Posts by WinstonSmith

20

This WT book allows one raised as a JW to do a critical review of the religion and elders can't go against it.

by EndofMysteries in

i love this gem, it was taken off the jw.org website, it seems only material after 1990 is up now, but it's here, http://www.scribd.com/doc/5472988/the-time-for-true-submission-to-god .

page 6, "the need to search for the truth".

says this....and i couldn't agree with it more!

WinstonSmith

Great post! They hate it when you use their own words against them. It means they can't give a smug and arrogant answer but have to fluff and fumble with their cognitive dissonance.

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

Yeah not sure what is up with the whole no contact thing. I was tempted to reply to the COBE and say "Oh and by the way your sheep that lives with me is fine, thanks for checking on her" but held back. It is entirely logical that the first person they spoke to was Sister T as she was the one that was closest to us. I have no doubt that she would have happily mentioned that Mrs Smith was of the same mind as me. Perhaps that is what has happened. Time will tell. Their lack of genuine care for their sheep is abundantly obvious.

As for destroying my records, I just threw that in the letter not really thinking that they would do it. I know when people come in to the WTS they are encouraged to contact any churches they were part of and request that their records be destroyed. I only asked because of that (whats good for the goose...). As far as I am aware it is not a legal requirement. It wouldn't even surprise me if they don't destroy them, but only say they have.

When someone DA's, the bethel is advised, so I am guessing that I have been moved from the shiny filing cabinet in to the one with the busted hinges and dents on the side.

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

It is done.

Got this in my inbox today:

Subject: Receipt of letter

Hi Winston

Just confirming that your letter requesting disassociation has been received. We will also destroy any congregation records as you wish.

Kind Regards
<name>

Sent from my iPhone

And with that brief emotionless message I am cut adrift to die like an animal at Armageddon.

Interestingly, since I sent my letter, Mrs Smith has not been contacted by any elders to check up on her spiritual health now that she is stuck with a fire breathing child molesting cocaine sniffing horn headed hoof toed apostate. Good to know they care about their sheep!

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

Hi there Free2bme13,

Thanks for reading through the diary. I realise looking back through it that there is a lot of info there, along with some highs and lows. We are very happy to be where we are now.

The decision to DA or not is a personal one, and one that each individual must make based on their unique situation and circumstances. Either way it is a big call, but it has to be right for you.

Wonderful that you have a family member that understands and respects your situation. One of the biggest issues I have with the WTS is that they expect everyone to respect their religion, choices, and lifestyle, but offer none of the same respect to anyone else. Hypocrite central.

Thank you for your kind words, all the best for your journey out!

Winston

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

JW Logic 101

The class is now in session.

Mrs Smith: I thought it was really rude that people deleted Winston from Facebook without even saying anything to him or trying to help him.

JW: Well 1 Corinthians 5:11 says we should not have company with DA'd people.

Mrs Smith: The scripture doesn't say that at all. It says you should quit mixing with a brother who is a fornicator, reviler (etc) Winston has done none of things.

JW: Actually yes, you are right that does not apply to Winston, sorry. But he has rejected God's organisation so that's why we should cut him off.

Engage facepalm mode.

12

I'll Take Your Literature if You Take Mine

by VM44 in

in the september, 2013 okm, september, on page 3 appears "i'll take your literature if you take mine.".

that is the proposition of some householders.

since we do not exchange our bible study aids for religious literature that disseminates error, how might we answer tactfully?

WinstonSmith

Back in New Zealand we had a old brother who used to reply like this:

"No thanks.I made the effort to come to your door today. If you come to mine I'll take it."

The day he said it when out with me a householder said "Okay, what's your address?"

The old bro says "Smith Street."

The HH said "What number?"

The old bro said "Just knock on all of them, you'll find me."

Hilarious!

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

Right on the money as usual Oubliette! Sadly the WTS is very good at what they do. They have wriggled their way in between the people and Jesus. "Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the light, yes! And we are the way to Jesus!" Rinse, repeat.

I thought this was interesting from yesterday: When I sent friend requests to my two mates (who we will call Kevin and James) the response was interesting. After a year and a half of no contact, Kevin accepted my request within 20 minutes and sent me a message that said "Hi Winston your friend request was a surprise. I hope everything is okay?" and then about a minute later "OMG I just read your message! Are you serious? You just made my day!" And from there were blabbed all afternoon.

Remember when I sent my message to my JW frieds on Facebook, and they silently unfriended me? Well, here is someone who has been out of contact for a long time, and their first thought, before they even read the reason for my message, was "are you okay?"

Good to know who your real friends are.

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

Tornapart: You are a legend! Thanks for that, we have now hidden her friends list.

FAB

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

Hey there Clarity, thanks for your messages!

Here is another glimpse inside the mind of a JW:

This morning I sent a message each to two friends that got DF'd at different times last year. We were really good mates and we have always felt bad that we followed the rules and not our hearts when it all went down. They have moved on and have their own lives now, but both of them accepted my friend requests on Facebook within 20 minutes and we have spent the afternoon texting and messaging. Its been flippin' great to reconnect. Its like no time has passed at all and we have picked up where we left off.

