Posts by ABibleStudent

64

I'm not trying to brag, but being an EXJW is awesome!!! Status Update-

by Coffee House Girl in

jw
friends

hello jwn!

i don't get to check in here or comment as often as i would like because i have been working so hard at school...but i just have to share my news in hopes that newbees can see that taking the leap to enroll in higher education is worth it-.

i am graduating this spring with a bachelor degree in art history, minor anthropology...many people (including nonjw's have given me flack for choosing a "dead end" career path) but since leaving the watchtower organization's group-think mentality and "leaning on my own understanding" instead... i decided to say fuck everyone else's opinion...i am going to pursue my passion to work in a museum as a curator or archivist-.

ABibleStudent

Congratulations Coffee House Girl!! Trust your instincts.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

43

Russian Parliament Approves Military Action in the Crimea

by ABibleStudent in

why did russian president vladimir putin ask the russian parliament to approve using military forces to keep the peace in the crimea, instead of asking the un?

why did the russian parliment pass a law approving military force instead of asking for the un to send peace keeping forces to the crimea (http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/01/world/europe/ukraine-politics/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)?.

is russia spiralling into a totalitarian dictatorship like germany in the 1930's and the soviet union from 1920's - 1990's with information control and coercive tactics?

ABibleStudent

Control information. Control people. A simple and effective formula.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/world/europe/crimea-journalists-threatened/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

45

Hello

by GoUnion in

jw
friends

hello everyone it's nice to finally be able to post i had trouble getting emails last month and was never able to sign up.

this has been a very informative site which has really helped me grow and to think for myself.

please allow me to introduce myself.. i was born into a witness family and was baptized at a young age an was part of a small kingdom hall.

ABibleStudent

Welcome GoUnion, Please vent on JWN as much as possible so that JWs do not become suspicious about what you believe now. Does your wife believe as you do? Many marriages have failed because a spouse told the other spouse TTATT.

If she still believes that the WTBTS is God's sole channel then be patient with her. Do more research about dangerous cults, such as 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"), visit his website www.freedomofmind.com, and watch his FREE videos on his website. Make a plan how to help your wife to critically think for herself and without telling her all that you believe.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

52

Has a critical mass of exJWs been reached?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

it took the better part of 15 years but i believe we have finally arrived at that point where there is now a critical mass of former witnesses.. thousands of exjws come together on forums like this one and discuss findings, ideas and research.

there have been documentaries and even a movie made about life in the jehovah's witnesses.. ex jw websites, online forums, and discussion boards that set the wheels in motion in the early to late 90s have matured into powerful tools of social change within the organization.. the lies and false doctines taught by the watchtower bible & tract society are plainly accessible with just a cursory google search.. active elders leak boe letters, often weeks before they hit the notice board in a kingdom hall.. social media has allowed exjws to connect with those still in as well as those who have left.. the society have no game plan because information is power and they have lost the information war.

all they can do is cry wolf and warn the rank and file not to listen to apostates.. i don't know what future the society will face in the next ten years, but changing world events, social trends, and reactionary change from headquarters based on their own faulty biblical chronology has got them cornered like a raging animal.. it doesn't look good..

ABibleStudent

The WTBTS using BITE control to victimize JWs probably reduced the number of JWs more than online forums. IMHO most ex-JWs leave the WTBTS because of how JWs treat each other after getting dunked and feeling, as JWs, that they can never do enough to satisfy the WTBTS leadership. People respond better to praise than to more whipping.

On-line forums that strictly discuss errors in WTBTS doctrines are less likely to awaken JWs because of the WTBTS's BITE control - "Evil Apostates". On-line forums that describe experiences of exJWs, while JWs, would probably have a more significant impact on JWs. A JW's authentic persona would relate to being depressed and/or badly treated by JWs, and start to wonder why do I put up with this and why would it change after the Big A.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

43

Russian Parliament Approves Military Action in the Crimea

by ABibleStudent in

why did russian president vladimir putin ask the russian parliament to approve using military forces to keep the peace in the crimea, instead of asking the un?

why did the russian parliment pass a law approving military force instead of asking for the un to send peace keeping forces to the crimea (http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/01/world/europe/ukraine-politics/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)?.

is russia spiralling into a totalitarian dictatorship like germany in the 1930's and the soviet union from 1920's - 1990's with information control and coercive tactics?

ABibleStudent

Hi Frazzled UBM, IMHO helping the citizens of Crimea currently to achieve self-determination is a lost cause without U.N. monitors supervising voting.

I'm more interested in helping non-Crimean Ukrainians to prosper and democraticly decide their future. If Putin succeeds in annexing Crimea from the Ukraine than within 5 years he will try to annex other parts of the Ukraine bit-by-bit. If Ukrainians start to prosper with less corruption and political turmoil, Russians will start to lose confidence in Putin because eventually more Russians would desire living like Ukrainians.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

97

I did it !!!!

