Posts by ABibleStudent

38

First post

by BenRichards in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here off and on for a few years, figured i would introduce myself and share the clif notes version of my story.. i'm in my late 30's and was born in.

mom was a jw, dad wasn't.

got baptized in my teens and started dating my eventual wife.

ABibleStudent

Welcome BenRichards, As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The same applies to JWs. I'm glad that your wife feels the same as you and has read CoC.

If you want to help your other JW family and friends, have you thought about doing the following?

Read information by cult-exit counselors like 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 www.freedomofmind.com, and watching his FREE videos on his website.
Only ask your JW family and friends simple questions. Watch their body language. Ask them how they feel. Let them know that you love them unconditionally and will not judge them. Let them be the first ones to express their doubts first. Encourage them to independently research their doubts - the owe it themselves! Empower their authentic personas to overpower their cult personas.
Learn how to ask questions like Billy the Ex-Bethelite wrote about in the thread exJW Psychology 102--How to Ask a Question When Questions Aren't Allowed.
Learn how to overcome thought-stopping platitudes that your JW family and friends use.
Encourage your JW family and friends to become involved in non-WTBTS, time-consuming activities/hobbies where they are more likely to make new non-JW friends.
Encourage your JW family and friends to use the internet to search the internet for cheaper travel and hotel accomodations. Eventually they may use the internet to search for WTBTS information. You could suggest to them to Google to search jw.org for information with the hope that they may read links to non-JW.org webpages.
Research the WTBTS by visiting reputable websites like www.jwfacts.com and www.watchtowerdocuments.com. It will help you to know what words to suggest that your family use when doing their own research.
If studying the Bible with your JW family and friends does not offend you, study the Bible with them and show them what Jesus Christ thought about the Pharisees and Sadducees using Steve Hassan's BITE Model. Let them draw the comparison to the WTBTS on their own. Have you read MT 23?

I hope that you continue to post on JWN to vent your feelings so that your JW family and friends do not become suspicious of your feelings.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

22

Help me help my DF'd friend

by OneEyedJoe in

jw
friends

so i got a text from a friend of mine today telling me that he'd been df'd.

since i'm still nominally a witness, this puts me in a tricky spot.

i intend to tell him in no uncertain terms that i will not shun him, but i'm not sure where to go beyond that.

ABibleStudent

Hi OneEyedJoe, Don't write or leave messages for your friend.

Talk with your friend (preferably face-to-face). Tell him that you will not shun him, that you love him unconditionally like Jesus Christ taught his followers, and that nothing he can say will change your mind about the WTBTS.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

9

BITE Model & WTS quotations

by TheBeardedMan_OrNot in

jw
friends

my first message on the board.... at first, sorry for my english : i'm a french speaker from belgium so please be indulgent .

this message because i found this thread recently :.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/91207/1/cults-steven-hassans-bite-model#.u_8rzvl_vur.

ABibleStudent

Welcome and Bon Jour TheBeardedMan_OrNot, Your English is better than my French.

Have you read Steve Hassan's Books (i.e., "Combatting Cult Mind Control', "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves", "Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs"), visited his website www.freedomofmind.com, and/or watched his FREE videos on his website? Learning more about Steve Hassan's methods will help you ask simple questions of your JW family and friends. DO NOT try to prove that the WTBTS is wrong or is a cult. Let them do their own research to prove it to themselves.

If you want to help your JW family and friends, have you thought about doing the following:

Only ask your JW family and friends simple questions. Watch their body language. Ask them how they feel. Let them know that you love them unconditionally and will not judge them. Let them be the first ones to express their doubts. Encourage them to independently research their doubts - the owe it themselves! Empower their authentic personas to overpower their cult personas.
Learn how to ask questions like Billy the Ex-Bethelite wrote about in the thread exJW Psychology 102--How to Ask a Question When Questions Aren't Allowed.
Learn how to overcome thought-stopping platitudes that your JW family and friends use.
Encourage your JW family and friends to become involved in non-WTBTS, time-consuming activities/hobbies where they are more likely to make new non-JW friends.
Encourage your JW family and friends to use the internet to search the internet for cheaper travel and hotel accomodations. Eventually they may use the internet to search for WTBTS information. You could suggest to them to Google to search jw.org for information with the hope that they may read links to non-JW.org webpages.
Research the WTBTS by visiting reputable websites like www.jwfacts.com and www.watchtowerdocuments.com. It will help you to know what words to suggest that your family use when doing their own research.
If studying the Bible with your JW family and friends does not offend you, study the Bible with them and show them what Jesus Christ thought about the Pharisees and Sadducees using the BITE Model. Have you read MT 23?

I hope that you continue to post on JWN to vent your feelings so that your JW family and friends do not become suspicious of your feelings.

Have you considered contacting Paul Grundy, owner of JWfacts, to volunteer to translate JWfacts webpages to French?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

40

I got asked THE QUESTION !!

by Tech49 in

a little experience that happened very recently:.

another brother, an elder, and i were talking, i was explaining to him and giving him several examples of how a couple of the elders in our congregation were blatantly trying to run their own show, parading themselves around as "representatives" of the body, when the other brothers didnt know what the hell they were talking about.

they are using their "elder powers" to bully and push people around, causing a bit of angst and hurt feelings.

