in any position, not to mention his regularly taking the lead in field service. When hurricanes threatened he called everyone to make sure they had a safe place to stay. Like your husband when he stepped down there was no appreciation for his faithfulness through the years. It is so true what you said, "a bad elder with influence can accomplish more than a good one with principles."

  truthseeker1969, please don't make a blanket judgment of all elders. There are good ones. Unfortunately they get chewed up and spit out by the organization. Often they leave due to burn out or frustration. In my 40 years in the organization I have known elders on all points of the sprectrum.

  Reopened Mind
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  41

  NEW TO JWN and Lovin it!! A Little about me

  by Zordino in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello all, i've been on this site for a few weeks (reading for longer) and i have to say this site has helped me a great deal.

  i see from reading all the posts that many many people share my views on the whole jw thing and i'm so glad i can express myself without getting into problems with getting reported to the elders or something.

  i am currently in my late 30's happily married to a jaydub with 2 kids.

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  Reopened Mind

  sabastious,

  Thank you so much for posting the article explaining why people convert to the JW religion. Since my reawakening I have been wrestling with why I converted in the first place. When I began studying as a teenager I had family trying to dissuade me to no avail. My new Witness friends were so beguiling and they had all the answers to my questions, even ones I had never thought to ask! My research was quickly narrowed to only WT publications so information isolation ocurred to the point where no other explanations were accepted. The girls who studied with me became my closest friends.

  Incidently, wouldn't it also make sense that the one willing to give up friendships and acquaintences probably lacks substantial and rewarding involvement with others in the first place?

  This was me as a socially awkward teenager.

  Reopened Mind
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  14

  What is the best way to stop your child becoming an athiest? Great Answer

  by finallysomepride in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

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  Reopened Mind

  So true!
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  36

  Shy JW at the door ... the pain of it

  by MrMonroe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone tweeted today: "a jehovah's witness who is shy to people at the door.

  those few words paint such a sad picture.

  how many jws with little self-esteem and self-confidence, particularly born-ins who have never known anything different, are sent out into neighbourhoods to knock on the doors of strangers and speak to them, knowing the householder resents them being there?

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  Reopened Mind

  I remember being told that if you don't like field service then you don't go out enough. So I signed up to pioneer, first auxiliary then regular. Well I liked it for a while mostly because we pioneers were told we were an elite group. I admit I liked that. But that soon wore off as the drudgery of the day to day door knocking became ever harder to do. Before long it became clear that all my hard work did not result in many converts. I was a convert although not as a result of the door-to-door work so I probably held on to the possibility of results longer.

  Quendi, working with someone like you made my job much easier. I felt like I could relax somewhat and let you carry most of the conversation, with adding an occasional scripture or comment.

  I have worked with the die-hard, don't take "no" for an answer publisher. When one householder threatened to call the police on us the sister I was working with replied, "We''ll wait right here till they come".

  Reopened Mind
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  206

  i am a regular pioneer in my cong reading crisis of conscience.here goes...

  by MsGrowingGirl20 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm on page 90 right now...the info is definitely new and gives me a totally diff view as to how i used to think of faithful and discreet slave.

  i was thoroughly disgusted with the way the brothers handled the oral sex and leadership problem and the insight on the scriptures book...... still have alot of questions though.

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  Reopened Mind

  A BIG WELCOME to you MsGrowingGirl20!

  You are very couragous for daring to read the biggest apostate book of all time, at least in WT world. As others have said be slow and methodical and don't tip your hand until you are absolutely sure of how to proceed. You will find lots of good advice amd support here. You will find someone here who can relate to any aspect of what you are going through. "Crisis of Conscience" is definitely a good place to start to learn what's behing the Watchtower curtain. Steve Hassan's "Combatting Cult Mind Control" would be a good second book as it shows how insidious cults can be. It can also help you so you won't jump out of one cult into another.

