ABibleStudent

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Posts by ABibleStudent

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  2

  Part 3, The Girl in the Coffee Shop.

  by quellycatface in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  she was there again this morning, i saw her as i walked past.

  with the same sister, doing a study.. "you can lead a horse to water" etc......

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi quellycatface, The important thing to remember is that you cared enough to help her. What she does with the information that you gave her is her choice.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  56

  ALL JW's to be at the meeting this week...

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  we asked this person if it could be aqbout the terminology change and they said that was already read last week...... we remember the last time they did this.

  got everyone all excited thinking the big "a" was coming and all it was about, was the literature would now be donated instead of charging for it.. .

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  ABibleStudent

  My guesses: Distributing flyers to direct people to www.jw.org, discontinueing printing of the simple editions of the Watchtower/Awake!, donate more, and/or asking for more volunteers to help build the new HQ because the end is soooo sooon.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  20

  The reports of my apostasy have been greatly exaggerated

  by sparrowdown in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since finding the meetings too morally repugnant to attend (coupla months now) i have.

  been reaquainting myself with the joys of sat morn's at home.. imagine my disappointment to find the group study overseer and his wife pulling up out front.

  the thought bubble over my head read "oh poo, poo and double poo!!".

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  ABibleStudent

  Welcome sparrowdown, It is better to critically think for yourself instead of being fooled into slaving for the WTBTS. Hopefully, your wife will start to critically think for herself one day and thank you for being such a deep thinker.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
• 
  33

  "Worldly" Friends vs "True" Friends

  by DuvanMuvan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey guys i am new to the whole forum thing (long time reader, first time postererer) and i wanted to get some other opinions on something that has bothered me ever since i first became a jehovah's witness.. i was always taught at the kingdom hall that friends inside the orginisation were the only ones i could count on and that the ones out of it (mainly at school) were just being controlled by satan to trick me into leaving the religion.. however, i always found it to be the opposite.

  my "worldly"friends were all accepting of my religion (back when i was ok with being a jw) and are the only ones i have really opened up to about wanting to leave.

  the only things i have in common with the other teenagers in my hall (3 boys, 3 girls) are that we've all been raised in the truth and... well that's it.. i was just wondering if anyone else found the same thing when they were a teenaged jw or if anyone still in my age finds the same thing..

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  ABibleStudent

  Welcome DuvanMuvan, Are you still living at home? What are your plans to become financially self-sufficient to reduce being pressured to get dunked? As long as you don't get dunked, your family may not shun you in the future - NO gaurantees though.

  Although JWfacts is an awesome website about the WTBTS, you may want to visit www.freedomofmind.com to help you learn how to communicate better with JWs so that you can avoid being shunned. Reading Steve Hassan's books (i.e., "Combatting Cult Mind Control", "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves", and (his latest book) "Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs"), visiting his website, and/or watching his videos, should help you communicate better with JWs' authentic personas to minimize the possibility of being shunned by JW relatives and friends.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert.
• 
  36

  An Anti-Witnessing Campaign, Please Join Me!

  by What Now? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in the past few weeks, the shunning issue has become a very personal one for me, and i have begun to realize that it is not just enough for me and my family to fade out.

  after some recent events, i am motivated to start some anti-watchtower activism of my own.. i, like many others, have hoped that there would be a scandal of epic proportions within the organization, something that would wake others up and trigger a mass exodus.. while i am still hopeful that this may happen, it seems that the organization is too good at damage control, and heightening the paranoia surrounding apostates.. but what if the ex-witness community tried a different approach?.

  what if, to borrow a hockey term, a sort of shut out situation was created?.

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi What Now?, Most non-JWs think that the Watchtower is a kooky religion and should be avoided. Until you can show non-JWs that the WTBTS is a dangerous cult that victimizes JWs, and that under the right circumstances they could be indoctrinated into WTBTS (or another dangerous cult), non-JWs don't care.

  If you want to improve your chances that householders will take action, IMHO the following flyer would be more effective:

  Do Jehovah's Witnesses annoy you by knocking on your door or leaving their propaganda at your home? Do you want to stop being annoyed at your home by them?
  
  Fill out the "Do Not Call" form at the bottom of this page and either politiely give it to Jehovah's Witnesses when they come to your home, mail it to the local Kingdom Hall, and/or phone the local Kingdom Hall and ask to be added to the "Do Not Call" list. Do not accept Watchtower and Awake! propaganda, because Jehovah's Witnesses will think that you are interested to learn more about their beliefs and will return to try to recruit you and your family.

  The Watchtower is a dangerous cult that deceives and victimizes Jehovah's Witnesses. I know this because I once was a Jehovah's Witness. If you would like to learn more why the Watchtower is a danerous cult, please visit reputable websites like www.jwfacts.com, www.freedomofmind.com, etc.

