Posts by xjwsrock

39

Why Is it the Girls who Hang in There?

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

having seen many, many people leave the org over the years, i have to say that, when it comes to married couples, it's almost always the man who makes the first move to leave.

conversely, when it comes to being converted into the witnesses, more often than not it's the wife who joins up first.

although that wasn't the case with my own parents, my father became converted and my mother followed very reluctantly..

xjwsrock

My two cents. As a general rule women are more sensitive than men and usually feel emotions stronger. This can be a great thing or a bad thing depending on circumstances. I think 90% of the pull in the JWs is emotional. Also the FOG manipulation techniques (fear, obligation, guilt) play on these emotions. I think men generally resist authority more readily also.

In my wife, as I have mentioned on here before, I see the organization being used as a father figure in her life.

If interested I started a thread on it back several months ago:

Women in This Organization are Looking for a Father Figure

37

More speculation on Kingdom Hall closers and money grabbing?

by Crazyguy in

there continues to be more and more rumors of more halls being sold off some even taking the first offer.

the borg trying to get thier bond money back from the court in san diego asap and there's been elders meetings about this consolidation.

my questions is why after selling off all this real estate in new york for over a billion dollars are they still acting like thier broke?

xjwsrock

I have started thinking that they borrowed money against the New York properties and thus had some huge loans to pay off when the properties sold.

Some have speculated that the construction moratorium had to do with the bank shutting down their construction line of credit - which could be for many reasons - none of them good.

Again, though, who knows. No financial transparency means there's secrets. They invite suspicion by not being forthright and open about what they are doing with other people's money.

It gets under my skin when they throw around the "dedicated funds" term. It's as if the money was given to God and then the Watchtower was entrusted with it. Not so. The money should be referred to as donations. Plain and simple. Donations come from donors. The "dedicated funds" term has a veneer of religious respect but actually disrespects and ignores who the money actually came from.

33

Jesus, the Great Convincer?

by Simon in

supposedly the disciples witnessed jesus' super-power awesomeness first-hand.. so they were all 100% on-board to-the-death martyrs ... right?.

erm .... judas betrayed him.

thomas didn't believe he'd come back.

xjwsrock

It really clicked for me at that Jesus convention a couple of years ago. These are just Stories. Unverifiable tales from 2000 years ago. To your point, many were apparently not so convinced by these tales - maybe because they actually saw what really happened before the spin was applied.

Don't get me started on Paul practically carrying the entire New Testament.

33

Petr Muzny: A Law Professor Explains His Faith

by konceptual99 in

this is absolutely feckin' priceless.. https://www.jw.org/en/publications/videos/viewpoints-origin-of-life/petr-muzny-law-professor/.

in yet another appeal to authority, jw.org has trotted out a professional to vouch for creation.

this guy is a law professor.

xjwsrock

I like this article on why some smart people still believe in nonsense:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godlessindixie/2015/10/09/why-do-intelligent-well-educated-people-still-believe-nonsense/

Also I have found that some people that grew up in the former Soviet Union see religion with rose-colored glasses. It was a forbidden fruit in their youth under that government. Couple that early life experience with the hot young witness wife and you have confirmation bias for miles.

50

Elder asking for help

by untruth in

this is my first time posting on here so i’m not sure where to start.

i’m trying to keep it as short as possible since i could expand much more.

i’ve been in the process of waking up in the last year and a half.

xjwsrock

I have a similar dealio. I too am still serving as an elder. I too have a super loyal uber dub wife. I have pushed it longer than you and am now finding myself unable to find the energy to keep going with this elder thing. I have worn myself out mentally and emotionally pretending to be a witness for my wife. Unfortunately it has affected my attitude, so no-go for me right now with the "stay happy" plan. I am not happy and can't not show it.

I refuse to comment at the meeting unless I believe what I am saying. So guess what? I comment like every other meeting maybe. I cover parts on the program by skimming over the crap and spending the majority of the time on sections I can stomach. I'm not sure if it gets noticed but nobody has said anything. The audience is zombies anyway.

I have never disfellowshiped anyone. Some of that is luck, some is not. I have reinstated several. I just advised a young couple to stop pioneering and give up the "I'm sure Jehovah will bless us soon" routine (I used different language of course). They are struggling financially but believe miracles happen if you put Jehovah first. Wonder who told them that?

I have vomited ttatt on my wife a few times. That certainly doesn't work. She seems to think I will snap out of it someday. How funny. I talked to her once in depth about the "new light" doctrine. She seemed to listen pretty well. I think that is a good one to start with since it is so obviously contrived and yet so integral to the belief system. I made some in-roads lately asking - why doesn't the organization simply take on the apostates head on? If they have the truth and the others have twisted reasonings and lies, why not just pull popular apostate websites up on the jumbo-tron at conventions and go through them point by point? They seem proud to do that with apostate Christendom. (I actually just thought of the Christendom part, but it's true)

Anyway, good luck. I feel for you and understand. PM me anytime.

13

Community Outside of a Religious Setting

by What Now? in

jw
friends

this is the one thing that i have struggled with since leaving the organization.

i recognize the need and value of belonging somewhere, being a part of something, showing up weekly to a community where me and my husband and children are loved and utilized and incorporated and cared for.

a place where are my kids qualities are nurtured and encouraged , and then reigned in and developed when needed.

xjwsrock

There are pluses and minuses to a religous community. The gossip and judgement are sometimes unbearable. The feeling of togetherness can be nice though. My thought is this. Togetherness should not be manufactured through lies and intimidation. The org is shady and corrupt. Look at their veiled real estate business dealings. Always explained away as "furthering kingdom interests" (whatever that means) and "wisely utilizing dedicated funds" (like saying dedicated funds automatically legitimimizes their activity).

I think the mind has a way of romanticizing the past when we are having a down moment. We tend to see the past through rose colored glasses. There is nothing rosey about watching people die from declining blood transfusions or seeing them commit suicide from the pressure of living the JW "never good enough" life.

It takes time to build strong bonds and friendships. Be patient and stay moving. Exercise, meditate, bond with nature, play with the kids. Laugh too loud and kiss too long.

Better to have a small tight group of friends you can count on than 8 million that will throw you off the boat and watch you drown if you make a wrong move.

4

Leaked videos of Mormon Governing Body private meetings...

by Londo111 in

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/55i814/leaked_video_of_closed_door_meetings_with_the/.

just saw this over on exjw reddit.... if only there was a leak of the jw governing body like this....

xjwsrock

Interesting. That would be so good for JW Governing Body. Can't a bethel insider bug the GB room?

......

I think the GB actually sweep the room or have monitors for that stuff. They are crazy paranoid.

I would love though for there to be a hacking and a dumping of internal emails and conversations between GB members and their staff. It would be priceless. Of course having one last year lie through his teeth under oath wasn't half bad.

7

Jehovah`s Witnesses Religion based on First Century Christianity ?

by smiddy in

jw
friends

who was the president of the first century christian congregation after jesus death , , the secretary ,the treasurer ,the field overseer ,the district overseer ,who were the lawyers protecting the congregations from secular authorities ,the mogul`s of real estate , buying up land and getting christians to build places of worship with free labor and then selling them off for a profit a few years down the track , with nothing going back to those who laboured on those projects .. where are the records on papyrus , that the 1st century witnesses counted their hours ,made return visits ,bible studies ,oops the bible wasnt even formulated then ,that didn`t occur until apostate christendom in the 3rd century came up with a number of books to be inspired ..

xjwsrock

I agree. I loved the first century judicial committees and their secret shepherd's book. Oh if I could have been a fly on the wall while those first century christians talked about the paradise!

15