ABibleStudent

Hi Tech49, How would the elder have responded if you had asked him, "Isn't Jehovah guiding the R&F too - not just the GB and elders? What if Jehovah was guiding the R&F to make changes, but "imperfect men" were screaming, "Listen and obey us!"? What should the R&F do?"

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

36

A new member

by LP97 in

jw
friends

i'm a 17 year old from scotland.

can i just say this site is absolutely brilliant.

finally found people with open minds and free thought that doesn't just consist of "well the wt told me this so it must be right".. my story is that i'm just like any other child of a jw...brought up into a life of indoctrination where "the world's" thinking is automatically wrong.. that is until i was 14 - a light turned on in my head.

ABibleStudent

Welcome LP97, I'm glad that your parents can still think for themselves.

Have you read information from cult-exit counselors like 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"), visited his website www.freedomofmind.com, and/or watch his FREE videos on his website? Learning about Steve Hassan's BITE model and his methods to help people to critically think for themselves, may help you to communicate better with your parents.

Instead of discussing your doubts with your parents, have you tried to ask them simple questions when they say thought-stopping platitudes and attempt to justify their opinions using something they learned from the WTBTS? It is better to help them to critically think for themselves rather than do the thinking for them. Have you tried getting your parents involved in some time-consuming, non-WTBTS hobby or activity that they love and would help them to meet more non-JWs?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

46

They came swiftly and left like a speeding bullet, JW.ORG

by jam in

i was in the den when the old lady yell, "your friends are here".. at the door stood a jw.

hi sir (no good morning sir) we have a web site,.

jw.org in different languages.

ABibleStudent

My experience with JWs at the door was the same as others. I feel that the WTBTS trains the R&F to drop-off and move to the next door.

As long as you do not initially condem the WTBTS, JWs will engage in conversation. My conversation started with asking them if they understood what the "No Solicitation" sign meant and which hall were they from.

During the course of 30-minutes I invited them several times to my condo to verify what I said about WTBTS doctrines or to study the Bible. I engaged in conversations with up to 4 men and 1 woman. I always tried to ask them simple questions about how they felt and to do independent research. Based on their responses they either were lying to me, don't read the Watchtower or Awake!, don't remember what they read, and/or don't want to know what is written in the WTBTS propaganda. I doubt that any of those JWs will take me up on my offer to read the Bible with them without WTBTS propaganda.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

22

So what was Microsoft thinking with Win 8?

by TD in

i know some of you are in the field and many others are hobbyists and enthusiasts.. aside from a tablet/smart phone os, what were they thinking?.

i don't know a single desktop user (e.g.

architects, engineers running autocad, solid works, etc.

ABibleStudent

I bought a new laptop with Windows 8 in March 2013. I replaced it with a Windows 7 laptop within 24 hrs. At that time it was difficult to find a Windows 7 laptop that I liked, but I did!

I feel that Microsoft created Windows 8 to increase Ad/software revenue by simulating going through a virtual supermarket checkout line filled with impulsive items to purchase every time someone logs off and on. Since the native Windows 8 interface slows down my productivity, it would have made more sense allowing users to choose which interface to use instead of offering a traditional Windows interface months later if Microsoft was concerned about a users productivity.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

21

Born In JWs: Were You Abused According to the CDC?

by ABibleStudent in

child abuse in the usa.

child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child or children.

in the united states, the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) and the department for children and families (dcf) define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.

ABibleStudent

Child Abuse in the USA

Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child or children. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department for Children and Families (DCF) define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Child abuse can occur in a child's home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with. There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

If you were a born in, do you feel that you were abused according to the Wikipedia article on child abuse? In 2009 the CDC first published a report to document the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) in a population-based representative sample from 5 US states categorized by demographic characteristics, including sex, age, education, and race/ethnicity - affiliation with high-control groups like the WTBTS was not part of the study.

It has been 5 years since that CDC study. I wonder if writing to the CDC about mind manipulation by those who experienced it first hand would inspire the CDC to do more research.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

19

World's greatest website JW.ORG ?

by Pterist in

.

http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/14030-jworg-greatest-website-in-the-world/.

thoughts, comments, outbursts ;) .

ABibleStudent

Walter C. Langer - “People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one, and if you repeat it frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it.”

What would you expect JWs to believe? JW.org is very good at manipulating the minds of JWs, so promoting hubris and creating thought stopping platitudes in JWs is to be expected. JW.org is the "World's Greatist Website": it can't be wrong!

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

7

feeling like a true apostate today

by truthwillsetyoufree in

it was back in 2011 when i was convinced that jws dont have the truth.

i rejected so many teachings and was open about that to members of my family.

it took me another year to pluck up the courage to attend other churches.

ABibleStudent

Good work truthwillsetyoufree!

I have done the same thing at my condo complex by picking up left propaganda, engaging in conversations with JWs to plant seeds of doubt, and writing to the management association to call the KH to put the whole condo complex on the do not call list. JWs will probably ignor do not call requests, but it is better to refuse JW.org propaganda than except it.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert