Posts by ABibleStudent

103

I'm meeting with my congregation Elders Today HELP PLEASE

by LennaB in

meeting with my congregation elders today.. going to tell them about the things i discovered about c.t russell.

(astrology, racism, ect.

) i don't know how to present this information or what to say.

ABibleStudent

DITTO what Island Man wrote.

Take one day at a time. You are twenty and have a lot of time to make changes in your life. Have a good cry, get some sleep, talk with your husband about your feelings, and start planning how to make the changes that you want in your life. The WTBTS is not God's organization, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a God.

If you feel that the WTBTS is not a dangerous cult, then read what cult-exit counselors say are the characteristics of a dangerous cult. Have you checked out www.freedomofmind.com yet?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

32

Formal Introduction - Hi!!!

by Gustv Cintrn in

jw
friends

been lurking here for yyyyyeeeeears, but was too busy with school, jw life and other interests.

now that i'm done with education for the time being anyway, plus the jw life is under pretty good control, i can spend some time and throw my views here and there in some attractive topics.. born-in, and deeply indoctrinated, but with life experience came better comprehension of my lot in life and have come to accept that, just like the family one is born into, jws are my family, friends, my ultimate and overall identity.

a jw is what i am; like the song 'hotel california', and like so many on this board, check out anytime you'd like but one could never leave.. remember like it was yesterday the failed 'the wolf is coming' calls of 1975, mid-80s, late 90's, y2k, 2004 or so, and same will be with the latest effort to get people overly excited about 'the end'.

ABibleStudent

Welcome Gustv Cintrn, I'm glad that you have found happiness as a JW, even with the WTBTS limitations.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

103

I'm meeting with my congregation Elders Today HELP PLEASE

by LennaB in

meeting with my congregation elders today.. going to tell them about the things i discovered about c.t russell.

(astrology, racism, ect.

) i don't know how to present this information or what to say.

ABibleStudent

Welcome LennaB, DON'T GO! The elders care more about following the WTBTS's rules than what you think. Remember the GB's instructions, "Listen and blindly obey!"

Continue researching your faith, the Watchtower's history and doctrines, and what cult-exit councelors recommend to help overcome the WTBTS's BITE control that victimizes JWs. Have you read cult-exit counselor information such as 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 watched his FREE videos on his website?

Best of wishes to you.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

20

JW.org to be regarded as fulfillment of the signs of the last days.

by jwfacts in

i struggled as a jw to accept that the good news of the kingdom was ever going to be preached in all the inhabited world by jws, as there were many parts of the world with few to no jws.

there are not enough to cover the 3 billion plus people in asia to allow everyone to get a chance to hear the message.

it also was offensive to me that jehovah would kill those billions that had never had a chance to accept the watchtower message.

ABibleStudent

JWfacts - Obviously that reasoning is wrong, as most people will never look at jw.org, and a cursory glance will have absolutely zero affect on what someone believes, but I can see it being a powerful tool in satifying JWs that question their global relevance to Mat 24:14.

Individual JWs are way ahead of your prediction. JWs have been posting pictures of JW.org signs on NY Bethel and referencing Mt 24:14 for about a month.

Considering current geopolitical crises, JWs must highly anticipating the "End of this System". I wonder how they will feel in a year or two.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

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