Posts by Rather Be the Hammer

13

Dutch convention: disassociation in broader perspective

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

today at the utrecht international convention in holland there was no "word in spanish" about dissassociation.. "we avoid any contact with dissassociated witnesses.

not only sinners, but in a broader perspective, also inactive witnesses".. there was a lot of noise in the hall direct after that moment.. so, no fading escape in the near future, i expect.. g..

Rather Be the Hammer

In Zwolle it was said slightly different but even more harsh (I knew what to expect and it was worse than I expected.) 'What if someone is not df'd because sometimes that happens, when a person is or becomes inactive, they have not been disciplined.... '? No contact.

There was not really a reaction.

Also 'loyalty to god above family' was emphasised very much. They said it about five or six times . And 'one word' to someone df'd could mess up the usefulness of 'shunning' so really, do not say one word to these people.

8

Syllabus

by Duncan in

jw
friends

haven't posted in years, but thought i would today, since something reminded me of this story..

it's 1970 in our london-suburb congregation and it's the circuit overseer visit.

as part of his talk on the saturday night this co - john anderson, anyone remember him?

Rather Be the Hammer

That is very funny. Don't know how many years you lost to the cult, but at least you have a good laugh now. 😂

21

Letter To My Mother

by pale.emperor in

seeing as im being shunned by my family and friends.

i've decided to turn the tables and shun them back - but using the same methodology and reasoning they use on me.

i've written the following letter:.

Rather Be the Hammer

I expected something totally different when I read 'shun back'...I thought it would be something like this:

Dear mother,

because the bible tells us 'To quit being in company with anyone called a brother that is... A greedy person or an idolater or... Etc.etc.' I can't be in company of anyone related to WT society anymore.

(and then telling every detail of the wrongdoings of WT society...) and ending with something: so you see, If I want to serve Jehovah/be a christian with a clear conscience, I have to shun you and everyone else that is JW. And I cannot let my daughter see you, because she might be affected too by everything going on in JW land.

Of course I will always love you. So whenever you are ready to see the truth and come back to Jehovah instead of following people, you are welcome."

But your letter is very clear and humble.

7

A new celebrity JW . . . albeit from Nigeria.

by neat blue dog in

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/clarion-chukwurah-turns-jehovahs-witness/.

this is begging for some nigerian scam jokes, i'm just not clever enough to think of them 😜.

Rather Be the Hammer

Anders you are the funniest 😂

7

Guide to Helping Other Break Free

by LisaRose in

jw
friends

i have come up with a guide to helping others break free of the watchtower, based loosely on steve hassan's book, combatting cult mind control and incorporating experiences of other jwn posters who have been successful in helping their family leave the watchtower.

i posted an earlier draft of this and got some great feedback.

here is the final version with some additional information and incorporating many of your suggestions.

Rather Be the Hammer

Hi LisaRose

thanks! I think this will be very useful. I am reading Steve Hassan's Free Mind book now, but it's nice to have a manual that is more pointed towards dealing with Jehovahs Witnesses.

I appreciatie that you point out that NOT everyone will be happier outside. I think you are right. Some people need the routines, the idea that they do something 'the right way' and being respected for being a 'better' JW (pioneer, MS, Elder, or even when they are allowed to stand next to the litterature-cart).

I observed and think that some men would be considered a 'nobody' outside the cult, because of no education, humble jobs, no style, while they are highly respected (and even have power) within the cult - and maybe that's why they cling to it.

I saw some things I did not try yet, so I will!

25

My daughter graduated Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours yesterday.

by Xanthippe in

.

Rather Be the Hammer

Woohoo! Congratulations!

22

Yoga. Evil practice?

by Darkknight757 in

as our fade continues, the wife and i have decided to take up "the forbidden practice of.......yoga"!!!!😱.

i was quite skeptical at first but so far it has really de-stressed our life in quite a spectacular way!!

not to mention the physical benefits.. anyone else try yoga or a similar discipline?

Rather Be the Hammer

I love yoga, but it's the one thing that my still in husband cannot handle. He thinks it's evil . Even went to the elders for help. They came up with a watchtower or something from 1980 or so . I pointed out that my yoga class was nothing like the description in th WT but they can't believe that it's not all about religion any more. ☹️

Also they thought that the wt article would change my mind about yoga within seconds and were surprised it didn't.

'But you would not make Jehovah unhappy, would you?'

'please show me in the bible that Jehovah will be unhappy when I do yoga?'

'but you know he doesn't like that kind of things'

'no I don't.'

I think it's idiot how JW all 'know' what Jehovah thinks, likes, not likes ...even when there's nothing about it in the bible.

But there's youtube so no need to go outside for lessons 😁

10

Blondie's Highlights of the 7-17-2016 WT Study (Personal Decision)

by blondie in

blondie’s highlights from the july 17, 2016 wt study (2016) (how do you make personal decisions?.

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/.

excellent general website: www.jwfacts.com .

Rather Be the Hammer

Thanks Blondie!

I think the whole idea is silly: a lesson about

'How to make PERSONAL decisions'

Let US tell you how you should make PERSONAL decisions and let stumbling OTHERS affect your decisions

What's personal? And is there anything left to decide personally , after reading this WT?

it should have been titled : 'Let us influence every thought you think and every decision you make don't you dare to do or think anything by yourself!'

70

Did I open the gate to the realm of demons?

by redpilltwice in

this is what happened.

i had a sore tendon in my wrist.

i could work with it, but nevertheless the pain was there.

Rather Be the Hammer

The things Orphan Crow says I do agree with. I know that pain, even when original caused by a wrong movement or accident (but WHY did THAT happen in the first place?!) has a function...the body and mind want to be in balance. (I suddenly remember how my dad ALWAYS had a sore troath before he had to do bible reading on the stage...his body gave him what his mind needed ... a way out) (And my husband, who is not a social person always has a cold sore at the convention/circuit assembly. So he doesn't have to kiss people. ;))

So when pain stays for a long time it can be there for a reason...what things are different now that you have pain? IN what way would your life be worse if that pain was not there?

70

Did I open the gate to the realm of demons?

by redpilltwice in

this is what happened.

i had a sore tendon in my wrist.

i could work with it, but nevertheless the pain was there.

Rather Be the Hammer

I also believe in Placebo & Nocebo effect. But that, too, is about energy. Who believes what? Even what your DOCTOR believes can affect YOUR healing. Thoughts are energy... I read a book on these effects. Some people 'need' injections to heal because the believe in the 'magic' of an injection. Some people 'need' surgery. They even did placebo-surgery on not life-threathening occasions such as knee-pain (make an incision and close the wound), and the patients got better, exactly like the people who got the 'real' surgery.

So everyone believes in something. And the magic of a healing hand or thought is not MORE magic than the magic of an injection, homeopathy or surgery.