Posts by ttdtt

and right now i'm reading a lot on atheism in general (books written to answer creationists).. i'd be interested in knowing how you became an atheist after leaving the jws and how long did it take?

was it instant or did your belief in a deity gradually decline?.

ttdtt

To add to my comment, though there was a relief to realize there was not god, it has also come with great sadness and pain.

For one thing, I am not dealing well with the thought of blinking out of exitance.

The opium of the people does have one bright side, a hope for life after death is a great comfort no matter what anyone says.

31

Atheists - How Did You Become An Atheist After Waking Up?

by pale.emperor in

i consider myself an atheist.

and right now i'm reading a lot on atheism in general (books written to answer creationists).. i'd be interested in knowing how you became an atheist after leaving the jws and how long did it take?

was it instant or did your belief in a deity gradually decline?.

ttdtt

I have always been into science but did my best to make excuses as to why evolution was wrong.

Things started to not make sense when it came to what the GB was saying, and overwhelming and indisputable scientific discoveries and data made it hard to ignore.

I learned much about how the brain works, and how much of what the WT has said was crap.

When all that started happening, the entire religious house of cards fell apart.
Its not just JWs - its ALL bullshit.

12

Appointments

by asp59 in

how big you think the percentage of reaching out for appointments in organization is base on:.

a brother wanted receive praise from other'sb wanted to marry thought having appointment would make that possiblec wife push him if he was marriedd pressure from other'se a career pathf possibility to dominate/control othersg he wanted to have appointment cause of love and wanted to help others..

ttdtt

However you slice it - G is the smallest slice.

8

Highlights from Leaked Bethel Videos - part 7, statistics charts

by neat blue dog in

here's some stat charts featured in the bethel talks:.

.

ttdtt

Is this world wide?

10

Governing Body speaker ratings

by Fay Dehr in

ok, it's time.

we've had opportunity to observe the 8 gb members speaking ability.

now it's our turn to give our honest ratings...using their own form, of course!

ttdtt

They all SUCK big time.
Though GB have never been good speakers.

20

Brothers with hearts. Where are they?

by stillin in

one poster here mentioned how, after he was appointed as an elder, things took on a more "corporate" feel.

i was an ms and as such went, dutifully, to the bi-annual meetings with the co. i was sorely disappointed.

i had imagined sort of a round-table discussion of trends and potential difficulties in the congregation, along with a coordinated effort to help people out.

ttdtt

You are so right still.

Since those years I've noticed that there are fewer and fewer heartfelt talks.

Lots of reasons contribute to that. Little or no training on public speaking (fyi the TM school was never a good tool for that), fewer opportunities for brothers to actually get better at it if they have that inclination. NO incentive to do so. And really suppression from all the higher ups on just regurgitating crap.

To get to the point where you can do it (public talks are probably the only place left) you have to build up some street cred first. You have to get to be someone that will not be easily questioned if you go off track.

But in reality - the days of good loving and smart brothers who really worked at being good public speakers that gave valuable info and encouragement are OVER.

I got out just as the heyday for that ended.
As an elder, after years of hard work, and personal expense for extensive training, I hit the pinnacle of what elders could accomplish with public speaking. (Not bragging cuz I REGRET everything I did).

It all started to come apart as the GB took more power over everything said.

Few, very few brothers do more than vomit out the crap handed to them now.

Sad.

28

"Thanks for the thought" - how the religion robs people of normal humanity

by stuckinarut2 in

so as you all know, my wife and i are not officially df or da.. a small event happened this week that i have to share!.

a family that we were really close to (dinners and catch ups several times a month , go out socially often, play sport together, helped them through tough times, like uncle and aunty to their kids, etc).

the wife's father died.

ttdtt

stuck - same boat.

We faded with not one knowing any bad reason why.

Being stumbled is the only thing they could attribute to.

Instead of being upset someone who may have done that to us, we just got preemptively shunned.

14

Death

by Charles Gillette in

jw
friends

i often wonder about death.

no one has any idea, do they?

people have speculated since the beginning of time but each original concept of the hereafter as been absurd as the one before.

ttdtt

Knowing there is nothing after my heart stops haunts me so much.
After almost 5 decades of thinking that I will never die, I have a hard time coping now.

I wish I had a faith in something after, it would make things easier, but its just a Fiction created by people like me who could not fathom not existing.

CG I feel for you.