Posts by Anony Mous

50

Evolution : Where are we headed to

by bioflex in

this is topic is to discuss where we are headed as humans as far as evolution is concerned.

what possible future awaits us.

i am posting this video to help my cause.

Anony Mous

I personally think (and that's just conjecture as nobody really knows) that the next 'step' in evolution is already among us. We're walking more upright and getting taller (compared to eg. middle-ages). We live longer so we have to get more resistance against things that affect us in the long-term. Those among us that are actively evolving are what some of us call on the "autism spectrum". There really is not much explanation as to why anyone is on the autism spectrum other than that they have more of a very specific trait or intelligence (be it in mathematics or in words) and I don't think it's a problem really, it's us evolving into a species that needs to be more intelligent in order to preserve itself but also to advance technologically. Sure, evolution produces all types of outliers and mutations that we don't know yet how to be integrated into our current society but when you get closer to the Aspberger's Syndrome on the spectrum, we're producing highly intelligent, fully sufficient almost a subspecies that doesn't rely as much on the old classic communications we needed in the caves but those that we have gotten available to us know.

That and cyborgs.

12

Witnessing by Mail - Where Do They Get the Addresses From???

by AudeSapere in

jw
friends

.

i'm wondering where the publishers get their address lists when they do 'witnessing-by-mail'.. i live in a gated community (moved here 6-years ago).

this week i received a letter addressed to my *parents* (mr. & mrs. xxxxxxx xxxxx) who have been divorced for 17 years and neither of whom have *ever* lived at this address.. i'm thinking the "mr & mrs" part is just an assumption on their part.. from time to time i get mail address to my father (blue cross solicitations, etc), but he has never used my address as his own and has never lived here.. any suggestions as to just how the local cong would get his name and my address on their mailing list??????.

Anony Mous

Several congregations I know off have bought into a commercial database that junk mailers use. It's fairly expensive so usually they buy it once and keep using it for a few years in which case the information goes out of date very quickly.

Other congregations just reverse lookup online or in the phone books which can also give highly inaccurate information (who still lists their numbers these days?)

Some (other language fields mostly) just go by what is written on the doorbell/mailbox.

Others do (illegally but usually they're literally too stupid to realize that) get addresses from people that work in certain businesses such as government agencies, hospitals, elderly homes and advertisment agencies.

7

The Angry Stage

by EmptyInside in

jw
friends

when i started posting here,i wasn't angry or bitter.

i had not been through a jc.

and i wondered why some here couldn't let go of the anger.. but,after reading what many have gone through,because of the relgion,i understand.

Anony Mous

It's a stage, it goes away mostly. Some people stay in it and it really isn't healthy, I guess the more time you wasted, the more angry you are. My mother is still a little angry because she wasted a good 28 years. I was raised in it and wasted my first 28 years (she left 10 years before me) but I'm not so angry as her because I'm still relatively young.

Some people have wasted a LOT of time, I know one guy (been elder etc.) who when he was well in his 60's retired "to do more" but got disillusioned at how my mother got treated about 10 years ago (shows you the effect of people leaving not because they did something but because they're standing up for what is right), he is now in his 70's and old, he is very bitter and writes books about it.

I still get angry because I still get contacted once in a while and I see their slimy tactics. This evening my ex called me because an elder wanted to know something about the accounts I used to do - it's been several months now and they still can't seem to figure it out. She hung up after I told her I don't want to talk to them which makes me angry that they use her as a pawn.

Anger is normal, it is how we process certain things. However if you're often angry or depressed I would suggest talking to a doctor, get some type of therapy or join a gym or so. Hopefully you have someone to talk to, I had somebody to talk to tonight which helps a lot, if not, you can PM me if you need to talk to someone.

I would walk away if I were you, simply tell them you can't do it anymore because you have moral objections to their practices. If you've been a 'good guy' so far, you may affect others in your family or among the elders as well.

84

Recent C.O. visit: Bad news re: U.S. English meeting attendance

by Open mind in

visiting a nearby town during his thursday night service talk mentioned how poor meeting attendance is in the english-speaking u.s. congregations.

he said that when the gb reduced the weekly meetings from 3 to 2, there was a brief surge in meeting attendance percentages.

after a few months it began to slide and it hasn't stopped sliding.

