Phizzy

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Posts by Phizzy

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  17

  Where is Simon?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven’t heard from him much lately.. where art thou?

  does anybody know??

  ?.

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  Phizzy

  Where's Simon ? more important Where's Wally !
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  33

  Are You Afraid To Publicity Express Your Opinion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are you reticent to express your opinion when it comes to religion or politics?.

  when we were jws , we had to be so careful that we didn’t stumble anyone.

  are you comfortable saying that you don’t agree with someone or something even if it appears you are in the minority?

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  Phizzy

  I am not afraid to express my opinion, on anything, Politics, Economics, Religion, LGBQT etc etc. In fact I cherish and fiercely defend my right to do so. Those who have insulted me personally for my opinion, get a stern reply, that they obviously have no argument to offer, so please leave the debate. If they continue, I will point out that they are obviously ignorant, stupid and uncivilised, and therefore LEAVE the debate.

  The J.W Org of course is against Free Speech, for those within their Org, those who ever had a connection, and even those who never had a connection. The Shunning process is used upon those within, or who ever once had a membership, and Litigation is used for the others.

  J.W Org violates a number of Human Rights, but, being Arch Hypocrites, demands them for themselves.
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  80

  Quit Quietly now more than ever

  by gone for good in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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).

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  Phizzy

  Just a further point in the matter of Disassociation, the Elders Book states :

  " Whereas disfellowshipping is an action taken by a judicial committee against an unrepentant wrongdoer, disassociation is an action taken by a baptized individual in the congregation who no longer desires to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (1 John 2:19; od chap. 14 pars. 30-33) In cases of disassociation, the body of elders should appoint a committee (not judicial) of three elders to consider the facts."

  Notice " not judicial", so the notarised letter idea will not work in this case, please note also, that there is no provision to Appeal, and the Announcement can be made at the very next meeting, no need to wait 7 days as in the case of DFing and a possible Appeal.

  If this is about to happen to you, and you wish it not to, get a Letter off ASAP, saying Legal action will be taken etc etc. Try to keep the rumours to nil, and keep your Reputation !
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  8

  Tips on a successful stumble

  by Fadeaway1962 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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?.

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  Phizzy

  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 !
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  80

  Quit Quietly now more than ever

  by gone for good in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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).

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  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 ?
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  58

  When did WT lose the spirit?

  by Smiles in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

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  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.
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  37

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

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. 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..

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  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 ?
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  12

  Watchtower Greek where the mumbo meets the jumbo

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. 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!

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  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 !
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  5

  Congregation Judicial Hearing Centres (Kangaroo Courts)

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  so, now it's official.

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

  meetings?

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  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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).

  1. 
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• 

  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.