Posts by tornapart

11

A Techno-phobe seeks advice.

by Phizzy in

jw
friends

this may seem simple to all you young folks(under 50) out there, but this old fart is just wondering, how much can people see on facebook in the way of comments, if you have privacy up and running so that, i thought, only those you have friended can see what you comment ?.

i am not overly bothered, but it occurs to me that since in recent times i have been more active on fb, my outspoken comments against the jw scam may be visible to those who are not actually "friends" ???.

i am just wondering if i should expect (as in monty python) the spanish inquisition ?.

tornapart

Phizzy, if you post on your own page you can select your audience for each post you make. If you comment on a friends post it will be see by whoever they have made their post visible to (either public, friends of friends, friends only or custom). You have to check on the icon for their post to see which it applies to. Best thing to do IMO is to not write anything on FB you don't want the world to see (just in case).Stick to places like this to vent on JW stuff, it's far less likely to get you in trouble! (That's if you want to stay in 'fade' mode).

43

Do you find it hard to be around active JW's now?

by EdenOne in

i do - actually, it's become close to unbearable.. and herein lies the paradox: i tried to fade in the illusion that i might keep contact with family and friends still "in".

was it worth it?

because not only most of them shun me anyways, but i find it almost unbearable to be around them, especially when the cult chit chat kicks in: every cute animal video clip triggers endless comments about glimpses of the future paradise and how "god did it"; those greasy praises to the organization and the governing body; the dumb awe about every jw broadcast and those cheesy music videos; the endless drivel against other religions when one knows perfectly well that we're no better than them; the endless flow of "experiences" of field service or spectacular conversions into "the truth"; the relentless congregation gossip; and so on .... i ask myself: is this why i am fading for ...?

tornapart

I find it's easy with some, especially with friends who have an axe to grind, have been treated badly or can't agree with certain things (and there are many things that a lot of JWs aren't happy with). The ones that I find difficult are the ones who can't see any fault at all with the Borg. I try and keep away from those. On the occasions when I have to be in their company (because of hubby) I just try and smile, be pleasant and change the subject or just zone out.

39

So I was enjoying a business trip in down town Bangkok...............Next thing BANG!!!

by cantleave in

jw
friends

so last night i was having a wonderful meal in a very nice restaurant when we heard what we thought was a loud clap of thunder.................. it was a bomb.

yards from my hotel.

thankfully i made a few decision that meant i wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time.

tornapart

I have just read Perry's comment and feel very sad by it. I'm a christian but feel that was a very unchristian thing to say. Perry, you should be ashamed of yourself! Cantleave, I can totally understand the way you feel about what happened. You survived but others didn't. I have no answers as to why some suffer while others don't. I'm just so glad you're still here with us! Some people are just evil and some people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So glad it wasn't you!

39

So I was enjoying a business trip in down town Bangkok...............Next thing BANG!!!

by cantleave in

jw
friends

so last night i was having a wonderful meal in a very nice restaurant when we heard what we thought was a loud clap of thunder.................. it was a bomb.

yards from my hotel.

thankfully i made a few decision that meant i wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time.

tornapart

wow! Cantleave... I am SO glad that you weren't caught up in the bomb blast! So very very sad for those that were.

30

"I am Happy to be Controlled" - Edinburgh Elder on Cult Cart

by cofty in

so my wife and i were up in edinburgh for the weekend for the international festival - we had a great weekend including going to see the military tattoo at the castle.. we were walking up the royal mile watching the street performers among hundreds of thousands of others from all over the world when i spotted the cult cart in it's usual spot being universally ignored.

feeling confident after my confrontation a couple of weeks ago we decided to go and have a chat with the two men.

i asked them if they were keeping up with the events in australia and proceeded to share lots of information with them.

tornapart

Think my husband might be more along the lines of elder no,1 I asked him what he'd do if he had to deal with a child abuse case and he said he'd contact the branch but I asked him what if the branch gave him conflicting advice to what his conscience was telling him and he felt he should report it. He told me he'd go along with his conscience and ignore what the branch told him, He was terribly uncomfortable with what I told him about the commission.

Glad you got some thoughts planted Cofty.

84

The Kingdom Halls are empty

by punkofnice in

my jw spies tell me that the kingdom halls are empty compared to how they used to be, since i left 5 years ago.

not saying they're empty because of me though.. is that what you are hearing?.

tornapart

I went to a meeting recently (after missing a couple of months) and it was half empty,

33

How Many JWs actually Watch JW.TV?

by Oubliette in

i'm curious.

what do you know from your own experience and talking to other active jws?

i know from my own informal, non-scientific survey that most jws do not watch jw.tv.

tornapart

My elder husband hasn't watched a single one. When I asked him why he told me it smacked of tv evangelism and he didn't like it.

25

Crises of conscience

by Deltawave in

i have just read the book crises of conscience in less than 3days!

i could not put it down!

even in front of my jw wife and her family.

tornapart

I read CoC in 3 days too. Best thing I ever did. Followed by In Search of Christian Freedom, that took a bit longer but after having finished it I knew there was no going back.. ever. The trouble is, it makes you want to tell everybody everything, all at once. You can't hold it in and this could be dangerous if you don't want to lose everyone you've ever loved. Take a deep breath ... and take it slow. Think before you say a word to anyone.

15

Being lied to by parents

by What is Truth? in

jw
friends

i mean pretty much all parents lie to their children at some point about something and usually it was to protect them or just wasn't something important and it normally doesn't affect the relationship between them and their child.

but how does a person reconcile and recover their appreciation for their parents after finding out almost everything they taught them was an evil lie?

i don't mean going back to the same relationship as i know that is gone, especially if the parents are still deceived.

tornapart

I've been on both sides of the fence so to speak. Born and raised a JW and raised my own kids as JWs (they are now adults). My parents taught me what they believed to be the truth and I in turn did the same. I don't blame my parents and I don't blame myself. We were deceived. They carried on believing it, I didn't. Hopefully my children will see through it too eventually.

40

What is Your Brainwashing IQ ? Take the Quiz

by Finkelstein in

so how much do you understand about brainwashing, its application and effects ?

essentially lures people into its grasps and then brainwashes them for exploitation and manipulative purposes by using mental indoctrination techniques.. here's a quick quiz to take to answer some of these questions.

http://voicesfordignity.com/brainwashing-iq/.

tornapart

I got 19. Very interesting quiz.

Something made me think, it takes a long time to really brainwash someone, baby steps, subtle coercion etc so when a person has been brainwashed the brain shuts down when a 'red flag' comes up. This must be why it's so difficult to get our loved ones to confront issues that make no sense. So there's no point in rushing in all guns blazing to get them to change their way of thinking, it just can't be done. So the same technique must be used in reverse. Tiny thought provoking questions. Then leave it. One little step at a time. It can take years.