Posts by Scully

41

If you found out TTATT at 80 and spent your entire life at Bethel, what would you do?

by John Aquila in

would you do a ray franz deal and write a book or keep quiet and live out the rest of your life in bethel?.

would you keep reading the watchtower magazine?.

Scully

You wouldn't have to be 80 and living at Bethel™. If you'd spent the majority of your life as a devout JW, with all your friendships and social activity JW centric, and you've treated non-JW or faded/DF'd/DA'd relatives like crap for decades, there's really no point in leaving the JWs and starting fresh.

You might be able to mend fences with the relatives you've ignored/snubbed all those years, but the risk of being expelled and losing the remainder of your social/support system would be overwhelmingly daunting.

I wouldn't want to be in their position. It was hard enough leaving in my 30s and starting fresh. I'd hate to be the one who came to the realization that I'd pissed my entire life away on a cult, one that lured me in, compelled me to alienate family and friends, induced me to give my hard earned money to them and made them billionaires while I denied myself the pleasures in life.

I daresay that many of the elderly JWs realize, on some level, that it's all a scam, and have figured out a way to pull back financial support of the whOrganization while using the Meetings™ and Field Service™ as a way to have their social needs met. At the same time, they try to keep relationships with former JWs in their family on the down-low, knowing that some day they may need their assistance.

63

HELP - A Guide to Fade

by cognitivedizzy in

jw
friends

hey everybody, been here lurking for years now... i tired of all the gb 2.0 shit and need to fade successfullydo we have a guide, i am very tempted to go out with a bang, but i want my wife with me, she aint a strong witness and would happily trust me ... i love her a lot.

status as of now,,, read coc isocf, been through jw facts and am convinced this religion is bs, also a ms now :( damn.

Scully

One thing that really started to bother Mr Scully and me was the constant begging, pleading and bullying for money. Maybe it had always been there, and we just never noticed before, but it seemed like every week we were hearing about fundraising endeavours. For new Kingdom Halls™, for covering the expenses of the Circuit Overseer™, for covering expenses for Circuit Assemblies™, District Conventions™ and Special Assembly Days™. There were reminders about the World Wide Education Work™, the double dipping on Literature™ (pay when you pick up your materials, and turn in any Contributions™ received from Field Service™), etc., etc.

As a kid, I had it drilled into me that CT Russell stated words to the effect that when the WTS no longer received financial support, it meant that its purpose had been served. Clearly that viewpoint has changed dramatically over the last century.

Perhaps this can be one thing that you and your wife can agree upon. No more financial support for the Congregation™ or the WTS. Set aside any money that you would have contributed for say, the next 6 months, and use it to go on a holiday, preferably at the same time when a Circuit Assembly™ or Circuit Overseer™'s visit is planned. Say it's a holiday for your wedding anniversary if anyone asks. (not that it's any of their business...)

At the same time, start investigating child abuse scandals among JWs. There's plenty of them in news stories all over the internet, with court documents / testimony to back up the information. If there's one thing that your wife can't argue with, it's a conscientious decision on your part to stop supporting/boycotting an organization that pays lip service to protecting children from child molesters within their ranks. After all, the WTS bemoans the sexual abuse of children when it's Catholic clergy who are the alleged molesters... but when it's an Elder™ or Ministerial Servant™ or Pioneer™ who is accused of molestation, it's a completely different situation. The allegations are usually dismissed or not even investigated by Elders™ because there are not two eye-witnesses to the crime. How do you get the WTS's attention? You stop Attending Meetings™. You stop going in Field Service™. And, most importantly, you hit them where they live - by stopping financial support of the WTS at every level.

14

JW sighting while shopping

by Scully in

i was out today at the grocery store, picking up a few things for the weekend, when just beyond the pineapples, i spotted a jw lady i was once friends with.. i wasn't interested in engaging in conversation, so i just continued picking out fruit, when out of the corner of my eye, i see her look at me and recognize me.

she looked like she was panicking, and then darted behind a pillar in the store, trying to hide from me!.

my dd was with me and noticed what happened.

Scully

redvip2000

That's priceless!

How do you report to the Elders™ that you saw someone in a nudie bar without implicating yourself?? LOLOL

14

JW sighting while shopping

by Scully in

i was out today at the grocery store, picking up a few things for the weekend, when just beyond the pineapples, i spotted a jw lady i was once friends with.. i wasn't interested in engaging in conversation, so i just continued picking out fruit, when out of the corner of my eye, i see her look at me and recognize me.

she looked like she was panicking, and then darted behind a pillar in the store, trying to hide from me!.

my dd was with me and noticed what happened.

Scully

I was out today at the grocery store, picking up a few things for the weekend, when just beyond the pineapples, I spotted a JW lady I was once friends with.

I wasn't interested in engaging in conversation, so I just continued picking out fruit, when out of the corner of my eye, I see her look at me and recognize me. She looked like she was panicking, and then darted behind a pillar in the store, trying to hide from me!

My DD was with me and noticed what happened. She said "WTF is her problem?"

Now I have an earworm going, that's making me laugh myself silly:

"WE'RE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, WE SPEAK OUT IN FEARLESSNESS" (unless your initials are RM)... 'blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!"

30

CAH closing down in upstate NY

by oppostate in

yet another circuit assembly hall is going to be sold off!.

they've been reducing the amount of congregations assigned to meet there and using the times when it isn't in use to make repairs.

elders have now been informed that they are selling off the property and buildings and that circuits would be assigned to attend other sites, twice as far, three or four hours away, like montreal.

Scully

That's the Modus Operandi of the WTS, isn't it?

Get JWs to finance and build properties, and then sell the properties for big profit.

Impose additional hardships on the JWs who finance and build the properties that are sold off, such as long distance travel to Circuit Assemblies™, additional expense for fuel/hotel/meals, possibly acquiring a passport to travel outside the country, etc.

I really hope that some people refuse to attend because of this.

13

What do Lady Gaga, Liberace, and Geoffrey Jackson all have in common?

by jwleaks in

jw
friends

left to right: lady gaga, liberace, geoffrey jackson.

.

Scully

They like wearing dead animals?

30

Seriously condsidering disasscoiating

by Ashley L. in

jw
friends

i am seriously considering disassociating myself.

i want to do this because i no longer consider myself one of jehovah's witnesses.

i no longer consider jehovah as my god and i am in a new religion now.

Scully

Look at it this way. When you resign from a job with a formal letter, it is considered a legal document terminating your employment of your own volition. It may impact your ability to collect unemployment insurance benefits (it does where I live). But the employer is not allowed to say negative things about you, your performance, etc. as an employee, because it would leave them open to charges of slander if you found out about it.

When you write a letter to Disassociate™ from the JWs, it is considered a legal document, terminating your association with the JWs of your own volition. What happens after that is (a) an announcement from the Platform™ stating that you are No Longer One of Jehovah's Witnesses™, and (b) every JW you have ever known will be required to shun you. The announcement itself is a form of slander, because while no reason for your segregation is given, every JW assumes that it is for some kind of wrongdoing, such as fornication, adultery or even apostasy. Nobody there will ever know if you have an ethical issue with the policies of the WTS or if you disagree with an interpretation of the Bible, that perhaps others have too. It's just assumed that you are an Unrepentant Sinner™.

The WT rule to write a letter of Disassociation™ is like an unloaded firearm pointed at your head. An unloaded gun is a threat without substance. The letter itself is the ammunition they will use to destroy you. The letter is key, and it's up to you whether you want to give them the ammunition. Personally, I wouldn't - and haven't for over 20 years. I still have a relationship with JW relatives. Other JWs... I couldn't care less whether or not they talk to me, they were fair weather friends at best.

PS: In case you are ever approached by two Elders™ and are asked whether you consider yourself to be One of Jehovah's Witnesses™, tell them that your relationship with Jehovah is just fine. Do not answer their question. You don't owe them an answer... they do not have authority over you, except in their own opinion. It's a loaded question: If you say Yes, they can Invite™ you to a Judicial Committee; If you say No, it's as good as a DA letter and they will make an announcement at the next Meeting™.

9

Bloodlust

by berrygerry in

i'm about half-way through the novel "watch how we walk," written in 2013 by a born-in, jennifer lovegrove.. absolutely worthwhile read.. does this paragraph sum up jw-land?.

"i was paranoid again, like i had been back home, as though someone was scrutinizing and judging me.

although i was alone, it reminded me of being at the kingdom hall.

Scully

I honestly found the book to be a bit over the top... either that or there were a lot of really juicy scandals in her family's congregation. Seriously, there were some fundamental misrepresentations regarding how Meetings™ were conducted, and how JWs speak with one another.

I've been in about half a dozen congregations in my 25 years of being a JW, and in total there might have been 1 person per year being DFd, on average. It certainly wasn't a regular thing to the point that you'd be paranoid about being the next one expelled.

13

JW Articles Loaded with Intentional Imbedded Misleading Clauses...

by freemindfade in

this makes me fume while i sit listening to this at the sunday beeting.... "hence, an elder who is tenderly compassionate does not try to control the sheep, making rules or using guilt to pressure them to do more when their circumstances do not permit them to.-w15 2/15 pp.

5-9. now this sentence makes the elders sound like they should not control, use guilt to pressure etc... but then it has a qualifying statement no one seems to hear.

when their circumstances do no permit them to.

Scully

Oh and by the way, the WTS might be saying that they don't want Elders™ to use guilt trips or pressure tactics on JWs, because the WTS already has the market cornered on that.

13

JW Articles Loaded with Intentional Imbedded Misleading Clauses...

by freemindfade in

this makes me fume while i sit listening to this at the sunday beeting.... "hence, an elder who is tenderly compassionate does not try to control the sheep, making rules or using guilt to pressure them to do more when their circumstances do not permit them to.-w15 2/15 pp.

5-9. now this sentence makes the elders sound like they should not control, use guilt to pressure etc... but then it has a qualifying statement no one seems to hear.

when their circumstances do no permit them to.

Scully

It points very clearly to a fundamental problem among the JWs: they do NOT know the circumstances of their fellow JWs all that well. They don't have time because they are too focused on their own Meeting Attendance™ and getting their Personal Study™ done and making sure their own Field Service™ hours are up to expectations. Socializing is not actively encouraged by the WTS, so that strong friendships are forged, but rather superficial JW-centric acquaintances.

Have you ever noticed that once someone moves away from the Congregation™, that very soon they are forgotten? That phone calls dwindle off, and visiting is confined to superficial chatter at Circuit Assemblies™ and District Conventions™. If I had a dollar for every time a former JW Friend™ told me they missed me, but they've been far Too Busy In the Truth™ to call, I'd have about $250.

How on earth is anyone able to have the kind of knowledge about others necessary to know what their "circumstances permit" without opportunities for and encouragement of the kind of social activities that promote strong bonds with others?