Posts by 00DAD

12

Is This the Safest Time To Be Alive?

by 00DAD in

safest time to be alive?

matthew chance takes a look at whether or not we live in a safer world today than any other time in history.. http://www.rr.com/video/2322994712.

of course this contradicts jw perennial gloom-and-doom prognostications and wt end times eschatology, but if you even could get one of them to sit down and consider the real facts, they'd probably just say, "see, we're getting closer to the cry of 'peace and security!'".

00DAD

Hortensia - You're right of course. But when I saw this video I just couldn't resist posting yet another fact debunking JW "theology."

wasblind: Humanity has quite a ways to go , but I think more progress will be made by actually doin' somethin' instead of sittin' back waitin' on the Kingdom

Such a good point! I used to wonder WHY don't the WT leaders want their followers to be socially proactive? The answer is now obvious: If individuals were encouraged to go out and do something (other than peddling WTs) then they would be acting independently of the WT/JW program and the leaders would have lost all control. So in the end it's all really just about one thing: Control.

Listen, Obey and Be Blessed!

carla - Thanks for the book recommendation. It sounds interesting I'll check it out!

110

Greetings from a new member

by EdenOne in

jw
friends

greetings everyone.. just wanted to say hello to everyone, being a new member from western europe.. some may know me from another forum (eden, from e-jehovas-witnesses.com), but most don't, so this is my little intro.. male, in my early 40's.

still an active member in good standing of a jehovah's witnesses congregation in my country, and honestly not planning to change that status, despite my unorthodox beliefs.

sometime i will elaborate the reason why i don't feel i must leave.

00DAD

Hoffnung,

Well said!

Great suggestion for Eden to read Hassan's book.

00DAD

17

Shunned by ex-jw's

by Joey Jo-Jo in

there seems to be a double standard among ex-jw's who believe and practice christianity.. i have lost 3 subscribers from my youtube channel all because of speaking my mind, it was not invasive or rude, but my last two videos appeared to have offended them.. so what happened?

as an atheist i raised some issues regarding the mind set of christianity that it borrows from jw's, in other words i was showing christian ex-jw's that they are behaving just like jw's.

the double standard is simple to grasp:.

00DAD

JJJ, Thanks for clarifying in reference to how your YouTube comments were deleted.

When I wrote, " When a 'loyal' JDub shuns someone they generally don't know why they do it, except that they are told to shun that person."

I meant that the individual JW does not know (or shouldn't) what "sin" the DF'd person allegedly committed which resulted in their being excommunicated. The individual JW shuns because they are told to shun. They don't individually decide whether or not to end the relationship, nor can they individually decide to restore the relationship. They are merely implementing a institutional policy.

When three elders decide to DF or DA someone, all 7 million JWs worldwide will obediently shun that person without ever knowing the actual reason for the elders' decision.

I hope that clarifies what I meant.

00DAD

12

Rant: Weakness and enfeebling

by perfect1 in

jw
friends

something in still thinkings post triggered my own rant.

after observing the situation as an adult for quite awhile, it is my belief that the societys teachings make people weak.

the wts does not strenthen, it enfeebles in nearly every way possible.. here are a few traits which bother me most:.

00DAD

perfect1: Great thread!

Yes, agreed completely. The WT has a systematic program of inducing Learned Helplessness and a Victim Mentality among its followers.

It's deliberate, it's calculated and it's generally very effective!

It is a thing that abusive manipulators do to maintain control in a codependent relationship.

It is also extremely morally reprehensible.

I think it's very important for those of us that have escaped the clutches of those control freaks that we learn as much about this as possible to assist those on the way out and to give them the necessary tools for recovery.

00DAD

48

Bethel perfection bubble burst

by redvip2000 in

just got back from florida where i spent the holidays with family.

about half are jdubs.. this year the prevalent atmosphere of superiority from the jw side of the family was totally toned down.

one of my cousins, a bethelite in upstate ny bethel along with his wife, found out that the wife was having an affair with a young bethelite "brother".

00DAD

redvip2000, or anyone else for that matter, I tried unsuccessfully to find a news story about " the young bethelite [that] jumped in front of a train and killed himself after being disfellowshipped" mentioned in the OP.

I'm doing this as part of my research for an article I'm writing on JWs and Mental Illness.

Do you have any more details about when and where it happened?

Thanks in advance,

00DAD

110

Greetings from a new member

by EdenOne in

jw
friends

greetings everyone.. just wanted to say hello to everyone, being a new member from western europe.. some may know me from another forum (eden, from e-jehovas-witnesses.com), but most don't, so this is my little intro.. male, in my early 40's.

still an active member in good standing of a jehovah's witnesses congregation in my country, and honestly not planning to change that status, despite my unorthodox beliefs.

sometime i will elaborate the reason why i don't feel i must leave.

00DAD

Eden: Why don't you simply move on?

Fair enough.

I'd like this whole experience to be in my rear view mirror, I really would.

But the harsh fact is that it's simply not that easy to leave an manipulative, mind-control group without going through a lot of steps. They include anger, resentment, and a whole host of other things related to sorting out what one still believes and what you don't. It's a journey of self-discovery and understanding. It helps to discuss things with others here that have gone through it and are still going through it.

Just this morning I talked on the phone with another JWN poster. He described his initial experience of leaving as being like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It lasted two years for him. This is not some weak-minded person. On the contrary he is a good, loving, caring, and compassionate man. He is a husband, a father and a businessman. He is highly intelligent and very articulate. And yet he was on the verge of breaking-down and losing it when he told me of some of the abusive, uncaring and unkind ways he'd been treated by congregation elders when his family went through a personal crisis. This mistreatment was nearly a decade ago and it still tears him up. He's not atypical.

Also, for many of us here, myself included, we have family still stuck in the organization. We discuss different ways to deal with being shunned and strategies for reaching them.

Finally, we make friends here, real friends that care about us for WHO we are, not WHAT we pretend to believe.

I hope that answers your question, at least in part.

00DAD

12

Is This the Safest Time To Be Alive?

by 00DAD in

safest time to be alive?

matthew chance takes a look at whether or not we live in a safer world today than any other time in history.. http://www.rr.com/video/2322994712.

of course this contradicts jw perennial gloom-and-doom prognostications and wt end times eschatology, but if you even could get one of them to sit down and consider the real facts, they'd probably just say, "see, we're getting closer to the cry of 'peace and security!'".

00DAD

Safest time to be alive? (02:27)

Matthew Chance takes a look at whether or not we live in a safer world today than any other time in history.

http://www.rr.com/video/2322994712

Of course this contradicts JW perennial gloom-and-doom prognostications and WT End Times eschatology, but if you even could get one of them to sit down and consider the real facts, they'd probably just say, "See, we're getting closer to the cry of 'Peace and Security!'"

No matter what happens, they're right! Isn't it amazing?

00DAD

48

Bethel perfection bubble burst

by redvip2000 in

just got back from florida where i spent the holidays with family.

about half are jdubs.. this year the prevalent atmosphere of superiority from the jw side of the family was totally toned down.

one of my cousins, a bethelite in upstate ny bethel along with his wife, found out that the wife was having an affair with a young bethelite "brother".

00DAD

redvip2000, wow, a lot of tragic news in that story.

What's really crazy is that no matter what happens JWs find a way to interpret it to prove their beliefs. If this kind of thing happened in any other organization, JWs would say it proved that the others didn't have "The Truth!" But when it happens to them, it's "Jehovah's Cleaning His Organization."

I'll believe Jehovah's cleaning up when he clears out the current WT administration and they quit publishing lies, admit their errors and change their damaging, unscriptural practices and policies such as institutionalized shunning and those that protect pedophiles.

Did you see this thread:

Agents of Reality came knocking on my door today ...

You may find it informative. It deals with the psychological forces that come into play in these situations: Confirmation Bias and Cognitive Dissonance theory.

The leaders of this religion are all sick bastards.

00DAD

3

NOT on JW.org. Any update on the Philipine Jehovah's Witnesses with $116 Billion in counterfeit bonds?

by Balaamsass in

seized u.s. bonds for $116 billion are fake, prosecutor saysby sonia sirletti and elisa martinuzzi - september 24, 2009 06:24 edt .

fake u.s. treasury bonds.

00DAD

Now that's news! Why isn't it on jw.org?

90

Several Sites Are Down

by Juan Viejo2 in

jw
friends

in case you have noticed, several websites that are managed and administered by me are down.

at this moment i do not know specifically why, but my hosting company (secureserver.net) tells me only that it is due to a "copyright infringement.

" i do not even know which of the 30 some sites might actually have the claimed infringement and so far all i've been told is that there is a claim and that i have to email a certain group and they will get back to me.. i have no idea when these sites will come back on line.

00DAD

Juan, to add to my post 5130 above, I could post this quote from the Shepherd the Flock of God elders' manual to prove that WTBTS leadership is not only aware of admitted pedophiles serving as elders, they allow it:

"For example, the sin may involve past child abuse, and this would likely disqualify him for years." - Shepherd the Flock of God, p. 38 (2010 Edition)

No scans necessary.

Again, I realize that a R&F JW couldn't look this up because they don't have access to this information, but the burden of proof is now on the WTBTS to disprove it. They cannot do this, because if they were to provide a scan of the page in question it would clearly contain the quoted material for all to see.

00DAD