Posts by WontLeave

29

Can demons travel through my Internet connection?

by rebel8 in

can demons travel through my internet connection?.

holodeck and the bible

by cptkirk in

this is why i love this web page so much.

these ideas that have been in my mind for who knows how long (which i had to suppress) have a venue.. ok if a holodeck is something we humans are probably going to eventually develop.

wouldn't it be safe to say the "god's" probably could make one if they wanted?.

WontLeave

Honest, Honey... She told me she was a hologram! She means nothing to me.

37

Im Going To Be Disfellowshipped!

by TimothyT in

in 6 months, my life has completely changed!.

i have chosen to be gay, i no longer suffer with guilty suicidal feelings, i have the most amazing boyfriend, and my parents and friends accept me for who i am.. i was informed today that a judicial comitee will be formed to disfellowship me.

i dont feel any kind of bitterness or sadness despite the fact that this is all i have known for 20 years and im about to lose some very close friends.. on the contrary, i feel fabulous!!!

WontLeave

I have chosen to be gay

Be careful with your phrasing, please. Enough ignoramuses are already convinced homosexuality is a choice.

21

Women and Pants

by Lynnie in

i'm still amazed that the wtbts still don't allow women to wear pants to meetings etc.

is this a disfellowshipping offense?.

WontLeave

For every frigid winter day JW women are freezing, there is a summer day the men are hating their jackets.

Personally, I love the skirt culture, as it makes discrete flashes and diddling in the back seat of a pioneer's minivan possible and quickies easier in the bathroom, during the service meeting. Unfortunately, I doubt many JWs are taking advantage of this aspect.

I have to wonder if the thought of turning a young "sister" over one's knee, hiking her skirt up, and giving her a sound paddling for having low hours or sporadic meeting attendance are dancing in the doddering old GB's minds when they make up rules like this. It's like "theocratic Viagra".

19

Father in law phoned over the riots in the UK.......

by watersprout in

jw
friends

so i was sitting down enjoying my evening and the phone rings... i picked it up and heard my fil on the other end... i said ''hello'' and this was the reply ''oh hello err err err um sprout''... ten years of marriage to his son and he still can't remember my name... .

oh well, what can you do!!.

peace.

WontLeave

I notice how every news story is another "wolf!" cry. I don't recall any prophecies about hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis, stock market declines, riots, suicide bombers, angry speeches, tin-horn dictators' empty threats, cold snaps, heat waves, crime sprees, etc. Paul talked about "increase of lawlessness", but these aren't "peace and security" indicators of imminent Armageddon. The way JWs chop up prophecy and reassemble it at random is ridiculous.

Every generation complains how the world has gone to Hell in a hand basket, because all they have to compare it with is their own limited life experience. Harold Camping did the same thing; having the tribulation starting in the '80s. Really? While Boy George was a terrible scourge, it was hardly the most heinous era in human history. JWs having no knowledge on any subject makes them prime candidates to believe whatever they're told by the tiny group of men they worship.

I just watched the movie adaptation of Animal Farm, recently. The pigs' propaganda machine to the totally ignorant and doting animals was so reminiscent to the GB telling us how happy we are, how every occurrence is fulfillment of prophecy (and thus proof of this being "that generation"), and constantly reassuring us that now they've got it right.

To keep people on the edge of their seats for 100 years is no small accomplishment. Of all the end-time cults, JWs are the best at their craft. While Mormons might be bigger, their religion isn't entirely based on the world ending perpetually tomorrow. The "truth" is always right today, even though yesterday it wasn't; and tomorrow, today's won't be. Every piece of "new light" is like the cherry on top, until it isn't. It reminds me of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRW7pITY5Cg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7igJHXenlAQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VbI5zcB8Ac

18

Dispelling JW Myths: Faithful and Discreet Slave

by AuldSoul in

matthew 24:45-51 who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?

happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so.

truly i say to you, he will appoint him over all his belongings.. .

WontLeave

@AuldSoul: Nice points and interesting perspective. I've read things that hinted at this, but you really hit them square on. Together, we build each other's insight and understanding. Posts like this are one of the reasons I come here.

@RollerDave: I've been trying to come up with a tract, but brevity is not my strong point. This is my attempt to make a quick read on a similar subject: Do Christians Have Human Leaders? Anyone want to help edit it down to an interest-grabbing tract, feel free.

9

How long do JWs visit before giving up?

by skeeter1 in

jw
friends

it's like, how many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb...... so, i dropped by someone's house last weekend this person was raised in the watchtower cult, and has been around it for several decades.

nice person, but not active in the meetings, never in service, and never baptised, etc.

rarely goes to the meetings - perhaps once every 2 months.

WontLeave

Mine came by for about 4 visits and then stopped. I guess I wasn't "progressing", since I would refute their adoption of the Catholic magisterium concept. I said I knew they had a crazy doctrine they were hiding, because all evangelical cults do. Scientology does, Mormonism does, and Jehovah's Witnesses do (but they didn't know I already knew what it was).

