NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

• 
  20

  I need to vent sorry!

  by KerryKing in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i couldn't get back to sleep last night, something my father said a few weeks ago popped into my head.. we were talking about obtaining citizenship, he doesn't need it, but was contemplating what benefits it could get him now he's a pensioner.. background : i've been disfellowhipped for 15 years, i was born in, he is an elder, very much pimi, he was also born in.. i said to him how citizenship would be difficult for him as it would require him to swear allegiance to the state?.

  oh he said, thats just a crowd of people together in a big room for the swearing in event, it would be easy to just mumble or say nothing, nobody would know.. this has quietly been eating away in my mind, why did it bother me?.

  last night it hit me, when i was in my first year of school, age 5, i came out of school one day with a balloon with two little pencils attached, a gift from a classmate who's birthday it was, every child got one.

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  NotFormer

  Nope, not overreacting at all. A more blatant display of hypocrisy you're not likely to see.

  Your parents were safely at work and at home while childhood you was having to navigate the strictures of their religion. They never had to see or feel what you went through.

  The religion loathed children. They were useless impediments to "da werk".

  I've heard that Stalin used to enjoy reading letters from the gulags, from innocent people who had been victimised by his policy that a certain percentage of citizens from every sector of society were sent on trumped up charges, guilty or not. The GB probably similarly enjoy the stories of suffering among the lesser JWs, especially those about children missing out on a normal childhood. Harsh and hyperbolic on my part? Yes. But you all already know how much I despise those guys and people like them.
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  27

  Memories of Excessive Laughter

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jw's are not known for laughter.

  there are the rare exceptions.

  they are more known for their fear mongering and doomsday scenarios where "the dead shall come to be as manure on the surface of the ground from one end of the earth clear to the other".

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  NotFormer

  "No, people don't say that about JWs, the WT just tells them that"

  Spiritual Paradise Syndrome. 🙄
• 
  12

  The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://youtu.be/on-y9pv-cja?si=lr1dar4yshvymk7a.

  just a song i really like.

  it don't mean nothin' .

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  NotFormer

  https://youtu.be/1e13YjTPb_0?si=fFwTXgoBi5AUufF3
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  18

  Discouraging JWs From Calling

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was reading an anti cult reddit post where a woman (ex mormon) was trying her hardest to discourage the mormons from visiting her and trying to convert her back.

  a few others chimed in about their various methods (coming to the door naked, pretending to be practicing black magic, etc.

  ) which they claimed would have the mormons and jws running away as fast as possible.. somehow, i doubt it.

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  NotFormer

  Scully, an actual teacher acting that way towards a ten year old girl?? What the actual...? 😳😱😡
• 
  18

  Discouraging JWs From Calling

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was reading an anti cult reddit post where a woman (ex mormon) was trying her hardest to discourage the mormons from visiting her and trying to convert her back.

  a few others chimed in about their various methods (coming to the door naked, pretending to be practicing black magic, etc.

  ) which they claimed would have the mormons and jws running away as fast as possible.. somehow, i doubt it.

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  NotFormer

  "I remember in my early teens a man answered his door holding a frying pan with his breakfast in it, it was on fire" 🔥

  😳 How did you and your offsider react to that? Did you say something like: "I can see you're busy with other things. We'll call back another time".
• 
  18

  Discouraging JWs From Calling

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was reading an anti cult reddit post where a woman (ex mormon) was trying her hardest to discourage the mormons from visiting her and trying to convert her back.

  a few others chimed in about their various methods (coming to the door naked, pretending to be practicing black magic, etc.

  ) which they claimed would have the mormons and jws running away as fast as possible.. somehow, i doubt it.

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  NotFormer

  These are all very good answers.

  I'm not actually trying to discourage them from coming to my door. The posters on Reddit believed that their over the top theatrics were capable of frightening various religious door-knockers away.

  The question isn't really asking advice about keeping them away. I only have to open my mouth and they'll usually scarper 😁. (Although admittedly the last time I wasn't feeling it and politely said "No thanks" and closed the door slowly.)

  It's more: did anything the householder did to try and frighten you away actually frighten you away? For example (from the Reddit post), you knock on the door and it is answered by someone pretending that they are about to offer up a black mass and you are their sacrifice. Do you freak out or do you roll your eyes and bid them a good day as you walk calmly away*?

  I'm genuinely interested in how centred you all were when you were in. I doubt that any exes here were frightened bunnies who fled at the mere mention of the word "Wiccan". Or that someone in minimal clothing would freak you out.

  Didn't you used to have meetings where you would roleplay various scenarios for practice? Did they cover difficult contacts and people who were obviously trolling?

  *Obviously if they're wielding a knife in a threatening manner, it's different than if someone is just trying to trigger you with BS that they think must scare you.
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  13

  Why are the Governing Body Members always in-house New York Bethel members?

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower—study edition | february 2024.

  ''we are pleased to inform you that two additional brothers have been appointed to serve as members of the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses: brothers gage fleegle and jeffrey winder.

  both brothers are anointed christians who have a long history of loyal service to jehovah.

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  NotFormer

  https://youtu.be/o0OW8RZc8i4?si=nUJN8LnFq0YfcFfv

  Fleegle bringing the meeting to order 🙄
• 
  12

  The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://youtu.be/on-y9pv-cja?si=lr1dar4yshvymk7a.

  just a song i really like.

  it don't mean nothin' .

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  NotFormer

  https://youtu.be/rblt2EtFfC4?si=SjxKS74It0Y4AJJJ
• 
  18

  Discouraging JWs From Calling

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was reading an anti cult reddit post where a woman (ex mormon) was trying her hardest to discourage the mormons from visiting her and trying to convert her back.

  a few others chimed in about their various methods (coming to the door naked, pretending to be practicing black magic, etc.

  ) which they claimed would have the mormons and jws running away as fast as possible.. somehow, i doubt it.

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• 

  NotFormer

  I was reading an anti cult Reddit post where a woman (ex Mormon) was trying her hardest to discourage the Mormons from visiting her and trying to convert her back. A few others chimed in about their various methods (coming to the door naked, pretending to be practicing black magic, etc.) which they claimed would have the Mormons and JWs running away as fast as possible.

  Somehow, I doubt it. Even if now you believe it not to be true, you were probably in for some time and you didn't come down in the last shower 🚿. Did that sort of thing have you running for the exits, or was it more the sort of thing that made you roll your eyes?
• 
  27

  Memories of Excessive Laughter

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jw's are not known for laughter.

  there are the rare exceptions.

  they are more known for their fear mongering and doomsday scenarios where "the dead shall come to be as manure on the surface of the ground from one end of the earth clear to the other".

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  NotFormer

  As Ecclesiastes 3 says, there's a time for everything. I remember the excessive laughter of the Toronto Blessing in the 90s, where entire congregations would be collapsed on the floor, laughing so much that they couldn't get up. You'd think 6 years of Pentecostalism would have prepared me for that, but there was something in that excess that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

  Sometimes a joyful attitude 😊 is a good thing. At other times, quiet and sobre reflectivity 🥺 can be helpful. All things in moderation. 👌

  But you're right that being happy is a good idea, SeaBreeze. The second half of the proverb you quote says: "but a broken spirit drieth the bones". In this context, a merry heart is better 🙏.