Posts by ABibleStudent

39

Strategizing against the WTBTS

by Essan in

could we be doing more brothers and sisters?

i'm sure i'm not alone in wishing that there was more we could do to hasten the demise of the wtbts and to speed up the exodus of it's members.

and i'm sure i'm not alone in thinking of possible ways to do this.. one which i have been considering lately is to make use of the fact that many who leave the organization actually leave the area, move away, and start a new life.

ABibleStudent

Hi Essan, interesting thread. How about sending JWs who you know an anoymous email? I wrote about why and how to send emails to JWs in http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/211893/1/Youe28099ve-Got-Mail-TM. I sent the following email to about 50 JWs:

Subject: How Are You Feeling?
Lonely and depressed — how do you cope? How do others successfully overcome loneliness and depression, and start to feel better? Check out the following websites to chat anonymously with other active and inactive JWs, or read relevant and interesting articles:
1) www.jehovahs-witness.net
2) www.jwsupportforum.com
3) http://freedomofmind.com/
4) www.jwfacts.com
5) http://www.freeminds.org/
6) www.watchtowerdocuments.com
7) www.silentlambs.org

Hope that you feel better soon! (with hugging ) Peace be with you. (with hugging ) (with hugging )

I even tried to address the emails to GB members using jw.org and watchtower.net. I was hoping with the turmoil at Bethel that some posters talk about on the JWN that may be a disgruntled worker would forward the email.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

10

I feel morally conflicted

by Voices in

jw
friends

i'm trying to invest in a company.

i've been doing a lot of research and have been through balance sheet, flow sheet etc...etc..etc...with lots of companies...lots and lots of companies.

... there is only one (thus far) that i have found that has showed a steady growth in it's company progress minus all the debts and liabilities and blah blah blah.. it's so good that it's return on equity is at 36% ...it's p/e is at 19 (not bad for fast grower not that it matters because p/e ratio shouldn't be the reason you purchase a stock) ...it's increased profits by billions in the last 4 years....without any losses, bankrutpacy etc.. .. everything about this company has screamed it's progress is good.

ABibleStudent

Hi Voices, congratulations on doing your fundamentals research. If it bothers you that the company makes beer, then don't buy the company. If you do not have a lot of money to invest, you should consider investing in ETF's until you find companies that you like. Also, I suggest that you view some webairs (such as through TDAmeritrade/Investools http://www.tdameritrade.com/knowledgecenter/webcasts.html) about doing top-down analyses, technical analysis, diversification strategies, timing when to invest, and when to sell. Good-luck!!

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

28

Considering Shunning my JW Friend

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

i had a discussion with my jw friend during which i asked her why a rational person should believe the world is run by demons.

in response, she questioned the existence of objective rationality.

she said that we should "agree to disagree.

ABibleStudent

Hi InterestedOne, I am sorry about what you are going through with your friend. I have been through similiar experiences with my Former Friend, who is a devout JW. She has a similiar mind set to your friend. I would suggest reading Steve Hassan's books like "Combatting Cult Mind Control" to understand (and possibly cope with) how your friend behaves. I do not know your situation, but once your friend believes that she cannot convert you she will probably consider you a bad association and stop seeing you, so there is no need to shun her. She will start shunning you.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

46

just created a site www.jwfacts.com

by jwfacts in

i just put together a site that tries to logically show the witnesses are not the true religion.

just wondering how to get the information out to people that most need it.

also any ideas on how to get the site found by search engines.

ABibleStudent

Hi jwfacts, I do like your site jwfacts a lot, I am very grateful that you took the time to create and maintain the site, and I have one suggestion. Since many former JWs do not want to be df'ed and do want to email articles that they find on jwfacts, is there a way to email articles to JWs without entering the senders email address? I know that the standard internet convention requires that senders provide their email address, but is there a way to hide the address from the addressee and to hid the addresses of the addressees from each other. More people might send articles from jwfacts to their friends and relatives if they could do it anonymously. The only other option is for senders to have an anonymous email address to enter into the jwfacts email form.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

34

MS shuns Witness parents

by EmptyInside in

jw
friends

i just wanted your thoughts on this situation.

there was a young boy from my former congregatioin,he was about 5 years younger than me.. and his parents were overly strict with him.

but,i think the combination of being witnesses plus being raised the old-fashioned,southern way themselves was a bad combo for their son.. anyway,he got a lot of beatings at the meetings.

ABibleStudent

Why does the congregation have to judge the MS son, because the son decides to not associate with his parents or to allow his children to visit his parents? Is it because JWs feel that parents cannot do anything wrong according to the Bible. Obviously the son feels that the parents did do something unacceptable to him, and he may want to protect his children from his parents. If a congregation feels that they must get involved, why not take up a collection for the son and parents to see therapists and resolve their issues without judging either. I am sure that the children of the son would appreciate it, because children that were abused have more of a tendency to abuse their children.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

40

June Service Meeting part: Marriage, separation and divorce

by Quarterback in

i'm curious as to why this is a national topic for a service meeting part?

has anyone any thoughts on this?.

ABibleStudent

SirNose586 - NAAAAH. Let's just keep doing what we're doing and hope it gets better.

I think you should be a prophet for the WTBTS, SirNose586! At least your prediction of what the WTBTS has planned for the talk is probably more accurate than any prediction that the WTBTS has made.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

6

Nothing To Write, But Not Without Something to Say

by AllTimeJeff in

jw
friends

hey all.

i enjoyed my sabatical from our crazy little 5 feet of the cyber world.

i remember coming on here, leaving jw's and having so much to say, so much to expose.

