Posts by MrDarkKnight

46

Review and Comments on the New Elders Book

by MrDarkKnight in

i 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.

MrDarkKnight

@poopsie - I'd really like to show you some brazen conduct.

@pistoff - Did we serve on some JCs together? LOL!!!

225

A concerned JW wrote "mistakes will happen."

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

in the thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/213523/1/feeling-a-bit-alienated, concerned jw wrote:.

mistakes will happen.

concerned jw, if mistakes will happen, i was wondering what mistakes you feel the jw organization is currently making?

MrDarkKnight

Concerned JW - I used to give Talk #73 - Acquiring a Heart of Wisdom. One of the main points of that talk is that LOVE and not PERFECTION is the mark of true Christians. John 13:35 is the proof text given. I devoted over 30 years of my life to the JW including 10 at Bethel and 20 as an MS and Elder. I spent countless hours helping people with their problems and ministering to the needs of the congregation. But when I needed them the most, my fellow Elders cut me loose. I was home from work on disability for depression 9 months and the elders made a meager 4 attempts to visit me. I was removed as a elder after a suicide attempt. And my wife requested separation and I obliged all of my family and friends cut me off. When I was in need I had to go to my disfellowshipped friends from back in the day. They GLADLY helped.

I do not expect perfection. I do expect appointed men to practice what they preach. I hold them to a higher standard. And they failed miserably. I wrote the Branch and received little comfort. I have not experienced the love JWs preach about. Only hypocrisy.

24

If you have sex with your spouse after you find out he/she cheated on you, you cannot divorce them.

by Chemical Emotions in

in the key to family happiness book, the wbts says that if you have sex with your marriage mate after they cheat on you, and you knew it, you cannot divorce them.. i was disgusted by learning that.

i only discovered this recently, but i am very angry.

what if your husand tells you that he'll keep screwing other women if you don't have sex with him?

MrDarkKnight

It gets better. If your mate witholds sex relations and you have sex with someone else you will get a pass by the elders if your are "repentant".

78

What is the ULTIMATE goal of the Watchtower Society?

by MrDarkKnight in

jw
friends

in a number of different threads comments have been made about the motives of the gb and the wtbts.

it made me think, what is their ultimate goal?

what is their end game?.

MrDarkKnight

In a number of different threads comments have been made about the motives of the GB and the WTBTS. It made me think, what is their ULTIMATE goal? What is their end game?

Avoiding lawsuits, controlling the rank and file, protecting the reputation of the "organization" and keeping the cash flowing all seem to be goals, but to me they appear to be more like strategies or designs to an end. What is the end?

I lived at HQ and have seen how the upper echelon of the WTBS lives. Besides free room and board and traveling nothing about their lifestyle screams "I am enjoying the high life". Its certainly not how I would spend millions if I had direct access to them.

So what do you think or know? What is the ULTIMATE goal of the Watchtower Society?

33

Continuing to draw the line between cults and DESTRUCTIVE cults

by sabastious in

the 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.

MrDarkKnight

@discreet slave - I guess my problem with the term cult is the same problem I have with term "apostate" or any other label that you can give a person or an organization. I have often been called an "uppity nigger from the North." It is label that has been used when people I work with cannot refute the logic of my arguments on engineering. I hate it when a person is discredited by label instead of by the argument. If I know something is hurtful to me or is flat out wrong I don't feel a need to label it, I just need to avoid it.

The JWs label anyone who disagrees with their doctrine an "apostate." This label prevents JWs from listening to opposing views even when it is obvious that they are wrong and the opposing view is correct. The whole child molestation tragedy is an example of this. As soon as you voiced disagreement you were categorized as having apostate leanings and this caused others to stop listening. This was something I could not stand and so I had to leave.

@Quendi - I agree that the JW leadership exercises great control over the rank and file. And I agree that to prosper in the JW world you have to let others do the thinking for you in every area of life. And while I am disappointed at the time lost to that way of life (30 years as a baptized Witness) and the negative impact it has had on my life (depression, suicidal thoughts and a suicide attempt), I feel that reason I stayed as I long as I did has more to do with ME than with THEM. My self-esteem was dependent on what my JW peers and family though of me. Until I was able to fall in love with myself and to love life itself my low self-esteem kept me imprisoned in that organization. Now that I am free, I feel the need to spend more time on myself, my values, my goals and my way of life. Living a truly happy life is what will keep me from going back. The JWs will never change. They will fizzle out and splinter out before that happens. But I can change, I have changed and I will continue to change...and this process is what I feel will benefit me the most in the long run.

Having said that Steve Hassan's book is on my list of books to read. However, the books I am reading now have more to do with ME and what I value than with THEM.

Do you feel me?

33

Continuing to draw the line between cults and DESTRUCTIVE cults

by sabastious in

the 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.

MrDarkKnight

I get it. Due to the nature of my service with the JWs I knew when I left I could never, ever go back. They would make my life a living hell. I also know that I do not want to hand my rational mind over to any person or group of people ever again.

The Buddha expresses my new paradigm when it comes to any knowledge be it religious, philisophical or any other kind of knowledge: "“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

I guess you could say I am building my own system of values and beliefs. This board is helping me to do just that.

Thanks again! The journey continues...

16

Did you ever get stumped in the ministry?

by NewChapter in

jw
friends

i 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.

MrDarkKnight

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.

91

VERY depressed

by youngbro in

jw
friends

i have severe clinical depression and right now, for whatever reason it is really acting up....

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.

75

Elder body removed Watchtower letter

by Marvin Shilmer in

jw
friends

elder body removed watchtower letter.

an elder body was removed last year in california.

most folks have never seen a watchtower letter breaking this news.

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?

33

Continuing to draw the line between cults and DESTRUCTIVE cults

by sabastious in

the 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.

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?