Posts by xjwsrock

16

I have a plan....

by DATA-DOG in

with all of the bat-shit crazy propaganda of late, i'm considering talking to my wife about the cult.

we have had zero religious discussions for two years.

the last discussion ended with ,"you have no beliefs, no personal beliefs, because you change your "beliefs" when the wtbts writes an article.

xjwsrock

Boom....

Good Job. The contrast is ridiculous.

But hey the Watchtower is just paying the bills. What's a few human rights violated...... Morris needs some new plain black socks.

221

Judge sanctions WTS - $4k per day penalty for not producing sex abuse documents

by Simon in

judge sanctions jehovah's witnesses.

imposes $4000-a-day penalty for not producing documents in sex-abuse case.

by dorian hargrove, june 24, 2016. a san diego superior court judge has ordered the church of jehovah's witnesses, also known as the watchtower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, to pay $4000 a day for every day that it fails to produce documents requested in a civil lawsuit brought by former parishioner, osbaldo padron, who claims a church elder sexually abused him when he was seven years old.. in a june 23 ruling, expected to be made final today, judge richard strauss admonished the church for willfully ignoring a court order to produce all documents associated with a 1997 body of elders letter that church leaders sent to parishes around the world in a quest to learn about sexual abuse of children by church leaders.. over the course of the past year, the watchtower society and its lawyers have fought hard to keep the letter confidential, claiming that turning over the documents would infringe on the privacy of those mentioned in the letter that were not associated with the case.. in march 2015, the church turned over a heavily redacted version of the letter.

xjwsrock

That's Great. Stick it to 'em!

Their courtroom heyday is officially over.

13

When the dam wall busts.

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

some (especially witnesses) may wonder what brings us to places like this?.

why is it that we have chosen to step away from the society that we once viewed as "the truth", despite the consequences for doing so?.

well for any visitors to this site, or any other "apostate" sites, the answer is simple really:.

xjwsrock

I think there comes a point after many years of experience and observation when our pattern recognition kicks in and is undeniable. Our minds can only dismiss so much. At some point our survival instincts override the indoctrination.

For instance, there are only so many bad elders that can be written off as exceptions. There are only so many doctrinal changes that can be explained away as "new light". There is only so many times a person can handle false prophecy and have it excused as "maintaining urgency". There are only so many scandals that can be brushed under the rug. There are only so many meetings and conventions you can attend out of duty knowing the only way you can get through them is to daydream or get an assignment that takes you away from your seat.

Even with intentional suppression, you can only ignore these things so long. At some point your subconscious, driven by survival instincts and pure logic, spits out a warning message you can't ignore.

The proverbial damn breaks.

You suspect something is amiss and no "wait on Jehovah" or "maybe Jehovah is allowing this for a reason" is going to work this time. The logical part of your mind is winning market share and you realize that Jehovah isn't scared of critics or at least shouldn't be. Even Jesus apparently spent the day with the greatest apostate of all time, Satan himself. He spoke to him. He wasn't afraid. Surely our "truth" can stand up to some online research, for crying out loud.

After about a month of omg's and wtf's, you know in your heart of hearts, it's over. Decades of belief gone in a few weeks of listening to the counter-arguments.

Again, with the logical part of your mind gaining strength, you know that decades of "spiritual instruction" shouldn't fall apart in a matter of days.

Most of us do at least some verification of what we have learned to make sure we aren't being misled. Once we are satisfied that it is all true, we then know exactly why the Watchtower is so against looking at apostate materials. It is in their best interests, not ours.

IOW.....we were scammed.

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).

xjwsrock

Some good points in the posts so far. I will add this.

Exercise vigorously. Get good rest. Practice any type of meditation you can. Take high quality supplements that enhance cognitive health. Do things that will make you smile or laugh your ass off. Do some things that will make you proud of yourself.

I think the above creates an environment chemically inside us that is unfriendly to negative thought and certainly unfriendly to them setting up camp. Basically you may still have them from time to time, but you will be more likely to observe the thought than be consumed by it. Kind of like having some Teflon protection from the thought's effects.

24

If An Organization Really Believed It Had the Truth...

by xjwsrock in

....it would not be scared of critics.

actually they would naturally take an offensive stance, wouldn't they?

they would welcome debate... even encourage it.

xjwsrock

Nicely put Island man.

