Posts by og

8

Hello Again

by og in

jw
friends

i used to lurk and comment here quite a bit six years ago, or so, when i was just getting out - this forum was a huge help.

i moved on i guess, but have always been grateful for all the good information and support.

anyway, one of the ways i coped with the transition to a more normal life was to write and produce a radio show in colorado that allowed me to work through a lot of issues.

Hi Everyone. I used to lurk and comment here quite a bit six years ago, or so, when I was just getting out - this forum was a huge help. I moved on I guess, but have always been grateful for all the good information and support. Anyway, one of the ways I coped with the transition to a more normal life was to write and produce a radio show in Colorado that allowed me to work through a lot of issues. It was called Belief Systems & Other BS, and was quite popular locally.

I've recently started posting transcripts of that material at www.OtherBS.com, along with new writing, and forum members might like some of the material. More detail on where I'm coming from can be found at http://www.otherbs.com/about/

cheers,
Angus

8

ratio of hours to converts in preaching work

by og in

jw
friends

.

has anyone worked out recently how many hours of door-to-door work is being done in the u.s. per new convert?

i've seen this figure before, and would like to use it in a little essay i'm writing.. thanks for any help anyone can provide.

og

No, Maverick, you weren't. That honor belongs to Aaac.

Thanks Aaac!

8

ratio of hours to converts in preaching work

by og in

jw
friends

.

has anyone worked out recently how many hours of door-to-door work is being done in the u.s. per new convert?

i've seen this figure before, and would like to use it in a little essay i'm writing.. thanks for any help anyone can provide.

og

Has anyone worked out recently how many hours of door-to-door work is being done in the U.S. per new convert? I've seen this figure before, and would like to use it in a little essay I'm writing.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

4

legal question

by og in

jw
friends

so, after trying to make a religiously split household work for more than three years, i'm divorcing my wife.

and, she has apparently decided that since i'm obviously demonized and since her preaching work is god's will, anything goes in the settlement, including going after money my parents put into our home, which she knows was intended as a protection of their income.. and... since she pioneered for our entire marriage, and never worked 'secularly' she is going for indefinite maintenance (alimony).

so, here's my question: does anyone have an opinion about whether or not it's a good idea to try and establish that she spent far more time doing ministry than she spent on domestic support and child care?

og

Shoshana, your advice is excellent... but too late. I've already wasted several months trying to be a nice guy, not believing she could be so completely evil about things, and listening to a lousy lawyer. My bad.

4

legal question

by og in

jw
friends

so, after trying to make a religiously split household work for more than three years, i'm divorcing my wife.

and, she has apparently decided that since i'm obviously demonized and since her preaching work is god's will, anything goes in the settlement, including going after money my parents put into our home, which she knows was intended as a protection of their income.. and... since she pioneered for our entire marriage, and never worked 'secularly' she is going for indefinite maintenance (alimony).

so, here's my question: does anyone have an opinion about whether or not it's a good idea to try and establish that she spent far more time doing ministry than she spent on domestic support and child care?

og

So, after trying to make a religiously split household work for more than three years, I'm divorcing my wife. And, she has apparently decided that since I'm obviously demonized and since her preaching work is God's will, anything goes in the settlement, including going after money my parents put into our home, which she knows was intended as a protection of their income.

And... since she pioneered for our entire marriage, and never worked 'secularly' she is going for indefinite maintenance (alimony). So, here's my question: does anyone have an opinion about whether or not it's a good idea to try and establish that she spent far more time doing ministry than she spent on domestic support and child care? And, if it is a good idea, does anyone have any thoughts on subpoenaing the local hall for her publisher records to establish just how much time she spent on ministry?

Any help is appreciated. Prayers and positive visualizations also appreciated.

Cheers, og.

29

Ive been asked to do a talk for a born-again church...

by searchfothetruth in

jw
friends

.

i could do with some advice.. my uncle is a born-again and attends a church in liverpool and has asked me to give an hours talk on 'how to answer jehovah's witnesses' basically to help his churches members talk to witnesses on the when they come to their doors.. i have most of the info off freeminds and jw files, and was wondering what you all thought would be the best subjects to approach, the easiest to explain and the most effective for making jw's think after being questioned on it.. appreciate your comments..

og

Are 'born againers' any better off than JWs? Both are high-control fundamentalist cults, both are obnoxious to people not in their group, both are wasting their lives on a lot of hooey. Why not let them continue to waste each other's time in mutual conversion attempts?

26

Bowling for Columbine

by happysunshine in

what did you think?

whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?

og

Michael Moore is as provocative and controversial as right wing media darlings such as O'Reilly and Rush, while being considerably funnier, more intelligent, and more often truthful. I won't argue that he never distorts, but I will argue that average right wing rhetoric is a whole lot worse.

I for one am glad that Michale Moore is out there, providing balance to the right wingers being allowed to scream, rant and bully to national audiences.

60

What Was The Final Straw That Made You Leave The Organisation?

by SpannerintheWorks in

jw
friends

as a faithful and zealous witness, nothing can question your faith.

but one day, something does!

you begin to have doubts.

og

The 1995 change of the meaning of 'generation' got me thinking. It was such a core teaching for so long, and was being tossed aside so lightly. I distinctly remember trying to discuss this with others in the congo, and getting nowhere.

I then spent more than 5 years assuming that I was weak and wicked and that was why I was having such doubts.

Then... I started to realize what bloody bigots all us Witnesses were. I started to hit JW dissident sites on the - wait for it - Internet. I ran across the writings of our own Alan Fueurbacher (sp?) and two issues in particular got me thinking: clearly there had been no world flood 4,500 years ago, and equally clearly 607 and thus 1914 was totally bogus. Let me publicly thank AlanF for his clear, calm writings and for a phone call I made to him around that period of time. He is an absolutely sterling gentleman who has helped me and many others.

So... I met with the elders. I can remember sobbing, wishing desperately that I could keep believing, vividly aware of all the pain in store for me and my family. Then I wrote the proverbial 'letter to the Society' - response, 'it's so because we say it's so' with much use fo the word 'evidently' which means, 'we have no evidence for what we're about to say'. Talked with an elder I respected at the time, and realized that he was eager to believe black was white if that's what the Society said.

And after all this, I was still rather believing that I was the one who was being weak. The brain is weird. But one day, reading Watter's site, I suddenly realized that it wasn't true. That none of it was true. And with that, 17 years of mental structure fell away in an instant. I imagine that if I ever achieve 'enlightenment', it will be a very similar experience.

Thanks to everyone sharing their stories - I'm enjoying reading them.

16

Have you had formal counselling/therapy?

by starfish422 in

og

Therapy helped me quite a bit.

34

When Will Bin Laden Not Hate Us?

by TR in

jw
friends

what would it take for islamic extremists to give up on terror attacks against the west?

the u.s. to completely leave the middle east to it's own devices?.

u.s. become isolationist nation and not have foreign policy?.

og

If you want to get rid of mosquitoes, you start drying up the marsh. If you want to reduce terrorism as a problem, you start to ease the conditions that lead to large numbers of people willing to support terrorism. That is, you acknowledge their right to secure national borders, to self-governance, to their own religion. You strive to reduce dependence on resources they control (you stop making the world safe for housewives driving SUVs). When support dries up, the Osamas (and Pat Robertsons) of the world are pests, not monsters.

TR's points are inane, he's being an unthinking dumbass. OF COURSE Osama is never going to be happy with the Western world; he's a fanatic. But sensible policies - not appeasement, not knee-jerk jingoism, not poorly conceived wars - can reduce his support, and thus his ability to harm.