When I was 15 I had a woman say to me my adult companion, "How long are going to chase the carrot on the stick young man?" I was pretty sharp at the doors for a kid and loved to debate but she caught me off guard and she it a nerve. My adult companion had the "deer in the headlights" look and was useless. I never forgot that woman or that door because on that day the crack in the dam of my blind belief was started and it widened until it broke almost 30 years later.
MrDarkKnight
JoinedPosts by MrDarkKnight
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16
Did you ever get stumped in the ministry?
by NewChapter ini got into a tiny discussion with a return visit about the cross.
i confidently informed her that the cross was a pagan symbol not used by christians.
the romans were pagans, so they used a pagan symbol.
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91
VERY depressed
by youngbro ini have severe clinical depression and right now, for whatever reason it is really acting up....
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MrDarkKnight
I usually try to be more diplomatic than this but I have to tell you the comments of Visitor 525 are more vile and hurtful than anything Godrulz ever posted...I have battled with depression for the last eight years and the demons or any other "supernatural" forces have nothing to do with it...but giving up the JWs was a HUGE help...
Visitor 525 unless you have real evidence of your claim you can keep that kind of shit to yourself.
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Elder body removed Watchtower letter
by Marvin Shilmer inelder body removed watchtower letter.
an elder body was removed last year in california.
most folks have never seen a watchtower letter breaking this news.
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MrDarkKnight
The Menlo Park saga is another in a long line of Kingdom Halls in predominantly black communities that have been sold since this practice started a couple of years ago. According to elders that I know ALL over the country "black" Kingdom Halls are often the ones slated for sale in a geographic area while the "white ones" are renovated and kept. The WTS pockets all the money and the beat goes on. This is the first case I know of where the elders said in affect, "go to hell."
The WTS does not like to be told no so they react the only way they know how...the use of intimidation. Do what we say or be deleted, disfellowshipped and have your reputation ruined among the the JWs.
Racism and intimidation...are these these the fruits of the love that identifies the true christian congregation?
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Continuing to draw the line between cults and DESTRUCTIVE cults
by sabastious inthe easiest place to start understanding a spectral concept, such as cults, is to indentify it's lowest and highest points rather than starting somewhere in the middle.. so lets call the lowest point of the cult spectrum benign and the highest point destructive.. a good example of an extremely benign cult would be the following of the not so popular 80s movie: the princess bride of which i consider myself a member (no documentation .
if you were to come up to me and claim to be part of the princess bride's cult following i could figure out whether you are a true member by asking you a few questions.
based on your answers i could then conclude that you either meet the criteria or that you do not.
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MrDarkKnight
I have read several different threads about cults and whether the JWs are a cult. Why is it important to know if JWs are a cult or not? I am asking respectfully because I would like to understand, and right now I don't. I mean I have left it behind, so how does knowing it is a cult help me moving forward?
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Telling a Depressed Person It's Demons!
by NewChapter inwhen a person is depressed, their cognitive abilities are depleted.
they are processing reality through a very negative filter and need help getting balanced.
they often experience fear, guilt, hopelessness and anxiety.
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MrDarkKnight
The lack of concern and understanding about depession among the JWs, especially the leadership, is sad. I suffer from bipolar depression. I have been seeing a psychiatrist and therapist for 8 years. I was out in field service with the CO who asked me about my depression and if I was taking medication. He then said, "its a good thing you have your fellow elders to talk to. Some of the friends waste money talking to therapists." This man had no clue I was one of those people "wasting money talking to therapists." His attitude was just another straw on the camels back.
I was removed as an elder after a bipolar episode nearly cost me my life. No one met with me or comforted me after the episode. But when the CO visit came they recommended my removal because I lacked "soundness of mind." I will never forget those words or the men that said them. One more straw on the camels back.
I later got an apology in writing from the Branch Office (yes they do apologize sometimes) for the manner in which I was removed, but by then it was too late. I was mentally done with the JWs. The camels back was broken.
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46
Review and Comments on the New Elders Book
by MrDarkKnight ini recently completed an exhaustive review of an unofficial copy of the new elders manual.
my father, who is currently serving as an elder told me a friend of his in the service department told him it was on the internet so i eagerly looked for it and found it.
yes, i know it was a violation of copyright, but while at bethel i made copies of many technical manuals which is also a copy of copyright so the wts hypocrisy does not concern me.. i was appointed as an elder the year the pay attention book (manual replaced by this one) was released so i have very good working knowledge of the old book and could compare the two books.
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MrDarkKnight
Poopsie - The first thing I did when I quit was grow a beard. It freaks JWs that know me out because to them it suggests that I have lost my mind. The fact is I may have lost my mind, but I found my soul.
