Posts by truth_b

12

Heartbroken...advice please

by SPARKLEY in

i am a non-jw and have been in an unhappy marriage for a few years now.

i met a nice man at work, we had a laugh together and got to know each other.

we were both really attracted to each other.

This man is caught up in a cult that controls every aspect of one's life. This cult uses fear and guilt to control you. First, all of your relationships and support are to be fellow members of this cult. Then, if you violate one of their man-made rules, they will figuratively brand you in a practice they refer to as "disfellowshipping."

When a member is disfellowshipped it is made public to the rest of the members. No member, not even family, can speak with this person or render aid. When a member is disfellowshipped their entire life is turned upside down. This arrangement is considered "loving" in the cult and a tool to "readjust" the violator's way of thinking. Some members who are disfellowshipped desire to return to their regular status and can after a period of time, but only if they stop committing their "sin" and "repent".

Semitic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) use sex as a tool to control people. It is a well known fact that the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses who are disfellowshipped are done so for violating sex related beliefs. The number one sex related belief is that sex is to be had only between people who are married to each other.

One reason that this male companion of yours may be acting weird is that, deep down inside, he wants to return to being an active Jehovah's Witness. This would mean he would have to cut off all social ties with you, but especially in engaging in any form of physical intimacy. Sending sex related text messages to a married woman would be grounds for disfellowshipping on its own.

33

Three congregations dissolved and a kingdom hall sold within a 50 mile radius in my area...

by UNCONDITIONAL LOVE in

jw
friends

has anyone else heard of these situations with congregations and halls in your area?

i thought the ground breaking mandatory pledge a little while ago was to keep up with "immense" growth?

how soon they forget... looks really bleak for the future of the wbats, the jw gravy train seems to be coming to a slow and agonizing yet inevitable stop.

truth_b_known

If you don't mind me asking - what area is this?

19

My awkward elders hearing

by Andamormonjustbelieves in

i was baptized when i was 14 years old.

i hadn't had any real relationship with a girl up to that point.

but when i started going to high school i learnt the joys of experimenting with girls, so i did not stay a faithful member of the congregation for long.

truth_b_known

I've always found the practice of elders in a judicial committee involving fornication asking for detailed descriptions. Fornication is fornication. The more important questions would be -

How many times before you confessed?

Did you come to use or did someone else report you?

My story is similar to many - My JC was for fornication involving my wife and I. The incident happened just before we were married (engaged and wedding date was set). We went to the elders about 2 months after we were married.

I was completely floored! We were treated totally different than I expected. We were told by these 3 elders that they believed we were truly repentant, but they then said we had to be punished. Punished?!? First time offense that technically CANNOT be repeated! We lost all privileges. 2 weeks later, one of the elders on our JC who happened to also be our Book Study overseer asks me to read at the Book Study. WTF?!?

This truly opened my eyes. I knew then that the who process was BS.

29

The true cost of being raised as a witness

by stuckinarut2 in

how do you view your upbringing as a witness?.

most of us who were raised as witnesses would appreciate that some aspects of our upbringing were ok. a foundation and measure of stability came with it.. but, it struck me too, that we also lost so very much!

and we lost a lot of potential.. by this i mean, we need to look at not just what we lost, or what was deprived of us, but what that ended up costing us as adults into the future.. if i take $10 from you, you have lost just $10.. but, if you were going to use that $10 to buy something that would end up earning you $1000, then i actually took $1000 from you!.

truth_b_known

A strong moral code and the ability to study/read was the only positive takeaways for me. When I was in the sixth grade I tested at a high school senior reading level. I was fortunate that my college years were in the 90's when some higher education was approved of. I did go my own way. I ended up graduating with 2 degrees rather than just taking some college computer courses.

36

In Your Opinion Do Today's Elders Recognize That The Religion Is BS?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i always wondered that while i was in especially when i was an elder.

i recognize that some people,elders included are brain-dead.

but do you think that the average older today knows it's all nonsense?

truth_b_known

I grew up with a brother who went to Bethel, came back, and was appointed as an elder at a very young age. At a Circuit Assembly he gave a talk that had the usual "Armageddon is right around the corner" message. He walked off the stage and immediately said to my friend, "Armageddon is decades away."

8

New "Become Jehovah's Friend" Video - The Ransom

by pale.emperor in

: https://www.jw.org/en/publications/videos/#mediaitems/allvideos/pub-pk_e_26_video.

sickening propaganda for our young ones.

they've laid off on the "armageddon will be here soon" angle and now it's all about "hope".

truth_b_known

You can't have it both ways.

Either we admonish our youth to forgo an education and a career in a high paying job to concentrate on the ministry because Armageddon is almost here or...

You better get an education an a high paying job with a great 401K plan because we hope the end is soon, but it may not be in your lifetime.

19

Craziest thing you ever did during intermission at a Circuit Assembly

by Esse quam videri in

1970 - there was a local drag strip a few miles away from the hall rented for the circuit assembly.

i was 18 , tim o. was 16 and wayne d. was 18. wayne had a 1955 chevy 4 door, 6 cylinder and fresh paint job.

tim had his dad'ss 1965 chevy half ton.

truth_b_known

I just recall a CA that, on Sunday, was an NFL playoff game that the local team was in. I was on parking lot patrol. I laughed at how many brothers snuck off to their cars during the afternoon session to listen to the game on their radio. Keep in mind that this was pre-smart phone days.

28

Sparlock is making his rounds again

by stillin in

i was at the meeting last night and the dreadful video about caleb and sparlock was forced upon the audience.

honestly, i had forgotten how bad it was.

the mother's manipulative over-reaction and caleb's acceptance that his toy was evil.

truth_b_known

I remember how Harry Potter was the Sparlock of my time. Yet everyone in the congregation was lining up to see all the Lord of the Rings movies. My wife could not understand that. This is so typical of the religion.

32

Refuting Watchtarded Reasoning - 1. "If a doctor tells you to abstain from alcohol, you wouldn't inject it..."

by Island Man in

i'm hoping to start a series of posts refuting common, fallacious jw reasoning that they repeat to support their teachings or defend their organization.

in this first installment i will be tackling the common fallacious analogy used by them to equate eating blood with receiving a transfusion.

feel free to share your own refutations on each thread.. "if a doctor tells you to abstain from alcohol you wouldn't go injecting it into your veins, would you?".

truth_b_known

I also thought that when Paul penned the words "Keep abstaining from blood" the word "blood" was the same word as "murder". In other words - Refrain from murder (being blood guilty).

35

"would you drink a glass of water if it had just a tiny bit of poison in it?"

by stuckinarut2 in

no doubt we have all heard that well used "illustration" in public talks etc over the years:.

"if you were handed a glass of water that looked pure, but were told it has just a tiny drop of poison in it, would you drink it?".

the society has used that illustration at length to say we should avoid all influences of every part of the world.. but, as we know, the society has had a track record of errors, false ideas and doctrines.

truth_b_known

If that were truly the case Jehovah's Witnesses would not be using the pagan practice of wearing wedding bands, bridesmaids in weddings, and the bride wearing a white dress.

That's just one example of a "tiny drop of poison" that Witnesses have no problem digesting.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known