Posts by rory-ks

16

If I DA this way......

by Jon Preston in

jw
friends

if i wrote a letter of da to the congregation that only said i was da'ing with absolute zero reason.

how do you think theyd respond?

obviously an anouncement but im sure rumours would then start.

What about this idea: Live your life as if you are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Don't disassociate yourself because that is something JWs do. JW rules say, "write a letter of disassociation," so we dutifully write a letter of disassociation. If, because of your actions, the organisation wants to assume you have disassociated yourself, let them think what they want to think. If they want to disfellowship you, let them disfellowship you in your absence. Let them carry on their charade without your cooperation because you are no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

If congregation members want to ignore you, shun you, whatever, that is up to them and it is on them. A love that is conditional is not a love that is worth having.

37

Sledgehammer subtlety: The insidious reworking of Micah 6:8

by rory-ks in

micah 6:8 might be - or have been - a favourite verse of many.

the verse used to read:.

"he has told you, o earthling man, what is good.

rory-ks

Though I appreciate the kind remarks, I can't take credit for catching this change. It came out in the comments section of the article Love Kindness by Meleti Vivlon over at Beroean Pickets.

I really can't recommend Beroean Pickets highly enough. It is like watching someone departing from "the truth" in real time. He's not out yet, but he damn well will be soon.

37

Sledgehammer subtlety: The insidious reworking of Micah 6:8

by rory-ks in

micah 6:8 might be - or have been - a favourite verse of many.

the verse used to read:.

"he has told you, o earthling man, what is good.

rory-ks

Micah 6:8 might be - or have been - a favourite verse of many. The verse used to read:

"He has told you, O earthling man, what is good. And what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God."

Notice the change in the NWT 2013 revision:

"He has told you, O man, what is good. And what is Jehovah requiring of you? Only to exercise justice, to cherish loyalty, a nd to walk in modesty with your God!"

Jehovah is no longer 'asking back,' he is "requiring." No longer to "love kindness," but to "cherish loyalty." And all of this is now finished off with an exclamation mark!

Now a verse of scripture beloved of many can be invoked whenever the Society wants to hammer home their insistence on loyalty.

(Just as an aside, I also see that James 5:14 doesn't refer to "older men" any more but, " Is there anyone sick among you? Let him call the elders of the congregation to him." Older men was always a beautifully vague term which could easily be taken literally. Not so any more. Instead the word "elder" is used - and the word "elder" is a Watchtower buzz-word.)

32

Do You Honestly Believe That You Would Have Officially Left The JW Religion If They Didn't Shun You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i left as an inactive person.

i pretty much have been left alone by the elders and witnesses, as far as being hounded.. i know of many that either disassociated or got disfellowshipped.. i'm wondering if you think you would have remained a jw, in name only, if the religion (cult) didn't shun and penalize as they do..

rory-ks

Surely their shunning policy is one of the things that sets them apart. Without it everybody could speak freely about what they think of certain matters knowing that there would be no recourse. There would be much less fear.

It seems to me that the whole, "So-and-so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses," schtick is a load of old balderdash. When you want to go back, you have to go through the whole re-instatement process, but you do not have to get re-baptised. You do not have to pledge your allegiance to the "spirit-appointed organisation". In that sense you are still one of Jehovah's Witnesses, you are simply one who is in a disfellowshiped "state".

The only way out of it, as far as I see it, is to readjust your thinking and come to terms with the fact that baptism, and declaring "Yes" to the questions was all a meaningless ritual. It meant nothing. Having to be a witness for Jehovah is an illusion - it isn't real life, it is an unreality.

They can carry on with the illusion if they want to, but you are no longer part of it.

95

The Judicial Committee videos in english

by confusedandalone in

jw
friends

not sure if this has been posted but the jwsurvey site received the videos in english from someone.. this crap is pathetic to watch.

how to counsel someone who is suicidal... really.

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/doubts-over-organizational-solidarity-as-disturbing-video-on-handling-suicide-is-leaked.

rory-ks

Funny you should mention humiliation, Listener. I have chuntered on about it on a separate post. I'm adding a link here because I still haven't yet rid myself of that overwhelming craving for attention. I must be heard!

38

"Deep down inside even they know it is BS." Discuss

by rory-ks in

nope, bungi bill's interesting statement from this post didn't take, so i'll start its own.. from my own experience, i hated the field ministry.

it might just be because of the kind of character i am, whatever, i never was able to overcome that feeling of dread every time i went door-to-door.

i felt aware of how much people disliked having strangers cold-calling trying to sell them something.

rory-ks

Jeez, third from the top too, mynameislame . Sozzles. I must have been seduced by Bill's highlighter pen.

9

Testify to ritual humiliation in the judicial process

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

those judicial committee videos are remarkable viewing.

(part 1, part 2) they can leave one in no doubt about the humiliating way that jehovah's witnesses treat their men.

i urge you to get hold of a copy.

rory-ks

Those judicial committee videos are remarkable viewing. (Part 1, Part 2) They can leave one in no doubt about the humiliating way that Jehovah's Witnesses treat their men. I urge you to get hold of a copy. Hopefully they are out of reach where they are on mediafire, but you never know. They are well worth watching. I know it means having to screw your courage to the sticking place. It takes balls to watch men being served theirs on a plate - even more so when you witness them castrating themselves. I have commented on these videos at some length elsewhere, but I yet find I have more to say on the matter.

You can forgive the recently appointed young brother in the elder's meeting for his premature ejaculations. “John” has been sitting on these pent up emotions surging through his testicles for years. He has paid his dues for enough time as a ministerial servant and now he has finally attained to a position where he foolishly believes he actually has a voice with which to speak. "Ah, my young apprentice, you have much to learn in the art of mock humility." Not one but two humdingers in the course of one short meeting: He recommended himself, and then he recommended one too close to the wrongdoer. Tsk, tsk, whatever next? Still a long way to go before you can attain to the zen-like denial of all things good and proper attained by the likes of Brother Dead-Eyes, the co-ordinator of the body of elders. Why, witness Tom thoroughly washing his hands of the brother whom he has known “since he was a baby.” That's the way to do it.

Oh, even the old can still learn humility. Brother Elderman doesn't realise that he is the pushover in this whole sordid affair. He entered the hearing with a heart tainted with the embers of love. The other two were already aware of where this business was inevitably heading. Brother Elderman has failed to remember that the heart is treacherous. He must humbly learn that sentimentality has no place in a judicial hearing.

It is a sham hierarchy where the term, "Brother," is used as a mark of respect for the position of authority. Robbie has to weep and weep and weep and still Brother Sharp is going to cut his balls off. "Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" He asks tiny little coochie-coo Robbie at one point. I mean, wait, what? It's no wonder that Robbie begins to look like a man hearing that he must submit to having his foreskin cut off with a piece of flint.

For god's sake, he put his manly penis in a woman's vagina! He has fathered a child. And for this he must be disembowelled. In the process he is scourged with verse upon verse from the holy scriptures, no doubt reminding him of how despicable porneia is in the eyes of the Lord as if he doesn't already know where his religion stands on this matter.

All these men in positions of authority have not been empowered, they have been emasculated, rendered power-less. Where flapping your elbows is mistaken for being concerned. They are shackled to their textbook, unable to reach any conclusions without first making sure they are abiding by the rules.

We gave talks, chaired book studies and Watchtower studies on subjects we may not have fully agreed with, toeing the party line. We were told this was an act of humility when in reality it was a humiliation - our own thoughts and understandings being stamped down, told it was presumptuous to think we might know better than the Faithful Slave. Told, “the heart is treacherous, who can know it?” over and over again until we could barely believe anything else. We sat on judicial hearings exactly like the one illustrated here, allowing brothers to confess their so-called sins, listened as they fumbled their way through their private goings-on. And then we had the gall to render judgement.

In bible times they quite literally hacked away at a man's penis, crippling his manhood and rendering him subservient and violent. Today Jehovah's Witnesses pride themselves on claiming that they understand Paul's declaration that the Law has passed away, but still they submit themselves to a form of spiritual emasculation. And having submitted themselves they must do violence to others.

38

"Deep down inside even they know it is BS." Discuss

by rory-ks in

nope, bungi bill's interesting statement from this post didn't take, so i'll start its own.. from my own experience, i hated the field ministry.

it might just be because of the kind of character i am, whatever, i never was able to overcome that feeling of dread every time i went door-to-door.

i felt aware of how much people disliked having strangers cold-calling trying to sell them something.

rory-ks

Nope, Bungi Bill's interesting statement from this post didn't take, so I'll start its own.

From my own experience, I hated the field ministry. It might just be because of the kind of character I am, whatever, I never was able to overcome that feeling of dread every time I went door-to-door. I felt aware of how much people disliked having strangers cold-calling trying to sell them something. Street witnessing even more so - hardly anyone likes to be accosted on the street. Underneath it all was this over-riding feeling that ultimately it was Jehovah that was going to sort out who made it and who didn't, and that the little bit of preaching that I was doing wasn't going to make any difference to his decision. I don't think I believed that all these people were going to suffer for it for the want of being preached to by one of Jehovah's Witnesses. That must (partly) be the BS that 'deep down inside even they know.'

What are your thoughts and experiences on the statement, "Deep down inside even they know it is BS."

8

The Governing Body - Elusive & Strong

by the-illuminator81 in

when it comes to cults, jehovah's witnesses have a very strong hierarchical leadership system.

in many ways it enforces their control on the individual.

one of the tricks is that the lower levels of followers never get direct contact beyond the circuit overseer level.

rory-ks

Apognophos, no, you worked for a faceless soul-sucking corporation. And if you're making a parallel with the Society...

49

What's the BIGGEST WEAK LINK in the WTS Armor?

by Black Man in

jw
friends

.

is it the pedophile thing, ngo, generation change, blood issue?

what do you think it is?.

rory-ks

('s funny...I'm sitting here at the table typing this, my wife sitting right opposite pondering the daily text...)

I was thinking about this the other day. (Those recently leaked judicial committee videos have made me somewhat reflective, hence the flurry of activity lately. I assure you, it won't last.)

Anyway, I was thinking about this the other day...

The Watchtower Society is a frankenstein's monster. The early church fathers (Russell, Rutherford, Knorr, Franz) have created something that can now run by itself. "It lives!" It is a multi-million dollar corporation that fuels itself. Watchtower and Kingdom Ministry articles are recycled from years of old material. Generations of families raise their children to be JWs. The governing body are made up of members who never lived the history, but are only repeating it from the Proclaimers book. (They are not sitting on a secret, they are now as ignorant as everybody else.) They are drip-fed new recruits from a public ministry that would carry on regardless. (Even if the GB threw in the towel, one gets the feeling that individual congregations would remain alive by dint of their own...something...I can't quite put my finger on the word.) But all that money the Society has! How could such a rich corporation/publishing company ever come to an end? The fuel never runs out.

But, there is something else fueling the Society, and this must be its weakness. It has already been mentioned by someone, but this weakness must be the time aspect. Their main thrust has been that the end is coming soon. Much of their early riches came on the back of claiming that Armageddon is coming soon, and if you want to know more send $1 for further information. Without this urgency they become just another religion, and that would be something they could not abide.

There has to be a shelf-life for this religion. You can only s-t-r-e-t-c-h the "coming soon" schtick for so long. One could argue that even the Bible said it was 'coming soon,' but that is not what the Watchtower Society has been riding on. They have been riding on the belief that this is it. These are the last days. The last days of the last days, etc, etc.

The January 2014 Watchtower Study Edition contains the article Let Your Kingdom Come. This would seem to narrow down the overlapping generation theory to an even slimmer time frame. (Read Meleti Vivlon's article No-one Knows the Day or Hour...Until Now for a precise summation of what he refers to as, "a major 'oops!' in the grand scheme of things.")

Now, many on this board would argue that the Society's last days urgency cries have already become absurd. They jumped the shark when they introduced the groan-inducing 'overlap' theory. But even this absurdity surely must eventually bleed in to the psyche of every active JW. How many overlaps can there ultimately be before it just becomes turtles all the way down?

No, it may not happen while I am still alive - the Society have probably bought themselves another thirty-odd years, and maybe they'll buy another thirty beyond that - but there will come a point when there will be no more time left to buy, and, well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens then.