Posts by Phizzy

8

Tips on a successful stumble

by Fadeaway1962 in

hi i don't mean tie my shoe laces together,.

i realize some theocatic warfare involved (lying) getting fed up with trying to fade .. how do jw family members react?.

Great Post Stephane ! This is exactly what I decided to do, and stuck to it. My JW family have become distant, and in a small way, they "shun" us, we do not get invited to family JW stuff, like Weddings, and there are children in the family that we have only seen briefly, in a shop or something, and so have never got to know.

They treat us as though we are Disassociated, though we are not officially. I think we are lucky in a way, that their actions are not more harsh.

We are also lucky that most of our close family are out, my kids, and my In laws are all out, and we have grown much closer to family that never was JW. We also have some very good, lovely, real friends that have also never been JW's.

But, you simply have to decide how you are going to handle things, and see how they pan out, when you leave. Personally I do not think a kind of " Theocratic Warfare" is morally wrong, I have been cagey, and economical with the truth, with Elders who were set on getting me DF'd for Apostasy, and I never reveal all I know and feel to my JW family, or any other JW.

I prefer to stay officially "Inactive" , so that if, has happened a few times, JW's that I know who have decided to fade, have no fear of being seen to approach me, and I am able to support them through those early days.

To anyone thinking of leaving I say, DO IT ! but decide which course of action is best for you, and then, be very careful !

80

Quit Quietly now more than ever

by gone for good in

the amazing exoneration of info sekta in swiss court has finally reinforced the proper way to exit an abusive cult.. never write a letter of disassociation.

- no need to invoke shepherding or judicial action from elders.

make a written, dated statement of your free-will choice to have abandoned the jw religion - secure this document with a friend -a trusted friend (not the jw kind).

Phizzy

I was just thinking while re-reading this Thread, that it may be possible at first , even though you have a notarised letter, to not reveal this, but to use their own definition of what constitutes a " Member" ?

I seem to remember that if someone had not been in F.S or attended a Meeting for a good number of years, the org did not consider them to be "one of Jehovah's Witnesses" ?? if this is in Print (?), surely, if you fit the criteria, they cannot take any Ecclesiastical action against you ?

58

When did WT lose the spirit?

by Smiles in

at what time would you say that the watch tower schema lost the spirit?.

like the ancient nation of israel which struggled maintaining divine blessing due to a long series of grave errors that eventually culminated in definitive loss... how and when did watch tower lose the spirit?.

can we pinpoint a time or event?.

Phizzy

" It's just that I don't see any reason to believe in anything for which no evidence seems to exists, or which effects on our physical world can not be measured or confirmed in any way".

Your journey to that conclusion mirrors mine, exactly. I now label myself, if a label is demanded, a Happy, Humanist, Rationalist, Atheist.

Believing in something, or trusting that something is true, without Facts and Evidence that will stand ANY scrutiny and challenge, is simply silly. It is also indicative of having the mental problem, called " Delusion".

As The Bible, and its god, and much more about it, have been debunked, and thoroughly discredited, by Scholars and Experts of the Fields under discussion, we need to start to use the Art of Critical Thinking, and hone our Rational Mind.

37

Jehovah’s Witnesses Sue Owners of FaithLeaks for Posting 74 Convention Movies

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/jehovahs-witnesses-sue-faithleaks-owners-over-convention-videos .

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/05/01/jehovahs-witnesses-sue-owners-of-faithleaks-for-posting-74-convention-movies/.

the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, which oversees the jehovah’s witnesses, is suing the truth and transparency foundation and its founders ryan c. mcknight and ethan g. dodge alleging copyright infringement..

Phizzy

Somewhere, in my Attic probably I have the first C.D's the WT produced under the "Watchtower Library" name, I think one of them goes back to the 1950's ? but does it contain everything, has it been edited and redacted from the original stuff that was in print ? that is the problem.

I wonder if the wealth of stuff that was on the Faithleaks Site could be made available to serious Scholars via a private Link or something ?

12

Watchtower Greek where the mumbo meets the jumbo

by Terry in

jw
friends

take a look at this photo of a now long extinct publication!ain't she a beauty?.

around 1976 i got the wild idea i'd like to learn greek.

gosh - just look at the gorgeous purple book up there!

Phizzy

" all our deep-seated belief is based on something illusory - not at all provable.

An amazing feeling.
A rug pull." Yes ! this is very true, for a number of us in for a long time, we had a few moments like this over the years, the Big Rug Pull is when you have your final Epiphany, and realise it is ALL lies, made up stories, and nonsense. Everything you ever believed in !

This is devastating to a born-in like me, and it felt like I had suddenly found out my "parents" had lied to me all my life, and I was in fact adopted. Then the questions really start, " Who am I really ?", for the adoptee in the example, and of course for those of us who were Born in. We have to change our whole Worldview, and find our real personality, the " Real Me". Not easy, those early steps on the Road to Freedom.

