Posts by DarioKehl

The whole "never had a beginning" idea is a massive case of special pleading and leads to an infinite regress--both fatal when used in a debate and creationists use them all. the. time.

8

Common Cult Vocabulary Compared To Phenotypes

by DarioKehl in

jw
friends

tonight, i watched the season opener of the new show on the nat geo channel about the religious colony in montana (usa) called the hutterites.

there is also another fantastic show called amish: out of order.

both shows focus on ex-members or people inside wishing to escape and follows them as they adjust to their new lives on the outside.

Tonight, I watched the season opener of the new show on the Nat Geo Channel about the religious colony in Montana (USA) called the Hutterites. There is also another fantastic show called Amish: Out of Order. Both shows focus on ex-members or people inside wishing to escape and follows them as they adjust to their new lives on the outside. Having recently met and befriended an ex-Seventh Day Adventist and in speaking with a few ex-Mormon friends, I noticed several common terms that all of these groups share with JWs. Two terms came up in the Hutterite program tonight AND the Amish show a few weeks ago:

"Frowned upon"

and

"...if the elders find out..."

a few others that are shared with LDS and SDA are:

"disfellowship"

"heavy petting"

"worldy"

"the group (organization/colony)"

"brothers and sisters"

"like-minded"

"independant thinking (in a pejorative sense)"

and "what will others think?"

"family study (or family Bible reading/family home evening)"

Each of these groups originated independantly, separated geographically or by a few decades. But all seemed to originate in the late 1700-1800s. I'm interested to know how these groups developed similar vocabulary having never crossed paths with one another. Granted, the SDA and JWs share common ancestry with the Millerite movement, but the other highly controlled groups are almost hermetically sealed from outside influences. Are there any sociology people who wanna chime in with their theories on how this phenomenon may have arose? This was actually one of the big wake-up moments for me. When I discovered that JWs were actually not that different from many other "false" religious groups, it blew my mind. I finally realized, "Hey wait a sec... we are not really all that unique from all the other oddball religions out there!" That was a huge boost to my mental exit from dubland. And after hearing our new Kingdom Melodies, nothing ever sounded more "churchy" to me before.

My theory is this: Religions evolve too. Analogy: There are north American wolves and Australian wolves. The difference is, the Australian wolves are marcupial as are most Australian mammals. That trait is unique to Australia and a few other tiny coastal areas facing Australia in the southern hemisphere (eastern S. America); evidence that the 2 land masses were connected at one time and that all the marcupials share a common marcupial ancestor. The American wolf and Australian wolf are not even closely related. They arose within 2 entirely different branches of evolution. However, both the American and Australian environments positively selected for specific phenotypes. In other words, both locations had environments that provided a suitable niche for species that were wolf-like. I think these separate offshoots of religions developed the same way. Within their cultural environments, each group deemed it necessary to develop similar vocabulary to ensure the survival of their religion from generation to generation. Agree? Disagree? Gimmie your thoughts, I'd like to hear what you guys have to say.

14

We Are Witnessing a New Enlightenment Age

by DarioKehl in

jw
friends

good day, everyone.. i choose not to post much, but i enjoy lurking several times a day.

i haven't seen anyone remark on the growing trend of apostacy globally, specifically within the last year.

i mean apostacy that's not just among jws.

DarioKehl

Good day, everyone.

I choose not to post much, but I enjoy lurking several times a day. I haven't seen anyone remark on the growing trend of apostacy globally, specifically within the last year. I mean apostacy that's not just among JWs.

NatGeo and Discovery have done several fantastic programs lately. I Escaped a Cult is one series, but perhaps the most moving and well-balanced program is the newest called Amish: Out of Order. Has anyone seen this program yet? I have saved every episode and am amazed at how much similarities there are between JWs and the Amish. On May 29th, they will do a program about the Hutterites. It's a matter of time before they do one on JWs. The Amish forbid photography and the Hutterites are extremely reclusive. ...BUT, they managed to get documentaries to run on these networks. Certainly, they will cover JWs at some point in the future. With South Park making fun of Mormons, Islam, Catholics and Scientology, it's just a matter of time before they reach the JWs. IMAGINE what that would do to kids and young adults still inside. Come on...those people sneak and watch South Park all the time, even if their family says it's verboten. What would happen if JW youth saw a South Park episode satire about JWs and their history? I'm talking about people who probably would never research an apostate web site or visit a forum like this. That would be HUGE. And so would a doc on NatGeo. I'm telling you, it's coming!

When I first began to awaken in 2007-2008, I remember the same few dozen YouTube Channels devoted to Ex-JW issues. However, has anyone noticed YouTube absolutely lighting up since last spring? If you search "Jehovah's Witnesses" under the "today" filter, you will see 5-12 new videos posted DAILY.

To what do you attribute this? It's obviously not exclusive to JWs. There are many new Ex-Mormon posters as well. NatGeo certainly sees relevance in this increase of apostacy and has at least 3 successful programs dealing with the subject. It's so weird because it's all happening at the same time from my perspective. It feels like once I chose to investigate TTAT and realized it wasn't for me, suddenly, the illusion of being all alone was proven false. Now, 4 years later, I see many, many more making that leap just within the last 12 months.

Have any of you noticed this, or is this just an illusion from my own unique perspective? For people who left in the 80's and 90's and even the early 2000's, was it a more lonely exit for you compared to someone who decided to leave in 2007-2012? It certainly seems that way to me. It's a perfect storm right now for a mass exodus. Growing secularism is available in libraries, internet, billboards, youtube... And for JWs, there is the tightening stranglehold with all the recent angry rhetoric coming from WBTS that most fence sitters find unappealing. Couple that with smart phones and the ability to research anything from anywhere with no fear of discovery, and I think we will see not just WBTS, but ALL major religions drastically lose membership over the next 10 years. I belive the exodus for all churches will force major doctrinal changes, new recruiting measures and perhaps an easing up on all the doom and gloom from WBTS...unless they're in kamikazi mode.

Comments?

57

The real identity of the F&DS revealed...any news yet?

by Aussie Oz in

recently barbara posted the update on the unthank case and mentioned that more would be revealed soon on the real identity of the faithful slave.. has it been revealed yet?

have i missed it?.

been looking, hoping!.

DarioKehl

well, according to the recent WT, we don't "NEED" to know!

24

Book study potlucks/treat-nights/ice cream soicals, etc.

by Joliette in

jw
friends

did any of you guys have these at your book study?.

DarioKehl

One of my congregations was quite liberal. It was called "club med" and "the party congregation." Eventually, a heavy-hitter CO came in and wrecked it to pieces. Too bad--it was great while it lasted. I hosted book study in my bachelor pad for a few years and "treat night" was the first Monday of each month. And on Memorial Day and Labor Day, we would move book study to Tuesday! TOTALLY our decision! Anyway, we didn't just have punch and sheet cake. We threw down every month. It was wonderful. In fact, my bachelor kitchen was glad to recieve so much attention--those poor appliances never got used otherwise! We had deep dishes (casseroles, lasagnas, crock pot roasts, chilis...), salads, desserts, pop, I threw all the kids into my bachelor's den and plugged in the Xbox and DVD but theeeeee bessssssst part was this: it wasn't just permitted... it wasn't just allowed... it was EXPECTED, it was almost DEMANDED that booze flowed as soon as the closing "amen" was over. I never cooked, but I'd run and get a case of corona or a 5th of something. It was wonderful. I wouldn't have built my bar had it not been for the monthly addition I made to in the spirit of book study!

THIS is probably why the GB wised up and eliminated book study in the home. It sucked when they did that. Nothing better than the smell of apple pie or jambalaya wafting through my family room as we raced through the Daniel book. And lemmie tell ya, on "treat night," book study lasted about 35 minutes. *sigh*

Here's to fond memories... I would never have begun my fade if I still had the party congo...

17

Cult Free Radio on the air this Saturday night with special guest Barbara Anderson

by Mad Sweeney in

jw
friends

that's right.

barbara anderson will be on cult free radio this saturday evening at 10pm eastern time.. show up to listen and post your questions on the social stream for me to ask her.. https://www.facebook.com/cultfreeradio.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cult-free-radio.

DarioKehl

ughhhhh i must be a retard. trying to figure out how the hell to download older episodes to my iphone and i'm caught in a maze that goes nowhere. it says it's downloaded, and nothing appears anywhere--even in my hard drive! and i just paid for this 4share program. UGH. apple products are so much EASIER!!!!!!!

19

Self-shunning Syndrome / The Prime Directive

by cedars in

i've recently been reunited with some close family and friends having been away from them for some time in another country.

to begin with, i was a little apprehensive as to how they would treat me.

they don't know the extent of my feelings or knowledge (or what i've been up to!

DarioKehl

So true! I've felt the same thing! Once I hang around old friends and here "pure language" being spewed, I resent them. I look upon them with contempt. Then I feel bad. I feel like Lisa Simpson feels around Homer--frustrated because their ignorance seems belligerent. Another possibility is deflection. A defense mechanism I've found myself using a lot recently. Shun THEM before they inevitably shun YOU. It's kinda counter-productive, maybe even destructive, but it's a way to establish some sense of control.

17

Cult Free Radio on the air this Saturday night with special guest Barbara Anderson

by Mad Sweeney in

jw
friends

that's right.

barbara anderson will be on cult free radio this saturday evening at 10pm eastern time.. show up to listen and post your questions on the social stream for me to ask her.. https://www.facebook.com/cultfreeradio.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cult-free-radio.

DarioKehl

Mad sweeney... you rock, bro!

Is there any chance you will upload your previous episodes to iTunes podcasts in the future? There are a few great podcasts on iTunes, but only one good one for Ex-JWs (Witnesses for Atheism). However, it's not for everyone, especially those who are curious. Their irreverent humor and profanity would offend some, possible scare others back into the bOrg (I happen to love it, but my soul has been damned for some time). HealingXJWs is very lousy, poorly prepared, terrible in sound quality, boring, and there's never a clear topic. After 8 minutes of horrible Jesusfreak music, the hosts will disappoint the listener by having a good guestlined up but totally destroy the interview with poor preparation. They ask the most ridiculous questions and you can tell they're not listening to the guest because they'll ask stuff that the person already said. I can't tell you how many times they've interviewed an author of a book, but obviously failed to prepare or read their work--in some cases, they don't even know what the book is about! Ugh!!! It's pure hell--we need a classy, informative podcast for exJWs or those on their way out. I've given very serious thought about starting one myself, but I'm a little jittery because I'm only faded. The host of Irreligiosophy (a hilarious ex Mormon podcast) told me that voices are as recognizable as faces and to be careful. I'd love to be able to listen to yours on the go without having to stream or leave my browser running on my smart phone. I'll tune in live tonight tho fo sho! Your program is WAY better than 6 Screens! (that's like comparing the Wall Street Journal to the Enquirer).

146

What Stupid Things Were You Counseled For?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i've always been told that i have a very good personality, that i'm humorous, etc.. one elder called me over and said that i was "smiling too much".

the other elders talked to the elder who counseled me and he came back to say that i should be like i was .

.

DarioKehl

What a GREAT topic, OMG. I'm showing my "worldly" relatives this stuff because they're very curious about what kind of hell I had to endure growing up in this strange cult. What an eye-opener!

My stuff:

-too strong a "line" in my haircut

-talking about how to legally get out of a parking ticket. elder's neurotic wife was "stumbled" and I was approached at the following bk study. mind you, she would count her time to the MINUTE.

-not showing any display of emotion when counseled about my FS time being below the national average (apparently, i should have been crying?)

-seeing the matrix

-knuckle popping

-gum chewing

-always sitting in the back

-studying a WT during a thursday night service meeting

-having a charity license plate (child abuse prevention--imagine that!)

-intentionally leaving my jacket at home one evening when my car broke and i had to ride a bike to the hall--conductor said i was avoiding having to read or lead in prayer

-not commenting enough

-being in college (while pioneering and MS)

-passing an elder on the hwy on the way home from convention

-saying "ass" on line

-going to applebee's after "every" thursday meeting ("is that necessary?")

-enjoying a martini at applebee's after a thursday meeting ("is this a habit?")

-not singing

-not singing loud enough

-not clapping sincerely

-not singing on a bethel bus tour

-never setting the speaker's microphone correctly (this one jealous asshole with low self-esteem would always run up and re-do ANY adjustment i made when i had stage mikes)

-having any friend who was female (it will lead to illicit sex!)

-having any friend who was male (GAY!)

-a full trash can in the men's restroom when hall cleaning was not assigned to my book study that week. mind you, again, this was a 12:30 pm meeting on a wednesday and the same asshole who applies in 90% of the items in my list called me out IN FRONT OF EVERYONE while car groups were being arranged

-being negative

-having a materialistic attitude (because i was complaining that i never had enough money from my $66/wk pioneer income to have ANY kind of fun...i wanted roller blades, that's all!)

-wearing a baseball cap backwards

-being sick too often

-"not saying 'hi' first" to people in the coat room

-dressing too nice

-cologne.... ah yes... not showing consideration for those who have chemical sensitivity

-the BEST part--when i shaved my head--nothing! nothing at all! no one said a word, no privileges were removed, nothing!