Posts by ABibleStudent

24

If the organization is all about money.....

by Pete Zahut in

then why would they be so insistent about dfing people ?

if it's money the watchtower org is after, it seems like they'd want to hold on to all the members they can.. how would you answer this logic?.

ABibleStudent

Hi Pete Zahut, It is about labeling people who no longer believe in the WTBTS, so that the cult personas of other JWs are able to justify shunning them. It is better to lose one JW instead of allowing one JW to influenance other JWs into believing that the WTBTS is a dangerous cult.

This characteristic of the WTBTS and reason for doing it was reported in Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses Grow so Rapidly: A Theoretical Application by Rodney Stark & Laurence R Iannaccone in 1997. Since that article was written the WTBTS has continued to grow, but I believe at a lower rate because of reduced hours to qualify as publishers/pioneers, the internet, and reduced social cohesivenss in congregations. Maybe the WTBTS is trying to reduce that trend of slower (declining) growth by rebranding itself as JW.org and holding social events at DCs.

Hubris (feeling unique/special) can be a great motivator for negative-type individuals to ridicule others.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

15

How many of you 'understand' american politics and vote? (this could be a key issue on getting WT looked at more closely)

by EndofMysteries in

please answer even if you don't know anything about it and don't care or don't participate.

being a born in, never allowed to participate, throughout school whatever i learned was in one ear and out the other.

i had forgotton almost everything.

ABibleStudent

Hi EndofMysteries, I vote and write to senators and representatives a couple of times a year on topics that interest me like increasing social requirements for organizations to qualify for tax exempt status (applies to the WTBTS and dangerous cults), increasing transparency of the Federal Reserve, etc.

If you want to send comments to Senators click on http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and to Representatives click on http://www.house.gov/representatives/. When writing to them be polite, to the point, and concise. Do not expect them to respond to your email nor that their response is relevant to what you wrote them about.

As you alluded to in your comments, it is important for many people to write to the same politician to get noticed. Also, the issue should be as general as possible with something that will benefit the politician. It is better to increase societal requirements for non-profit organizations than be against the Watchtower, and, if the politician wants to be viewed as fiscally responsible, to increase government revenue if non-profits do not comply.

Best of Wishes for you writing to politicians. Think of ways to overcome your frustrations and increase your influence.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

P.S. - BOTR is right about politicians would not overtly infringe on 1st Amendment rights, but I feel that non-profit tax laws can be changed that do not infringe on 1st Amendment rights and promote social responsibility like child protection, anti-discrimination, and prevent organizations from using undue influence to promote ostracizing members (i.e., shunning). If BOTR is right, then I would like her to explain how the IRS is able to declare that a religious charity no longer has tax exempt status for funding terrorizm?

9

Stuck in JWs are in a toxic relationship

by skeeter1 in

jw
friends

are "stuck in" jws in a toxic relationship?

this past two weeks, i've been realizing that a few of my jw relatives are very toxic people (they fit the description below).

i realized that alot of ex-jws who are stuck dealing with jws may also be in a toxic relationship.

ABibleStudent

BTTT

Good advice skeeter1 for people in a toxic relationship, whether one or both are JWs or neither are JWs.

I know from personal experience how trapped I felt being married to a toxic person (neither of us were JWs). There is no simple answer(s) that applies to everyone to save a toxic relationships. When it gets too toxic for someone, it is better to end the relationship with love and compassion without expecting it to be reciprocated.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

55

Translating JWFacts to Spanish... Update?

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

as you all may know, it is an ongoing project to translate jwfacts to spanish.

given that there are more than 2 spanish-speaking jw's for every one that speaks english, it can be safely said that spanish is the #1 language in the jw world (even though everything is made originally in english).. the spanish-speaking jw's are harder to convince.

i attribute it almost 100% to socioeconomic factors.

ABibleStudent

BTTT

Kuddos to those volunteers translating JWFacts to Spanish and to Paul Grundy for creating a balanced source of information for JWs.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

52

reading COC for the first time

by This is my tigersuit in

ABibleStudent

Welcome This is my tigersuit, Has your wife expressed any doubts to you about the WTBTS? Does she love you more than the WTBTS?

If she hasn't expressed any strong doubts to you and/or loves the WTBTS more than you, I hope that you do not tell her about your feelings until you have carefully planned how to. Some ex-JWs told their spouses and their marriages ended in divorce. Learn how to help her to critically think for herself so that her authentic persona can overcome the WTBTS's Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional (BITE) control techniques.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

26

Been asked to share my experience at church!!

by quellycatface in

jw
friends

my vicar asked me if i and another lady would like to say a few words about our faith journey.. she said my story was a particular powerful one, what with the da'ing and subsequent shunning.

i can also choose a hymn or christian song.. i was thinking of romans 8:38, 39 to highlight the shunning and the other scripture ne of how true christians will be indentified, if they have love among themselves etc.

i need to look that one up exactly.. any ideas for content for further content??.