As to the realisation that there was in fact a paucity of early Manuscripts, for the O.T and N.T, in fact none were anywhere near the time of the Autographs, I realised this when we covered it in the Theocratic School, in the " Inspired" Book, and it troubled me then. I was amazed over the years after, to find out most J.W's who had covered this stuff the same as me, had not taken any notice of it. I suppose they sat there with their brains in neutral, I even had some argue with me, at times, that there were "Original" Manuscripts !

5

Congregation Judicial Hearing Centres (Kangaroo Courts)

by Slidin Fast in

so, now it's official.

the only use for kingdom halls in england is for judicial committee hearings.

meetings?

Phizzy

" Utra-conservative groups don’t handle drastic change well at all."

Also the G.B. have never been prescient, and never been good at planning ahead really, and seem less so in the last decade or so.

I think they must be floundering as to what the best things to do are, for them of course, not the average JoBo, they have always seemed to me to be firing too late, at a moving Target. Now that problem is worse than they have ever known, I doubt they know what the present, yet alone the future, Targets should be.

80

Quit Quietly now more than ever

by gone for good in

the amazing exoneration of info sekta in swiss court has finally reinforced the proper way to exit an abusive cult.. never write a letter of disassociation.

- no need to invoke shepherding or judicial action from elders.

make a written, dated statement of your free-will choice to have abandoned the jw religion - secure this document with a friend -a trusted friend (not the jw kind).

Phizzy

Fading has never been easy of course, but now, they damn well notice if you miss a meeting, and Elder Noseybugger will be on your case if you do. I know you can kinda fake attendance at a Zoom meeting, but it is not the same as when I faded.

I just walked out of the K.H one evening, looked back with regret actually, but thought " I will never step back in there again".

Up until then, i had been the very best meeting Attender in our Congregation, I was never ill, rarely took an annual vacation, just was always there. I heard not a beep from them for six months ( they are so loving ha ha ), and only then, because two Nazi Elders thought they could lay a charge of Apostasy on me. ( They failed.) ( Twice actually). Now, you would not be left in peace, I would have got away with it scot free, in those days, if I had not been imprudent.

" Quit quietly" yes, but be oh so careful, as you have to be these days.

55

Watchtower Sudy 12 July.the Kings of North & South (from 05/20 issue)

by BluesBrother in

it is a challenge next sunday for them .

due to starting the convention programme the wt study will be a 30 minute run through ,and deals with this prophecy ... i doubt the younger ones are familiar with it at all bur oldies could debate it at length .we on the look out for the king of the north to enter "the land of decoration" (more to follow,maybe next week).

this article makes a grand claim in par 2.

Phizzy

They are such Narcissists, the "World" does not know who they are, as a rule, or at best knows very little about them. How could they ever, as an obscure little Cult, be at the centre of ANY World events ??

This nonsense has gone on since the time of Rutherford, the claiming that various things done by them, clapping a Resolution, or publishing an Article in their little (actually) read magazines etc. Rutherford claimed such things were a " Hammer Blow" to the World , or to other Religions, utter nonsense, and bullshit of the first order.

Even as an active believing JW I knew this, and used to laugh at such overblown, grandiose nonsense.

I think the motive for this, especially now, is to boost the JW Drones own sense of how important they are. Little do they know, nobody gives a S**T !!!

62

"The Best Convention Ever" - 2020 starts today

by bats in the belfry in

dress up for the show.

... and now please be seated.

proudly presenting your 2020 convention program.. ... and, thank god, for the ff button on my player.

Phizzy

" This food was tainted with pretentious lies and commercialism to promote the proliferation of the literature the WTS published "

Now of course they are not promoting anything much they make a profit out of....... GOOD !

Of course, as well, they never miss an opportunity to remind JW's they can donate $$$$ by any method they like.

80

Quit Quietly now more than ever

by gone for good in

the amazing exoneration of info sekta in swiss court has finally reinforced the proper way to exit an abusive cult.. never write a letter of disassociation.

- no need to invoke shepherding or judicial action from elders.

make a written, dated statement of your free-will choice to have abandoned the jw religion - secure this document with a friend -a trusted friend (not the jw kind).

Phizzy

I do not see the depositing of a dated, signed, witnessed Letter as wrong, or even not necessary, you may need it, if you never do, that is good.

It is still not a fool proof way of leaving, with no further action by Elders guaranteed. They can still claim, years later, that you Disassociated yourself, quite accurately, and then you have the Announcement, and the effect upon you is the same as if you had been DF'd.

But, who knows ? it may give you a number of options, especially one that would work even without the Letter, which is to say that if any Announcement is made, or any rumours spread, you will Sue the Elders for Defamation of Character, the threat, even if you are in fact in no position to Sue, may be enough to get them to back off.

I know of one guy who did this, an Elder told me had done it, and said " So there was nothing we could do".