  I was baptised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses when I was 20 years old. I'm guessing from your poster name you are 20 years old. I married a JW, raised two boys in the cult, and like you served as a regular pioneer. My husband who posts on this board as TotallyADD served as a ministerial servant and an elder. He was the presiding overseer when I began researching the Watchtower. That was five years ago this month when I read an article in our local newspaper that led me to ajwrb.org. I carefully researched other sites online while tip-toeing around my husband. By this time my children were grown with children of their own. Very, very fortunately for me my husband had been to Bethel as a temp worker and was questioning things he was seeing there. It was he who asked me to order "Crisis of Conscience". When he read it he said he could relate to much of what Ray wrote. It had a definite "ring of truth". At this stage in our lives we find it extremely difficult to extricate ourselves from the WT without the very real possibility of not being able to see our grandchildren. By the way this is a sure sign of a cult.

  So MsGrowingGirl20 we commend you for your bravery in beginning your journey of awakening at so young an age. You have the opportunity to make a life for yourself that can be fulfilling and rewarding. Please keep posting. We are interested in you.

  Reopened Mind

  p.s. Feel free to pm me.
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  32

  Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 01-22-2012 WT Study (HELP MEN)

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  john, his brother james, and their father,.

  (john 3:1, 2; 19:38) this fear.

  overcome fear of man.

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  Reopened Mind

  Blondie,

  Again a superb job of commenting on the WT study. The last congregation TotallyADD and I attended the WT conductor was a semi-literate man. Yes, he could read the words, but there was little comprehension. More teaching was done by those who answered the questions, including sisters. I must add the conductor was a very loving person who cared for many children who were not his own. But my point is he was not qualified to be in a teaching position, let alone an elder.

  I remember many times when in the car group with an elder, we, mostly sisters, would be dropped off to work the streets while the elder would drive around the territory because there was no place to park. Or he might do a return visit while we worked door to door in the Florida summer heat.

  TotallyAdd stepped down as the presiding overseer, then stepped down as an elder. One of our sons has completely left the organization and the other one while attending for family reasons will not be reaching out. He is biding his time to get his family out.

  Reopened Mind
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  10

  The New Vocabulary of a Free Mind

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have always classified myself as someone who was fairly well read, with a pretty decent vocabulary.

  but having been raised in the orwellian "loaded language" of "truthspeak", i found over the past 18 or so months that there is a whole vocabulary out there that i was never exposed to, thanks in part to the wts exquisite information control techniques.

  here's a sample of some of the words i had never even heard of before my "awakening":.

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  Reopened Mind

  Unconditional love. "Love" that is not based on works, but on deep respect for the individual. Love that is based on a desire to help another person without expecting anything in return.

  This I am learning from so-called "wordly" people. O, and I should say I am learning unconditional love from "mentally diseased" apostates. LOL

  Reopened Mind
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  81

  Gave 5 JW's Something to Think About at a Starbucks Today

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was having coffee at a starbucks located in a supermarket chain in one of the towns i work in my business .

  while sitting there doing paperwork , what looked like 3 elders on their field service break sat at a table no more than 4 feet from me .

  after eavesdropping it was obvious they were elders as they were talking about the c.o.

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  Reopened Mind

  Flipper,

  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at that Starbucks. Staying in control of the conversation and remaining calm while at the same time making reasonable points on the harm shunning can do will probably go a long way in helping anyone who has an ounce of reasoning power left to begin to wake up. EXCELLENT JOB!!! That is the real point---helping someone to escape the clutches of the WT borg.

  Thanks for the link to the Huffington Post article. I have saved a copy for future reference.

  Reopened Mind
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  36

  Do You Consider Yourself Religious? Do You Believe In God? Are You Spiritual?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i do not consider myself religious in any way.

  i do believe in "god" and i think i am a spiritual person to some degree.. what about you?.

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  Reopened Mind

  I do not consider myself religious, but I do believe in the HUMAN SPIRIT, ie., I think that it is HUMANS that accomplish whatever gets done. When I give thanks it is to the person who does something for me, not a mythical supernatural being. In that sense, then, I consider myself spiritual.

  Reopened Mind
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  39

  Our dog Princess was put to sleep today :(

  by factfinder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i miss her very much.

  :(.

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  Reopened Mind

  factfinder,

  The hardest part of being owned by a pet is when they die. We grieve for them just as much as any human member of our family. I've had many dogs and cats through the years and I've mourned every one that died.

  I second what talesin said that our pets teach us unconditional love.

  Reopened Mind