Posts by The Marvster

34

Blurring of genders

by Saltheart Foamfollower in

as sometimes happens at elders meetings with the co, he has a letter from the branch to read out.

this rarely is made available later so any policies have to be acted on from memory.

this visit a letter was read about blurring of the genders and in particular brothers dressing in a metrosexual style - tight clothing was mentioned again.

is this about what is right or wrong 'in Jehaavaah's eyes? or is it following the dictates of cultural stereotypes within a certain nation or few nations? Where I live a lot of the young guys wear tight pants, AND you can spot a lady's man and a player a mile off, because they tend to be metro-sexual (as per the definition given by data dog), those guys really look after themselves; as far as I'm aware the girls of a certain age group nowadays like their men metro-sexual... at least where I live. Anyway haven't there been periods in the last century for example where tight pants meant 'anything but' effeminate/homosexual?. I think of heavy metal musicians and rock stars who donned that type of clothing and were not partial to being surrounded by the hottest women around.... I even think back to when I was about 11 years old living in the UK and being very frightened of the still then existing National Front and skinheads... and let me tell you, they wore tight pants... those hard men were the last on earth to be viewed as effeminate...

and what if a couple of brothers are effeminate by nature? I knew 2 of them and 'yes' they both had issues around sexuality and gender, but this was no pretense on their part.... what do they do? get surgery? it seems in order to be a male in the society you need to wear the society's latest cologne (i think it's called BO), have an enormous beer gut, and don't wash or comb your hair; there you go, the perfect alpha-male..

By the way, if you look at how Jesus is portrayed in publications such as 'the Greatest Man' book... he is at times th epitome of metro-sexual..

18

Where have all the spiritual men gone?

by ToesUp in

this photo was on jw-archive.. sisters are now passing microphones due to a lack of qualified brothers.

this was in a english speaking group in slovenia .

i feel sorry for the guy in the blue shirt!

The Marvster

And I must add that there was major hypocrisy there, because the reluctant brothers, who didn't want to run around, seemed 'indignant' that the sisters were asked to do mic duty and a couple of them actually had the 'guts' to volunteer... I expect those sisters received 'hate mail'

18

Where have all the spiritual men gone?

by ToesUp in

this photo was on jw-archive.. sisters are now passing microphones due to a lack of qualified brothers.

this was in a english speaking group in slovenia .

i feel sorry for the guy in the blue shirt!

The Marvster

My final congregation was a foreign language congregation. And I remember when this happened at the meeting... No one knew it was going to happen apart from the Elders obviously... what a shock... I could see ALL brothers with 'shocked' looks on their faces... it's funny because there were about 60 publishers in the congregation and enough brothers, but what I found was that there was always a struggle to get brothers to do mic duty...

there was a schedule handed out and on the wall in the smaller back rooms where the notice board was, but brothers on sound had to constantly remind brothers it was their turn; there was great reluctance to do it... although I was shocked, and, not hiding the fact that the superiority over sisters indoctrination was deeply rooted in me, I also thought 'GOOD, that'll make them wake up',

that particular culture is VERY male dominated and macho, wow, that must have really humiliated a lot of brothers... AND of course the 'news' went around the circuit, and into English congregations with a lot of grumbling about it, but it was probably a minor victory for the sisters.... and to top it off, the mic duty is so damn easy, the sisters proved this by doing it with their eyes shut... in other words, 'brothers you're not special'

44

I'm not so sure a bigger awakening is going to happen anymore

by bradford in

jw
friends

when i left in march officially i started reading the forums here.

i had this excitement that more people would be leaving soon because of the crazy broadcasts, the crazy "new light" that the gb was dishing out, and more recently the australian royal commission lighting up geoffrey.

this past saturday i had an elder stop by to chat for the first time since i left.

The Marvster

Apostrate

I took me a little while longer to realize that many just do not care what their religion teaches, one way or another.

Amen!

27

Happy birthday to me!

by purrpurr in

it's my birthday!

woweee!

i'm celebrating it too!

The Marvster

Have a lovely birthday.....!

24

Conditioned to fail

by Jordandemm in

jw
friends

just want to say hi and a big thank you to all that post in this site.

it has been extremely tough waking up as a born.

but in slowly removing any doubts about leaving this man made religion.

