Posts by MarkofCane

37

Stepping out of the shadows

by contramundum in

i have been lurking on the site for a few months and thought it about time i plucked up the courage to step out of the shadows and say hello.. i am in the process of fading after realizing all is not right with the organization i had trusted implicitly for over 40 years.

there have always been 'truths' i have struggled to accept entirely, even as a child, but was confident that trusting in jehovah, building my faith and remaining patient would be enough to settle any nagging doubts that remained, so i pushed any inconsistencies to the back of my mind and concentrated on being the best witness that i could be.. over the last few years, however, i have been preoccupied with a number of crises in my family and stepping back slightly from 'theocratic' activity has allowed me to re evaluate a number of concerns and research sources other than the sanitized wt publications.. my eyes are now wide open - i found things which have appalled me and left me feeling extremely let down and disappointed by people i had really trusted.. i tried gently raising a few subjects with my mum (who was baptized early '70s and still remains a staunch wt supporter) but she will hear no criticism of the organization.

i understand this because the best part of her life has been invested in the religion and to acknowledge it may have got things wrong would be to recognize the last 40 years have been a vain waste.

MarkofCane

Work and family situations are going well so I tend to speak about that rather than spiritual matters. I want my friends to realise that true happiness and success isn't dependent on abject devotion to WT.

This is in fact how I feel as well. I woke up around 3 yrs ago and it has been a very difficult process up until last year, Ive realized, Ive been deceive by a movement that is larger then my immediate circle of friends and congregation, so I hold no animosity towards them. I gave them my life and offered them my family's life for a utopian fantasy. Because of obligation and guilt I'm complicit in spreading their deception.

I stops here, its stops now. I don't answer their calls, I don't return texts and I don't let them interrogate me in any way shape or form. I stand my ground as graciously as possible and respond with everything is fantastic even if its not. I now devote my time and energy to my family and my business and making this world a better place than I found it. I enjoy every day for the miracle it is and take nothing for granted.

Welcome to the forum take your shoes off and relax

MC

36

Good news to report: Congregations merged because lack of attendance, publishers & field service

by Khaleesi in

so it's official, i am happy to report that we merged with another congregation having the same problem.

why is it good news???

because people are either waking up, fading or just not buying into this organization any longer or walking away.... i think many young ones are just not buying into it as much, i see many in the congregation i go to very depressed and some i know personally going thru major depression especially the young "sisters" in their early 20s.... .

MarkofCane

I've seen this as well, In my sisters congregation (english) they dissolved her congregation and made them merge with another congregation in another hall about 20 min away. This was because of lack of attendance. I also know of kids from the spanish congregations that are leaving in droves in my area, I think the younger spanish generation is more educated and are not easily manipulated as their predecessors.

Its a matter of time, the elderly will pass away and the young leave, this will leave them with a dilemma. Their biggest growth is in third world country's with limited incomes and minimal education, so how do you protect your assets? Mandatory contributions, liquidation of some assets and re branding yourself (jw.org). I believe all the changes we have seen is directly connected to their shrinking numbers in more affluent country's and all the lawsuits you can see the desperation in there eyes. That's why we are seeing new ones come here on a daily basis, we need to be mindful of there presence they might come off as apologetics but are battered and lost and are looking for answers.

MC

143

Fidel Castro and the WT

by Hecce in

i am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.

you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.

during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.

MarkofCane

Thanks for posting this, I love history especially Watchtower History it feeds my current resolution for being here.

I once asked a brother why God would allow deception or misrepresentation from his earthly organization? The most powerful force of the universe would really seem unnecessary? He said "Jehovah has allowed any means necessary for the survival of his organization even if that means deception". At the time i was fully engaged in the kool aid supplementation, now in retrospect I would of said "But wasn't Satan the Father of the lie, the one called deceiver. God vilified him because of the original LIE." We profess to have the TRUTH, yet defended by lies. Now I know there was no original lie, and there is no current truth. Its all just a billion dollar corporation trying to protect their assets. Its all quite simple really.

22

Would you kill for the org?.......YES I WOULD!

by olongapo joe in

so, a few years ago my jw parents, my non jw sister and her husband, and myself were discussing religion and jw beliefs.

my parents of course defending the jw's, the rest of us, against jw's ( it may not have been specifically against jw's, maybe just religion in general) anyway, things are getting a little heated, and i finally ask my pops, if the watchtower bible and tract society told you to go out and start killing muslims, would you do it?

yes i would, was his reply, to which i say, then your not any different than the radical muslims killing in the name of religion.