Anony Mous

@3rdgen

Now imagine doing the same when you come home at 5:30-6:00 because you have to work as a women to be able to survive in this "system of things". It's nuts. And as an elder/servant you have to be there at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts.

They wanted to change the hours for our meeting to 7:00pm instead of 7:30pm because some of the (elderly) elders felt safer in the neigborhood we were located going home at 8:30pm instead of 9:00pm (no kidding). I now feel bad that I objected because the other congregation that did implement it lost all of the younger people.

30

Famous ex-Jws

by ekruks in

jw
friends

michelle rodriguez used to be a jehovah's witness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/michelle_rodriguez.

i am just wondering if we can make a list of famous people that used to be jws, i.e.

Anony Mous

Prince, Larry Graham, Kim Holland (porn star), Van Morrison (rumored)

14

"Personal Experiences" in Watchtower publications and Talks

by ~Question With Boldness~ in

jw
friends

i've been reading posts on this forum for about a year now, but i never made an account or posted.

decided to jump in today!.

i was reading some posts here on crazy illustrations that jehovah's witnesses use (dented bread anyone?

Anony Mous

My first doubts about the org came when I was about 14 I think (or somewhere in my early teens). I was selected to give a demo and an experience at the 2 day convention. So I related the story on how I placed the Bible Story book with one of my classmates who had teased me before to the CO and he said it was great. Then when the final preparations came they kept changing it slightly. In the end I couldn't even recognize my story and had to read it from a piece of paper. I actually said "but that's not my story" and the CO looked at me and said, "but that's how we want you to tell it".

17

Is being a JW that serious?

by Skratch in

jw
friends

before i decided to post my thread i went through this most of this site and tried to see everyone elses experiences and childhoods, unlike some ppl i never told my friends i was a jw because i just knew that would make me uncool to everyone and i wasnt brainwashed like the rest of the jw's i saw and really followed there life by the jw principles.

its sad how some parents have there kids so brainwashed by this stuff its so pathetic i feel sad for some of them, they probably have no friends in school.

growing up in a jw household i always thought alot of there rules are intense and dont allow humans to have any fun i mean come on i can't play pokemon?

Anony Mous

Hi and welcome,

You can read my stories on here too. I woke up too late. I had the same feelings as you at the same age but girls and family and fear for the new century made me stay in... now it's a decade later and I just got out with a baby in my life and two ex wives (one of them is out, lucky for them) which makes it extremely much harder to leave and justify my actions.

If you want out, get out now if you're not already. Your parents and family, especially if they are good parents that love you, will find a way to communicate with you especially if you're not baptized yet (don't know if you are).

Your life has just started, tell your parents what you want if you still live at home and if they say you got to move out, well there's a lot of kids that have gone through it me included (even though I was a JW). It's scary but it's well worth it, you can probably get a cheap room somewhere and a job to support yourself. You'll do dumb stuff but that's life, not a sign that a deity doesn't protect you anymore. I would definitely recommend you get a college education even if it's just a community college.

Please next time, take your time to break up your string of words into sentences and paragraphs, makes it much easier to read.

As far as your dating life and stuff goes, all that "fun" stuff, you're at the right age, girls will LOVE that you are still innocent and have much to learn. I'm 28 and I've been seriously dating and have a girlfriend now too as of 2 weeks and every girl I've dated just LOVES that I'm an educated, life experienced with the enthusiasm of a 17 year old, they say I'm charming and well mannered and they love they can just try new things out and direct a little bit how they like it because I'm open to it and have never done it (in bed and otherwise). JW education is at least good for something ;-)

I decorated my first x-mas tree at my girlfriends house which was a lot of fun because her husband has a special ornament for every year of his life with a story behind it. Yeah, you read that correctly, my girlfriend (the women I have sex with) has a husband who's ok with me and we're hanging out together a lot, went bowling and to an arcade yesterday, it's called polyamory and something I have always felt was right (just as being gay feels right to others) but in the JW organization was taboo even without the sex, just having multiple girlfriends (which I did have at some points in life within the JW org) is bad enough.

Life is freaking exciting outside the organization, still be careful, having unprotected sex is not something I would recommend, don't do drugs or get drunk outside your/a home. But now you can set your own limits, goals and see what you want out of life.

