Posts by 00DAD

54

Planning exit, alternative venues to preach?

by Goodstein in

background:.

i've come to the conclusion that many doctrines of the wts are unscriptural after many years of privately disagreeing with some of them but feeling that the society was "mostly right" and still being used by jehovah.

this turning point has happened in the last year or so.

00DAD

Goodstein,

Welcome!

You are where I hope one day my children will be. (The only difference is that I'm already out, but their kool-aid drinking mom is gonna' die hard as a JW).

You sound like you'd be a good teacher. But you need to know exactly what it is that you do and don't believe. Maybe a subject other than religion would suit you.

00DAD

PS - I remember going through that whole "least wrong religion" thing myself. Once you let it go you'll realize how ridiculous that idea is. If this--or any religion--was really God's religion, there would be no doubts or errors, none.

PPS - Read Hassan's second book, Releasing the Bonds, and you'll see that he clearly identifies JWs as a destructive cult. It took him a while to get it too. They're that subtle.

45

Are Jehovah's Witnesses a hierarchical religion? And does it matter?

by cedars in

this is the title of my latest article, which is available on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/are-jehovahs-witnesses-a-hierarchical-religion-and-does-it-matter.

inspired by the illustration in the april 15th watchtower (above), i thought it would be worthwhile to further explore this facet of the society for two reasons.... because the society has spent decades criticizing the catholic church for being hierarchical, andbecause the society has recently become more open about its hierarchical nature than ever before.below is a diagram i have prepared which shows the organizational similarities that watch tower society now shares with the catholic church.... .

until recently, the governing body could place the "faithful slave" above it at the top of the pyramid, but as of october 5th this fuzzy doctrine was scrapped - thus removing the final distinguishing factor between the governing body and popedom.. as always, i would be interested in your thoughts.... .

00DAD

Great article, Cedars!

Here's my favorite quote:

When you look closely, you notice that even the chairs are more comfortable the higher up the ladder you happen to be! Governing Body members get plush leather executive chairs, while branch office members must make do with plain office swivel chairs. If you are an elder, you can consider yourself lucky to get a school canteen chair! Evidently the more privileged you are in God’s organization, the more seat padding you require.

I think the reason the GB members need such comfy chairs is that they spend so much time on their fat asses instead of actually doing any real work!

Although I did read somewhere once that they occasionally "work" through lunch.

Let's review: It's a cult!

00DAD

45

Are Jehovah's Witnesses a hierarchical religion? And does it matter?

by cedars in

this is the title of my latest article, which is available on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/are-jehovahs-witnesses-a-hierarchical-religion-and-does-it-matter.

inspired by the illustration in the april 15th watchtower (above), i thought it would be worthwhile to further explore this facet of the society for two reasons.... because the society has spent decades criticizing the catholic church for being hierarchical, andbecause the society has recently become more open about its hierarchical nature than ever before.below is a diagram i have prepared which shows the organizational similarities that watch tower society now shares with the catholic church.... .

until recently, the governing body could place the "faithful slave" above it at the top of the pyramid, but as of october 5th this fuzzy doctrine was scrapped - thus removing the final distinguishing factor between the governing body and popedom.. as always, i would be interested in your thoughts.... .

00DAD

The pyramids are a good visual aid. Appropriate too, considering Russell's fascination with pyrimidology:

Pyramidology of CTR

21

Has disproving the "Truth" become an obsession for you at times?

by Pyramid Scheme in

jw
friends

i was curious if anyone else has gone through a similar experience.. when i became inactive 4 years ago, i went through a period of not being able to focus on just about anything, other than doing tremendous amounts of research to prove to myself what my beliefs were, and to clearly identify my issues with the jw organization.

i was mad - and i was on a mission to build the ultimate case against the wt.

however, having read the fine advice on here, i backed off with my family, since it would have just gotten ugly.. i avoided posting on here for years, and had cut down my research and put it on the back burner.. however, i still felt a need to "witness" to my family and to have an open discussion with my wife.

00DAD

Yes, but it's understandable. Most of us spent years believing that as JWs we had "The Truth." We believed this even when we were told things that didn't make sense. We told others this in our comments, meeting parts and in the "ministry." We held on to these beliefs even when we had doubts. We probably doubted ourselves at first before we finally admitted that the errors were in fact on the part of the WTBTS and its "theology."

So it's only natural that we go through a period of obsessive and compulsive behavior re-confirming that our own mental faculties are trustworthy. There are also usually periods of embarrassment and admitting we were fooled and then anger at the WTBTS for fooling us.

It's part of the healing process.

It's good.

00DAD

45

Are Jehovah's Witnesses a hierarchical religion? And does it matter?

by cedars in

this is the title of my latest article, which is available on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/are-jehovahs-witnesses-a-hierarchical-religion-and-does-it-matter.

inspired by the illustration in the april 15th watchtower (above), i thought it would be worthwhile to further explore this facet of the society for two reasons.... because the society has spent decades criticizing the catholic church for being hierarchical, andbecause the society has recently become more open about its hierarchical nature than ever before.below is a diagram i have prepared which shows the organizational similarities that watch tower society now shares with the catholic church.... .

until recently, the governing body could place the "faithful slave" above it at the top of the pyramid, but as of october 5th this fuzzy doctrine was scrapped - thus removing the final distinguishing factor between the governing body and popedom.. as always, i would be interested in your thoughts.... .

00DAD

If it walks like a duck and if it quacks like a duck then, guess what? It's a duck!

83

Relationship Issues: Boundaries, Freedom of Choice and Codependency

by 00DAD in

relationship issues: boundaries, freedom of choice and codependency .

i just read a very interesting thought in the book, "boundaries" by cloud & townsend.

the basic problem in human relationship is that of freedom.

00DAD

Bumpin' it for Roberta804

61

just support please

by Roberta804 in

i have had to make some very difficult decisions in recent days.

in one way i feel good about takeing care of myself and my mother who is on her dead bed in the room next to me.

mom has live with me since 2005 and started to make her journey to the other side on christmas day.

00DAD

Roberta,

This must be a very emotional time for you. You're taking the high road by allowing access to your mom.

Still, there is nothing wrong with you insisting on being treated with respect in your own home. If people can't do that, they're not welcome. End of discussion.

If someone calls and won't even have the decency to say, "Hello!" I suggest you hang up on them. Another, kinder approach would be to ignore their rudeness and say, "Hi. How are you?" If they refuse to respond to that, then hang-up on them. Seriously. There is no reason not to call these people on their rude, un-Christian behavior.

You could tell them, "If you want to behave like a decent human being, then I'll gladly let you talk to mom. But if you're going to disrespect me in my own home than you can forget it."

JWs have problems respecting others, in particular respecting their boundaries. They honestly believe they can treat people however they want without any repercussions. You might enjoy this thread I started a while back on that topic:

Relationship Issues: Boundaries, Freedom of Choice and Codependency

There are a lot of really good comments from our JWN family.

You're doing the right thing!

00DAD

40

Is this what I have to look forward to when I get old?

by dazed but not confused in

jw
friends

.

00DAD

There's always the alternative.

31

please help

by joyfulfader in

i am posting to ask this group of wonderful people to help my friend who is with me now.

we are discussing her serious doubts and the barriers she is facing as the wife of an elder with small children.

she is desperately looking for help to pull away without causing dissention in her otherwise very good marriage.

00DAD

What Loz said.

41

Crazy Weird Quotes in 1/15 WT Article - WT Society Opinions-Nothing More

by flipper in

jw
friends

i won't follow a theme on this thread .

i'm just going to supply weird quotes from the current 1/15 wt article " keep drawing close to jehovah " and then you can draw your own takes and conclusions on these insane " opinions " from the wt society.. paragraph 3 : " marketers cleverly convince people that they must have the latest products.

one young man so passionately desired a particular tablet computer that he secretly sold one of his kidneys to buy it.

00DAD

WT: when we are sick, it is harder for us to serve Jehovah. And if we die, we cannot serve him at all.

I'm really glad they cleared that up. I was a little confused on the subject!

Seriously, this is written at something around a pre-school level. Probably a product of the mind of Stephen Lett, the resident genius.