Posts by Captain Obvious

26

JWs - Liberals or Conservatives?

by neat blue dog in

where they stand is a strange mixture.

yes, they don't agree with abortion and homosexuality, they believe in the bible and wear skirts and ties to church .

but in many ways they're liberal.

Captain Obvious

"Liberal" and "conservative" mean different things today than they did years ago.

15

If alcohol was a DF offense

by James Mixon in

i guess the question which is the hardest to give up smoking or alcohol.

many folks gave up smoking in the 70's including me but i have known some hard drinking brothers and if consuming any kind of alcohol became a df offense, i wonder.....

Captain Obvious

I know many who would leave over it. JWs need alcohol.

23

Is it better to have a false hope than have no hope?

by sinboi in

just got the news.

a very close classmate of mine met an accident and died last nite.... just 4 months after i da'd from the borg.. if i am still in, i wouldn't be so sad.

he has the hope of resurrection.. but now that i am out, i realise that resurrection in paradise is all bullshit.. so what's next?

Sorry for your loss. No, you won't see him again. This is something that is hard for some to swallow. He was a living organism, now he is not. Hopefully his memory and legacy were memorable and positive.

13

Captain Obvious: A Success Story

by Captain Obvious in

january 2012, at the age of 24 i “woke up” to the truth about the truth.

march 2012, i joined this esteemed message board and was welcomed.

this forum was such a help.

Captain Obvious

January 2012, at the age of 24 I “woke up” to The Truth About The Truth. March 2012, I joined this esteemed message board and was welcomed. This forum was such a help. A relief when I was stressed, and an excellent source of info and advice. To the users who were around and active back then, I thank you. My fade is as complete as it will ever be. I have kept my family, and the friends who really matter. I consider that a 100% success. I'm writing this in hopes of inspiring some in similar situations. Also, this is therapeutic for me.

So here goes…

After much reading and thinking, I sat my lovely young wife down one day and admitted that what the WT preaches is complete bullshit. Top to bottom, front to back.. all bullshit. She had a visceral, fear-based reaction that I had never seen before, and have not had since. We argued/discussed this often. I made a point of keeping my cool, allowing her to ask the questions and not pushing the subject. Always keep that door open and welcoming, people!

She saw I did not become a bad person, instead I was growing into a self-aware, conscious person who thinks logically and is educated on the subject. This is key my friends… at no time was there any talk of our marriage ending or being conditional upon serving 7 old men in Brooklyn… er.. I mean Jehovah.

Over the course of two years I lost all of my faith completely. First JW teachings were seen to be false. By holding myself to the same standard of finding facts and being honest with myself, I became an Atheist. If we’re to be truly honest with ourselves and accept only what can be proven with evidence, there cannot be a loving creator in the sky who has anything to do with events on earth at any point in history.

After some time, of course our JW “friends” grew distant. Word got around that I was “inactive” and they just.. moved on. We live 1700km from our hometowns and families, and only visit once or twice a year. This also helps a lot.

Over the course of a year, I went from almost no “service”, to none. Almost no meeting attendance, to none. Once they didn’t expect to see me there, it all became “normal”. My fade was complete" within two years. Now my weekday evenings are spent walking with my dog. My summer Saturday mornings are spent chatting with my wife, sipping coffee. My Sunday mornings are spent on the golf course. Winter weekends are spent snowmobiling in the mountains. No more JW busywork.

My wife soon started to feel the lack of love from the congregation because of being married to me. She also started acting less “JW-ish” which divided herself from her friends who she was still hanging out with.

As of now, she doesn't go to any meetings and hasn't been in “service” in years. She has no hard feelings toward the religion, she projects everything onto our local cong. Our JW families have both committed to never letting JW beliefs get between them and us, and for that I am ever grateful to them. We avoid the subject, unless the conversation is private and fuelled by whisky with one of our dads. It seems that they both have some doubts. It also seems that they are both unable to fault my wife or myself for what we’ve done. They may not agree, but who would they be to lose respect for us when we’ve only followed our hearts and done what is truly best for our family?

Right now, we are 29 and 30 yo. My lovely wife and myself are expecting our first child and we couldn’t be more excited! Our families know that our children will not be raised as JWs. They don’t like it and will likely still talk about JW stuff around them, but we can work with that. As long as it isn't presented as fact. That will be a hard and fast rule For them with our kids.

We have made non-JW friends, though it took some time. We still have some JW friends, though we don’t get to see them very often and that’s fine with me.

There is something to be said for committing to living one’s life in a way that they can be proud of. A person needs to live their life according to their beliefs. To deprive oneself of this is to be weak, and fraudulent. To pretend to believe fantasy, just to avoid rocking the boat is to rob yourself of true satisfaction. You also rob the people closest to you from knowing who you really are. Is that what you want to teach your children? Tiptoe around your feelings and beliefs, let others decide how you will live your life and not let you be who you really are?

I am not DF’d and don't plan to ever be. For this reason I will keep my name to myself. I have done nothing to get myself DF’d and would like to keep it that way. This is how I get to keep my family together. Yes people it is quite possible to get your wife out without burning your entire family down. You don’t need them to believe as you do. You don’t need them to lose their faith. You might be the only close example they know of leaving JWs and living a fuller, happier life because of it. This is how you will “preach” to them. Their own ignorance will be laid out for them to see plainly by watching you.

There is a small chance my wife could get dragged back into the cult, but we will deal with that when the time comes. Our marriage is built on love and trust, and no religion can get in the way of that. I have made sure of it. She still believes there could be a “higher power” out there somewhere, but attributes to it no personality or responsibility.

I know how some of you are feeling right now, and my DM inbox is always open for anyone who might want to chat. I live in a certain town in Northern Alberta where we dig oil out of the ground mixed with sand…

Live life to the fullest, be who and what you truly are meant to be. Life may not be everlasting, but it is certainly too long to live to please others. At first it may feel like you can lose everything you’ve worked for by admitting you don’t believe. Play your cards wrong and that will be true. Play your cards right, and there is a fulfilling life waiting for you. Be who you were meant to be. Anyone who doesn't want that for you doesn’t deserve to be in your life.

Possibly my last new topic post ever..time to close this chapter of life.

Captain Obvious

2

Thought Provoking Documentary " The Unbelievers " worthy to see.

by Finkelstein in

there was film documentary produced in 2013 by noted physicist lawrence krauss and evolutionary biologist richard dawkins.. i thought i would post a link for folks here to have view of this documentary and perhaps offer some your own personal opinions of the film and its content.. http://putlocker.is/watch-the-unbelievers-online-free-putlocker.html.

Captain Obvious

I watched his when it came out, it was actually my JW wife's idea to watch it! She did find it a bit offensive the way they spoke about religious beliefs, which I find to be the biggest detriment to their cause.

Personally I found it to be more of the same, I've read nearly everything Krauss and Dawkins have written.

17

If you went back in time, would you be a god?

by Simon in

we just finished watching outlander which is about a woman who goes back in time ~200 years from the end of wwii.

she ends up in the scottish highlands in the middle of the jacobite uprising.

it's a great show although the last episodes were a little graphic (they make game of thrones seem like sesame street).. but it got me thinking ... if you went back in time would you in fact be the 'god' you may imagine because of your knowledge of modern technology and the future?.

Captain Obvious

Sure, you might be able to be seen as impossibly wise and intelligent to them. They might see that as supernatural. You could at the very least have started your own cult! A big cult.

Eventually there would be questions you couldn't answer, problems you wouldn't have a solution for. Then you'd have to make up answers and talk out of your ass.

Thats when you know you've started your own religion!

19

A conversation with my dad

by magotan in

i talked to my dad today, after i text him when i was angry after a night out.

i'm starting to get closure on my parents relationship with regards to me.the dynamic between them versus me is abusive.

my dad didn't think i had any reason to be bitter.he said i chose to leave "jehovahs people" and this is what i should expect as treatment.

Captain Obvious

So... You came out as gay when you were 19 and they kicked you out?

They don't consider that abusive... wow.

Maybe show them some of the facts, science and statistics of homosexuality. I know facts don't mean much to these people but you could poke holes in their JW ideology and "facts"

24

'Worldly' man looking for a little more understanding...

by Verecocha in

saw similar title in a google search so thought i'd read more and now simply have to share my experience if anything to hear that i'm not insane and it is that simple.. met and fell madly in love with a witness, and her with me.

what began as love at first sight turned into a 6 year relatiomship which simply ended very bluntly.

there were many painful twists and turns along the way, first from her inability to leave her husband, then my mistake in finding someone else as i simply couldn't take the pain of her coming and going with such simplicity, but in the end she got a divorce and suffered many consequences within 'the truth', and i sorted my issues which were many and admittedly dug with my own hands and stupidity in trying to protect a young girl who had done no wrong in this long affair.. eventually we found ourself on what i believed to be the home straight.

Captain Obvious

So you went after a married woman? JW or not you're a piece of shit man. I hope you do marry her, and she's stolen from you the same way.

Dont look for sympathy in your situation, you don't deserve it. You don't deserve anything good at all for that matter.

29

Uh, wow. I think I might become vegan.

by marmot in

i am a dyed in the wool carnivore.

i suffer from cheese addiction.

lobsters are mercilessly boiled alive.. but after watching this new documentary called cowspiracy on netflix, all that may change.

Captain Obvious

Never trust a vegetarian, I always say

16

Advice

by Tigerlove in

hello, new member here.

i have a question that has been bugging me for a couple of months now.

so i have been dating this guy(a witness ) for over a year now.

Captain Obvious

Just find yourself a nice MAN to date. Beliefs aside, if he were really a man he would proudly defend the woman he loves.

Jus sayin'