Posts by VampireDCLXV

36

May 15th WT - WT society uses Fear & Guilt to Prevent Materialism in JW's

by flipper in

jw
friends

once again , i couldn't resist sharing this wt study article from this issue.

it was just too good, or bad - depending on your perspective.

you will see the use of fear and guilt in this information - laying it on witnesses heavy as the title says " christian families - " keep ready " indicating armageddon is so close - so don't get wrapped up in materialism.. right from the get-go in the 1st paragraph fear tactics are used .

VampireDCLXV

Then to instill further GUILT into younger JW's concerning materialism it gives an example of an Ethiopian teenage Witness girl. It states, " She did so well in her schoolwork that upon completing her basic education, she was offered a scholarship for further education. Having her eye focused on serving Jehovah, however, she TURNED DOWN THE SCHOLARSHIP. Soon thereafter, she received a job offer that would pay her 3,000 euros a month - a high amount in comparison with the average wages in her country. But the girl's " eye " was set on pioneer service. She did NOT NEED TO CONSULT HER PARENTS to TURN DOWN the job. How did her parents feel on learning what their daughter had done ? Why, they REJOICED with her and told her HOW PROUD they were of her ! " With parents like that - who needs a bad economy ?

Greetings flipper!

I think it should be noted that this particular story cited in this article has already been reported on here on JWN a few weeks ago. What's hilarious is that this story was then shot to pieces for it's inconsistencies and outright lies in the thread it was posted on. I find it hilarious that the WTS builds it case on ridiculous fabrications like this. Can anything they say be believed anymore?

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30

How to remain sane while being a hypocrite?

by Kensho in

as time goes on i find it a real challenge to keep my sanity while still in "the truth" especially after considering all the rsearch i have been doing about the org.

that i have been very active in for almost 4 decades.

i have managed to be removed as an elder while staying in good standing (prayers-reading,mic carring etc.

VampireDCLXV

I absolutely agree with Auzzie Oz and streets76.

I've said it before: that trying to go to meetings while not believing in it anymore is a serious risk to your sanity and emotional wellbeing. Cognizant dissonance is a very real phenomenon and it could quite literally drive you crazy.

I've also said many times here that (with rare exceptions) there are no genuine friends on the inside. The so-called "Christian love" in a JW congo is as phony as a three dollar bill. If you no longer count yourself as a JW, they wil no longer be your friends. It's that simple. That's just the deal.

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29

new poster

by doughnuthole in

hi, i'm not new here, been lurking forever, just a new poster.

i was a jw for 25 years, did it all,been out now for 7 years, for the most part have healed pretty good.....but some things can't seem to shake.

the thing i'm most regretful of is raising my children in that cult, if i could just re-do that, i think i could be totally over the trauma of the 25 years i was in.

VampireDCLXV

I bid you welcome, doughnuthole.

I can only imagine the guilt you must feel over this. As others have said, though, don't beat yourself up. You were only able to leave when you were ready to. It's wonderful to know that your grandchildren wont have to grow up with this pox in their lives. Cheers!

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12

9996

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

according to the display when i view active topics there are 9996 pages of threads.

that's not far from 10,000, a bit of a milestone.

at times it seemed the board would not make it this far.

VampireDCLXV

We're at 9999 now... so exciting!

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7

Some people go to Amsterdam to Shmoke, some go to smoke people.....

by miseryloveselders in

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42508543/ns/world_news-europe/.

alphen aan den rijn, netherlands a gunman opened fire with a machine gun at a crowded shopping mall outside amsterdam on saturday, leaving at least seven people dead and wounding 15 others, officials and witnesses said.. the attacker was among the dead after fatally shooting himself at the ridderhof mall in alphen aan den rijn, mayor bas eenhoorn said.

the suburb is less than 15 miles (25 kilometers) southwest of amsterdam.. eenhoorn said that children were among the victims, but he could not confirm whether they were among the wounded or dead, or both.. "it's too terrible for words, a shock for us all," he said.. the gunman's identity was known and it was "all but certain" he acted alone, district attorney kitty nooy said, but investigators were not yet ready to release his name or age.

VampireDCLXV

Well, ppl are ppl no matter what part of the world they're in. These kinda things are sad but not entirely avoidable. If someone wants a gun really badly, they'll get it somehow.

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46

is this site dominated by americans and canadians ?

by the max in

im new to this forum, most topics up for discussion are usa centric, and thus for us euro,s are boring, like whats on your tv chanels, wtf, who cares what your watching on tv,i dont come here to listen to that, either promote something intresting, or shut the hell up .

VampireDCLXV

I'm not sure what the point is of saying that this place is "dominated" by Americans...

Sure, it is mostly Americans here. I am a Canadian along many others. There are a lot of Brits here too, along with a small cadre of Aussies and Kiwis.

Welome, BTW...

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39

Awesome quotes from JWN posters

by jay88 in

jw
friends

i will start it off with-thetrueone.

"postulating religionists are really illusionists by using suggestive words to accomplish a state of believability.

".

VampireDCLXV

On my holiday h8 thread, ranmac made a brilliant observation that I just couldn't get over. It was soooooo good IMHO:

I agree with the vampire.

I dont like a religion controlling my life, but I also dont like the world telling me what day I should celebrate life, be romantic with my wife, appreciate my mother, appreciate my father, stuff my face-hole with turkey, dress up like Wolverine, or blow all my money on someone I love.

There's plenty of ways to be a mindless sheep. Religion is just one. But that's just my opinion.

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36

You're All A Bunch of Bitter Apostates - Really?

by Broken Promises in

jw
friends

according to an ex-jw who still half-believes in the jws, we're all a bunch of bitter apostates that can't move on.. do you agree?.

.

VampireDCLXV

It's nice to have a place to have these discussions in an intelligent manner.

Unfortunately, many discussions here can dissolve into infantile mud-slinging. Some of that can be fun though. Welcome BTW, scooterspank.

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58

The last meeting you ever went to.......

by watersprout in

jw
friends

i don't know whether this has ever been asked, so i apologize if i'm repeating.. what did you do at the last meeting you ever attended?

did you stay for the whole thing?

what made you realize that this was your last meeting, or did you not know it would be your last meeting??.

VampireDCLXV

Here's a two-fer!

The last local meeting I was at was mid summer 2008. I had already quit FS (too depressing) and I was only attending meetings sporadically. My mom was visiting at the time and I don't really remember much about the meeting itself except that being around "those people" that I could hardly stand to be around made me deeply uncomfortable, like being the lone rabbit in a room full of coyotes. It was what happened after the meeting that was memorable: I was walking home with mom and on the way we had a big fight over what I thought of the folks in my local congo, about how I thought so many of them were fake and pretentious. My mom would hear none of it and thought I totally had the wrong attitude. After mom went back home from visiting me, remembering the fight we had pretty much killed any remaining motivation I had to go to meetings at all. I was done.

About a year later, I took a week of vacation time to see my sisters and parents out of town and go to the district convention being held out there. I went to a local Sunday meeting with one of my sisters I was staying with along with her husband and at the end of the session, I tried hiding in the lobby and stay out of sight while waiting for sister and husband to finish their business in the KHall. Despite my sending fairly clear signals that I wanted to be left alone, people in the congo decided to try to be friendly and they hassled me anyway. After the meeting, the bro-in-law was rather upset that I was being "rude" and "negative" to his friends and this has been a sore spot between us since. He still is rather wary of me as I am now wary of him. We went to the convention later that week and after that, no more. I haven't seen the inside of a KH, Assembly hall or a District Convention since...

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62

Why did you "BORN IN's" leave?

by stillstuckcruz in

i'm sure at some point you have mentioed it somewhere on the site, perhaps several.

but this question is i guess personal.

for those her were born into the jdub religion, why did you leave at whatever point?

VampireDCLXV

What made me leave? It can best be summed up in the following scripture:

Matt 13:35 NWT

By this all will know that YOU are my disciples, if YOU have love among yourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc

Like the Black Eyed Peas asked; where is the LOVE? It usually disappears after one gets baptized. It eventually gets stopped shown toward you and it's hard for you not to just leave it on the shelf as well. It gets replaced by ambition, social climbing, pharisaical behaviour and pretentiousness. It manifests itself in gossip, backbiting and unjustified shunning. The JWs are more about rules and regulations than about showing love to their fellow human beings. If ones among them are seen as "weak", those poor individuals get lost in the shuffle and ignored, especially by younger ones in practically ANY congo out there. Seeing so much negative behaviour related to this lack of "Christian" love just made me sick of it in the end...

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