One of them subsequently sent a Facebook friend request to Mrs Smith. We hummed and haaed about whether she should accept it as on FB people can see when you make new connections and according to what we have told people Mrs Smith is still 'in'. Then we were like "This kind of thinking is the JWs controlling us, and we are done with that" so Mrs Smith accepted the request.

Get this: She accepted the friend request at 6:06 and at 6:13 she got a text message from a sister saying "Did you just become friends with X on Facebook? She's still disfellowshipped isn't she?"

Mrs Smith hasn't replied, and won't. Maybe Mrs Smith just being inactive won last as long as we thought....oh well :-)

336

The New Diary of Winston Smith

by WinstonSmith in

we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.

fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.

i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.

WinstonSmith

Hello everyone, thanks so much for your kind comments! I hope that as a community we can all continue to share and learn from our combined experiences. I appreciate you continuing to check in on the developing story. I sometimes think people might tire of my long posts and drama. It is therapeutic for me to do it though, so there will no doubt be more to come!

It has now been a couple of days since I sent my DA letter to the elders and also to my JW friends on Facebook. The number of friends continues to drop on FB, and I still have not heard anything from the elders.

I did however get a reply from Sister T. I had some small hope that all of the hard work and effort we had put in with her over the last year or so, along with being good friends that supported her when she got screwed by the elders might result in her wanting to keep in touch, even if it was in a surreptitious way. But sadly, no, that was not to be the case. This was her reply:

“I love you and this breaks my heart.
Love Jehovah and obey. I believe that you committed an act of apostasy. I know it’s what you now believe but I was stunned to see the extent of it.
Come back one day. I’ll greet you with open arms and tears of utter joy.
Good bye my brother.”

So there you have it. The cult defence systems are engaged. I mulled over whether or not I should reply and in the end thought stuff it, what have I got to lose? This was my reply:

“Hey there!

Thanks for your message. As I said earlier, it’s all good. I figured you would say something along the lines of what you said.

I do love Jehovah and I do obey him, but I will not and will never love and obey a group of men in New York who have spent the last 100+ years changing their minds and messing with people’s lives. Their position is unscriptural and my time as an elder exposed to me the harsh reality of what happens when humans think they can control a person’s eternal future.

I still love you and care for you both, and will never forget all the fun and adventures we had. Good times!

Take care, lots of love ”

I think what I said was fair enough. She, like most JWs, is a lovely person with some beautiful qualities. The WTS just has this knack of getting in to people’s minds and messing with them. The programming runs deep, and is difficult to undo.

I sent an email to my sister the other day too. I honestly have no idea what her response will be.

Mrs Smith has received some interesting messages. She / we have had no contact from anyone at all since our last meeting (the memorial back in March) and now all of a sudden they have remembered she exists. JWs only care when it is convenient for them. Here is one message, copied verbatim (except I have changed the names):

“Mrs Smith, I asked <a friend> for your mobile number last night so I could let you know that <husband> and I are thinking and praying for you. I can only imagine the pain in your heart. And we can only guess at the overwhelming feelings of disappointment that has led Winston to disassociate himself. We pray our God Jehovah will comfort and help you be strong in your own faith. Maybe this will in turn help your husband who you love so very much. When we were in <our old> congregation, <husband> and I respected Winston and you for your endurance. We were grateful for Winston’s hard work and reasonableness. I remember at a particularly low point in our lives we chose to meet up with Winston’s witnessing group because we felt comfortable doing so. How sad we feel to know Winston has rejected what we believe in our hearts to be the organisation Jehovah is using in these last days. Even though we are imperfect. We hope Winston will not feel this way for long. Mrs Smith, I know you don’t have good health, but I would love to meet up with you and <friend> for a coffee one day. Take care my dear sister. Jehovah bless.”

Mrs Smith forwarded the message to me with WTF? as the subject line.

It was nice how she mentioned about how her and her husband felt about coming to my group, but wrapped up in all the other stuff kinda makes it taste bad. It is an interesting peek into the mind of a JW isn’t it?

Do people assume that their relationship with Mrs Smith is now closer than my relationship with her? Do they think that Mrs Smith would hide these messages from me? I guess they must think that she is sitting in the corner terrified of her fire breathing apostate husband. I guess they need to keep telling themselves that what the WTS says about those who leave is true. Mrs Smith plans to regularly post pictures on Facebook of the two of us out and about having fun together.

In the couple of days since sending the letter, I have felt great. Had two good night’s sleep, got a new bounce in my step, and the world seems to have colour again. Fading was a long tough road, and for me, cutting it off and sending a DA letter was exactly what I needed. This may not be the case for some, but I am very happy that I did. No need to look around when I’m sitting at a foodcourt just in case someone spots us and comes over to tell us they miss us and we have to lie to them, no looking furtively out the window when a car pulls up out front of our house, no more wondering who’s on the other end when my phone rings.

Winston looked upon the situation, and he saw that it was good.