MarkofCane

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. Without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.
But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”
― Steven Weinberg

20

My Story

by Freeandclear in

just thought i'd introduce myself and share my story.

up front, i'm not bitter.

okay now that that's out the way..... i first heard "the truth" when i was about 14 years old from a friends mom who was studying.

MarkofCane

Thanks ‘Keverknew ‘for that great video, logical and to the point.

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soulless conditions. Its is the opium of the people. Karl Mark

53

Finally posting and I'm FRUSTRATED!!!

by stephanie61092 in

okay, i'm about to engage in a major word vomit.

just giving you fair warning as your time may be better spent somewhere else.. so, i'm sitting on my lunch break, bawling my eyes out, and writing on this forum to people i don't know yet probably have a great deal in common with but at the same time, used to scare the daylights out of me.

for years, i would come across this forum and 'lurk' awhile if you will, or see things on youtube.

MarkofCane

Hi stephanie61092

There are so many new ones coming to this site, You need to ask yourself why? Your story resonates in so many of us here. The best advice I can give you is to take a break from it all, give your self time to heal. It was very difficult for me to wrap my mind around everything all at once and I should of seen a therapist. I think of all this stuff when I go to bed and when I wake up. I come here because I have no one else that I can relate too and talk honestly with. Funny thing is their are a lot of people around me but I'm really all alone. Welcome to this forum take your time and think things through. There is no need to rush into another belief system just breath.

MC

20

My Story

by Freeandclear in

just thought i'd introduce myself and share my story.

up front, i'm not bitter.

okay now that that's out the way..... i first heard "the truth" when i was about 14 years old from a friends mom who was studying.

MarkofCane

Good story thanks for your candor, I always felt the same way and even said the exact same words "I mean, if he's almighty and he really wanted us to know how to worship him WE WOULD FREAKING KNOW. It's really that simple to me."

"Period". Right......He created everything from nothing. Yet, can't communicate with his creation except through a ancient manuscript that was dictated to uneducated sheep herders? Now thousands of years later we have to believe that some select few have deciphered the code and can lead us to eternal happiness?

So, first we have to be born in the right part of the world to be Christians, then find the right sect that hold the correct understanding of this ancient manuscript out of at least 40 thousand different christian denominations. Yet, if the stars didn't line up in this order for you GOD would find you unworthy. Sorry about the rant, give yourself time to heal and think. It really becomes quite clear when you look at it from the outside looking in.

MC

38

Who can you trust to admit you have doubts?

by MrMonroe in

(that is, doubts).

in margaret atwood's "the handmaid's tale", a futuristic story of life inside a repressive, abusive big brother-style society tightly controlled by religious fundamentalists, there's a passage in which the protagonist is alone with another woman at a state-controlled centre where prayers are generated -- then printed out and read out -- by a machine.

the other woman asks, in barely more than a whisper, "do you think god listens to these machines?

MarkofCane

Nice post, I agree with careful. " Their minds just were not strong enough to fully face the facts".

I would never try and shake older friends from there sleep. I tried talking to my in laws about some doubts I had early on and found it impossible; first their fanatics and second they have nothing else to live for. They devoted there whole lives to this faith, they breath it, live it and declare it to anyone that will listen. If you take this from them you just kill them. My mom falls in this same category I would rather let her believe what she need to believe and let her have peace in what time she has left. Trying to wake her up would be devastating.

MC

29

I was ashamed

by Happeanna in

jw
friends

i was once a person who believed in god destroying 7 billion people so a few people could live in paradise.. when the penny finally dropped and i realised what as a jehovah's witnesses i was really praying for , it made me feel sick.

what is attractive about a person that prays for this world to end .

i was ashamed to have been a witness deeply ashamed .

MarkofCane

When I was first waking up I told my wife Its a "death cult", we pray everyday for the destruction of 7 billion people, she didn't take it well would not recommend that tactic. Yesterday she drove with me to look at a job out of town we had time to talk by ourselves, we talked for hrs about the organization and all my doubts, I said you know we pray for the destruction of this old system, what do you think that means for all the people on earth? Women, innocent children, babies? She looked at me and said " sounds awful doesn't it ". Need to keep chipping away.

MC

27

You Are Unsuitable!

by Divergent in

jw
friends

today's text -.

sunday, january 24. they collected the fine ones into containers, but the unsuitable they threw away.—matt.

13:48.. understanding the lesson of this illustration helps us to avoid being overly distraught or disappointed if a bible student or one of our children does not make the truth his own.

MarkofCane

So if your not consuming the kool aid your considered walking dead.