Posts by xjwsrock

5

How About We Call It "The Trance" Instead of "The Truth"

by xjwsrock in

let's see if it works as a replacement in common phrases:.

"how long have you been in the trance?".

"when did you come into the trance?".

xjwsrock

Let's see if it works as a replacement in common phrases:

"How long have you been in The Trance?"

"When did you come into The Trance?"

"I hope I don't fall out of The Trance"

"She was a good sister, she always loved The Trance"

22

When a crime is commited?

by Drifting Away in

jw
friends

i responded to someone on another thread, but would love to know this answer.. if a victim adult or child goes to elders and claims they were abused, don't they have to have clergy confidentiality?

so i was told that they encourage the victim to contact authorities , and they contact bethel, but arent there hands tied if the victim does not want to go to authorities?

an elder made the comment to me once.

I agree with much of what has already been said. The laws covering confession were written around the catholic church and what goes on there. One on one confession. It is supposed to even be anonymous. So you can imagine what gets confessed. Some stuff is true. Some is not. Who knows. But since it is just a one-time one-on-one conversation, it is of minor significance. You certainly couldn't hold a priest accountable for everything that could get "confessed" in that setting.

What JW's do is not even close to what the Catholics do and thus barely any parallel can be drawn concerning confidentiality protection. Like has been mentioned here, there is basically never a case worthy of mention that is between just the confessor and one elder.

Their entire system is setup to involve multiple elders, usually the entire body, plus the branch.

**If one minor comes forward and reports child abuse, a call is made to the branch, and 2 elders meet with the accused. if it is denied, the matter is noted at the branch and it is dropped if there are no mandatory reporting laws. They don't report anything to the authorities even though it is documented that over 90% of reports from minors are proven to be true. This shows a lack of love for the child, the other children in the family, the other children in the congregation, and the other children in the community.

WT simply chooses business interests over the welfare of children and their families. This apparently is how Jehovah runs his organization and Jesus runs his congregation.

3

Hello! I am back!

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

i am back!

i just bought ioad pro recently.

all i had was my i-phone, i did not feel like posting from my i-phone.

xjwsrock

When did you last post?

One thing that is different with the org is the change of meeting format mid-week. They dropped the kingdom ministry for a "workbook". Really it was just a reshuffle of the meeting to bring in more digital content and be a distraction from their financial problems /construction shut-down / bethel layoffs / special-pioneer layoffs and such.

18

A world without religion? Any different?

by punkofnice in

i wonder what it would be like, without any religion in the world?

i don't think it would be like 'imagine' by lennon.. i don't believe it will ever happen.

even if it did, people are the same.

xjwsrock

Politics/Nationalism can take on religion-level extremism.

Actually it can be argued that the problem with Islam is that under the surface it is a political/nationalist movement using guerrilla tactics.

Lines get blurred between labels when an ideology gets so fanatical that the followers start killing people over it.

"Spiritual" groups that promoted gratitude, charity, peace, and working to be a better person would be an asset to society. Beyond that though the slope gets slippery.

No group regardless of label should be able to teach that non-believers or non-members should die. That is common sensical line that shouldn't be crossed.

Jehovahs Witnesses cross this line btw...😡

10

Marking Talk of Couple

by Hadriel in

at no time did the elders ever mention apostasy.

days later after a shepherding call which only covered child abuse handling they are being marked as if they are trying to get their own followers etc.

so so sad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktm7fsqwrw.

xjwsrock

For the record I have enjoyed the "black jack" videos and I appreciate the stand they are taking concerning child abuse in the org. While that stand is commendable and will help many stand up themselves, it comes with consequences in a our-way-or-the-highway cult like Jehovahs Witnesses.

10

Marking Talk of Couple

by Hadriel in

at no time did the elders ever mention apostasy.

days later after a shepherding call which only covered child abuse handling they are being marked as if they are trying to get their own followers etc.

so so sad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktm7fsqwrw.

xjwsrock

It is sad, but to be honest this is a slap on the wrist. There are many boe's that would have disfellowshipped them by now. They have gone on YouTube and such speaking out against the org. This is a cult. Plain and simple. They are barbaric village leaders of the Middle Ages in their mentality. They make people wear scarlet letters and they burn dissidents at the stake.

This marking talk is just the beginning I'm afraid, and it is par for the course.

55

Just wondering who on this board has a spouse that is fully in and your awake?

by goingthruthemotions in

i am just curious who on this board is in the same situation has i am?

a spouse that is fully brain doogled in and you are awake to ttatt.. without going into serious detail and no names are given.

i would like to possible talk with one of you all, it's just so helpful to communicate with someone in the same situation as me.. i am located in the southwest united states..

xjwsrock

I'm an awake elder begrudgingly still serving simply trying to play my cards right with the wife. Timing is important. My fade so far is just getting off the service committee and off the fast track to being a COBE. Can you imagine? So much for holy magic.

The wife enjoys the status of not just being a plain Jane publisher. I must admit it has it's perks - like not being messed with by elders. Elders are scared of other elders. It's weird. Unless you have a real a$$ on your hands, you can get away with a lot as an awake elder. Hard as hell to give comments or parts though. I edit out so much material, there is hardly anything left to talk about.

Anyway, the wife is full-in but I think she doubts more than she leads on. I have dumped ttatt on her a couple of times. This last episode led to a crying fit and her throwing things across the room. It's scary when you see stuff come out of your spouse that you have never seen before. The indoctrination is diabolical.

I think something broke in my wife during this last knock-down-drag-out. She hasn't been the same since. It happened a couple of months ago. I referred to accounts in the Bible as just "stories". That was too much too fast. She is actually going to the doctor for meds for anxiety this week. She is blaming other stuff, but I know it's what I have told her (ttatt) combined with the realization that my thinking isn't "coming back around to Jehovah".

Hang in there everybody. We'll survive this. We aren't the crazy ones.

32

Are Witnesses really "Bible Students"?

by stuckinarut2 in

we were always told that as witnesses we were "sincere bible students".... carefully examining the scriptures.. yes, we were indeed taught much about the content of the bible, it's history, prophecies etc..... but it was always from one perspective....that of the society.

when the society changed its interpretations, we had to do the same..... so were we really "bible students", or "society students"?.

just a thought.....

xjwsrock

The weekly WT "lesson" is cult indoctrination plain and simple.
It's criminal. - kairos

Amen. Here is what the WT "study" is:

We read something to you, ask you to repeat it back to us, you nod in agreement smiling appreciatively, and afterwards speak of the experience as being encouraging and a spiritual refreshment.

The end. You are now a student.

32

Are Witnesses really "Bible Students"?

by stuckinarut2 in

we were always told that as witnesses we were "sincere bible students".... carefully examining the scriptures.. yes, we were indeed taught much about the content of the bible, it's history, prophecies etc..... but it was always from one perspective....that of the society.

when the society changed its interpretations, we had to do the same..... so were we really "bible students", or "society students"?.

just a thought.....

xjwsrock

In line with BluesBrother, I remember a time when "extra research" was a prized bragging point of the ultra righteous during a watchtower study. Of course, 99% of that research was to be done in the aid book or similiar, but still it was a trump card.

Now the witnesses are scared to even do research in their own literature, for fear they will stumble on old light. Lol... funny when you think about it. The paranoia of getting out of line is at an all time high.Sad on the other hand though.

The equivalent of the "extra research" comment today is a comment on the illustration in the lesson before the conductor gets to it.

In answer to the OP - The witnesses are not allowed to be bible students. Hell they can't even study 90% of their own literature since it's considered old light.

10

Three reasons why I may have to back.

by Crazyguy in

jw
friends

i look back over the last two years of my life with all the experiences i have read about here and other places and these are three experiences that stand out to me.

recently in another post a girl relates her experience of being in the borg and her mom literally threw her away by giving her over to the state after she accused an elder of groping her.

two; i met the man that wrote the insight books for the borg and even though he was at the time the brians of the borgs doctines when he faded his family , brother and his kids are shunning him.

xjwsrock

Do what you got to do man. I'm still stuck in. Still serving. It's been a long road so far and will be still ahead for many of us.

I've been thinking more and more about their child abuse policies. Since people are more motivated to take action by emotion, I think a well-thought out discussion about this subject may be the best way to open people's eyes.

Why doesnt the org alert the authorities about the child molesters in the congregation? If the priority was to do what is right in the eyes of God, what would be the right thing to do here? Isn't it obvious to anyone with a soul that the right thing to do would be to love your neighbor and protect the children. Shouldn't they care about all the potential victims of this perpetrator? Shouldn't that man be on a sex offender list so the community is protected?

It's for some business reason that they keep it hush hush. Business is thus put above the welfare of children - both inside and outside the congregation. Business is put above doing what is right. Would God ever direct an organization to to value business over babies? Hell no.

I wish that you could show your wife that the org values their religion business over her children.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Hang in there. You can pm me anytime.