11

Were leading characters in the history of Judeao-Christianity suffering from psychotic symptoms?

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i don't think i've seen any reference to this academic study on this site.

the analysis in question was published in a serious academic journal, the journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences, in 2012, with the title, the role of psychotic disorders in religious history considered.. the authors were evan d. murray, m.d., giles g cunningham, m.d.

ph.d, and bruce h.price,m.d.. it was published online october 01, 2012, reference link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11090214.

xjwsrock

I have wondered that myself. I mean when voices tell you to kill your son, you need a doctor.

24

If An Organization Really Believed It Had the Truth...

by xjwsrock in

....it would not be scared of critics.

actually they would naturally take an offensive stance, wouldn't they?

they would welcome debate... even encourage it.

xjwsrock

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

I had to get that rant off my chest.

DOC- I may be fooling myself, but I swear the org is worse than before. All these changes are nuts. Anointed demoted. GB gets a promotion. TV evangelism. Cartoons? Really? I thought starting a family showed a lack of spirituality... now we have JW cartoons and coloring books.

The ARC takes the cake, though. Surely it's easier to wake up now. Right?

14

2016 convention "movies". Propaganda, pure and simple....

by stuckinarut2 in

no doubt all are familiar with the 2016 convention video movies being shown?.

(if you haven't seen them, go to cedars youtube channel to see them in full).

they are the most disturbing, emotionally manipulative, propaganda pieces ever seen.. thoughts?.

xjwsrock

They are becoming more and more insular - more and more isolated and deluded. F.O.G.manipulation for days. Literally.

It's weak and it's desperate. But it pays the bills right Watchtower?

Unfortunately, I hear people saying how Jehovah is getting us ready for the Great Tribulation with this convention. When I study who is saying this though, let's just say, they aren't the sharpest tools. I think -

They are lowering the collective IQ of their membership. This convention is a good example.

24

If An Organization Really Believed It Had the Truth...

by xjwsrock in

....it would not be scared of critics.

actually they would naturally take an offensive stance, wouldn't they?

they would welcome debate... even encourage it.

xjwsrock

....it would not be scared of critics.

Actually they would naturally take an offensive stance, wouldn't they? They would welcome debate... even encourage it. Why wouldn't you welcome debate if you could never lose? Wouldn't you find the biggest platform you could and challenge the brightest minds of your time? Wouldn't you welcome any and all media outlets? ....if you had the truth of all the universe.?...and God on your side....

In this day and age, with all the technology available, and all the appetite for news and controversy, there is no excuse for JW's to not be front and center challenging the very foundations of thought and belief. It would get coverage. People would tune in for that philosophical cage match.

Isn't that supposed to be the commission? To get the message to as many as possible?

...

Apostasy .... it's treated like some spooky silhouette over "there" in the shadows. Why? Why is it always some unnamed website....some untitled "pamphlet"....some unspecified "negative press"....some unspoken "negative talk"? Why so ambiguous? Why is it always over "there" or out "there" somewhere?

If you had the truth, you would simply name the website, show the pamphlet, specify the news story, call out the negative talk. Wouldn't you? I mean what is there to fear? Why leave it in the shadows? Why not shine a spotlight on it instead?

With all of this technology being used in the kingdom halls and assemblies, there is opportunity at their fingertips to bring up JWFACTS.com anytime they want to on the big screens, for all to see. Why don't they bring it up on the Jumbo-Tron at conventions? Isn't that what this summer's whole convention is about? Why not take a web page per talk and simply refute it with the truth? Why dance around it? Where is the faith? Where is the confidence?

Why isn't there a series of talks in the mid-week meeting addressing an apostate subject each week? each month? every other month? nothing?

.....

Many of us know the answers to these questions and they are obvious. If they had nothing to hide, if they had nothing to fear, they would take these simple, logical, straight line approaches and nip this apostasy-thing in the bud.

BUT.......they don't.

They threaten. They vilify. They slander. They lie. They resort to name-calling. They resort to fuzzy references to "attacks" from unnamed "enemies". Anything to not address the problem head on.

If you have the truth on your side........you don't act like this.

If you are crooked, if you are hiding something, if you are engaging in PR spin tactics, if you are propagandizing...... you act exactly like this.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.... then I guess we know what it is.