I pressed them for their "crazy doctrine" for several visits, until I finally had to feign revelation via a Wikipedia article about JWs. I printed it out and highlighted pertinent parts about their human leadership. I asked them if what the article said was true, but they wouldn't read it; the woman wouldn't even touch it, as though it would burn her hand.

This gave me an excuse to know about the GB. I asked them if they'd ever read the Bible, and if so how they could possibly come away with human leadership for Christianity. Of course, they pulled out Acts, which I pointed out actually refuted an elite, central "Jerusalem council" if they would read it instead of reading Watchtowers that told them what it said.

I buried them in scriptures about rejecting human understanding and following men. Of course, JWs don't see the GB as "men" talking; they see the GB as "God" talking. The guy actually seemed like a fairly intelligent man and pretty familiar with Scripture, yet watching him shut that down over this topic was amazing. I could see the lights switch off when he went into Watchtower-recitation mode. Suddenly, he wasn't passionate, animated, knowledgeable, or intelligent. He turned into a mindless drone. Since I'd already impressed the lady with my Bible knowledge on previous occasions, she actually tried the "Who did you get your Bible knowledge from?" line on me, then realized I wasn't a long-time study or baptism candidate. Every word became a familiar, tired Watchtower quote, as their minds were disconnected and the cult programming took over and they became visibly angry, when I rejected their real god, the Governing Body.

96

1874, 1914 and 1943

by TD in

jw
friends

a persistent meme that floats around on jw related internet forums holds that christ's second coming was moved forward 40 years (i.e.

from 1874 to 1914) in the year 1943.

(this appears to be based primarily on a statment in the book god's kingdom of a thousand years has approached on page 209 and to a lesser degree, a footnote at the bottom of page 133 of the publication jehovah's witnesses - proclaimers of god's kingdom.).

WontLeave

I think Eggie's problem here is that he doesn't realize the Parusia and the end of the Gentile times weren't always the same. Currently, JWs have lumped several things together - the war in Heaven, the end of the Gentile times, the Parusia, and the beginning of the "last days" - as all happening in 1914. Russell told his followers the "last days" began in 1799, Christ's advent began in 1874, there would be a 40-year (corresponding to "this generation") presence before the end of the Gentile times in 1914 (which would lead into Armageddon), and that would be over by 1918. All those events have been moved to 1914, with the exception of Armageddon, which is perpetually imminent.

At least Russell realized events would transpire before Armageddon, but JWs now hold that as the next thing to happen. The time prophecies of the current administration are a jumbled mess (see my reference to Matthew 24 in Do Christians Have Human Leaders? for a prime example) and they shuffle events to whatever extracts the most free labor out of the cult members.

62

On A Scale Of 1 to 10 How Much Knowledge Does A Jehovah's Witness Have About Their Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

years (many decades) ago, most jws knew what their religion taught.

they could go toe to toe with a minister or priest and make some good points.. i believe today's witness knows little about most of the convoluted teachings and revisions of the "truth".

yesteryear's witnesses got a 9/10.

WontLeave

That depends entirely on which doctrine you're talking about: The public version or the insider version. What they actually believe and what they claim to believe are sometimes very different. Many JWs buy into the public version (like I did) and are surprised to discover the secret doctrines that will never appear on the JW website or any early study book (e.g. "Bible Teach"). Most cults keep their crazy doctrines pretty secret until the members are too far into the cult to easily turn back. Whether too apathetic to flee, too socially-tied to the group, or unwilling to sacrifice their "position" in the group, most stay even while knowing it's BS. JWs are mostly made up of sociopaths and doormats, which feed each other's mental issues. Add other smatterings of mental illness, ignorance, and low IQ and you'll have the entirety of "good Witnesses". These people are easy robots and the type who join cults. Wind them up with some crazy doctrine and watch them run. They'll brainwash themselves, so it requires precious little effort. These people can't stand to be around anyone who isn't a crazy, retarded robot, so they label those who aren't as "apostates" and throw them out. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king hated.

21

What keeps you going after your exit from the Watchtower Society?

by Awen in

i am curious as to what you first did when you left the watchtower society's mind control cult.. did you try to find friends who had gotten out also?

did you go to school (college/university)?.

how different was the "world" you now found yourself in compared to living in jw-land?.

WontLeave

I discovered pretty quickly that JWs aren't real friends, so I didn't really make any close relationships with them. Even though I'm still "in", I don't associate socially with any JWs. The only difference I've discovered between fair-weather JW friends and fair-weather non-JW friends is at least the non-JWs aren't as self-righteous after stabbing you in the back. I don't get along well with stupid and/or ignorant people, so I doubt there are many JWs I'd be able to associate with for long before wanting to strangle them to death with their own intestines.