there was a case in my old congregation that is shrouded in mystery that i'd like to share and get your views.
this is something i've wanted to talk about for years but it's strongly shot down if you even try to talk about it in my old congregation.. it involves a certain brother b.. in my old congregation this brother was well liked.
as a kid, we all knew him for being fascinated with dinosaurs.
If you really are looking for ANSWERS, what makes you think you will find them HERE?
If the mysterious Brother B is still alive, look him up and seek a meeting with him. Buy him dinner. Ask him to tell you his story in his own words for the sake of posterity.
There are SO MANY people I now wish I had talked with 30 years ago who are dead now, and my OUIJA board gets their messages all messed up; they can't even remember what their favorite color was.
the internet is the archive for civilization.. watchtower cannot hide it's history.. are we seeing the beginning of a mass exodus out of her?.
i was just reading through some posts and had a startling realization.. the comment that sparked this went something like this: why oh why when i started into this in 1989 did i not research the history of the wtbts?
etc....... i too was studying and moving towards baptism around that same time.
i got dunked in dec of 1990.. my thought.
Skedaddle, maybe you are not familiar with the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute."
Nothing has changed since that phrase was first uttered. Although it may be your heart's desire to see the WTB&TS collapse (and it is mine also), reality isn't determined by what we wish would happen.
As long as there are ignorant, emotion-driven people gullible for the promise of "Sky-Cake" or "Pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by-when-you-die", there will be people getting baptized at JW Assemblies.
Fortunately, baptism is the FIRST STEP to becoming an XJW.
hi, although i signed up two years ago, and filled out the "interview with an apostate" as hillfy54321, i have since only read various posts.
then purchased a new computer and lost my password, thus no new posts.
i have since reapplied, and now go under the handle of hillfy 333.. a little about myself.
Welcome Hillfy333!
i'm a few years older than you and started being indoctrinated when my mom accepted a free home bible study when I was about 7. I was baptized at 14 and pioneered for a few years, was a Ministerial Servant in my early 20's and left in disgust when I learned that there was a pedophile in my congregation (Middle Village Cong, NYC) and that the elders decided to cover up the scandal to protect Jehovah's Righteous Name. This was in the mid-1970s, decades before Bill Bowen and silentlambs exposed the Watchtower Pedophile Paradise to the world. By the time I began my fade I had delivered my first Sunday Public Talk.
I'm sure the cognitive dissonance you experienced as a consequence of your research was INTENSE.
As good as Ray Franz' books were, keep in mind that he was not the first and not the only "apostate" who revealed the inner working of the WTB&TS. Some, because of gratitude for how Ray's books helped them, have elevated him to near-cult status and joined what I call "the Ray Franz Fan Club." Don't fall into the fanboy trap.
It will be interesting to hear what other issues were important to you in addition to the UN scandal and what your thoughts are about ways to aid the collapse of the WTB&TS.
Best wishes.
i didn't see an introduction forum anywhere but i thought it would be weird to start posting without first introducing myself so, here we are.
i'm 15, and i've been looking for a place to discuss my thoughts on the religion that i'm pretty much stuck in at the moment.
my mom and dad divorced over their different beliefs over a year ago (my mom is jw and my dad is an very knowledgeable apostate, so you can see how they would fight over it), and since then i've stopped believing altogether.. just thought i'd say hello.
Welcome, Thomas the Bill Engine!
I hope for your sake that you haven't been baptized. I was baptized at 14 due to pressure from my mom and the "brightly shining ones" who conducted my free ("It only costs your life") home bible studies and other elders in my congregation. My dad had decided that for him the best route was to split and pretend he wasn't married and had no family.
It is normal for teens to find that they sometimes disagree strongly with the opinions of their 'rents, but try to pause at least once a day and be grateful that your Dad did not abandon you. Also, be sympathetic to your Mom's devotion to a pathetic failed religion that has convinced her that IT can provide her and her beloved offspring with eternal life in a paradise earth. You will have opportunities to resist her silly religion, but never forget that YOU may play an important part in getting your Mom out of her foolish delusions.
I am an atheist. I do not believe there is any such thing as a "spirit realm" populated by gods, devils, angels, demons, "holy spirit" or any other thing that human beings imagine.
You may not agree with me -- yet. That is OK by me.
I urge you to be involved in NO "theocratic" activities. No "Ministry School" (take debate and public speaking classes in school if you can - these are useful skills, but you don't need the baggage of JW mysticism that come with Kingdom Hall activities. NO "Door-to-door" ministry. If you are forced, walk as slow as you can and leave magazines at every single door you come to - but "forget" to ring the bell or "witness" to people.
...more later, perhaps.
just happy to be alive....can barely move ☺.. a girl who just got her license , and a new suv....thought it might be cool to pass the person in front of her....at a curve......on a two way road!!!!!😠😠😠.
very mad puppy.
Wow, You ARE lucky! Except for that car-in-your-lane-thing.
Best wishes for a prompt and speedy recovery!
i was just reading through some posts and had a startling realization.. the comment that sparked this went something like this: why oh why when i started into this in 1989 did i not research the history of the wtbts?
etc....... i too was studying and moving towards baptism around that same time.
i got dunked in dec of 1990.. my thought.
Did you mean to post this under JOKES & HUMOR?
We will each be dead and gone LONG before the WTB&TS folds its tents.
People who claim otherwise have a really poor grasp of Watchtower/Apostate history.
It seems every six months there's a flurry of histrionics and an attitude of "Oh, We've Got Them Now!"
but it comes to naught.
Sorry, but that's the truth.
post photographic evidence of dubs' false prophecies.
i'll start:.
the preaching work will conclude in the 20th century.
Rebel8, not to be hyper-critical (although I am the self-appointed ASSHOLE on this board - no one else, JUST ME) but your quoted "prophecy" seems to be a compression of at least two statements.
Do you prefer the dunking pool or the tanning booth turned up to eleven?
some people had a penchant for posting their topics directly into the "best of topics" area.
it seemed more than a little arrogant to me that some imagined their every utterance was immediately a greatest hit but maybe people weren't clear on what that area was intended for .... from now on you won't be able to start new topics there.
if anyone wants to submit a topic to be added there (perhaps an index to a curated list of other topics by a user or on a certain subject / theme) then just start one in "suggestions" and pm me and, if it is suitable, then i'll move it into there.. existing topics posted there recently have been moved to more appropriate areas..
i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.
i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.
i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.
