Posts by Essan

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.

Essan

So if we have access to the email addresses, have there been any email campaigns yet?

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.

Essan

I wonder if Anonymous are for hire?

Maybe we could plead with them en masse to set their sights on the Watchtower Society?

Imagine if the official website was replaced with a list of quotes of failed predictions and abandoned teachings? Etc. All their dirty laundry aired on their own website!

Oh, the Lulz!

42

Would you pose as an "interested one" and "study" to help free my family?

by Essan in

...in return for someone else doing the same with your friends or family?.

this is a hypothetical question to see how many would be interested in something like this and if it could work.

(i created another thread about this but the title and op wasn't clear enough.

Essan

@Yan Biblyan - Hmm, that's a point. I wonder how we could guard against that.

@BlackSheep - Wow, that's some great material on that thread BlackSheep. You've given this a lot of thought over the years, clearly!

27

How many illogical JW beliefs did you choke down for years?

by james_woods in

this was inspired by that thread marvin did on the "ectoplasm".. in something of a confession - i actually gave that hour public talk on this subject.

and it was very popular with the jws.. i did not believe a word of it - even at the time.

did not believe in the "demons" either - with or without the slime.. it got me to thinking - how much of this did a small back room of your mind reject?

Essan

That God was a separate thing from us and everything else, and that he lived in heaven.

For me, even as a kid the one that bothered me was: If God created everything and was before everything, then where was he before he created heaven and what did he use to create everything when He was all there was. There were no building materials but himself and nowhere to employ them but himself.

It seemed obvious to me as a child that if God was before everything, then he was everywhere and everything. There could be nothing but God, ever. Because God never had anything beside himself to make anything with and nowhere to do it except within himself.

Pushed that to the back of my mind, like every other question and doubt.

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.

Essan

@Lost Generation - That story by Siam is excellent. Great idea. Although it would be good if stories with stronger punchlines and hitting harder issues than simply highlighting an ineffective ministry could be formulated. But the story format is a great way to do it, as people get drawn into reading it and agree with and follow the logic before they realize that it applies to the Society.

It reminds me of the prophet Nathan's story regarding stolen sheep (it's OT, everything is about sheep in the OT) which he used on King David to get King David all righteously indignant until David said something like "That thief deserves to die!". Then Nathan revealed the punchline that it was an illustration, the stolen sheep was Bathsheeba, and David was the thief. Smackdown!

42

Would you pose as an "interested one" and "study" to help free my family?

by Essan in

...in return for someone else doing the same with your friends or family?.

this is a hypothetical question to see how many would be interested in something like this and if it could work.

(i created another thread about this but the title and op wasn't clear enough.

Essan

@Moshe - It's about planting the seed by making them aware and giving them a choice they didn't know they had. Obviously, you can't make people leave. But you can expose them to the facts that may make all the difference, even if you have to be creative about how you get that info to them Then you have to just wait and see.

Thanks dpg. It's an important detail.

42

Would you pose as an "interested one" and "study" to help free my family?

by Essan in

...in return for someone else doing the same with your friends or family?.

this is a hypothetical question to see how many would be interested in something like this and if it could work.

(i created another thread about this but the title and op wasn't clear enough.

Essan

Well that's three of us Drewcoul. It's a start LOL.

@dgp It's a small community, but not that small. It's also very insular. Often JW's know very few people outside of their own congregation. People participating would do so because they felt that their present location is far enough from the location at which they were a JW to reduce the likelihood of being recognized to the absolute minimum. Also, the meeting attendance would be kept to the initial contact, not repeated, so that as long as contact was made at that meeting and a visit for a prospective home study arranged, there would be almost no chance of anyone having any opportunity to recognize them again.

If somehow someone was recognized at that initial meeting, then the 'operation' is obviously over but still, no one would know who initiated it, nor would they know exactly why this one was at the meeting.

Anyone who felt they lived too close to their original location, or felt too well known, or who felt that they had too much to lose in the unlikely event that they were recognized would obviously not participate.

42

Would you pose as an "interested one" and "study" to help free my family?

by Essan in

...in return for someone else doing the same with your friends or family?.

this is a hypothetical question to see how many would be interested in something like this and if it could work.

(i created another thread about this but the title and op wasn't clear enough.

Essan

Good for you Deist!

Now let's hope a few more just up and shout "I'm Spartacus!"

42

Would you pose as an "interested one" and "study" to help free my family?

by Essan in

...in return for someone else doing the same with your friends or family?.

this is a hypothetical question to see how many would be interested in something like this and if it could work.

(i created another thread about this but the title and op wasn't clear enough.

Essan

LOL. Yes, I can imagine that Wontleave. Tragic but undoubtedly true.

So you think this idea wouldn't work because the JW's can't really be bothered to study with anyone anyway?

I hadn't thought of that. But it might well be true.

42

Would you pose as an "interested one" and "study" to help free my family?

by Essan in

...in return for someone else doing the same with your friends or family?.

this is a hypothetical question to see how many would be interested in something like this and if it could work.

(i created another thread about this but the title and op wasn't clear enough.

Essan

I agree, Blacksheep. There could be a few articles on the forum about how to subtly do this. I believe there have even been books written about how to use the study situation to covertly and subtly expose JW's to info by asking questions which they are required to research.

I agree that if it was not done subtly it would fail.

But you can't encourage a JW to do research if they refuse to talk to you or listen to anything you say, which is the position many of us here are in with our friends and families because we left the Org.

You can induce them to do research in a Bible Study setting, however. But that brings us back to covertly creating a Bible Study setting, as outlined in the OP.