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

7 years ago i started on a path i had long ago given up on as impossible.

i met with my elders and told them i could not justify carrying on as a jw.

i went and got my high school qualifications and my higher education diploma (a levels with distinction) in just 12 months.

ABibleStudent

Super congratulations snare&racket on your accomplishment, especially since you are an ex-JW. It would be tough for a non-JW to accomplish.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

45

Talked to JW's in Service Today (kinda long...sorry)

by exwhyzee in

jw
friends

i was in my company vehicle and i spotted some jw's going from door to door.. i circled around the block and pulled over.

when they passed, i rolled down the .

window and asked the pleasant looking middle aged couple as they passed, if they were jehovah's .

ABibleStudent

Thanks for sharing exwhyzee and caring enough to talk with those JWs.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

43

Russian Parliament Approves Military Action in the Crimea

by ABibleStudent in

why did russian president vladimir putin ask the russian parliament to approve using military forces to keep the peace in the crimea, instead of asking the un?

why did the russian parliment pass a law approving military force instead of asking for the un to send peace keeping forces to the crimea (http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/01/world/europe/ukraine-politics/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)?.

is russia spiralling into a totalitarian dictatorship like germany in the 1930's and the soviet union from 1920's - 1990's with information control and coercive tactics?

ABibleStudent

DJS - What Obama should be doing with some plausible deniability is what I stated earlier: having conversations with potential insurgent groups for the purpose of arming them. Or suggest that such conversations are going to be held. Meet force with force and present the potential for the very last thing Vlad wants.

What good has/will tough rhetoric by Obama and his administration and implimenting sanctions against Russia going to do to positively influence Putin? Talking tough and implimenting sanctions against Russia helps the US administration promote that they are doing something to American voters, and plays into Putin's plans. Putin is playing Chinese "Go" (i.e., whoever controls the most territory wins) and the US administration is playing tic-tac-toe (i.e., playing a stalemate game).

If the US wants to influence Putin, it needs to learn how to get unbiased information to Russians to overcome the Russian government spinning information to unduely influence russians and russian speakers. Putin's source of power is the Russian Govenment's control of information to russian speakers both inside Russia as well as outside of Russia and his willingness to use IMHO unethical methods (i.e, vote rigging, exporting pro-russian protestors to the Crimea, lying, etc.).

If the US wants to influence russians (and help other people governed by totalitarian governments) with minimal adverse impact for the US, then the US goverment needs to develop methods/equipment to increase information flow to Russian speakers that is not controlled by the US government.

Something as simple as convincing the Ukrainian Government to pass iron-clad legislation that guarantees basic human rights, freedom of the press, promotes teaching both Russian and Ukrainian languages in schools, and minimizes corruption would throw a small wrench into Putin's plans. Other ideas would be to provide information about how to detect and report Russian "dirty tricks", as well as distributing hand-held video equipment with satellite uplink support to Youtube and photo-voltaic/hand-crank charging capability to Ukrainians in the Ukraine and Crimea.

Putin is playing a waiting game, which is why I chose the "Go" analogy, until news organizations redirect their reporters to more sensationalistic news. Putin can do whatever he wants without the international news media present.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

44

Jehovahs Witnesses make a big deal about following first century christianity, so please explain this.

by smiddy in

where in the christian greek scriptures do disciples of christ record how many hours a month they preached.. " " " " 10 hours for women and children and slack husbands with no ambition.

" " " " do they record how many back calls / return visits they made in a month.. " " " " have they set down how many bible studys they had in a month.. " " " " do they have pioneers ,special pioneers , aux.pioneers , with goals to reach each month.. " " " " do they have d.o.

, c.o., zone servants , etc.etc.. " " " " where in the christian greek scriptures is the word " organisation" applied to christianity.

ABibleStudent

If the WTBTS follows 1st Century Christians, then why did WTBTS recently warn the R&F to blindly follow the GB and not to bring reproach on the WTBTS by JWs public disagreeing with the WTBTS's doctrines? According to Acts, 1st Century Christians allowed discussion of opposing points of view.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

The Council at Jerusalem

15 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon [ a ] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’ [ b ] —
18 things known from long ago. [ c ]

19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

13

Elder friend is reading 1984 from George Orwell - How to make him relate?

by alonein321 in

jw
friends

hey everyone.

i have and elder friend, he is 33, and he likes to test his faith by reading some science books.

he didn't wake up yet, but he is reading 1984 from george orwell now.

ABibleStudent

Hi alonein321, If you understand Steve Hassan's BITE Model, then ask your friend simply questions about the BITE control tactics in 1984 to help him recognize how simple it is to create "undue influence" over other people. DO NOT draw any parrallels to how the WTBTS victimize JWs, but do ask him how he would feel about being manipulated like in 1984.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert