Posts by Half banana

13

How We Felt When We Discovered TTATT!

by The Searcher in

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Half banana

For me the big thing was realizing there was no God. ( I never believed in 1914 since the reasoning was so convoluted and unconvincing) For years, even as a pioneer, I had interpreted the figure of the Devil as a melodramatic literary persona and not a real thing.

I was in my office at home one day reading the philosophy of Kierkegaard and it hit me: ok the devil is fiction... but neither is there a God. The whole religion thing functions whether god exists or not. The Watchtower and all religions are a sham. This was the turning point from which no return was possible.

I was glad I had had the realization but worried for my family. I faded successfully without immediate reprisals, then it was announced that I was no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses but was then treated as a disfellowshipped individual. In my family's eyes I had joined the devil's party. My wife had moved from normal "other sheep" mode to "anointed" mode and had a nervous breakdown, the children were badly affected psychologically and the marriage was over.

Even with those dire consequences, I would rather live according to my conscience as a free agent than be beholden to the Watchtower's insidious cult regime.

One of my sons has left the borg and is enjoying an adventurous life, two offspring yet to leave.

22

Moving to Warwick Video incl. Morning Worship

by Listener in

a new video is up about the commencement of moving to warwick.shawn bartlett tells the viewers that jehovah has said, through the governing body, ‘it’s time to move out of brooklyn.

‘ then helper robert lucciona says ‘ the governing body, these brothers, as soon as they see god’s direction, they just move, it doesn’t matter if it is long held, cherished ideas, this is the way it has to be done, as soon as they see jehovahs direction.

he just kept nudging imperfect humans, he knew where he wanted us and then we end up where we are supposed to be.

Half banana

So God told you to move hey?

Come on governing biddies, I dare you--- tell us exactly how it is that the almighty God of the universe actually communicates with you. Does he speak out loud or write letters to you or does he use a ouija board? This must be a stupendous event when it happens and I would like to know about it and so would the brothers and sisters.

Or are you just bluffing and pulling the wool over the eyes of the idiots who listen to you?

41

I don't think I will be able to escape the JWs ...

by nevaagain in

jw
friends

i know i will get a lot of backslash on this forum for saying this, but as it looks like, i won't ever be able to escape the jws.

i have been a born in, third generation jw and awoken in one way or another (i joined this forum 15 years ago) for a very long time.

but i have adapted to the jw lifestyle to a point where it does not bother me anymore.

Half banana

Oh! Nevaagain, you knew you by posting you would get some flack and indeed your words are truly sad. Perhaps you felt in need some prodding? You are also old before your time--- 36 is still young!

For the sake of your dignity and own happiness: get a life of your own choosing, not the pathetic straightjacket the org hands out.

You have become institutionalised and that is a tragedy.

Xanthippe's warning is real possibility ... how would you feel in 10 years time because you just went with the JW flow? Think about it.

Even you know there is another life awaiting you...make new friends including with non-JW females and don't pre-judge them with Watchtower assumptions because remember the Watchtower is always wrong. Courage my friend!

12

Need some advice Re: JW marking by a family member

by William Penwell in

so anyone that has read some of my posts on here over the years knows i have done the slow fade over the last 30 years.

i do not claim to be a jw and have not being in a kingdum hall now to attend a meeting or convention for religious reasons for almost 15 years.

now i know the discussion on here from this past dc was the rank and file dubs have being pressured to distance themselves away from family members that are no longer active dubs that they deem are not living up to wt bible principals.

Half banana

William your sister is acting like a JW automaton, acting not thinking. I am close to my sister and would hate to be shunned by her so I can see how you must feel.

Nevertheless a JW is stuck in a mind-bending cult and you are not. Perhaps this is the time to tell her simply that your love for her is unconditional and that she should look into the hypocrisy of the JW organisation on the internet.

The result is still likely that you will be sent to Coventry by her but you have the prime opportunity to leave her with a big doubt about her wonderful religion.

16

Today's Text - Jehovah is my helper!

by Divergent in

jw
friends

tuesday, october 18. jehovah is my helper; i will not be afraid.—heb.

13:6.. “people often comment about how happy jehovah’s witnesses are,” says a longtime elder in a developing country.

“they also notice that even poor witnesses are always nicely dressed and appear to be better off than others.” this harmonizes with the promise jesus made to those who put the kingdom first.

Half banana

By having a pretext for dressing well, very poor people can be satisfied with this illusion of wealth. JWs read this as a blessing from God!

It's all surface, it's all illusion, underneath the veneer is a corrupt Bible thumping, money grabbing cult called JW ORG.

8

JWs- “SCIENCE IS A DISTRACTION TO MY FAITH"

by Giles Gray in

“after our discussion last week i asked myself ‘do i need to go into the depth of science to make sure of what i believe’, and my answer was that i don’t need to go into science because science would be a distraction to what i already know with my faith…”the above is a quote from a conversation i had with two jws who called on me at the weekend.

i knew that the standards of the jws had declined, but what i experienced the weekend really highlighted that fact and it was quite a surprised.amazingly they came back, but this time i had the presence of mind to record the entire visit which is really going to help me examine how these people think.they were coming back on the topic of the evidence of evolution and how this contradicts their interpretation of the bible.

i had sent them an email that dealt with the topic of nature’s vestiges and i asked them to explain the biological atavisms that occur in whales and humans.

Half banana

Thanks Giles, I think you had a very good approach to stick to things which the WT has no sensible comment on, namely the evidence for evolution in atavistic organs etc.

If as schoolchildren we had all studied the geological 'column', i.e. the sequence of deposits in the earth's crust which records amongst other things the development and divergence of living things from common ancestors, it would be difficult to avoid the facts of evolution.

However humans are not fact processing robots, we have feelings which are easily swayed by the behaviour of our community. With emotionally focussed religious salvation at Armageddon in mind, JWs happily suppress and dismiss factual evidence for real things such as Darwin's big idea.

22

Moving to Warwick Video incl. Morning Worship

by Listener in

a new video is up about the commencement of moving to warwick.shawn bartlett tells the viewers that jehovah has said, through the governing body, ‘it’s time to move out of brooklyn.

‘ then helper robert lucciona says ‘ the governing body, these brothers, as soon as they see god’s direction, they just move, it doesn’t matter if it is long held, cherished ideas, this is the way it has to be done, as soon as they see jehovahs direction.

he just kept nudging imperfect humans, he knew where he wanted us and then we end up where we are supposed to be.

Half banana

No indeed it's true, "they don't deserve such a wonderful place to live in"...they should leave immediately.

32

Selloff Hinted At Assembly

by thedepressedsoul in

the last talk at the assembly made an interesting statement, "we can show faith by following direction if we're asked to move to another kingdom hall for better use of dedicated christian funds".

this statement has everyone talking.

i spoke to multiple individuals and they heard the same thing at different assembly's.. i know they have been "evaluating" all kingdom halls the last year or two.

Half banana

What is happening is how you would expect the decline of the Watchtower organisation to begin.

114

Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?

by nicolaou in

jehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.

they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.

they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?

Half banana

'Religious' or theist ex-Jws might conclude that JWs are not Christian because if they were to admit that to be true, then why would they be leaving?

Surely it is those who have seen through the scam of religious belief who can more accurately and dispassionately classify Watchtower beliefs in a Christian context.

8

141st Gilead Gradution Talks 1st Part

by Listener in

these grads.

are a special people indeed.

how on earth they put up with all this indoctrination is beyond me, months of intense brainwashing.

Half banana

Baldeagle, I do think that the statement telling JWs to obey, "whether the instructions make sense or not," is a transparent cult manoeuvre to permit the leadership to mobilise the followers to do unpleasant or difficult things without the rank and file questioning it.

It also has the effect of giving authority to the governing body by endowing it with a sense of divine importance to what is merely an instruction, which is just what the followers are looking for.

The gb cultivate their flock to respond like Pavlov's dogs; salivation is not sinister but blind obedience to the JW org is.