ABibleStudent

Congratulations AllTimeJeff through on your journey through life.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

77

My Last Thread

by Maze in

my interest in posting here has deadened lately.

this will likely be my last thread.

initially i participated here because i was interested in sharpening my perception against opposing points of view.

ABibleStudent

ohiocowboy - Either way, follow your heart and do what makes you happy, stop hurting others by judging them, have peace

Hi Maze, Ditto what ohiocowboy wrote.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

24

Converts and near-converts, what did you give up for the Watchtower?

by Nickolas in

if you're born-in you probably won't understand the subject question.

maybe you will if you've taken up any bad habits since leaving the watchtower, if you've left at all.

but if you were a convert (or near-convert, like i was) did you have to change your lifestyle in order to conform to the expectations of the society?.

ABibleStudent

Hi Nickolas, I never converted and only did a Bible Study with an elder and later with a brother to placate the women, who I liked as a friend. I did not lose much by studying with JWs, and believe that my former friend changed her mind about me after the brother stopped studying with me. My former friend and I still communicate with each other infrequently, and she has changed her mind about me - bad association. She knows a little about how I feel about the WTBTS, but not everything because she does not want me to cause her doubts. I kept my faith in Our Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and it may have increased a little because of my experience. While I was studying with the JWs and hanging with my former friend, I noticed many of the things that Steve Hassan wrote about in his book "Combatting Cult Mind Control". I read CCMC several weeks ago. I joined the JWSF and JWN looking for ways to help my former friend. I have come to the conclusion that there is not much that I can do personally to help her, except to pray for her to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ instead of the WTBTS. I am moving on with my life and meeting new friends.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

ABibleStudent

4

Youve Got Mail! TM

by ABibleStudent in

dont you love getting emails from friends and relatives, even if it is a chain email?

at least someone thought about you and cared enough to send you an email.

if you were a new convert, active jw, a jw with doubts, or an ex-jw struggling to live without jw family/friends, how would you feel about receiving one of my friendly, innocent emails?

ABibleStudent

Don’t you love getting emails from friends and relatives, even if it is a chain email? At least someone thought about you and cared enough to send you an email. If you were a new convert, active JW, a JW with doubts, or an ex-JW struggling to live without JW family/friends, how would you feel about receiving one of my friendly, innocent emails? My objective is to free the mind and Holy Spirit of JWs by planting seeds of information, and helping former JWs reduce their suffering and the possibility of returning to the WTBTS. I do not want to convert them!

How long does it take to overcome fears that the WTBTS plants in JWs’ minds? According to mummatron in her Astounded Newbie Here...*Waves Hello* post, she has a background in IT and was out of the WTBTS for 10 years before she had the nerve to Google “JW”! How many less educated former JWs suffer from the WTBTS’ mind control for longer before locating resources/people that can help them, or, worse, return to the WTBTS?

I like Benjamin Franklin Gates' dialogue in National Treasure about interpreting a passage in the Declaration of Independence, "If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action." It is always easier to complain or blame someone else instead of taking responsibilities for one's own actions or lack of action. In the past week, I have done the following within several hours:

1) Created an anonymous Gmail account (ctrussellxxxx, xxxx=numbers). It was very easy and it didn’t cost me anything. I gave my true identity, but I could just as easily given fake information. If you give your true first and last name and want to keep your identity hidden, be sure to change the email account settings.
2) Sent an email to my personal account to verify how the email would look to JWs.
3) Data mined information from emails and from the JWN article Some WTBTS.ORG e-mail addresses and more. I have accumulated about 20 current email addresses of R&F JWs/former JWs, and about 50 possibly email addresses of higher-level JWs.
4) I wrote two possible friendly and innocuous emails to send to JWs.

I would like feed-back about how to improve the following emails before I send them. The comment “If I got a business card that said simply "jwfacts.com", and nothing else, That might peak my curiousity” from pirata in the thread A Gift of Literature to JWs Everywhere inspired me to think of an inexpensive and personal way to give information to JWs. I feel that emails and the internet is one of the best ways to give information to JWs so that they will not be afraid to access non-approved WTBTS information.

Informative Email to share links with all JWs -

Check out the following web sites. They have some unbelievable literature and information about Jehovah's Organization.

1) www.watchtower.org
2) www.jw-media.org/aboutjw/article41.htm
3) www.jw.org
4) www.jwfacts.com
5) www.archive.org/details/WatchTowerBibleandTractSocietyofPennsylvaniaWatchTowerpubs_0
6) www.watchtowerdocuments.com
7) www.strictlygenteel.co.uk
8 ) www.silentlambs.org
9) www.jwgift.org/Welcome.aspx

Don't you just love what Jehovah's Organization is doing for you?

*************

Email meant for converts, and doubting and former JWs –

How are you feeling? Swinging from happy to really sad? Want to share with someone how you feel, but are afraid how your friends/family will react? Check out the following websites to write anonymously with other active and inactive JWs, or read relevant and interesting articles:

1) www.jehovahs-witness.net
2) www.jwsupportforum.com
3) www.jwfacts.com
4) www.freeminds.org
5) www.freedomofmind.com
6) www.watchtowerdocuments.com
7) www.silentlambs.org

I hope that you feel better soon! Peace be with you.

*************

I look forward to your feedback.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
ABibleStudent (on the JWN) and BibleStudent (on the JWSF)