ABibleStudent

Mt 22:34-40 The Greatest Commandment

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ [c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

and

Acts 17:11 - Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

How about talking about critically thinking for yourself was encouraged by Jesus Christ and Paul? As shown in Mt 22:34-40, Jesus Christ promoted unconditional love and did not promote blindly following religious leaders. If a religious leader discourages questioning his/her interpretations of the Bible, it is time to stop following that guide.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

35

Dilemma

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

gorby and his lovely wife had during dinner a chat about watchtower hypocrisy.

she faded with me since 2007 and shows sometimes affection for the organization.. we talked about the gb and ray franz.. she asked me if she could read my ray franz books.. now i have a dilemma.

the books gave me a hard time in the '90.. i know the ray franz truth can hurt and shock her so much.

ABibleStudent

Hi Gorbatchov, As long as you are tell her first about your concerns and how it changed your feelings, let her read them, or read them to her so that you can talk about each others feelings. She may also appreciate you reading the books to her, so that she can continue to say that she doesn't read apostate materials.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

28

Advice Needed

by HeyThere in

so my situation is changing and i am trying to figure out the best way for me to handle this.

i am an unbaptized publisher married to a dub who was inactive when we met and when we married and during the course of our marriage, and just went back active a year and a half ago.

he is a full believing dub.

ABibleStudent

Hi HeyThere, DITTO what Black Sheep, jgnat, and Oubliette wrote.

My additional suggestions would be to:

Learn how to overcome thought-stopping platitudes that your husband uses. To learn more about thought-stopping platitudes read 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 Beleifs"), visit his website www.freedomofmind.com, and watching his FREE videos like Strategic Interactive Approach explained 2003 (1:23:23) on his website. It is more important to ask a question and wait for your husband to respond before asking another question. You should lean to recognize when your husband feels a lot of cognitive dissonance about answering a question.
Plan fun activities/time consuming hobbies that your husband loves and will help him to meet more non-JWs. The less time your husband spends around JWs the less BITE control reinforcement that JWs can say to him.
When you ask questions of your husband, phrase them so that he must do his own independent research and how Billy the Ex-Bethelite did in exJW Psychology 102--How to Ask a Question When Questions Aren't Allowed. Example: "If you are a "True Christian" and follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ, how would you justify shunning (or not associating with non-JWs) using examples of Jesus Christ in the Bible to a non-JW who I know as a "loving arrangement"? There are numerous examples in the Bible of Jesus eating/drinking with non-Jews, tax collectors, prostitutes, etc or why didn't Jesus Christ instruct his disciples to shun disciples that left him in John 6:60-70?
If you work or want to be more financially secure, have you thought about getting more education/training? It helps to be too busy to attend meetings by doing something else that will increase your family's financial security.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

44

Where to go from here...

by Patrickday in

i'm new around here, but i've been browsing the site the last few days in hopes of finding the answer to the situation i've been going through, so hopefully you can help me.

i met this girl in highschool, but never really spoke with her until about a year after i graduated.

she's three years younger (however it's legal where i'm from, don't fret) and still a teenager.

ABibleStudent

Welcome Patrickday, RUN, don't walk away!!

If you still believe that it will work with your friend, DITTO what Witness My Fury wrote about showing her this thread or asking her to watch Strategic Interactive Approach explained 2003 (1:23:23) video by Steve Hassan who is a cult-exit counselor. You have the rest of your life to meet a non-JW woman, who will have a lot less baggage than your friend.

The WTBTS is a printing/distribution and real estate holding company that uses BITE control techniques to victimize JWs by masquerading as a religion to avoid paying taxes.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

36

Local Kingdom Hall Speakers To Be Replaced By Governing Body Video Feeds.

by donuthole in

jw
friends

so we've seen as the current gb is getting more facetime in an effort to reach the hearts and minds of the rank and file.

this took a leap with video feeds at an open annual meeting.

the international conventions are taking this a step farther.. do you think that local speakers at kingdom halls could ever be replaced by headquarter approved video feeds?.

ABibleStudent

I hope that it will happen for three reasons: it will give the GB more opportunities to screw-up with less deniability, elders may feel that they are losing status in the KH, and it will reduce the social cohesiveness (why go to the KH when JWs can view meetings from home). Less socializing with other JWs to reinforce the WTBTS's BITE control would be a good thing.

It might play into the GB's money making opportunities, because why have KH's when you can use the internet to feed the "Slaves" (JWs). It would also feed the GB's egos.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert