To be honest, i was expecting more of a debate. JWs seem to be really slipping with theology. No bible was brought out, they didnt ask me thought provoking questions.
Were we that shit and just never noticed it at the time?
pale.emperor
JoinedPosts by pale.emperor
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34
Just Offended A JW Cart Witness Without Even Trying
by pale.emperor inon my way into town from my office.
two carts set up a few feet from each other.
one manned by a man and woman (i assume they're a couple) in their late 30s.. the guys walks off to the other cart as im walking by, i wasn't going to approach but the woman holding the awake!
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pale.emperor
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34
Just Offended A JW Cart Witness Without Even Trying
by pale.emperor inon my way into town from my office.
two carts set up a few feet from each other.
one manned by a man and woman (i assume they're a couple) in their late 30s.. the guys walks off to the other cart as im walking by, i wasn't going to approach but the woman holding the awake!
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pale.emperor
The stoning to death of homosexuals, those who worked on Saturday, men who shaved their beards, those who planted two types of seed in the same field, slavery, oppression of women, genocide... but it was different back then.
That sure told me!
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34
Just Offended A JW Cart Witness Without Even Trying
by pale.emperor inon my way into town from my office.
two carts set up a few feet from each other.
one manned by a man and woman (i assume they're a couple) in their late 30s.. the guys walks off to the other cart as im walking by, i wasn't going to approach but the woman holding the awake!
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pale.emperor
On my way into town from my office. Two carts set up a few feet from each other. One manned by a man and woman (i assume they're a couple) in their late 30s.
The guys walks off to the other cart as im walking by, i wasn't going to approach but the woman holding the Awake! mags smiles and said hello. I said hello and ended up stopping and took the mag (give her day a boost by putting 1 mag on her report slip).
This woman would not stop talking. Man, i was expecting a secret TV crew to be filming a joke on me or something. She went over the bible being inspired, the world is evil, we need direction, we need Jehovah, other religions dont do this etc etc. Thankfully the man came back and interrupted.
I tried to keep it short and polite and said "im an atheist, i dont like that the bible condones slavery..."
The man became offended and quite annoyed in his tone "slavery? Where does the bible condone slavery?"
I said "have you read the bible?"
He flipped out "yes i've read the bible, i've studied to for 20 years. Have you?!!"
I said i studied it for 32 years :) I asked him who Hagar was? She wasnt Abrahams wife. He said "she was a servent. Anyone's allowed to have a servent". I asked if she was paid, and who was the father of her child Ishamel.
The woman interrupted and said it was different back then.
The man told her "i was talking there, do you mind?" she backed away.
Then followed a monologue of how "the truth™" has changed his life and he could be earning money but instead he's living "the best life ever™".
I asked him "compared to what?"
He said compared to what everyone else has. I told him he cant possibly know what everyone else has, or what they want or what they consider to be "the best".
He shut down the conversation. The woman gave me the Bible Teach book (i put it in the nearest public bin).
As i walked away i heard him say to the woman "that's an example of what i mean, i was talking and you..." the rest was inaudible as i walked on.
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31
Humourous reasons to go back
by usualusername1 inin my stand up comedy routine tonight i want to list humourous reasons why i shd go back to jws.. how about nobody throws parties like jws.. how about jws being at the cutting edge of fashion.. how about it being easier for men to get a date.. any ideas?.
paul.
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pale.emperor
Some people get sexually aroused by being bossed around and told they're scum. Suppose a masochist could join up and get positively giddy being controlled and micro-managed by a window washer and a bus driver.
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22
Is the End right around the corner or what???
by Lynnie ininteresting observations i've noticed when visiting my uber elder cousin and his wife.
he just inherited a lovely home on the water on puget sound from his non jw dad who passed away earlier this year.
so they have spent many $$$ and months remodeling this house to their standards which are quite expensive tastes.
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pale.emperor
"Why would you want to go to University? Armageddon will be here soon!" - My mum 15 years ago.
"Why would you want to save all that money for two years to tour America? Give it to the org, Armageddon will be here soon!" - My mum 13 years ago.
"Why would you want to buy a house? Armageddon will be here soon!" - My mum 8 years ago.
"Why would you leave "the truth™" now?!! Armageddon will be here soon!" - My mum 1 year ago.
Needless to say, my old mum has zero savings, zero pension to rely on when she's older, no house of her own, no career, and the big A doesn't seem any closer than it was when she was baptized up 41 years ago.
Maybe she hopes Watchtower will look after her in her old age? I would, but unfortunately for her I'm dead to her now so...
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13
This might be my last post
by Akid48 inso my aunt hates pcs but works in a office job and uses a pc to do work she has worked there for 23 years she taking me and my brothers laptops etc and she said i have to earn it doing jw things studying listening at meetings etc.. so if it is the last time i post hear i thank you all for you have told me i wish the all of you the best life you can have.i will try to post hear this will start when im in school..
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pale.emperor
she taking me and my brothers laptops etc and she said i have to earn it doing jw things studying listening at meetings etc.
Yeah, this doesn't sound like a cult at all does it?
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22
Is the End right around the corner or what???
by Lynnie ininteresting observations i've noticed when visiting my uber elder cousin and his wife.
he just inherited a lovely home on the water on puget sound from his non jw dad who passed away earlier this year.
so they have spent many $$$ and months remodeling this house to their standards which are quite expensive tastes.
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pale.emperor
I dont think any JW actually believes Armageddon is imminent. More like a decade away or something like that. It's like that old saying "tomorrow never comes".
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21
The WatchTower conductor lied on stage
by Isambard Crater inon sunday morning in the watchtower study, a "study" who was their for the 1st time put his hand up and said; "i have a question.
when the paragraph says give up everything, it doesn't really mean give up everything like the pearl merchant, does it, like be willing to lose my modest house, cheap car and other basics i own?
i mean, that sounds a bit much".. the watchtower conductor said in response; "no, it's just a parable and it doesn't mean give up everything.
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pale.emperor
Long story short. Jesus was a cult leader.
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UK CHAT magazine: ABUSED by Dad AND Uncle Charlie
by darkspilver inthe following 1,200 word article is from chat magazine - a popular british weekly women's magazine with a circulation of approximately 225,000 copies which makes it around the 4th most popular women's weekly.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/chat_(magazine).
the same experience (but a different article) appeared in may 2017 in the british newspapers the sunday mirror / the daily record - see my post below which also includes related links with more background information:.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5117651812614144/uk-daily-mirror-girl-who-abused-dad-5-years-asked-jws-help-but-got-molested-church-elder-too.
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pale.emperor
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
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26
Born Ins, How Did Your Parents Get "The Truth™"?
by pale.emperor inborn ins are in a unique position in that we never knew any other way of life.
no birthdays, christmas and overly superstitious family just seemed normal.
when my parents talked about their pre-jw life it seemed like they were talking about completely different people (actually, that's true, the cult had taken their real selves).. so i'd be interested in hearing how your parents were indoctrinated.. my dad.
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pale.emperor
Born ins are in a unique position in that we never knew any other way of life. No birthdays, Christmas and overly superstitious family just seemed normal. When my parents talked about their pre-JW life it seemed like they were talking about completely different people (actually, that's true, the cult had taken their real selves).
So I'd be interested in hearing how your parents were indoctrinated.
MY DAD
My dad was, in the 1960s, into motorbikes. Try to imagine it, it's 1964 and you and your best mate hop on your motorbike and travel around Europe for a few months. My dad spoke very fondly of those times, he also told me "in Denmark i've seen things you would never imagine. People think Amsterdam is a sex obsessed place? 1960s Denmark was worse". Despite my pressing further he wouldn't go into detail. But, a quick google search when i was older filled me in.
Anyway, back in Britain, dad got run over by a lorry. He very nearly died. His pelvis was snapped in half, broken ribs, punctured bladder and some other things. He was saved thanks to... blood transfusions... he was in hospital for a few years recovering. He had to learn to walk again. While in hospital, as he was almost fully recovered he helped out the nurses and doctors by dishing out food and drinks to the patients. He befriended a deaf man the same age as him (remember, my dad is still in his 20s). While in hospital he, again to relieve the boredom, he took sign language lessons from the mans family and by the time he left hospital a year or so later he was proficient.
My dads family were racists. They were very strong Protestants and hated Catholics, non whites and homosexuals. My dad and grandad were members of The Orange Lodge, which is a Protestant fraternal organization in Britain and Ireland with links to Northern Irish pro-union loyalism. Now, im not suggesting that they were racist because of being in the Orange Lodge but it didn't help. My grandad played bagpipes on the marches and my dad and his friends would go out "queer bashing" as they called it. Basically beating up homosexuals for no reason.
So yeah, not a very nice man so far.
Fast forward to 1976.
Remember the guy my dad toured Europe with on their motorbikes? He ended up dating my dads sister. One day this guy went clay pigeon shooting with another friend. The friend passed him a shotgun and it went off in the guys chest, killing him instantly.
This is where Jehovahs Witnesses come in. The story goes, that a JW knocked on my dads families door and my dad was very rude and aggressive to him. The JW was a kind old man who was shaken up and left quite afraid. My dad felt bad prayed to God to reveal himself to him. THE NEXT DAY (we've all heard this kind of story) another JW knocked and my dad accepted a bible study.
So my dad has had a near death experience (being knocked over by a lorry), his best friend has just died, he feels bad for being mean to a JW, then a JW knocks on his door. The study tells him how bad "the world" is, the resurrection hope (he can see his friend again), and he already feels bad for being mean to a JW. What do you think would happen next?
Dad gives up smoking, sells his motorbikes, buys a car and jumps into the door to door ministry. He's baptized within months. The 1975 fiasco was, fortunately for my dads JW study conductor, already 1 year ago so my dad missed out on that. My dad manages to convince two of his brothers and his dad into studying and they eventually get baptized too.
He eventually meets my mother, they marry and here starts my family, my cousins and my grandfather all being in the same congregation. We had very little to do with our non JW family so JWism just seemed normal to me growing up.
MY MUM
My mum was born into a sorry excuse for a family. Her father, a jobless, lazy, chain smoking, filthy, idiot somehow managed to marry and conceive children with a selfish, lazy, filthy, idiot woman. Together they'd pop out 6 children. All of which were left to fend for themselves. My mum and her sister being the eldest were essentially the surrogate parents to their brothers and sisters at the tender age of 8yo and 9yo. This is in the late 1950s/early 1960s. My mum told me that it was often that her parents would be in The Red Brick pub until they'd spent all their money in one evening, while her and her brothers/sisters were outside in nothing but an oversized shirt to keep them warm. Why spend money on food and clothes for your kids when you can get drunk and smoke yourself stupid?
So anyway, eventually people in the pub and in the street get concerned about this going on all the time and social services step in. My mum and her siblings are raised in various foster homes throughout their childhood. I dont know why, but they split them up and tended to move them around a lot. Sometimes they'd be lucky enough to be in the same home as one of their kin, other times not. My mum told me she was overjoyed one time when she was given her very own toothbrush and hairbrush by one couple. This couple, unable to have their own children, were very nice and kind and wanted to adopt her, unfortunately due to some legal red tape it wasn't possible.
Then one day... knock, knock.
A JW calls on the door. My mum is 15. The JW tells her how "the world" is so bad, people are uncaring, only Jehovah can make us happy etc. My mum had a study for a few weeks until her foster parents (the kind ones) stopped it. Apparently the Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained book shocked them to the core.
When my mum turned 16 she was returned to her parents. Where her life consisted of working in a chemists, then grocery shopping, then cleaning/cooking for her parents, then finding that they've spent her wages in the pub. She eventually left and got a flat with one of her sisters. This just meant that her brothers/sisters would come knocking on their door in rags for food.
JWs called again. My mum continued to study. Her sister studied too. She was eventually baptized and managed to indoctrinate her sister and two brothers. She met my dad in her Kingdom Hall and her sister started dating my dads brother. They were married and thus started my family being JWs along with my cousins family. As i said earlier, we had very little to do with non JW family.
Looking at it now, it's clear to me that JW doctrine appealed to two people who'd been though difficult times and were made to look at "the world" with JW spectacles on. Cults do this, they reframe experiences and memories.
In the case of my mum, she really did have a rubbish childhood. The appeal of instant friends, a worldwide family, a purpose, being told what to do with your spare time etc was a breath of fresh air. This is why she'll never leave the JWs. To my mum, Watchtower is her parent. She's the kind of person that would not only drink the Kool-Aid but brew it up and hand out the cups.
In the case of my dad, he was actually a very talented carpenter. He came from a long line of carpenters (im actually the first male in my family for 200 years not to be a carpenter). Of course the borg used him for free refurbishments, elders would call on him for repairs or work (which he'd do for free), his sign language skills were used in the conventions. I remember watching him in Manchester City Football Stadium signing for a section of deaf people. I never seen him use sign language apart from conventions. He became a Ministerial Servant but didn't go any higher. For one thing, he never thought himself worthy of that, Watchtower had convinced him that he wasnt good enough. And also he was honest to a fault, which didnt do him any favors. There was an elder in our hall that was beating up his wife. The wife reported it but the body didnt believe her. My dad saw this elder punch his wife in the face, my dad reported him and again the body didnt believe it. As if by coincidence my dad was marked as spiritually weak after that. For the rest of his life he'd say that the org is ran by imperfect men, and it's "the closest thing to the truth there is". Something i would later say myself when i got older before i left.
Anyway, i'd be interested in reading yours.