  DO NOT CALL

  [Current Date] Jehovah's Witnesses [Address of closest congregation] Dear Sirs: This letter is to serve as formal notice that effective today you may not enter the property of [address]. This “No Trespass” notice will remain in effect until rescinded by me. Failure to comply with this notice may result in your arrest by police, citizen's arrest, and civil litigation, in which you will be named personally and as an organization. Furthermore, please do not contact me in any way.

  Please refer to the following.

  -[cite your state/local laws on trespassing here]

  -[cite your state/local laws on citizen's arrest]

  -Correspondence regarding trespassing from the Watchtower Society to you dated September 2004

  Sincerely,

  [signature]

  [printed name]

  Personally I feel that ex-JWs would be more effective in changing the WTBTS by writing to their political representatives, local news organizations, and other organizations that are politically active. Unfortunately it will take a lot of work, but the most effective way to change the WTBTS and other dangerous cults is to petition politicians to revise non-profit laws to add requirements that non-profit organizations must not promote discrimination, shunning, and hate speech; and/or report child abuse/molestation and rape to local law enforcement ASAP.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
• 
  37

  How often do you see the Witnesses out on the ministry?

  by rory-ks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i only ask because i hardly ever see them out on the ministry.

  it is a very rare sighting to spot them actively engaged in the house to house ministry.

  or out on the street work, in the marketplace, etc.. the other reason i ask is because they are constantly pictured as being on the preaching work.

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  ABibleStudent

  I see JWs going D2D around Thanksgiving in Northern Virginia when I visit my brother and in Southern California around March/April about every year.

  Do you live in a rural area or metropolitan area? More JWs will probably go D2D in metropolitian areas, than in rural areas.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  12

  How about a Lapel Badge ?

  by Phizzy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tt a tt.

  i am sure you guys can come up with something better ?.

  sorry, i had a better design that didn't get copied across, maybe big j thinks its a bad idea, so he's messing with copy and paste today ?.

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  ABibleStudent

  How about a ribbon with "I'm a survivor - www.jwfacts.com (or www.freedomofmind.com)"?

  It is better peak a person's curiosity so that they ask, "What did you survive?" instead of let the pin say it all.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
• 
  38

  Really bizarre part on the meeting last night

  by stillin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on the service meeting there was a part covering a couple of pages from the tms guidebook chapter on warmth and feeling.

  rather than coaching the r&f on how to make a school talk sound warm, it focused on the people that jws meet in their ministry.

  basically, the part could have been labelled "how to fake warmth and feeling.

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi stillin, If you cannot read Steve Hassan's books, at least watch the following videos at a coffee shop or other free Wifi location:

  Strategic Interactive Approach explained 2003 (1:23:23)

  NY Ethical Culture Society February 2013 (41:09)
  NY Ethical Culture Society 2010 (40:56)

  Randy Watters, ex Jehovah's Witness elder August 2012 (26:43)

  If you are afraid your wife will discover your activities, just remember to clear your broswer's history.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  21

  I want to picket an assembly UK.

  by quellycatface in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i feel like going to picket an assembly this summer.how do i do this?does it still happen?

  ideas most welcome.thanks.

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi quellycatface, Although picketing an assembly will probably just feed the persecution complex of JWs' cult personas, I wonder if there are ways to present information to JWs that will not make JWs summarily dismiss it.

  You probably would be better off attending the assembly and placing business cards with your favorite websites like www.jwfacts.com, www.freedomofmind.com, etc with QR codes in bathrooms or in WTBTS propaganda.

  If you have JW family attending an assembly, I guess carrying a banner with "Hi Mum and Dad, Enjoying life free from the Watchtower" would not feed JWs' cult personas' persecution fears.

  If you are willing to spend ~$200, you could set-up a literature cart with books by Steve Hassan, Raymond Franz, Don Cameron, and other cult experts and give away flyers/business cards where to buy books and/or e-books. I doubt many JWs would take any flyers, but displaying a large selection of books and giving away flyers with website names like www.jwfacts.com, www.freedomofmind.com, etc. may peak JWs' curiousity.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
• 
  15

  My wife and i, cake for our daughters...hm

  by Jon Preston in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so recently it was my daughters b-day and my wonderful wife thought of a great idea....lets get her a cake.

  so some family came to town and we did cake and a few gifts.

  interesting developments as my wife and i have not been to the meetings in abouuuuuut a month....and have been incredibly irregukar in attendance the past six months.

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  ABibleStudent

  Becareful Jon Preston!! Encourage your wife to make new non-JW friends, compliment her and your children to do things that the WTBTS discourges, encourage her and your children to use the internet and critically think for themselves, and tell/show her and your children how much you love them and will not judge them, BUT do not tell your wife your doubts until she tells you that she will not attend meetings anymore and that the WTBTS is a dangerous cult.

  The WTBTS's BITE control is very powerful, so don't take it for granted.

  I wish you and your family the best.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert