Posts by Gargamel

148

There is science that prove God exists

by HopeEverLasting in

jw
friends

jehovahs witnesses think that just the bible is proof that god exists but they are wrong.

there is another mode for how he exists.

now we all know many scientists who are creationists now weren’t creationists until they examined the evidence for themselves.

Gargamel

Another one of these? :)

I think that science has actually done a wonderful job of explaining how we are here.

Planets, and other bodies, exist because of the basic law of gravity i.e. mass being (weakly) attracted to mass.

The odds against things, including organisms, existing as they do are huge. This doesn't prove god's existence, rather, it's just an indicator that there were a huge number of "attempts" (I use quotes because it's difficult to imagine inorganic matter attempting anything).

Apparently, science has shown that something from nothin is possible. I won't pretend that I understand that bit. I could probably do so if it were explained individually over a sufficiently lengthy time frame.

It reminds me of the old betting scam where someone reckons they have surefire winners in an accumulator. If enough people sign up and put money on, there will probably be a winner. So it is with universes, I think.

80

Keep the meeting going! (even if somebody's dying)

by TimeBandit in

jw
friends

this is a true story.

it's about a sister named henriette venema.

she was a very loyal jw.

Gargamel

I'm amazed they didn't disfellowship the poor woman for being disruptive.

Ted is an arsehole.

23

Reinstated and then fade

by Zeds Dead in

i'm a man - d'fd for 2.5 years now and divorced.

find it hard to date girls out here only due to always having this secret i carry with me that i was once a jw and the thought of telling a girl one day why my family don't acknowledge me as even alive.. recently been thinking of trying to get reinstated and then do a quick fade as i cant go back to the whole jw stuff.. easier said than done and was turned down twice by elders after an immediate attempt 2 years ago.. my motivation for trying would be 1.

) to see if family make contact and 2) play the last hand in their game and give the middle finger.. interested in viewpoints?.

Gargamel

One big problem with re-instatement then fade is that you are still subject to their rules - it's just a bit harder to get found out for breaking them.

20

Old People Ask..."I'm 88, and my girlfriend is 83, why do we need a chaperone?"

by TimeBandit in

here's the latest episode of old people ask.

this episode focuses on chaperones.

why oh why do old people need them?

Gargamel

So long as you can remember where you live, no chaperone needed.

2

New year's Eve 1975 to New Year's Day 1976.

by Gargamel in

did anyone else here go a bit odd on new year's eve 1975 to new year's day 1976?.

i had been out of the org for a couple of years at the time, but not got around to debunking the beliefs.. what my mind went through around the above dates could be regarded as borderline psychotic, though the black hash probably didn't help.. i've just started tackling a first draft writing what i can remember about that period.. it probably wasn't helpful that my jw mother died a week into 1976. she had been ill quite a bit for some years, but after the date for the apocalypse passed, i do wonder if she just gave up.

prior to that she possibly believed she would never have to die, but once the big a got delayed, maybe she felt that she couldn't face years of illness and the fight went out of her.. i am finding that trying to write my history is a bigger undertaking than i first expected, but i'll do it even if it takes me years..

Gargamel

Did anyone else here go a bit odd on New year's Eve 1975 to New Year's Day 1976?

I had been out of the org for a couple of years at the time, but not got around to debunking the beliefs.

What my mind went through around the above dates could be regarded as borderline psychotic, though the black hash probably didn't help.

I've just started tackling a first draft writing what I can remember about that period.

It probably wasn't helpful that my JW mother died a week into 1976. She had been ill quite a bit for some years, but after the date for the apocalypse passed, I do wonder if she just gave up. Prior to that she possibly believed she would never have to die, but once the big A got delayed, maybe she felt that she couldn't face years of illness and the fight went out of her.

I am finding that trying to write my history is a bigger undertaking than I first expected, but I'll do it even if it takes me years.

24

When did the governing body go from 12 to 7 members?

by Tameria2001 in

i have been out and away from that cult since 2001. back then there were 12 members of the governing body, and now i'm learning that number has come down to 7. when did this change take place, and what was their reason for dropping the number?.

Gargamel

Will be interesting when only one is left.

12

JWs do Volunteer To Help Worldly Organizations Distribute Food to the Needy

by Athanasius in

some months back i posted a topic asking if jws were now encouraged to volunteer their time for charitable organizations, as one of the volunteers who i work with was promoting jw.org to one of the spanish speaking workers.

because of that, i guessed that he was a jw.. https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5708790489939968/jws-now-encouraged-volunteer.

well the other day as he and i were folding and stacking tables after distributing food to the needy, i mentioned that after i retired i got bored and decided to do volunteer work.

Gargamel

I've only ever known JWs to do "charitable" work for other JWs. I'm sure there must be exceptions though.

15

What's your passion???

by Faith after Deception in

yesterday, i was feeling very blue.

this is quite unusual for me, as i tend to be quite an upbeat, positive person, so spells of sadness or depression take me by surprise and are a real shock to the system.

you know, i don’t believe in “putting on a face” or pretending to be ok; this “fake it ’til you make it” malarkey has never been something i’ve liked.

Gargamel

In recent years I have become passionate about writing. It's not new as it was always part of me, but it became buried under years of difficult life events.

It was re-triggered a couple of years ago. Like many former JWs, I didn't receive the education that I desired and deserved, I would have done very well academically, but I was 15 in 1972, three years before the system was going to crash down around us. In those days you could still leave school at 15 in the UK, so I did. I was top of the class in German and Spanish, and very close to it in English. Even my maths was in the top 10 per cent.

I went back to school for evening classes (in my late fifties) to study for maths and English GCSEs (the exams that 16 year olds take). Let's just say that even after forty years without any schooling, I clearly undersold myself.

So now I write when I'm not too tired. I'm not bothered about it being commercially viable - just as well really! I just enjoy doing it.

I'll probably go down the self-publishing on Kindle route eventually, but I don't hold out any realistic hopes of making a living from it.

I enjoy trying my hand at playing with poetry. Creativity has been stifled of late by fatigue. When that happens, I just critique other people's work as it's all part of the learning curve.

Most of all - IT'S FUN!

17

JW over-rode our Choice of Funeral music

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

a few years on and the funeral of my jw momma still galls me.

she left instructions for which kingdom songs to be sung and we gladly abided by her wishes.

the funeral was held in a public crematorium, not a kingdom hall.

Gargamel

"So as momma's executors, we just sent the local KH the money that she'd willed to them. We didn't get an acknowledgement."

---------------------

I'm thinking that it might have been better to hold the money in a safe account until they asked for it.

I wonder if not communicating with the disfellowshipped still counts when they want money from them.

I'm not suggesting stealing it or using it for one's own purposes, merely to delay paying in order to force them to communicate.

72

Single Sisters Over A Certain Age Group Getting A Bad Rap

by HiddlesWife in

i'm new here; one of my relatives was a member on this forum a few years ago and told me about it.

anyways, as a sister who has been in the org since childhood and now in her late 40's (plus as a woman of color), i have noticed that a number of brothers have an ageist attitude.

they are very accepting of young women under 26 and rejecting women over that age, particularly those in their 30's and over.. is this an unspoken mindset from wthq (specifically from bethel), or is it that quite a number of males (sorry, i'm not sexist here) have this type of mentality?

Gargamel

Although it's generally worse in religions, women have always had a pretty raw deal.

Voting was a classic example (in the UK). Some even adopted male pen names in order to have written work published.

Having two world wars in the 20th century changed things as women took on many roles that were traditionally men's. More reliable contraception possibly accelerated the process too.