449

"Feeling sorry for yourself" about being hit by your husband is not Christian 2/15/12 WT Page 25 P 12

by yourmomma in

have anyone of you read, the absolutly jaw dropping paragraph in this article about a women who was hit by her husband?

its in page 25 of the 2/15/12 wt study edition (i read the dumbed down version).. .

if there was any question, that the watchtowers stance is for wives to simply take it when their husbands abuse them, this makes it crystal clear.. who the hell is scanning these things before they go to print?

Anony Mous

I posted this on the other website but I'll post it here too. Portion of my life experience:

I remember when I was a child, my mother and both of us children got frequently abused by our stepfather even before the wedding, after all an engagement is a promise and as Christians we have to keep our promises (which is published in the WT and was also affirmed later in life by congregation elders when I wanted to break off an engagement).

We moved from congregation to congregation, trying to “do more” in the work and thus we had some ‘prominence’ within the congregation as a family but time and again, my mother would go to the elders and she would get the reply that she had to be ‘more loving’ and even us children got admonished to be ‘obedient to our parents’.

This went on for about 14 years in over 7 different congregations with even Circuit Overseers and District Overseers getting involved.

Eventually it got so bad, my mother frequently feared for my life (I was the oldest) and I frequently ran away from home whenever I felt I was in danger. Eventually she admitted to school officials and a doctor there were ‘problems at home’. She later left him but he stalked her, she went and lived with a friend and got a restraining order but according to WT doctrine, being overnight with a male person who is not your husband is adultery and she got promptly disfellowshipped.

Trust me, this had an effect on my life, I reflected some of the attitudes in my first marriage (including a physical response when she got physical) and second marriage (verbal) and this behavior was again ignored (and in my mind reaffirmed) by elders as if this was somehow my right when I was the head of the household. One elder even implied that sometimes a women deserves to be slapped and (privately) bragged he had done so in the past too.

29

Anyone ever went from Athiesm to Theism?

by Silent_Scream in

if so, how'd that happen?.

Anony Mous

LeavingWT highlighted the weasel words in the typical conversion stories: Lack of explanation means you didn't do enough research or you weren't interested in finding it. It's easier to get the answers from a pastor but that doesn't mean they are true, religion exploits the need for some of these answers by giving a false and unrelated answer that sounds good but is just a bag of hot air. It's instant gratification at it's finest, everything you need answered is answered by religion. There are perfectly valid explanations for the existence of the universe, moral values and our human species, learn about physics and evolution and most if not all of these will be explained. For Darwin's sake, watch freaking Discovery Channel and it will be explained in broad lines to you.

Why do we do something as abstract as mathematics? God gave it to us? No, monkeys do complex math too, not on the human level but they do it on a very rudimentary level. I guess you didn't know that. That's the subject for some of the research they do at my job and one of the greatest proofs for me that humans are not 'specially made by God'. Monkeys also do rudimentary sign language and can also learn to communicate in (nonsense) languages (although, again, very simplified) as can babies.

Then the next step going from "God could exist" to "God does exist" requires some type of valid (imho scientific) proof, such proof has never been established. Atheists don't say God doesn't exist, they say God could exist but there is no valid manifestation of or test for this being therefore there is no valid reason for me to believe in such being, you might as well believe in an invisible pink unicorn.

Then the apologists go on to say "yes, there are problems but they are not unsurmountable". Off course the (good) religionists will say the solution to the problem is God until science finds a better answer. But then we are again at a God of the gaps. Because we don't understand a piece of nature, we fill it with God until something better comes along. Doesn't mean we should stop looking for it or that God even exists, he's only in our imagination because we're not imaginative or resourceful enough to come up with a better answer. Atheists look at the problem and say - there could be another solution, how about we go looking for it instead of filling it with a deity so we can stop looking for it.

449

"Feeling sorry for yourself" about being hit by your husband is not Christian 2/15/12 WT Page 25 P 12

by yourmomma in

have anyone of you read, the absolutly jaw dropping paragraph in this article about a women who was hit by her husband?

its in page 25 of the 2/15/12 wt study edition (i read the dumbed down version).. .

if there was any question, that the watchtowers stance is for wives to simply take it when their husbands abuse them, this makes it crystal clear.. who the hell is scanning these things before they go to print?

Anony Mous

Got this from the Executive Director of a local support group for abused women:

"Thank you for presenting this to us. It is concerning when a response to abuse may in fact put the victim at greater risk and creates a message that they are in some way responsible for what is happening."