The Marvster

I agree with what OneEyedJoe said ; Making normal friends seems (to me) to be a much slower process

I started making friends about 2 years ago and after some attempts where I had some good short term friends but had to move away, I have found 2 'very precious' friends... and though I don't see them as much as I wish, they continually baffle me with their kindness and openess and genuinness (the watchtower lies about wordly people)... it is definitely a slower process but very worth the effort...

Also I think that the way friends are made in the org can MASK personality traits that might be an obstacle to making friends. I mean, the org brought us 'automatic' friends so in some cases there wasn't much long-term effort involved, so you may not have noticed, for example, if you have minor quirks that are tripping you up... I only realised one or two of these myself after an honest look in the mirror... I found that once you start getting to know yourself, what YOU like and don't like (not what the WT tells you to like or dislike), you can start attracting the kind of person who, well, is attracted to you as a person...

41

Are you angry for having been a JW?

by Half banana in

i remember seeing the ex-jws parading around outside the assembly like lepers holding placards of hate.

we were the righteous and enlightened ones... and they were lost in outer darkness.

just dont look at them was the standard response to their unwelcome presence..

The Marvster

Recently I have experienced lots of intense anger here are some reasons.

Finding out about the 'quote mining' and using it as suedo - evidence for god's existence in the 'evolution or creation' book... I just looked at the first chapter and searched out all the references, then the anger got so overwhelming I had to stop before the 'cardiac arrest'

The biggest one though was finding out about all the other 'end of the world' predictions even before 1914, and then post 1914 predictions, and the fake 607 date.... which made me realise that the whole 'truth' that was hanging upon 1919 and Jesus apparently finding the FDS distributing truth could not have possibly happened.... and seeing that for me 1914 was the linchpin upon which I believed everything.... EVERYTHING I EVER BELIEVED WAS FALSE, AND I GAVE 30 YEARS OF MY GOD DAMN LIFE FOR THIS... so yeah... quite a bit of anger here, but I understand it's part of the process so I just sit with it and am grateful I found out before I wasted more years..

38

Name Things You Can't Do If You Are JW...or not supposed to do

by minimus in

jw
friends

witnesses are not supposed to stand for the national anthem but can stand for a flag salute.. you can't say bless you if someone sneezes, good luck!, or " you too" if someone says, happy holidays.. it is a religion of cannot dos.

everything is pagan and worldly.. what are things that are unacceptable to jehovah's witnesses that really are no big deal to everyone else?

?.

The Marvster

No dances involving gyrating hips.

in the UK, no 18 rated films.

No looking if a couple kiss during a film (in fact, turn it off otherwise you'll get aroused)

38

Name Things You Can't Do If You Are JW...or not supposed to do

by minimus in

jw
friends

witnesses are not supposed to stand for the national anthem but can stand for a flag salute.. you can't say bless you if someone sneezes, good luck!, or " you too" if someone says, happy holidays.. it is a religion of cannot dos.

everything is pagan and worldly.. what are things that are unacceptable to jehovah's witnesses that really are no big deal to everyone else?

?.

The Marvster

@ vidiot.. thanks, will take a look at that link in a few days (I can only take so much anger at borg antics, so will wait until my current episode fizzles out)

@ FayeDunaway, re: 'juices' ..... Absolutely priceless, lol x 1000

38

Name Things You Can't Do If You Are JW...or not supposed to do

by minimus in

jw
friends

witnesses are not supposed to stand for the national anthem but can stand for a flag salute.. you can't say bless you if someone sneezes, good luck!, or " you too" if someone says, happy holidays.. it is a religion of cannot dos.

everything is pagan and worldly.. what are things that are unacceptable to jehovah's witnesses that really are no big deal to everyone else?

?.

The Marvster

Dissillusioned2, very good point..

had a conversation this morning with my colleagues, a doctor and 2 nurses about what JW's 'don't do'... The doctor said that he knew about the witnesses and no blood stance.. and he knew a bit about the no eating blood which I explained further; then he said..

Oh!, do Jehovah's Witnesses eat only 'Halal or Kosher' meat? KABOOM!

he hit the nail right on the head and I said 'you got it right mate, my ex circle of JW friends NEVER ate hallal'.... that doctor used critical thinking in a split second and I loved it... I was around the truth for 30 years and never thought of something so simple...