Posts by TimeBandit

63

Video: Dear Believer, Why Do You Believe?

by Believer in

i was asked to view the video “dear believer, why do you believe?” i said i would and i would publish my comments about it.

so here are my comments.

after my post, i hope other believers will post theirs comments about it.

TimeBandit

"TimeBandit,

"That’s unreasonable, selfish, whinny, and weak."

That's a personal attack. My post did not attack you personally. Calling names doesn't help you.

"If hearing about religious or faith based topics damages you so much, SAVE YOURSELF!! STOP READING RELIGIOUS AND FAITH BASED THREADS."

Who said reading religious based threads damages me? I sure didn't. It doesn't . When I see atheist members posting in threads like yours, it makes me curious as to what is being said, so I read religious based threads...I can do that.

"It seems you just want to pick a fight."

Nope, not picking a fight, the fight was already in progress, all I did was participate in the forum...

"Stop being so needy for attention."

I'm not any more needy for attention than you are.....

If you are trying to recover via online connection with other religious types, well good for you. Maybe once you realized that people are tired of it you should have quit posting about it, or found a more suitable forum. Like one where you fit in better...

Part of this is your own fault.

TB-

63

Video: Dear Believer, Why Do You Believe?

by Believer in

i was asked to view the video “dear believer, why do you believe?” i said i would and i would publish my comments about it.

so here are my comments.

after my post, i hope other believers will post theirs comments about it.

TimeBandit

For me, it's not about ridiculing believers, or about being an atheist. After being burned so many times by the religion I escaped from, I don't want to have to deal with pushy religious types.

To many of us, believing in NO god makes more sense. Here's an illustration: It's kind of like one camp believing in a round Earth, and another camp believing in a flat one. Of course the round Earth people are going to roll their eyes at the flat Earth people, they know better because they've seen the Earth from space. Science is behind it. On the other hand, the flat Earth people are motivated by their faith in a book written during a time of scientific ignorance.

This isn't a place for people to declare their religious faith. It's a place for ex cult members to get together and connect...GodDamn, we just got out of a fucked up cult. Don't be so surprised that many of us have turned against religion and so called faith. Don't be surprised that we react the way we do.

So now you that you know many of us here don't want to be around pushy religious ideas or have them thrown in our faces, will you continue on your pulpit?

TB-

48

Jehovah protects his people. Did he ever protect you?

by TimeBandit in

jw
friends

hello forum.

i started this topic because i had been thinking recently about a story that i had heard many times in different congregations over the years.

kind of a jw urban legend if you will.

TimeBandit

Great stories and replies. I've enjoyed reading about your own thoughts and experiences. It helps me feel some sort of connection. I've felt so disconnected from people. This forum is really my only outlet to try and do that. I've often thought that most exjws are closer to the picture of love and brotherhood than anything I encountered in a KH....Thanks for that.

TB-

81

No! No! No! This can't be true? brexit? No!

by purrpurr in

it seems britain has voted to leave the eu in a move of total madness!

the markets are already in free fall and the moronic bigots who campaigned for this are celebrating the demise of our country .. i can't see how a 49-51% split can be democratic?

there is still the postal vote to come in, maybe there's hope in that?

TimeBandit

Here's a link to some voting statistics concerning Brexit: LINK

TB-

19

Being Bad in the Kingdom Hall

by Funchback in

what things did (do) you or someone you know do in the kingdom hall that was a no-no?.

i remember in the 80s when, during the meeting, three friends and i were breakdancing in the foyer.

3 out of 4 us are happily out of that organization.. as i was trudging through my fade and attending meetings, i sometimes dwelled on how much time and money i wasted during my years as a jw.

TimeBandit

I'm not sure if this qualifies... People who used to mark tons of seats with watchtowers at assemblies used to make me see red. Especially since there were announcements saying to only mark seats for the people in your car group.

I'd see like ten or more seats all with WTs draped on them. Fuck, that still pisses me off just thinking about it. Well, I'd look around to make sure nobody was watching, then I'd remove all of them. Soon new arrivals would claim the seats. It was fun to see the original seat saver come back and find all the seats he marked with other people in them, camped out. He'd be like "Hey! These seats are mine! What is going on here?" and I'd be like "Well, they weren't marked a few minutes ago when we got here...I saw the attendants removing WT's over there though. Looks like you'll need to go find somewhere else to sit, because I'm here now".

I only did it out of a sense of justice toward those poor elderly ones and for the young families with small kids in mind. Plus, how many times had I not been able to find a decent seat because some asshole marked them all up? Plenty. So I guess part of it was for revenge. Yeah, I had to lie a little, but it didn't bother my conscience. I felt like I was doing the right thing.

TB-

31

I Just had a CLOSE ENCOUNTER of the Dub kind

by TerryWalstrom in

i just frightened a jehovah’s witness lady half out of her wits!.

i just frightened a sweet jehovah’s witness lady half out of her wits.... .

she took off like a sprinter at the sound of a starter pistol!.

TimeBandit

Great gobs of goose shit, that was the funniest experience I've heard in a long time. Terrific writing Terry. Thanks for sharing this. I bet she went home and took a shower to wash the apostate residue off.

TB-

25

List of "pagan" things JW's allow

by problemaddict 2 in

what i'm looking for specifically is things that are "pagan" in the sense they predate christianity (or i guess judiasm to cover the ole mosaic code), that jw's allow or do.

the ones that come to mind are below.. rings - rings seem to originate in egypt.

for wedding ceremonies it became a symbol of "ownership" in rome.. pinatas - looks like possibly it originated in china as a part of the new year and a request for luck, and catholics later turned it into a beating of temptation type thing.. anything else?.

TimeBandit

Christianity

The word 'Christian' was coined by Pagans.

The first followers of Christ borrowed Jewish terms to describe themselves, such as 'believers' and 'disciples' .Two of the early missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, went to work spreading the Gospel in the Pagan metropolis of Antioch, where the locals derisively called them 'Christians'.

TB-

21

Can you relate?

by TimeBandit in

jw
friends

i used to try really hard to fit in when i was an active, true blue jw.

somehow it hardly ever paid off.

time after time i attempted to mingle and make jw friends.

TimeBandit

Many of us have been the bastard at a family reunion...

TB-

48

Jehovah protects his people. Did he ever protect you?

by TimeBandit in

jw
friends

hello forum.

i started this topic because i had been thinking recently about a story that i had heard many times in different congregations over the years.

kind of a jw urban legend if you will.

TimeBandit

I once knew a sister named Patricia Zoll. She was mentally ill, and had a controlling and very abusive non-JW husband. My wife and I were very understanding of her situation and tried to help her any way we could. My wife, an E.R. nurse, had even treated her in the E.R. because of being beaten with an axe handle by her husband (a real piece if shit).

It's one case in which the elders actually helped her get away from him. She went to stay with a relative. But being a co-dependent, mentally ill person she came back to her husband. After she came back, the elders and congregation totally abandoned her.

I was horrified the day a friend called to tell me she had committed suicide. Before she killed herself, I saw her one day. She was walking up the road out of town headed for the dam. I offered her a ride, but she said she was just out walking for exercise. Turns out, she was really headed there in contemplation of killing herself. Building up the stamina to walk the several miles to the dam.

They found poor Patricia in the water at the bottom of the spillway. She had continually bashed into the concrete all the way down. But the fall isn't what killed her. They found a lot of water in her lungs meaning that she actually drowned.

Her god didn't save her. Her brothers and sisters didn't save her. But I know I tried to help her. It seems that if Jehovah knows when a small bird dies, and how many hairs we have on our heads, that he would have been there for someone like her who was in so much pain and anguish that she was about kill herself. I am glad her suffering is over.

God plays hide and seek you see. He hides, and people do the seeking.

TB-

7

Cult memories extinguish good memories

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

i have this thing.

i don't know why it is or how to stop it.

every time i happen to daydream about something positive from my childhood, some related cult aspect comes to mind and extinguishes it like a candle is being blown out.. for a while, i thought this was anger and resentment causing me to want to find an excuse to be angry (not that i need one).

TimeBandit

In you mind, go back to that fateful day and slap the living shit out of him. Seriously. I think I know what you are talking about. Personally for me, it's my parents disowning me and the way they treated me that ruins almost all of the few childhood memories I can actually remember.

Sometimes I go back in my mind to the day my dad talked to JWs for the first time. In my time travel fantasy I hug my dad and tearfully beg him to throw away the magazines he got that day, then I punch him right in the nuts...

I'm sorry you have to experience this. I think you should look for a good counselor. They might be able to suggest some coping strategies that will help. Mine was off the cuff and I didn't mean to make light of you situation.

TB-