Posts by Muddy Waters

24

JW at a thrift store....

by Muddy Waters in

so i was recently in a thrift store, looking through some of the stuff there, when another aisle over, somebody sneezed.. (as far as i know, nobody lost a meatball.... 😅🙃 ...).

anyway, somebody sneezed.

and somebody immediately said, “bless you!”.

Muddy Waters

So I was recently in a thrift store, looking through some of the stuff there, when another aisle over, somebody sneezed.

(As far as I know, nobody lost a meatball.... 😅🙃 ...)

Anyway, somebody sneezed.

And somebody immediately said, “Bless you!”

And just as quickly, a loud, strident voice: “NO!! NO, NO, NO! WE DON’T SAY THAT!!”

(Millions of thoughts flashing in my head, at nano-second speed:

- omg, a Witness! That person’s got to be a JW! Who else freaks out about saying “bless you” after a sneeze?!? And who is she talking to, anyway? - somebody with her, or to a stranger at the store? (!!!) omg, I’ve got to confront her! I’ve got to see what she has to say about hollering that sort of comment out publicly!!! And, really, isn’t it so nice, and sweet of someone to say “bless you”! It sounds so friendly and compassionate! Stupid Witnesses, with their demonic superstitious fears (the JWs taught that this expression came from a medieval time when people believed that demons jumped into your mouth when you sneezed, which is why another person quickly “blessed them”, but in modern day times, it just sounds, well, polite! Friendly. 😄 Soothing, even. A little moment of kindness from a stranger.)

So anyway, I quickly pop round the corner and ask, all innocent and incredulous, “Why is that?”

- and there is a huge, gigantic, unkempt woman standing in front of me (I do not judge her appearance, as this was also me some days, haha, or the way I used to be, before losing much of the weight... weight gained after I went on anti-depressants while being “one of the happiest people on earth” - a Jehovah’s Witness - but I digress again. And I still go out and about in strange disarray, but I don’t care, lol. What I do object to, regarding her appearance, is the way she is supposed to look while representing her most holy god and supreme ruler and deity of the universe, Jeho-blah....)

She blinks at me. I am sure to look her over very carefully up and down. Mean of me! I know! But I knew this would rattle her, because of the way she knows she’s supposed to look while ‘witnessing’ or ‘giving a defense’, etc., so I knew I had her at a great disadvantage.

I can see the wheels turning, the gears chugging along in her head as she tries to figure out how to answer me. Does she admit to being a JW while I’ve caught her out and about in her state of disarray?

And how does one answer a stranger about this weird JW bless-you thing... about demons jumping into mouths and such and bless-you becomes such a bad thing to say?

Just how is she supposed to answer me after her stupid booming outburst of JW-ish-ness...? She gets nervous and rattled. She looks around uncomfortably. Pretends to not know what I’m talking about. “Why.. is what?”

Perhaps hoping I’ll politely go away. But of course I don’t! Hee hee!

“I’m wondering why you didn’t want that person to say ‘bless you’.”

(I also noticed that the other person was a STAFF member! She was bellowing like that to a person who worked there!! I’m starting to wonder if maybe she has something wrong with her, you know, perhaps she’s not quite right, on the spectrum or whatever, who knows... maybe she just can’t help herself... or maybe she even knows this person, but I just had the vibe that she was filled with “righteous zeal” (zeal for her Jeho-blah...)

She starts to stutter. Stammer. Looks down at the floor. Looks back up.

I am still there.

“Well, I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses...” (She said it!! She actually said it! I almost can’t believe it! But she’s looking very embarrassed (at her appearance? at her ridiculous beliefs? at her silly outburst? I don’t know her to know...)

But here she is, looking very embarrassed, mumbling, trying to explain, to “give a witness” and I had to admire her zeal.

“... and we believe that saying bless you comes from an ancient superstition...”

I am opening my eyes wide in utter disbelief and shock at hearing such wild, crazy things (I have very expressive, large eyes, 👀 lol, and I know my eyes, when opened really big, can be a bit spooky - think ending of original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, though, thank goodness, I am somewhat prettier)

And she actually goes there!!! To me, a complete stranger, in the middle of this store, she says:

”... an ancient superstition which believed that when you opened your mouth, demons would enter your body ...”

(She also explains why people clink glasses together before toasting, it is to scare those mighty & powerful demons away with these little glass clinks... and is, of course, why JWs also don’t toast or clink their glasses together. She knows her JW superstitions! Boy oh boy, those JWs are brave souls who either: have no fear of demons, or are so afraid of demons they can’t shit straight. Anyway. )

So here I am:

👀🙀

and she’s all 👹👺🤡👽☠️💀👻👿🤖

and in the end, she could barely look me in the eye, she sort of sputtered and muttered to a halt and I said something like,

“... wow...”

and that was about it.

😄

6

They don’t even know that they have become Scribes & Pharisees

by Muddy Waters in

“father, forgive them, for they know naught what they do...”.

- said jesus as they were killing him.. “... and the man who comes to kill you will imagine he is doing it as a deed to god.”.

”oh, father, i thank you that i am not like these sinners, these unrighteousness, lowly, and ungodly people.” .

Muddy Waters

“Father, forgive them, for they know naught what they do...”

- said Jesus as they were killing him.

“... and the man who comes to kill you will imagine he is doing it as a deed to God.”

”Oh, Father, I thank you that I am not like these sinners, these unrighteousness, lowly, and ungodly people.”

- said the Pharisee in his prayer, as he looked upon the dirty “worldly” people all around him....

They - the JWs - don’t even know that they have become like the Scribes and the Pharisees... with their harmful, hurtful rules and teachings and doctrines and decrees of men ...

They don’t even know, they don’t even see... they look upon themselves and feel like they have “love”,

yet they are like white-washed graves...

they have the appearance which outside looks nice, yet inside and underneath there lie rottenness, death, destruction, and doom ...

their love is like a velvet glove with a rock inside of it...

they desire to be seen by men, to be observed doing good works, to receive commendation, and to also keep careful track of all these good works

(the good works are geared mostly toward “the Organization” and what you can do for it and its agenda...)

As a JW, I would sometimes read Matthew 23 and other verses, and wonder....

And how easily, and often, does the WT/ GB trump the Bible..? They alone can interpret the bible correctly, and accurately, according to ... themselves. So they do this profusely - proudly profusely, even - with their prolific production of literature, pamphlets, books, videos, talks, Bible study “aids”, etc., etc., till the “production of many books proves wearisome to the flesh” - Ecclesiastes something... and they still pile it on... and command it, and demand it...

to the destruction of families (thru extreme shunning practices, for example), to those bleeding to death for them (thru obedience to blood transfusion policies & restrictions, even while those policies continue to undergo further understanding & ‘enlightenment’), to the choosing of education, careers, marriage mates (all major life decisions with huge future ramifications) ...

all in the name of ...

?

41

You might have been a JW if...

by Incognigo Montoya in

jw
friends

... unlike the rest of humanity, you looked forward to mondays because it was a day off from a meeting..

Muddy Waters

You have a collection of hilighter felt markers, which, when used to underline your WT magazine, makes you feel incredibly spiritual and even self-righteous over others who have not hilighted their own magazines as copiously, if at all.

43

Demon Posessed Rock Bands I couldn’t listen to

by hoser in

jw
friends

kiss.

steve miller band (abracadabra).

eagles.

Muddy Waters

Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks was said to be a witch, or into Wicca, or some such)

21

The inner workings at Bethel in the 70's

by Sour Grapes in

while doing some research, i stumbled upon a blog written by a former bethelite.

his name is john bechtel.

the blog is several years old.

Muddy Waters

Sour Grapes, *thank you* 😄🤗

21

The inner workings at Bethel in the 70's

by Sour Grapes in

while doing some research, i stumbled upon a blog written by a former bethelite.

his name is john bechtel.

the blog is several years old.

Muddy Waters

I would love to read this, but it seems his site has changed. Do you know where I may find where he wrote about his Bethel experience?

18

The stuff JWs get right

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

since today there is a post about jws and science i thought it right to throw them a bone and see if they have anything right:.

1. round earth (lol).

2. old universe (13.7 billion years).

Muddy Waters

They get things right like:

- not walking on people’s grass

- being tidy

- being punctual

- crowd control

- traffic control (parking attendants)

- chair stacking

- gum removal

- hilighting/ marking up books & magazines for relevant discussion points

- learning how to knot a tie

- hand shaking

- cold calling

- counting things and numbering things and manipulating those same numbers/ statistics

- and are known for representing the highest degrees of being: judgemental, critical, fault-finding, negative, narcissistic, hypocritical, gossipy, spying, slanderous, and cognitively dissonanced.

12

My highlights from GB member Jackson's ARC testimony

by The Fall Guy in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erwv8yntfto.

nice to review how one of the "faithful snakes" slithered when he was captive to being questioned.. at 40 seconds, he is asked to swear an oath - and he swears on the bible.

obviously jesus' words slipped his mind: matthew 5:34-37 - "however, i say to you: do not swear at all, neither by heaven.....nor by earth,.... just let your word ‘yes’ mean yes, your ‘no,’ no, for what goes beyond these is from the wicked one.

Muddy Waters

Thank you Fallguy. This is great. I did not rewatch all of this, so I’m wondering if this is also the testimony where Jackson is asked about Christmas (and he says it is not a disfellowshipping offence to celebrate it?!?) and where Jackson also mentions people can choose to leave (fade) without sanctions or shunning? Is that somewhere in this video too, do you know?

5

Bit of a rant - WT twisting Jesus’ words, (to whom shall we go/ where should we go), etc.

by Muddy Waters in

in wt, november 2018 study edition, the wt/ gb again plant the idea about never leaving the religion when they change jesus’ words, as ray franz pointed out in his book, “crisis of consience”, from: “lord, whom shall we go away to?” to, “where else could we go?

?” - as though teachings of decency and love toward others should be found in them only, and in their special places, and not in a person’s own home, or school, or charitable organization, or having hearts filled with love and graciousness, and empathy, compassion.. toward others.... .

they take an ideology (the bible and jehovah) and then make decrees (and commands and doctrines of men) and then bind up heavy loads.... they become pharisees, measuring the tenth of the dill and the mint and the cumin.... and hmm, something else.... ?.

Muddy Waters

In WT, November 2018 study edition, the WT/ GB again plant the idea about never leaving the religion when they change Jesus’ words, as Ray Franz pointed out in his book, “Crisis of Consience”, from: “Lord, WHOM shall we go away to?” to, “WHERE else could we go??” - as though teachings of decency and love toward others should be found in them only, and in their special places, and not in a person’s own home, or school, or charitable organization, or having hearts filled with love and graciousness, and empathy, compassion.. toward others....
They take an ideology (the bible and Jehovah) and then make decrees (and commands and doctrines of men) and then bind up heavy loads...
they become Pharisees, measuring the tenth of the dill and the mint and the cumin...
and hmm, something else.... ?
... forgetting about love and mercy...?
... is this (gasp!) possible with the leaders, I mean fine examples of our faith, whom we should emulate... blah blah ... and meet at certain exact times in certain exact places wearing certain exact clothes to do certain exact same things ... ?
- is this what JESUS wanted?
He, who said, “where two or three or gathered in my name, there I am...” (a spirit of friendship, love, sharing, and oh, you know, maybe just having a spirit of being guided by LOVE, right?)
Hmm. Imagine that. Is it really so .... simple....?
... especially if...
god is ....
Love....
...
“And they bind up heavy loads upon the backs of men, teaching commands of men as doctrines...”
(but certainly not WT/ GB, right...? Not them...)
“... do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the sons of earthling man, with whom there is no salvation...”
”... and Satan himself appears like an angel of light...”
(Hm, personally, that last one is a little dramatic for me, haha, but I’ll put it out there for the seekers or questioners..)
and yes, it is okay to think and judge and ‘test out the inspired expressions” and weigh them out... (remember those Boreans? They don’t talk much about them anymore, do they?) so it’s okay to keep seeking...
... To those who are questioning, try to change your vocabulary - they always want you to improve or develop your vocabulary, don’t they? Use positive words and frame things thru a lens of love, gratitude, caring, forgiveness, etc., rather than the words they use which keep you down, which create fear, obligation, guilt... (fog)
Think of having a question as a way to continue seeking for truth,
rather than the scary, loaded, threatening language and words (seasoned with salt?) of “doubts, independent thinking, giving way to Satan, becoming murmurers, following the path of Korah...” (boy, they do go on & on and get ya, don’t they? Sheesh. 200 pages of bible compared to over 2,000 pages WT literature annually, but that was back in the day...
It would be interesting to recount and compare it now, especially in WT’s embracement of the digital age, (and which they now count as “placements in field service!) .... (so surreal) !
...the WT, back in the day, used to subject us to 3 weekly meetings (which they counted as “seven”) and we used to study a total of over 2,000 pages of WT “bible study aids” annually, again, compared to only 200 pages of bible pages, and of those bible pages, most of them are the same scriptures used repeatedly, over and over again, the scriptures which could best highlight or fit (or be made to fit) their doctrines.
... doctrines described to be “truth” yet need changing and adjustments and new understanding all the time.
(And which you cannot question or move forward, or backward on, haha, until they say so. To question is fearful... very frightening, bad, etc... David facing Goliath... we wee worms... like Jacob... like grasshoppers... so unworthy... (yet god loved the world* - insert special WT definition of that world, world - god loved the world so much, that he gave his only begotten son... and he gave us such incredible brains to think with too, lol... but we not supposed to use them too much...)
Well, I digress muchly. Thank you for listening. 😄🤗
...

(this comment reposted from an earlier thread, highlighting other aspects from the November 2018 WT study edition:
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6203859698450432/november-2018-watchtower-study-attacking-weak-members-their-personalities-apostates

29

November 2018 Watchtower study....attacking weak members, their personalities, and apostates

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower society always attempts to disprove or discredit valid arguments or statements by criticizing the ability of individuals to think, reason, ask tough questions and make their own decisions!

if they can't logically attack the message, they attack the messenger!!

the name calling of apostates or anyone who doesn't agree with all the wtbts flip-flops ( the light gets brighter) never stops!

Muddy Waters

And again, WT/ GB plant the idea about leaving (the religion) when they change Jesus’ words, as Ray Franz pointed out in his book, “Crisis of Consience”, from “Lord, WHOM shall we go away to?” to, WHERE else could we go?? - as though teachings of decency and love toward others should be found in only their special place, and not in a person’s own home, or school, or charitable organization, or having hearts filled with love and graciousness, and empathy, compassion.. toward others....

They take an ideology (the bible and Jehovah) and then make decrees (and commands and doctrines of men) and then bind up heavy loads...

they become Pharisees, measuring the tenth of the dill and the mint and the cumin...

and hmm, something else.... ?

... forgetting about love and mercy...?

... is this (gasp!) possible with the leaders, I mean fine examples of our faith, whom we should emulate... blah blah ... and meet at certain exact times in certain exact places wearing certain exact clothes to do certain exact same things ... ?

- is this what JESUS wanted?

He, who said, “where two or three or gathered in my name, there I am...” (a spirit of friendship, love, sharing, and oh, you know, maybe just having a spirit of being guided by LOVE, right?)

Hmm. Imagine that. Is it really so .... simple....?

... especially if...

god is ....

Love....

...

(“And they bind up heavy loads upon the backs of men, teaching commands of men as doctrines...”)

(but certainly not WT/ GB, right...? Not them...)

“... do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the sons of earthling man, with whom there is no salvation...”

”... and Satan himself appears like an angel of light...”

(Hm, personally, that last one is a little dramatic for me, haha, but I’ll put it out there for the seekers or questioners..)

and yes, it is okay to think and judge and ‘test out the inspired expressions” and weigh them out... (remember those Boreans? They don’t talk much about them anymore, do they?) so it’s okay to keep seeking...

... Try to change your vocabulary, they always want you to improve or add to that, don’t they? Try thinking positive words and framing things thru a lens of love, gratitude, caring, forgiveness, etc., rather than the words they use which keep you down, which create fear, obligation, guilt... (fog)

Think of having a question as a way to continue seeking for truth,

rather than the scary, loaded, threatening language and words (seasoned with salt?) of “doubts, independent thinking, giving way to Satan, becoming murmurers, following the path of Korah...” (boy, they do go on & on and get ya, don’t they? Sheesh. 200 pages of bible compared to over 2,000 pages WT literature annually, but that was back in the day...

It would be interesting to recount it now, especially in this digital age, and figure in what amount of digital movies and such they have which now count as “placements”.... (so surreal)

the WT, back in the day, used to subject us to 3 weekly meetings (which they called “seven”) and we used to study a total of over 2,000 pages of WT “bible study aids” annually, again, compared to only 200 pages of bible pages, and of those bible pages, most of them are the same scriptures used repeatedly, over and over again, the scriptures which could best highlight or fit (or be made to fit) their doctrines.

... doctrines described to be “truth” yet need change and adjustments all the time.

Well, I digress muchly. Thank you for listening. 😄🤗