Posts by Solzhenitsyn

a few calls i let go to voicemail but now the wife and i are getting bombarded with text messages.. this isn't going to be easy.. since we're not looking to throw a grenade into decades of relationships, text replies thus far have been..."thank you so much.".

Solzhenitsyn

Who was I to think that we would be left alone? It has been a dream for 2+ months. A few calls I let go to voicemail but now the wife and I are getting bombarded with text messages.

This isn't going to be easy.

Since we're not looking to throw a grenade into decades of relationships, text replies thus far have been..."thank you so much."

But I know what is currently curiosity and or outright concern will turn into an Inquisition.

Barf.

21

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses a Cult?

by Tahoe in

jw
friends

i realize this is an older posting on jw.org, but i’d come across it again after reading holden’s thread.

quoted below, so no need to visit the website.. _______________________________________________________.

no, jehovah’s witnesses are not a cult.

Solzhenitsyn

11

When 2 want to visit.

by stillin in

some of the local witnesses have been by, periodically, to check on us and say that they miss us.

i consider that a decent thing to do since they figure that we're going to die any day now from the loving god.

some have been elders, who have to always stay distant so that they don't somehow get contaminated by being too nice to us.

Solzhenitsyn

The Fall Guy + StehpaneLaliberte are dead on the money correct.

Before I quit recently I personally had to meet with CO + legal on a conf call re: an appeal case I was chairman on.

We were flat out reprimanded for "establishing a matter" with what turned out to be only one on the investigation. We assigned 2 to investigate. Turned out only one actually heard the confession and verbally TOLD the second elder who conviently left out this fact when the initial JC convened.

The (alledged) perp had his D/F decision overturned on appeal due to this technicality. Brilliant! Was like a Jason Bourne movie without the action scenes.

God I'm so glad to be done with all this crap.

58

Do You Ever Wonder Where Certain Posters Are?

by minimus in

jw
friends

do people simply leave because the site has given them what they wanted?

are they now infrequent lurkers?.

did they go back to the watchtower?.

Solzhenitsyn

Perhaps they, like me, are STILL ACTUALLY here.

I had a different USER name and logged in daily + posted a hundred+ times over the course of 2 years +/- which helped me get all set up and ready in my mind/heart for the fade.

Then one evening i forgot one step.....I FORGOT TO LOG OUT of this site. The effects of not pushing the "log out" button and the wife needing my computer for a quick second to check something.....created a ripple effect that is worthy of a novel unto itself.

SO! I am now known as Solzhenitsyn, who by the way was wrongly "imprisoned" as I was after...not logging out. :)

36

Faders Needing a Great One Liner

by Solzhenitsyn in

so our family fade is well under way.

we changed congregations as regular attenders and left in good standing with those giving hugs and kisses simply knowing we "needed a change".

we moved to a neighboring congregation that is out of our original region knowing we would see no one and the two boe's wouldn't really have immediate dealings.

Solzhenitsyn

So our family fade is well under way. We changed congregations as regular attenders and left in good standing with those giving hugs and kisses simply knowing we "needed a change". We moved to a neighboring congregation that is out of our original region knowing we would see no one and the two BOE's wouldn't really have immediate dealings. I chose this congregation knowing the BOE is relatively small (elderly) and had a tremendous publisher workload including lots of debauched teens and single moms that dress like whores that keep them incredibly busy.

The fade began immediately. We made no connections in the new hall, no friends, no one to wonder, "where are they?". No one has contacted us, no FS time has been turned in, no school joined, nada. Not a phone call, not a visit, zippo from anyone. Of course I know that may change. When old cong friends text and call to ask how are we adjusting in our new cong we say "doing great, how about you guys?", and that's that.

Now after being a company man for decades I'm not an idiot. All it will take is a speaker trade between our old and new congregations and an elder I served with for many years to ask at the KH or at hospitality after, "Hey I didn't see the "Smith" family and was hoping to catch up"... "Smith family...we haven't seen them since their cards and that shit%Y letter you wrote arrived six months ago"...and badda bing, the cat is out of the bag.

SO! We still live, work, play, kids now attend youth group, we occasionally enjoy non-denominational services right in the middle of our old cong's territory. It is inevitable that the shock will spread like wildfire and we will run into old cong friends who want to ask God knows what. I know their motives. I know their "but Lord where shall we go" mentality. Part of me feels like I know their countermeasures and they don't stand a chance.

We have no desire to turn in our letter (at this time). But my family and I (including an elementary school age child) would like to settle on a great one liner when approached by JW's who have been our friends for many years. We want to accomplish a few things:

#1 Terminate the conversation as quickly as possible without inciting anger

#2 Leave with food for thought to question the organization on a deeper level

#3 Leave them with a one liner they would no doubt spread in the gossip train that would also cause their listening ears to question the organization on a deeper level as well

To this awesome forum...your thoughts?

Best!

29

Do you remember when you realised it was all bulls£&t

by moley in

i remember when my faith left me.

i used to enjoy meetings and used to participate but then all of a sudden i was finding myself bored shitless at meetings.

i was taken off the theocratic ministry school for not attending when i was due to give a talk and not long after did something naughty and got disfellowshiped.

Solzhenitsyn

Me: Standing on the platform, about half way through the Memorial Discourse I was giving in 2017.

Wife: At a meeting for FS with the CO present, looking around realizing no one really wanted to be there + seeing the effect on me of a child sex abuse committee I served on where the pedophile walked free.

Of course the rabbit hole goes much deeper than this in both directions of waking up, but the above is the quick condensed versions.

8

Last week's WT - a convoluted trip back to Earth

by neat blue dog in

last weekend's wt study (nov. 18) had 3 count em three biblical references to the christian hope of heavenly resurrection that had to be twisted into talking about earth to fit their doctrine.. 1:.

in what sense do the mild-tempered “inherit the earth”?

jesus’ spirit-anointed disciples inherit the earth when they rule over it as kings and priests.

Solzhenitsyn

My JW conversation with an old preacher down in a holler in Western NC not too long ago:

ME: Show me the word Trinity in your Bible and I'll be down front and center at your church come Sunday.

HIM: Show me the word Bible in your Bible and I'll be down front and center at you Kingdom Hall come Sunday

Pure narcissistic twisted JW reasoning on my part. JW logic is usually shut down via the easiest of methods.

9

Thankful for our community of friends!

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

i just wanted to express a sincere thanks for the amazing community of friends we have built up thanks to sites like this.. the genuine people we can now call true friends is outstanding.. to all those who are newly awakening, or are just starting to contemplate a life outside of the jw bubble, please be reassured that you will indeed make good friends if you put yourself out there.. true,not every ex-jw will be an instant friend.

you will not click with everyone.

but as with life in general, if you put in the effort, a new circle of genuine friends exist out there!.

Solzhenitsyn

Amen²

4

Happy Face to the World vs. Controlling Dogma to the Publishers

by Solzhenitsyn in

holidays.

https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-celebrate-holidays/ .

"regarding other holidays, each witness makes his or her own choice, striving “to maintain a clear conscience before god and men.”.

Solzhenitsyn

Holidays

https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-celebrate-holidays/

"Regarding other holidays, each Witness makes his or her own choice, striving “to maintain a clear conscience before God and men.”

Until recently, I was PIMI for 40 years.

Could someone please tell me what "other holidays" I could "make my own choice" to openly celebrate?