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46
Review and Comments on the New Elders Book
by MrDarkKnight ini recently completed an exhaustive review of an unofficial copy of the new elders manual.
my father, who is currently serving as an elder told me a friend of his in the service department told him it was on the internet so i eagerly looked for it and found it.
yes, i know it was a violation of copyright, but while at bethel i made copies of many technical manuals which is also a copy of copyright so the wts hypocrisy does not concern me.. i was appointed as an elder the year the pay attention book (manual replaced by this one) was released so i have very good working knowledge of the old book and could compare the two books.
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MrDarkKnight
@Quendi - Part of me moving on with my life is coming to grips with the reality of what I have done, the people I have hurt, the lives I have ruined, taking personal responsibility for it and striving each day to be a better person. You are not piling on. I am paying a heavy emotional price for the prominence, priviliges, prestige and plaudits of mean I strove for and achieved and for a time enjoyed. You are in fact the lucky one, and yes you have been spared the sleepless nights that have plagued me.
@NC - The "confession of past sins rule" has allowed many a guilty elder to keep on serving. This one really hurts. We stuck it to the rank and file, but protected our own. Shameful and disgraceful. Now some of the same men I protected are trying to hunt me down and "meet" with me. However, when you know how the game is played they can't touch you. If they do anything outside that manual I will sue them each INDIVIDUALLY and they know it.
@daringhart13 - I feel your pain. I was considered by the rank and file one of the "loving elders" too. What dream world we allowed ourselves to be in.
@Botzwana - LOL!!! No pun was intended..
@mochamint22 - The mind is powerful. When you suspend reality and just believe, you reject the truth of a matter to maintain the illusion. Until a person is ready to accept reality and the consequences of their actions, they continue to suspend reality. This is the state many JWs are in right now. They are living a world of suspended reality because they are not ready to accept the unavoidable pain the accepeting the truth will bring. What they do not understand is that after you get through the pain...there is an unbelievable peace and tranquility...and genuine happiness.
@mickeymouse - Yeah, I was in disbelief when the various levels of pornography were explained to me. Still images are one degree, moving images another. If you masturbated it was another level. If it was heterosexuals it is one level; if is homosexual it is worse and so on...my question is, who watched all this stuff and categorized it? That must have been one "hard" assignment.
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46
Review and Comments on the New Elders Book
by MrDarkKnight ini recently completed an exhaustive review of an unofficial copy of the new elders manual.
my father, who is currently serving as an elder told me a friend of his in the service department told him it was on the internet so i eagerly looked for it and found it.
yes, i know it was a violation of copyright, but while at bethel i made copies of many technical manuals which is also a copy of copyright so the wts hypocrisy does not concern me.. i was appointed as an elder the year the pay attention book (manual replaced by this one) was released so i have very good working knowledge of the old book and could compare the two books.
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MrDarkKnight
Chemical - I laughed when I read that too. You gotta hand it to them. They know a new term locks the sheep in every time. The more fear of punishment you can establish the easier it is to control people and enable people to "rat" their fellow members out in order to receive bonus points for being righteous. Now if you could convert bonus points for ratting people out to hours of FS that would really rock!
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46
Review and Comments on the New Elders Book
by MrDarkKnight ini recently completed an exhaustive review of an unofficial copy of the new elders manual.
my father, who is currently serving as an elder told me a friend of his in the service department told him it was on the internet so i eagerly looked for it and found it.
yes, i know it was a violation of copyright, but while at bethel i made copies of many technical manuals which is also a copy of copyright so the wts hypocrisy does not concern me.. i was appointed as an elder the year the pay attention book (manual replaced by this one) was released so i have very good working knowledge of the old book and could compare the two books.
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MrDarkKnight
Shammus - LOL!!! I have to laugh to keep from crying.
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46
How Being a Witness made you Lose out on Higher Education and Careers
by flipper inhi, folks.
been thinking of this, because of having been raised in the witnesses.
i reflect back on opportunities i would have encountered and seized, had it not been for being controlled by the witness organization being told higher education was not needed.
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MrDarkKnight
Bungi Bill - At age 45 I am finding that even though I have the knowledge necessary to engineer Security Systems, the lack of a college degree, even an two year Associates degree is a show stopper. Thankfully my current employer is willing to pay for me to get the necessary certifications to be an engineer, but if I want be in sales engineering/management, which is my goal, and Bachelors degree is mandatory and MBA is GOLDEN.
The best time to go to college is after high school. But now to meet my goals I will go back and get my degree(s). I am not one to wallow in self pity for too long and so I will move forward with my life, but I do wish the adults in my life had more sense than they did when I had a scholarship and teachers and guidance counselors BEGGING me to go to college.
I will not allow them to do this to my son. HE WILL GO TO COLLEGE come hell or high water!!!!!!