Posts by Phizzy

7

Anatomy of a former JW

by Victor in

jw
friends

one of the respondents on my post on mental illness stated that it was the same of ex jw's.

i thought about this for a couple of days and drawing from my personal experience, i can say that this is mostly true.

if one is disfellowshipped, the act of forcibly cutting off all ties to a jw's way of life is painful and in some cases inducing cognitive dissonance.

Phizzy

Although not DF'd or DA'd my JW family distanced themselves greatly, we were cut off from family events like Weddings etc. And all our former "friends" had nothing to do with us.

When I actually left I had sunk in to deep suicidal depression, I was dangerously close to ending my life. The support and love that Posters gave me on here was so helpful, several of them begged me to get proper Therapy, I did that, and was lucky to find an excellent Therapist who had treated a good number of XJW's .

I learned how to suppress and control my depression, and was shown by Posters on here how to think and research about JW beliefs, and the JW Mind Control, all along with kindly support.

This place saved my life ! So thank you Simon, and all those Posters.

I hope we can still keep this as a place where JW's can come and receive kindly advice, support, love and guidance.

37

"Do you believe that the 'faithful slave' is God's channel of communication?"

by The Fall Guy in

if a jw had the nerve to ask me this question, i'd say to them, "you go first.

using only scriptural proof, show me why you believe that the wtbts/ccojw is god's choice and i'll tell you if i agree with your scriptural reasoning.".

wait for the silence and the rabbit in the headlights moment.. i searched on the wt cd rom for references of "channel of communication.".

Phizzy

HaHaHaHa !!!! My first response to the Thread Title.

10

Brazen conduct

by road to nowhere in

i just noticed the clam illustration of "reject brazen conduct" a young man in service walking past 2 others drinking beer and playing cards.

i know elders who do both.

.

Phizzy

" Brazen Conduct " was brought in so they could get rid of troublemakers who actually had broken no Scriptural rule. It depends how local Elders interpret it, good luck if your Elders are Nazis, or just shits who have taken against you, they can find anything they like and call it " Brazen Conduct".

49

My wife and I have begun our fade

by James Jack in

i haven’t posted in awhile.

my wife asked me after the year 2000 came and went without fanfare(because the wt organization said all the “new world” would be here within this 20th century would end), “ what would it take for you to leave the truth?”.

my reply was “ if i turn 60 in this “system of things”.

Phizzy

KWJoe, are you stalking James ?

55

Do Any Of You Still Think Trump Was Working With The Russians?

by minimus in

jw
friends

it seems some people still maintain that trump will try to get help from the russians “again”..

Phizzy

Trump doesn't even know what the word " collusion" means !

7

'Phone call from Ex JW,

by Phizzy in

a guy i was great friend with in my teens 'phoned me out of the blue today, and brought back a lot of fond memories, he was df'd, because he was a very naughty boy lol, but as he said, as is common with a lot of us exes, he took a long time to grow up.

he spoke of my parents, who despite being jw's, were lovely people, they took him in to our home when his mum was in hospital for some weeks, he also spoke of the good times we had as kids, and how his parents were good to him, and made him what he is today despite being jw's.. we sometimes do not give credit where it is due, my parents made me a lover of truth, but it is real truth i espouse now of course.. perhaps this kind of view of our upbringing is more positive than concentrating on all the downsides of what is basically an evil cult ?

looking at the (very few) positives can perhaps help us heal ?.

Phizzy

A guy I was great friend with in my Teens 'phoned me out of the blue today, and brought back a lot of fond memories, he was DF'd, because he was a Very Naughty Boy LOL, but as he said, as is common with a lot of us Exes, he took a long time to grow up.

He spoke of my parents, who despite being JW's, were lovely people, they took him in to our home when his mum was in Hospital for some weeks, he also spoke of the good times we had as kids, and how his parents were good to him, and made him what he is today despite being JW's.

We sometimes do not give credit where it is due, my parents made me a lover of Truth, but it is Real Truth I espouse now of course.

Perhaps this kind of view of our upbringing is more positive than concentrating on all the downsides of what is basically an evil Cult ? looking at the (very few) positives can perhaps help us heal ?

46

Believers: How do you know your view of your chosen holy book is the correct one?

by punkofnice in

don't start fighting, darlings.

i am genuinely curious.

after all i was a jobo 50 years and thought the wbt$ was 100% correct.. i ask this because i see that, for example, christian denominations (or whatever), likely have differing interpretations of the same writing.

Phizzy

"Your view" of "your chosen book" sums up most believers attitudes to the Holy Books. First they "choose" a book, though in reality it is not the case that there is much choice, most are born in to a religion, and the converts too are then told which is "their" Holy Book.

The view the believer takes of it is usually dictated by religious teachers. Most of whom interpret it as they wish, and ignore parts that do not suit them.

The proper way to get a good grasp on such writings is the use of Hermeneutics and Exegesis. An awful lot of believers do not know what the words mean, and certainly do not apply them.

Many dodgy interpreters, the JW Org especially, employ the very looked down upon method, ( by Scholars) of Eisegesis, which is reading in to the Text what is simply not there.

The majority of believers let it come down to mere emotion, they "feel" that their Holy Book is the Word of God. This is both lazy, and dangerous, it leaves you open to manipulation of mind and action by Authoritarian groups and individuals.

7

Witness fancy dress party huge fails!

by Witness 007 in

so some special pioneers in our cong thought it would be awesome to spice up our boring country town lives with a witness fancy dress party!!

wow what could go wrong?

it was 1993 well one pioneer wanted to out do every one so he turned up in drag as a ballerina in full bad make up...some had costumes with guns swords knives...i mean a cowboy does not have a watchtower in his holster!

Phizzy

This Thread reminded me of a JW Fancy Dress party Mrs Phizzy and I went to in the early '80's.We were told to come dressed as though it was the 1960's, so Mrs Phizzy and I went all Flower Power Hippy, I had on a genuine Indian kaftan that had appeared on the Brit '60s music show " Ready Steady Go !", a Hippy hat with a flower in it, Mrs Phizzy had on a hippy floral dress.

As we walked in the Hostess looked at our garb and said " Peace on you!" , I replied " You probably will later !"

6

A Better View of Trauma

by Sea Breeze in

jw
friends

i ran across this short essay and thought it was worth passing along.

trauma is not your fault, but healing is your responsibility.

what happened to you was not your fault.. it was not something you asked for, it was not something you deserved.. what happened to you was not fair.. you were merely collateral damage on someone else’s warpath, an innocent bystander who got wrecked out of proximity.. we are all traumatized by life, some of us from egregious wrongdoings, others by unprocessed pain and sidelined emotions.

Phizzy

It certainly is our responsibility to self-heal, and it is the only way forward to a free and happy life. It takes effort, something as JW's we were not required to do, we had our thinking done for us, we had our conscience formed by others, we thought that "Holy Spirit" would do all the work.

It took me a few years of researching, not only the errors of the JW org, but how to heal myself. I was helped by an excellent Therapist, because shortly before leaving I fell in to suicidal depression, but I had to work at the techniques she taught me, a wonderful woman by the way, who had previously treated a number of JW's.

Do not be a Slacker ! you have everything to gain by putting in real effort.

15

Can't deny my JW's past

by StephaneLaliberte in

today was a beautiful day and so, decided to drive by my old town with my wife.

at some point, she asked me to stop talking about jws to which i said: i'm talking about were i lived, what i did and who i knew.

its just that all of it was jws!

Phizzy

I don't feel any need to deny my Jobo past. from the time I left I was aware of the need to eradicate Jobo thinking, and the feelings that certain things brought up in me which were due to the "teaching" , which was basically Mind Control, I needed to identify that I was being triggered, and to approach whatever it was in a new way.

I learned to get rid of any fear of our LGBT+++ friends, to no longer fear Demons, Satan etc, Armageddon etc etc, but most importantly of all, that lingering distrust of "worldly" people.

I am now emotionally free from all that nonsense, and of course mentally free in the sense that I see how very wrong it all was.

My Jobo past was as though I had lived in a nasty, twisted Authoritarian Country, and now I live in a pleasant Country, where I am free to think and say what I think to be right, and, chief of all, I am free to be the Real Me !