Posts by ABibleStudent

40

New here, just wanted to say "Hello"

by Goldiver in

hello all, it is nice to have a forum for former jw's and see i wasn't the only one out there having serious doubts.

my parents got into it when i was about 4 years old.

my family was part of the granville ny congregation.. my dad in time became an elder.

ABibleStudent

Welcome Goldiver, I'm glad that you were able to heal from your experiences as a JW.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

35

2013 Publisher Statistics now available from 2014 Yearbook.

by jwfacts in

the 2014 yearbook is out, and i have scanned the publisher figures into a more readable format at 2013 service year report.

i have updated some of the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php and will do the rest tonight.

there are no real surprises, with very similar results as during the last couple of years.

I feel that the increase in average number of publishers would be decreasing more than displayed if the WTBTS did not reduce how many hours it takes to be a publisher. It is humorous that the increase in average number of publishers is staying relatively constant, but that it takes significantly more hours for a Bible Student to become a publisher.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

8

Something to chuckle about.. . .

by ABibleStudent in

as i hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.. john glenn.

when the white missionaries came to africa they had the bible and we had the land.

they said 'let us pray.

ABibleStudent

Sorry Canadians! I couldn't resist.

Robert

P.S. - Damn JWN won't display the pictures! Oh well, any place Canadian is used it could be replaced with Minnisotan or North Dakotan.

2

Ideas for activist exJWs to raise the awareness effectively

by Johnny Joker in

jw
friends

http://m.blog.hu/je/jehovatanui/postimage/raising_awareness_s_1389214864.png.

please share it on every site you can!.

[sorry for the errors if there are].

ABibleStudent

Hi Johnny Joker, I love that you want to raise awareness about the WTBTS. Whose awareness are you trying to raise? JW's or non-JW's? If JW's, I don't feel the aforementioned ideas will be very effective getting past a JW's shields. If non-JWs, most non-JWs don't care about JWs. Non-JWs think the WTBTS is a cult and get annoyed with JWs trying to distribute WTBTS's propaganda unless non-JWs are emotionally depressed, physically disabled, and/or financially poor.

What other ideas do you have?

I would recommend:

Talking with JWs and asking them simple questions so that they try to prove to you that the WTBTS has the "Truth",
Talking with non-JWs and help them realize that the WTBTS is a dangerous cult that uses BITE control techniques to victimize JWs,
Writing www.jwfacts.com and www.freedomofmind.com on WTBTS propaganda and handing it back to JWs like in the thread JWs left about 10 Minutes Ago,
Writing emails with lots of pictures/postcards to JWs who you know about how much fun you are having free from the WTBTS,
Creating FB pages to inform your JW friends and family how much fun you are having outside the WTBTS,
Writing anonymous emails to JWs who you know like in the thread You’ve Got Mail! TM, and
Writing to politicians to educate them about how the WTBTS uses BITE control techniques to victimize JWs and asking them to revise the IRS tax codes to add additional requirements for an organization to qualify as a non-profit like in It's Back! . . . Round 2.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

30

Non JW girl with a JW guy

by Accio in

i want to talk about my story because i need help and advice and most impirtant a lot of comfort.. one year and a half ago i met a wonderful guy.

he was really nice and supporyed me during hard moments.

i slowly fell in love with him.

ABibleStudent

Welcome Accio , I'm sorry that you feel a lot of pain now, but with time you will feel less pain. You are much better off without being victimized by the WTBTS and dealing with the cult and authentic personas of your JW former-BF. If you do not understand then watch the following two videos: Strategic Interactive Approach explained 2003 (1:23:23) and

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

Go out and make more non-JW friends in your life and maybe you will meet someone who you love more than your JW former-BF.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

Who would you nominate . . .

by ABibleStudent in

for the citizen honor - congressional medal of honor foundation?

to learn more please visit http://cmohfoundation.org/citizen-honors/?utm_source=pyn%20email%202&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ch%20homepage&utm_campaign=pyn%20email%202 .. i'm thinking about nominating barbara anderson, steve hassan, and/or candace conti?

if you were to nominate barbara, steve, or candace, how would you describe in 500 words or less specific act(s) and efforts making them an extraordinary citizen?.

ABibleStudent

. . . for the Citizen Honor - Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation? To learn more please visit http://cmohfoundation.org/citizen-honors/?utm_source=PYN%20Email%202&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=CH%20Homepage&utm_campaign=PYN%20Email%202 .

I'm thinking about nominating Barbara Anderson, Steve Hassan, and/or Candace Conti? If you were to nominate Barbara, Steve, or Candace, how would you describe in 500 words or less specific act(s) and efforts making them an extraordinary citizen?

To me all three had to overcome their personal fears and in some cases coercion by JW friends and family. I do not know how many people have benefited from their efforts but I would estimate it is in the thousands.

My objective for making the nominations is to raise awareness of politicians and some Americans of dangerous cults in America.

Thank you in advance for reading this thread and your thoughts,

Robert

P.S. - Nominations close January 10, 2014.

20

hello from a galaxies far away

by galaxie in

jw
friends

ABibleStudent

Welcome galaxie!

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

153

Jesus' Teachings - Helpful or Harmful?

by jgnat in

spinning off from another thread, have jesus' teachings been less than universally helpful to mankind?

how do we measure if a particular philosophy is helpful or harmful?.

i am going to use the "universal morals" listed here.

ABibleStudent

jgnat - Personally I find Jesus' apocalyptic teachings to be harmful, and the expectations of persecution that goes along with that. I have seen people defer living because of this teaching.

Hi jgnat, Is this a case of killing the messenger because of not liking the message? From what I read in the Bible, IMHO Jewish leaders appeared to use BITE control techniques to victimize Jews just like the WTBTS victimizes JWs. Although I would not tell people how Jesus Christ is attributed to have said in MT 10 & 24 (and apocalyptic teachings that you refer to), I do feel that MT 10 is a fairly accurate prediction of what a Jew would encounter if he no longer believed that Jewish leaders represented God. According to many people on JWN, they have experienced similar behavior from loved ones when their loved ones suspected that they no longer believed that the WTBTS was God's organization on earth.

I'm not saying that the Bible is the perfect channel for God to spread his message by itself. I also wonder like many others why God does not help end human suffering more actively. I can only say that my life experiences have proven to me that I remember lessons longer when I had to work very hard to overcome challanges and that I'm a happier and more moral, ethical, and compasionate person because of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

33

Should I reconnect with my Bible students? What do you think?

by KateWild in

i reprted 5 studies the month i was df'd.

more than a year has passed since i have seen any of my students.

i got on so well with many of them, we became friends.. did i do the right thing?

ABibleStudent

Go for it KateWild!! But, don't tell them about TTATT. Ask them simple questions to find out how they feel and how they feel about the WTBTS. Then, ask them simple questions about TTATT and how you learned about TTATT after visiting _______ website.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

40

ARE YOU AN ANGRY and BITTER APOSTATE?

by Hummingbird001 in

jw
friends

i have noticed that there are different reactions to learning the "truth about the truth".

some become quite bitter and angry and become very activist.

others seem to just move on quite easily.. .

ABibleStudent

Nope. I'm a Christian and not a JW. The WTBTS is very good at making poor, angry, bitter, jealous, and frustrated apostates (i.e., JWs).

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert